Low-Carb Zucchini Lasagna made with ground beef, cheese, tomato sauce, and zucchini slices for noodles! A healthy and gluten-free spin on a classic dish, you won’t even miss the pasta!
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Low-carb zucchini lasagna! You didn’t think you could say low-carb and lasagna in the same sentence did you? Well thanks to the versatile zucchini, you can!
I don’t know about you, but zucchini screams summer and while I love the lighter dishes that come with the warmer weather, sometimes you just need something comforting. And this low-carb zucchini lasagna is just that.
When I told Michael I made lasagna, he knew something had to be up my sleeve. While I eat pasta from time to time, it’s not something we regularly have at our house. But Michael would probably eat it every day if it were up to him.
I knew replacing your typical noodles with zucchini noodles might be a hard sell for him, but he ate it up!
Low-carb zucchini lasagna has the hearty and comforting feelings you crave, but without feeling heavy. It’s packed with a meaty sauce, lots of delicious, melty cheese, and the zucchini noodles bring it all together for the layers.
And it’s a fun way to up your veggies! You won’t even miss the pasta, I promise!
Low-Carb Zucchini Lasagna with Beef
The beauty of this zucchini lasagna recipe is it’s just so simple. Just 7 ingredients and 15 minutes of actual prepping and cooking time. The rest of the time it is in the oven baking. It’s full of flavor and totally satisfies your cheesy and Italian comfort food cravings, without leaving you feel less than your best. Here is what you need:
- ground beef
- tomato sauce
- ricotta cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- parmesan cheese
- an egg (or egg whites)
- zucchini
First start off by slicing the zucchini into long strips. I run through how to do that below. You can either salt your zucchini noodles to help get some of the excess water out of them, or leave them as is. I didn’t salt mine and the finished dish came out great, but it’s up to you!
Then you make the ground beef mixture. It’s as easy as cooking it until it’s browned, remove from the heat, and mix in the pasta sauce and red pepper flakes.
While the beef cooks, mix together the ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and egg.
Next it’s time to layer! I mean without layers, it’s not lasagna right? Here is how it goes:
- beef
- zucchini slices
- cheese
- beef
- zucchini slices
- beef
- cheese
Bake it and you are left with a delicious and cheesy zucchini lasagna. I garnished mine with some more red pepper flakes and fresh basil for the full effect 😊
How to slice zucchini for lasagna
To make the best zucchini lasagna, you need to have long strips of zucchini! Ideally they should be about 1/4 inch thick, but some of my strips were closer to 1/2 inch thick.
I like to cut both the top and bottom off so I can stand the zucchini up straight. Then I will run my knife down lengthwise making long pieces. Take your time as the knife can easily move and you will be left with an uneven zucchini slice.
Not every piece will be the same shape and thickness, but that is okay.
You can also lay the zucchini flat once you cut off a long strip and cut horizontal. I find this takes a little more patience as it’s easier for the knife to get off course, leaving you with an uneven strip.
If you have a mandolin, you can also use that! I haven’t tried it, but I hear they work great for thinly slicing things.
How to prevent watery zucchini lasagna
By nature, zucchini is a watery vegetable (96%). That means that when it’s cooked, water releases from it. There is no really way around it, but a few things you can do to help prevent some of it.
To get some of the excess water out of the zucchini, lay the zucchini slices over some paper towels and sprinkle them with salt. Then place another paper towel over the top. The salt will draw some of the water out of the zucchini only after a few minutes.
You can also use a thicker sauce to help prevent too much liquid in the dish. Some pasta sauces tend to be more watery, but if you use a hearty sauce, it helps reduce the liquid when baking.
More Low-Carb Recipes
Healthy Instant Pot Eggplant Parmesan
Whole30 Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
Paleo Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry
Make sure you head on over to Beef Loving Texans to grab the full recipe!
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Raychel says
Would this be suitable for freezing?
Deb says
I can’t find how much of each ingredient or oven temp/cooking time. Did I miss a video??!
Kelly says
Hi Deb! It’s a little confusing as the post was done with Beef Lovin Texans and the full recipe is on their site – https://www.beeflovingtexans.com/recipe/beef-and-zucchini-noodle-lasagna/ – let me know how it goes!
Laura says
Loved this recipe! It was so tasty even my husband loved it (and he does NOT typically like zucchini!) Your tips for preventing a watery lasagna really worked SO well. It didn’t turn out watery at all. Will definitely be making this again!
Kelly says
Love it when the husbands approve! Glad the tips helped and so glad y’all enjoyed. Thanks for trying it Laura!