This skinnier version of one of my favourite comfort foods swaps out noodles for strips of one of my favourite vegetables – zucchini! This Skinny Zucchini Lasagna recipe is a great way to enjoy lasagna for fewer calories. Replacing pasta with zucchini means it also happens to be low carb and gluten free. Double whammy!
I’ve also lightened up the recipe by reducing the saturated fat and calories by replacing ricotta with fat free cottage cheese.
For a vegetarian version, leave out the ground chicken. You’ll get plenty of protein from the cottage cheese and mozzarella.

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Servings |
9 |
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- 1/2 tbsp olive oil (in an oil mister)
- 454 gram package extra lean ground chicken (1 lb)
- 1/2 medium onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 796 mL can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
- 1/2 tbsp each of dried basil, oregano and chili flakes if desired
- 4 medium zucchini sliced 1/4" thick
- 500 g container fat free cottage cheese (15 oz)
- 150 g part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated (about 2/3 cup)
- Cover the bottom of a medium saucepan with olive oil from your oil mister
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- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the ground chicken and let it brown.
- Drain off any excess fat by pouring the chicken into a fine mesh stainless steel strainer
. Set the chicken aside.
- Mist the bottom of the saucepan with olive oil and saute the onions for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.
- Put the chicken back into the saucepan and add the tomatoes and herbs. Cover and simmer on medium for 15 minutes.
- While the sauce simmers, slice zucchini, sprinkle with a touch of salt, and let it sit until the sauce is ready. Absorb any water that comes out of the zucchini with a paper towel or clean dishcloth.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- On a grill pan
or a panini press
, grill the zucchini for 1 minute/side.
- Now the fun part - layering! Set aside half of the mozzarella cheese. In a 9x9 baking or casserole dish, start layering in this order: sauce, zucchini, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese. Keep repeating until you're out of ingredients.
- Use the remaining half of your mozzarella cheese to top the lasagna. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into 9 pieces and enjoy!
Can you freeze this???
April
Hi April, I wouldn’t suggest freezing this because zucchini contains lots of water. The thawed version would be more like a soup than a lasagna! I find it goes pretty quickly… and will keep in the fridge for 4 days. Hope that helps.