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Zucchini Lasagna swaps pasta for golden-roasted zucchini planks that won’t make your layers soggy. With herby ricotta, tomato-braised chicken, and melty cheese, it’s both healthy and rich!
Zucchini Lasagna turns out rich, melty, and totally satisfying without being heavy or watery. Roasting the zucchini and reducing the sauce makes a huge difference, and the herbed ricotta, golden zucchini, and tomato-braised chicken pack in flavor and structure.
It’s just as reliable and comforting as my baked chicken marinara, with all the layered texture of my quinoa vegetarian meatballs or these crisp-edged zucchini fritters.
And if you have extra zucchini, don’t miss my baked zucchini and ricotta casserole! It’s also a crowd-pleaser!
Why This is the Best
- Oven-roasted zucchini slices keep this lasagna from being soggy. Instead of salting and wringing the zucchini, this recipe draws out excess moisture while roasting, so your lasagna holds together beautifully in the baking dish. No watery layers or limp textures here!
- This recipe has a richness most zucchini lasagna lacks. The secret is in the thickened chicken tomato sauce! Depth of flavor plus protein? Sign me up!
- It’s a great way to sneak in more veggies. It’s a tasty way to pack in more veggies. With layers of roasted zucchini, no one even misses the pasta.
Table of Contents
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Zucchini: I use 4 medium zucchini for this recipe. Be sure to slice the zucchini thinly to ⅛-inch thick planks in order to avoid too much moisture. Skipping the lasagna noodles makes this an easy low-carb comfort dish! If you’re looking for a classic lasagna recipe, my ultimate lasagna is where it’s at.
- Onion Powder
- Dried and Fresh Oregano
- Dried and Fresh Basil
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Chicken: Just like in my ground chicken burgers, I like to use ground chicken that has an adequate amount of fat to prevent it from becoming dry during cooking. Try to find an 85/15 or even 80/20 blend for this recipe. You can also replace the chicken with ground turkey. If substituting ground beef, cook it over medium-high heat until well-browned.
- Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Onion
- Tomato Sauce: You can either purchase a thick variety of tomato sauce or you can make this excellent homemade marinara sauce and add some diced tomatoes.
- Ricotta Cheese: I tend to use part-skim ricotta for less saturated fat, rather than anything with a lower fat content as the texture can become a bit grainy. Whole milk ricotta cheese would also be delicious.
- Mozzarella: I recommend using freshly shredded mozzarella cheese. Pre-grated cheeses have anticaking agents that can prevent them from melting fully. This recipe can be made with as little as 4 ounces mozzarella cheese. Assemble and bake in a smaller dish to allow for better cheese distribution.
- Parmesan
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Layer on some extra vegetables. Add eggplant or spinach to the existing recipe for even more vegetables. I would suggest slicing and roasting the eggplant first for the best texture. And while we’re talking eggplant, whip up some baba ganoush as an appetizer!
- Use different cheese. Try replacing half the ricotta with cottage cheese for a richer, creamier dish.
- Add some heat. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to brighten and deepen the tomato sauce.
Professional Tips
- Thicken your tomato sauce. I thickened my tomato pasta sauce by using an additional can of diced tomatoes and cooking the sauce until it had the consistency of a thick stew. A thicker sauce will make the lasagna more cohesive because the zucchini has a higher water content than a traditional meat sauce.
- Thinly slice your zucchini. Because of the water content in zucchini, you will want to ensure they are sliced thin. This will allow them to cook through evenly without creating pockets of water in the lasagna.
- Break up your chicken. Try to break up the ground meat as it cooks to make assembling and serving easier.
How to Make Zucchini Lasagna
Use these instructions to make the perfect zucchini lasagna every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: Prepare the zucchini. Wash, dry and cut the ends off the zucchini. Slice into 1/8 inch thick planks using a sharp knife and a steady hand, or a mandolin.
Step 3: Place the zucchini on the baking sheets in a single layer.
Step 4: Season the zucchini. In a small bowl, combine onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil and kosher salt. Sprinkle over the zucchini generously (photo 1).
Step 5: Roast the zucchini. Bake at 425°F until beginning to brown and most of the liquid has been cooked out. This took about 20-25 minutes.
You can drizzle the zucchini with olive oil to keep them extra tender but I omitted it to reduce the calories.
Step 6: Sauté onions and garlic. While the zucchini is cooking, prepare the remaining components of the lasagna. In a medium pan, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sauté the diced onions with the garlic until translucent over low heat (photo 2).
Step 7: Cook the chicken. Remove the onions from the skillet, increase the heat to medium, add an additional tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and cook ground chicken seasoned with salt until there are some browned bits (photo 3).
Step 8: Finish the sauce. Return the onion mixture to the pan and add the pasta sauce. Reduce until thick (photos 4 & 5).
Step 9: Mix ricotta. In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, fresh basil and oregano (photo 6).
Step 10: Lower oven temperature. When you remove the zucchini from the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F.
Step 11: Assemble the layers. Place a little sauce on the bottom of the dish – you could also use a little non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. Layer the zucchini in one layer (photo 7), spread about a third of the ricotta mixture on top (photo 8), add about a third of the pasta sauce (photo 9), followed by a little fresh mozzarella (photo 10). Repeat with two more layers. Add additional shredded mozzarella and parmesan to the top layer (photo 11).
Use a rubber spatula to spread the ricotta into an even layer.
Step 12: Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the lasagna is bubbling around the edges. Everything is already cooked and warm, so there is no need to cook longer (photo 12).
Step 13: Ideally let cool 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving. It will just make it cleaner and easier to serve, but it isn’t essential.
Cooling helps the layers firm up for cleaner slices.
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
Using a mandoline can help quickly and uniformly slice the zucchini. If you do not have a mandoline, be sure to plan a little extra time to either slice with a knife or with a vegetable peeler.
Recipe FAQs
The best way to prevent this dish from getting soggy is to slice your vegetables thin. This allows them to cook fully without adding water to the dish. Roast the sliced vegetables before assembling the lasagna.
Yes! Make the dish according to the recipe instructions, let it cool completely, and then store in the fridge for 3-5 days or freezer for up to 3 months.
Store leftovers from your zucchini lasagna in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Let the lasagna cool completely before storing it. Leftover lasagna can also be frozen. Allow it to cool completely, then cover the lasagna with heavy-duty tin foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
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If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients
- 4 zucchini medium, sliced into planks about 1/8 inch thick
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt for the zucchini
- 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt for the ground meat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cups thick tomato sauce
- 1 cup part-skim ricotta
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh oregano minced
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella
- 4 ounces low-moisture mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated or shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Wash, dry and cut the ends off the zucchini. Slice into 1/8 inch thick planks using a sharp knife and a steady hand, or a mandolin.
- Place the zucchini on the baking sheets in a single layer.
- In a small bowl, combine onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil and kosher salt. Sprinkle over the zucchini generously.
- Bake at 425°F until beginning to brown and most of the liquid has been cooked out. This took about 20-25 minutes.
- While the zucchini is cooking, prepare the remaining components of the lasagna. In a medium pan, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sauté the diced onions with the garlic until translucent over low heat.
- Remove the onions from the skillet, increase the heat to medium, add an additional tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and cook ground chicken seasoned with salt until there are some browned bits.
- Return the onion mixture to the pan and add the pasta sauce. Reduce until thick.
- In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, fresh basil and oregano.
- When you remove the zucchini from the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F.
- Place a little sauce on the bottom of the dish – you could also use a little non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. Layer the zucchini in one layer, spread about a third of the ricotta mixture on top, add about a third of the pasta sauce, followed by a little fresh mozzarella. Repeat with two more layers. Add additional shredded mozzarella and parmesan to the top layer.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the lasagna is bubbling around the edges. Everything is already cooked and warm, so there is no need to cook longer.
- Ideally let cool 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving. It will just make it cleaner and easier to serve, but it isn’t essential.
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this professional chef-tested recipe. Check out our other delicious chicken recipes!
I appreciated that you had us roast the zucchini before layering, it kept the texture intact and added a little toastiness. The sauce clung to everything instead of pooling at the bottom like other zucchini lasagnas I’ve made. My favorite bites were the ones with the herby ricotta, melted cheese, and a hit of browned meat all at once.