This skillet zucchini lasagna is my favorite way to cozy up with a warm bowl of comfort food after a long day. It’s full of flavor but still good for your macros. And the best part? You make it all in one dish, which means EASY CLEAN-UP. 🙌
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Skillet Zucchini Lasagna
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Serves: 6
- Calories: 282 cal
- Protein: 27g
- Fat: 10g
- Carbs: 20.3g
- Why You'll Love It: This macro-friendly zucchini lasagna gives all the warm-comforting feels with a healthy twist. Enjoy it with a fresh green salad and some crusty bread for the perfect meal.
It’s a great go-to when the weather gets colder, or anytime you want something healthy that’s still cozy and filling. Instead of boiling noodles and layering, you toss thin zucchini rounds into a meaty, cheesy sauce. If you love lasagna flavor without the work, try my easy lasagna soup and creamy tomato butternut skillet lasagna too.
Do You Have to Cook Zucchini Before Putting It in Lasagna?
Not for this one! I slice the zucchini into very thin rounds and toss them right into the hot sauce, then turn off the heat. The thinner the better, since we’ll hardly cook them. If you sliced them by hand and they’re a little thicker, let them cook for a couple of minutes until tender. And if you like your zucchini really soft, skip the broiler and bake it at 350°F for about 20 minutes.
How Do You Keep Zucchini Lasagna from Getting Watery?
Zucchini releases water as it cooks, so I barely cook it here. Thin slices go in at the very end with the heat off, and the cheese melts on top under the broiler. If you have leftovers, pour off any extra liquid before reheating. For more ways to use up zucchini, here are my healthy zucchini recipes.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- Eggplant: it gets so cooked down and melty, you’ll hardly know it’s there. BUT, I know not everyone likes eggplant! It’s not key, it just adds texture and sauciness. Swap in more zucchini or yellow squash, mushrooms, cauliflower rice, or butternut squash. Butternut adds a couple of carbs per serving, but NO big deal.
- 93/7 ground beef: mine is labeled 8 fat per 4 oz. Ground turkey works too.
- San Marzano tomatoes: a 28 oz can, blended until smooth. They’re the same tomatoes I use in my healthy turkey bolognese.
- Low-fat cottage cheese: blended with parmesan and a splash of milk, it makes a smooth, creamy layer. If your family doesn’t mind the texture of cottage cheese, skip the blending and just stir the cheeses together.
- Fennel seeds and balsamic vinegar: just ½ tsp fennel and 2 Tbsp balsamic, and they add SO much flavor to the meat sauce.
- Dairy-free swaps: this one is gluten-free but obviously not dairy-free. I haven’t tried it, but you could use dairy-free ricotta in place of the cottage cheese and swap in dairy-free parmesan and mozzarella you love.
Before You Start Cooking
- Use an oven-safe skillet. Grab a large, heavy-bottomed skillet that can go under the broiler at the end.
- Get your blender out. You’ll need a blender or small food processor for the cottage cheese (I use this one), and for the tomatoes too if you’re using whole ones.
- Slice the zucchini thin. I love a simple hand-held mandoline for this, but a sharp knife works. Thin slices barely need cooking.
- Plan for about 30 minutes. Add about 20 minutes if you decide to bake it at 350°F instead of broiling.
- Track it the easy way. One serving is 400g, and it’s loaded in MyFitnessPal and Macros First. Here’s how I add a recipe to MyFitnessPal if you make changes.
How to Make Skillet Zucchini Lasagna
- Cook the onion and eggplant. Heat the skillet over high heat with a spritz of olive oil. Cook the onion for 2 minutes, then add the eggplant and salt. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Brown the beef. Push the veggies to the side, add the beef, and let it sit for a couple of minutes to brown. Sprinkle with the dry seasonings and break up the meat until it’s cooked through. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 more minute.
- Make the sauce. Add the vinegar and let it sizzle, then stir in the blended tomatoes. Turn the heat to low to simmer.
- Blend the cheese. Blend the cottage cheese, parmesan, and a splash of milk until smooth, then stir it into the skillet.
- Add the zucchini. Carefully toss the thin zucchini rounds into the sauce. I turn the heat off here, or cook a couple of minutes if your slices are thicker.
- Melt the cheese. Top with mozzarella and broil for a few minutes until brown and bubbly. Or cover the skillet and let the cheese melt while you gather everyone for dinner. For more tender zucchini, bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes instead.
What to Serve with Skillet Zucchini Lasagna
Enjoy it with fresh basil and a little extra parmesan! Add a fresh green salad and some crusty bread for the perfect meal. My house salad, arugula salad, or kale caesar salad are all great here, and a slice of honey whole wheat bread is perfect for soaking up the sauce.
How to Freeze Skillet Zucchini Lasagna
This is one of my favorite macro-friendly freezer meals for cozy nights.
- Let the lasagna cool, then portion it into containers and label with the date and grams (one serving is 400g).
- Thaw overnight in the fridge. Pour off any extra liquid before reheating.
- Reheat covered at 350°F, or in the microwave, until it’s hot all the way through.
- Top with fresh basil and a little extra parmesan.
- Keeps up to 3 months.
Want more macro-friendly comfort dishes? Try my chicken marinara, baked feta spaghetti squash, easy lean chili mac, creamy spaghetti squash casserole, or mushroom ricotta pasta bake.
If you want a plan for the whole week, my macro-friendly meal plans send you a new menu and grocery list every Thursday, and the recipes are preloaded into MyFitnessPal, Macros First, and Lose It. You can try it free.
Skillet Zucchini Lasagna Calories and Macros
One serving (400g) of this skillet zucchini lasagna has 282 calories, 27g protein, 10g fat, and 20.3g carbs, with 5.4g fiber. The full nutrition is in the recipe card below.
If you make it, tag me on Instagram! I love to see what you’re making. And for even more macro-friendly recipes, check out my cookbooks.
Skillet Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients
- ½ white onion diced (80 g)
- 1 eggplant chopped (see notes for substitutions, 341 g)
- 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 lb. 93/7 ground beef or ground turkey 454 g
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil or Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp. fennel seeds
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 4 frozen garlic cubes or minced cloves
- ¼ cup tomato paste 60
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 30 g
- 28 oz canned San Marzano tomatoes blended until smooth (794 g)
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 240 g
- 1 oz grated parmesan cheese 28 g
- 1-2 Tbsp. fat-free milk or nut milk 15-30 g
- 3 medium zucchinis sliced into very thin rounds on a mandolin* (750 g)
- 2 oz mozzarella grated (60 g)
- Fresh basil
Instructions
- Heat a large oven-safe, heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat with a spritz of olive oil. Add onion and cook for two minutes until fragrant and tender. Add eggplant and salt. Cover and let cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Push veggies to the side and add ground beef to the pan, letting it sit for a couple of minutes to brown a bit. Sprinkle with dry seasonings, and break up the meat, stirring until cooked thru. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for one more minute. Add vinegar and let it sizzle, then stir in the canned tomatoes (first blending on low if using whole tomatoes.) Turn the heat to low to let it simmer.
- To a blender or small food processor, add the cottage cheese, parmesan, and a splash of milk to help it blend. Process until smooth. (Or if your family doesn’t mind the texture of cottage cheese, you can skip this part and simply combine your cheeses.) Stir the cheese mixture into your skillet.
- Slice your zucchini into very thin rounds. I love using a simple little hand-held mandoline for this but you can also slice them by hand. (The thinner the better since we’ll hardly cook these!) Add the zucchini to the skillet, carefully tossing them into the mixture. I like to turn the heat off at this point. But if you sliced them by hand and they’re a little thicker, you can let them cook for a couple of minutes until tender to your liking.
- Turn off the heat and add your mozzarella. Pop the pan in the broiler for a few minutes until it’s brown and bubbly. (Or you can just cover the skillet and let the cheese melt while you gather everyone for dinner!) If you like your zucchini more tender, skip the broil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
- Enjoy with some fresh basil and a little extra parmesan! Add a fresh green salad and some crusty bread for the perfect meal.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
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Do you peel the eggplant before chopping?
I was pleasantly surprised how well this tasted! I have never cooked with eggplant before and everyone was right – you don’t even know it’s in there. I didn’t think all that zucchini was going to fit – but it did and the dish turned out amazing. My daughter who is always questionable with vegetables loved this meal as well. I will definitely be making this again. There are several steps, but worth it for the large amount of food and portion size.
Delicious! Husband loved this!
How did you cut the eggplant? Did you also slice that with a mandolin?
Looking forward to trying this recipe out!
Pretty easy/straight forward! Don’t get me wrong, I love the OG in ONE, but the skinny zucchini slices with the mandolin are *chefs kiss*
This was a fun recipe for my mom and I to make together and she went back for seconds which is always a plus 🙂
I swapped in mushrooms and cauli rice for the eggplant and also threw in a couple handfuls of spinach. Super tasty and made for great leftovers too!
So easy and so delicious! Great tasting sauce with extra protein in the cottage cheese. Loved cutting the zucchini into thin circles on mandolin! Why didn’t I think of this?😂…but I’m glad you did! Thanks for another great recipe! 💕
IT’S SO GOOD! It makes 6 large portions so it’s great for leftovers or feeding a crew. Delicious! We got a large eggplant and only used about 2/3 of it so you don’t need to get a huge one if you’re following Lillie’s gram measurements.
I made tonight and it is delicious!! Using a mandolin making the super thin cuts is key for me! My first Lillie recipe and look forward to many more in the future!
Frozen garlic cubes?
You can always mince fresh cloves .. but frozen cubes are my favorite! So easy. Trader Joe’s and lots of other stores carry them. Dorot is a common brand if you want to Google so you know what you’re looking for!
Good to know – thanks!