Healthy Skillet Lasagna {Low Cal, Low Carb, GF}

Healthy Skillet Lasagna is a low calorie meal made with cottage cheese the entire family will love! Packed with zucchini, ground meat, veggies and cheese for a noodle-less and quick lasagna! Low Calorie + Low Carb + Gluten Free

Everyone loves lasagna, but one of the annoyances about making lasagna is how long it takes and how labor intensive it is. Not to mention traditional lasagna is generally 800 calories or more!

This recipe is not only lower calorie and higher protein, but it also brings together all the flavors of lasagna in a healthier way and takes way less time than traditional lasagna.

The best part is it's all made in one skillet!

What Makes This Cottage Cheese Lasagna Healthier?

• Lower Calorie - Traditional lasagna is generally 800 calories or more per serving. This recipe is 368 calories per serving. There are 4 servings total in the recipe.
• Higher Protein - Each serving has 43 grams of protein from the lean ground meat and cottage cheese. The cottage cheese adds protein and cheese-y flavor without adding significant calories.
• Higher Fiber - Each serving has 6 grams of fiber the majority of which come from all the veggies. This cottage cheese lasagna is packed with all the veggies which gives this meal great flavor!
• Simple Ingredients - The ingredients for this recipe are easy to find and are simple.
• Gluten Free - This recipe is gluten free.
• Lower Carb - There are only 17 net carbs in this filling and delicious recipe!

Ingredients To Make Skillet Lasagna

Here's what you need to make this delicious one-pan lasagna with veggies and cheese! Scroll to the bottom of this post for the measurements and full recipe.

• Ground Turkey, 99%
• Zucchinis
• Spinach
• White Onion
• Mushrooms
• Garlic
• Marinara Sauce
• Cottage Cheese, low fat
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Italian Seasoning
• Basil
• Red Pepper Flakes

See the SUBSTITUTIONS section for recommendations on substituting specific ingredients.

How To Make Healthy Lasagna In A Skillet

Since this meal is made in one-pan, the meal comes together in just a few steps!

Step One - Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the ground meat, spinach, Italian seasoning and basil. Cook the meat and break it up while cooking.

Step Two - Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini with a touch of salt and pepper. Cook 5-7 minutes.

Step Three - Stir in the marinara sauce and balsamic vinegar. Then drop spoonfuls of the cottage cheese into the pan. Reduce, cover and simmer for 8 minutes.

Step Four - Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil and red pepper flakes and serve!

How To Store Zucchini Lasagna

• Refrigerating - Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Leftovers can be reheated on the stove, in the microwave or a toaster oven, or in the oven in an oven safe dish.
• Freezing - You can prepare the recipe up to the point of adding the cottage cheese then freeze up to 3 months. When ready to make, defrost and cook based on the remaining steps. Freezing will create more moisture from the zucchini so the results will be slightly different, but it can be done. I would not recommend freezing this meal after cooking it.

What To Serve With Zucchini Lasagna

A small side salad with low calorie dressing can be served with zucchini lasagna. There are a lot of veggies in this recipe, but more never hurt!

Don't love salads? Serve with fruit to enjoy after the lasagna for something sweet!

Lasagna Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lasagna Healthy?

Lasagna is commonly made with higher fat ground meat, a large portion of pasta from the lasagna and a large amount of cheese. A general dish can run 800 calories or more! This healthy skillet lasagna is made lower in calorie and higher in protein with a ton of veggies making it wildly better for you.

Is Lasagna High In Carbs?

Traditional lasagnas have 25-50 carbs per serving. This lower carb version only has 23 total carbs and 6 grams of fiber for net carbs of 17. The majority of which are coming from the vegetables, cheese and sauce.

Is Lasagna Good For Protein?

This low calorie lasagna is good for protein as it contains

How Many Calories In Lasagna?

This low carb lasagna recipe has 368 calories per serving. There are 4 servings in the recipe.

How To Prep Skillet Lasagna Ahead Of Time

You can meal prep this healthy skillet lasagna ahead of time to make weeknight eating easier. To do this, prep the ingredients and perform steps one and two.

Refrigerate the ground meat and veggies cooked in steps one and two then when ready to cook, start at step three and the rest of the meal will come together effortlessly.

Ingredient Substitutions For One Pan Lasagna Recipe

Here are the substitutions I recommend for this low calorie skillet lasagna recipe. Remember when you substitute ingredients, it does change the nutritional values you see in the recipe card below!

• Ground Turkey - I used 99% ground turkey since there is more dietary fat from cheese in this recipe. You can substitute another ground meat like lean ground beef or ground chicken if you prefer. Fish such as salmon, cod or shrimp would also be delicious in this! If you're not a meat eat, tempeh or tofu could be used instead.
• Spinach - Any hardy greens can be used instead like kale, collard greens, etc.
• Zucchini - Eggplant or spaghetti squash could be used instead.
• Mushrooms - Canned or fresh mushrooms can be used. You can also omit the mushrooms if you do not like them.
• Marinara Sauce - Any spaghetti sauce can be used.
• Cottage Cheese - I used low fat cottage cheese for this recipe. Greek yogurt can be substituted for the cottage cheese. If you are dairy free, I recommend using a high protein yogurt like this one. The majority of dairy free yogurts are high fat, not high protein but this particular one is high protein.
• Cheese - You can omit the cheese if you do not like cheese. You could add nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavor to the dish.
• Dairy Free - Substitute the cottage cheese with a high protein yogurt like this one. The majority of dairy free yogurts are high fat, not high protein but this particular one is high protein. For the cheese, you can substitute with nutritional yeast or dairy free cheese.
• Vegetarian - Substitute tempeh or tofu for the ground meat. If you are vegan, see the dairy free recommendations.
• Lower Fat - If you need to reduce the fat for a specific health reason, the majority of the fat is from the cheese. You can swap the cheese for low fat or nonfat versions, reduce the portions more than I have or omit the cheese.

More One Skillet Meals To Try

• Healthy Chicken Gnocchi Skillet
• Low Calorie Beef Cabbage Bowls
• Healthy Tuscan Shrimp
• Healthy Fried Rice
• Healthy Lasagna Soup

Healthy Skillet Lasagna

Megan Olson

Healthy Skillet Lasagna is a low calorie meal made with cottage cheese the entire family will love! Packed with zucchini, ground meat, veggies and cheese for a noodle-less and quick lasagna! 

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 servings

Calories 368 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 lb Ground Turkey 99%
• ▢ 2 Zucchinis sliced into 1/4" slices then halved
• ▢ 1 cup White Onion diced
• ▢ 2 cups Mushrooms sliced (canned or fresh)
• ▢ 3 Garlic Cloves minced
• ▢ 2 cups Spinach
• ▢ 24 oz Marinara Sauce
• ▢ 1 cup Cottage Cheese low fat
• ▢ 1/2 cup Mozarella Cheese shredded
• ▢ 3 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese grated
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Dried Basil
• ▢ Salt and Pepper to taste
• ▢ Fresh Basil and Red Pepper Flakes for serving

Instructions

 

• Bring a large deep skillet to medium heat. Add the ground turkey, spinach, Italian seasoning, and dried basil. Break up the meat with a spoon and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked through.
• Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini, salt and pepper. Saute 5-7 minutes.
• Stir in the marinara and balsamic vinegar. Then drop spoonfuls of the cottage cheese randomly in the pan. Reduce the temperature to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 8 minutes.
• Top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese then cook until the cheese has melted. You can also place the pan under a broiler for 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese. Top with fresh basil and red pepper flakes and serve!

Notes

• My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my weight loss clients.
• See the substitutions section of the blog post for recommendations on substituting specific ingredients.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 368kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 43gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 1204mgPotassium: 1522mgFiber: 6gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 2605IUVitamin C: 38mgCalcium: 285mgIron: 5mg

Tried this Recipe? Let me know!Let us know how it was!

About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.