This post may contain affiliate links. Read our privacy policy.
One-Pan Zucchini Lasagna made on the stove top using one large skillet and fresh ingredients! This hearty meal is both filling yet lighter than traditional lasagna for a satisfying dinner.
If you’re like me and you’re infatuated with the flavors of lasagna but you don’t love how long it takes to prepare, follow me into the lovely land of One-Pan Zucchini Lasagna.
Fresh zucchini gets shredded and everything gets tossed into one skillet for a lighter take on the Italian classic.
I love that the meal scratches the itch for those cheesy tomatoey meat sauce lasagna flavors in the freshest possible way! For me, it’s the perfect meal prep recipe and is also quick enough to prepare after work. I’m willing to bet kids will enjoy it too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Easy: Grating and sautéing are the only skills necessary! There are no fancy tricks here, and everything gets tossed into one skillet.
- Relatively Quick: The whole thing is finished in around 45 minutes. This is far less time than a regular zucchini lasagna or classic lasagna made in the oven!
- So Flavorful!: The combination of sauce and cheese makes the most palatable meal!
- Refreshing: The meal leaves me feeling energized rather than weighed down due to the fact that I’m skipping heavier noodles for light zucchini.
Ingredient Notes:
Zucchini Squash: The star of the show, zucchini squash is the main ingredient here and it takes the place of lasagna noodles. It gets shredded instead of sliced into zucchini slices, which I think takes less time and makes for easy cooking.
You can use up loads of garden zucchini if you grow a garden!
Lean Ground Beef: Pick up 90/10 ground beef (10% fat) to serve as the protein source. You can also use ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground Italian sausage.
Fresh Yellow Onion and Garlic: Onion and fresh garlic always creates a backdrop of flavor, which enhances all meals! Feel free to increase or decrease the amount of garlic to your personal taste.
Avocado Oil: Used for sautéing. Olive oil works too.
Jar of Pasta Sauce: Pick your favorite jar of pasta sauce! I use one 24-ounce jar, and I typically go with an organic tomato basil or marinara sauce.
Mozzarella Cheese: My favorite part! Use the amount of mozzarella cheese that you find appropriate for lasagna. For me, this is about 3 cups, but for others, it may be more or less depending on personal tastes.
Ricotta Cheese: For added creaminess and cheesiness, I make a creamy ricotta mixture using low fat ricotta cheese.
Parmesan Cheese: Fresh grated parmesan gets mixed in with the ricotta for deeper chewy flavor.
Egg: A large egg helps hold the ricotta mixture together during the cooking process and prevents excess liquid.
Sea Salt and Black Pepper: Season it all to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Customizations:
- Use cottage cheese instead of ricotta if you prefer it.
- Sprinkle some red pepper flakes into the sauce for a kick of heat.
- For more herby flavor, toss in some Italian seasoning or some finely chopped fresh parsley.
- Add 5 ounces of baby spinach to the sauce for additional vegetables!
- For a lighter meal, omit all of the cheese, or reduce it to your liking.
How to Make One-Pan Zucchini Lasagna:
Begin by grating the zucchini. Use a box grater or the grating attachment on your food processor to grate about 5 to 6 cups worth of shredded zucchini (this is roughly 4-5 zucchini squash).
Transfer the shredded zucchini to a colander and allow it to drain while preparing the rest of the recipe. Tip: Sprinkle the shredded zucchini with salt and toss it well. This helps the water leach out from the squash for faster draining.
Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet (I use a 12-inch skillet with a lip) over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 5-8 minutes.
Toss in the minced garlic and continue sautéing for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the ground beef and use a spatula to break it into smaller chunks while browning.
Brown the meat until almost completely cooked. Note: If you’re using a higher fat ground beef, you can drain the fat.
Stir in the pasta sauce and bring the mixture to a full boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the sauce is cooking, grate the mozzarella cheese. Also, mix the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, sea salt, and black pepper in a small bowl until well combined.
Stir the grated zucchini into the sauce and return it to a full but controlled boil. Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
Dollop the ricotta mixture over the zucchini sauce mixture.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese mozzarella cheese over everything. Cover and cook at a managed boil for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until much of the excess liquid has evaporated.
Serve zucchini lasagna in large bowls, and enjoy! It tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had more time to develop.
Storage Options:
- Refrigerator: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: Freeze leftover lasagna in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Recipe Tips
- To prevent watery zucchini lasagna, be sure to drain the grated zucchini and cook the meat sauce for at least 10-15 minutes so that some of the liquid burns off. If you notice extra liquid at the end of cooking, continue cooking until the Bolognese sauce appears thicker.
- If you have a food processor, use the grating attachment to save time shredding the zucchini. It goes super quickly this way! Of course, if you prefer using a mandolin slicer or a spiralizer to make zucchini slices or zucchini noodles instead, feel free!
- While the onion is sautéing and the sauce is cooking, you can multi-task. Grate the cheese, make the ricotta filling, etc. while ingredients are cooking on the stove top.
What to Serve with Zucchini Lasagna:
Looking for more easy dinner recipes that require just one skillet or pan? Try some of my other favorite recipes.
More One-Pan Meals:
- One Pan Salmon and Vegetables
- 30-Minute Vegetable and Ground Beef Skillet
- One-Skillet Ground Turkey Thai Curry and Rice
- Mediterranean Ground Turkey Skillet
- Thai Zucchini and Chicken Skillet
Skillet lasagna for life!
One-Pan Zucchini Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-5 zucchini, shredded, about 6 cups shredded
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 24 ounces pasta sauce
- 2 to 3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated, to taste
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Begin by grating the zucchini. Use a box grater or the grating attachment on your food processor to grate about 5 to 6 cups worth of shredded zucchini (this is roughly 4-5 zucchini squash).
- Transfer the shredded zucchini to a colander and allow it to drain while preparing the rest of the recipe. Tip: Sprinkle the shredded zucchini with salt and toss it well. This helps the water leach out from the squash for faster draining.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet (I use a 12-inch skillet with a lip) over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 5-8 minutes. Toss in the minced garlic and continue sautéing for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the ground beef and use a spatula to break it into smaller chunks while browning. Brown the meat until almost completely cooked. Note: If you’re using a higher fat ground beef, you can drain the fat.
- Stir in the pasta sauce and bring the mixture to a full boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the sauce is cooking, grate the mozzarella cheese. Also, mix the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, sea salt, and black pepper in a small bowl until well combined.
- Stir the grated zucchini into the sauce and return it to a full but controlled boil. Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
- Dollop the ricotta mixture over the zucchini sauce mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheese mozzarella cheese over everything. Cover and cook at a managed boil for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until much of the excess liquid has evaporated.
- Serve zucchini lasagna in large bowls, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes! If you prefer making a regular lasagna, use all the same quantities of ingredients, but slice the zucchini squash using a mandolin slicer into thin slices.
Allow the slices to sit to remove excess moisture or use paper towels to try to squeeze out some liquid.
From there, layer slices of zucchini with layers of sauce and layers of ricotta mixture and grated mozzarella cheese.
Cover it with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes. For perfect zucchini lasagna, be sure to use uniform slices so that the layers of zucchini bake evenly.
Yes! You can still use slices zucchini while using the skillet method too. For the best results, use a mandolin slicer to make very thin slices. You may still need to increase the total cook time depending on how thick the slices are.
