This Lasagna recipe was one of my first successes with my picky husband. It’s low-fat, tastes great, and can be modified to include any of your favorite veggies.
The Hubs as I call him – well, as I started calling him as of right… now… is a fairly picky eater.
Usually, his best compliment on any given meal is that it is “pretty good”.
To me, pretty good is what you call a lukewarm cup of coffee that has been sitting out for an hour or so. Not the dinner I slaved away to make for hours, or, minutes, or whatever… I worked hard, I expect a compliment!
Since his family has a special “family lasagna” that they claim is the best lasagna ever, I knew I’d be up against some stiff competition in making a lasagna he would like.
This one progressed into being the winner over the years, and is low-fat to boot.
Hubs even said it was “really good”. On a scale of 1-10, that’s like a 9 for him.
Feel free to spice it up with some additions; broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, would all probably work well in this mixture.
Note: Since I have recently converted to being a vegetarian, I have switched out the meat for Beyond Meat sausages and tofu.
Low-Fat Lasagna
This recipe is one that has been altered over the years from a generic lasagna recipe I found a long time ago (can't remember where, may have been in the Taste of Home cookbook).
What really puts it over the top for me is that I make home-made ricotta cheese to use inside of it, which is incredibly fresh and creamy tasting. It's actually REALLY easy to make your own ricotta and well worth the effort. If you don't want to make your own, just make sure you are getting a good brand of Ricotta.
Ingredients
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 1 1/4 lb. ground turkey or chicken
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- One 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
- One 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 8 oz. shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese, plus 2 oz. to sprinkle on top
- One 10 oz. package chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- One 24 oz. package of ready-to-bake lasagna noodles
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Optional: pinch of nutmeg
- Optional: splash of white wine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Use 1 tbsp olive oil and heat a skillet pan to med-high heat
- Add the chopped onion and green bell pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground turkey or chicken and stir until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Add the Italian seasoning, diced tomatoes (use the full can, don't drain) and the tomato sauce; stir to combine and bring to a boil, stirring as needed. (add your wine here if you so choose to). I like to simmer this for a while (about 1/2 an hour) to get it to condense a bit, but this is personal preference.
- Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Mix ricotta, 8 ounces of shredded mozzarella and chopped spinach in a bowl. Stir together and season with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of nutmeg (optional).
- Spray a 9 x 13 in pan with nonstick cooking spray and spread 1 cup of the sauce (from Step 5) across the bottom of pan.
- Add 4 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Spread 1/2 of the mixture (from Step 7) over the noodles
- Top with 4 more lasagna noodles, spread 3 cups of the tomato sauce (from Step 5) over noodle layer.
- Repeat Step 8 and top with the remaining 4 noodles. Top with the remaining sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Place lasagna pan on a cookie sheet in the oven to prevent it from bubbling over onto the oven floor.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let pan cool 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Using ready-to-bake lasagna noodles: The trick to successful ready-to-bake noodles is to make sure they are immersed in liquid while baking, otherwise they come out crispy and dry.
Storage: The lasagna can be stored in the fridge for 2 days or in the freezer for up to a week.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 374Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 80mgSodium 516mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 4gSugar 5gProtein 28g
This nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although alteredrecipe.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
