This zucchini lasagna recipe is packed with veggies! I blend zucchini into the creamy filling and layer zucchini planks into the lasagna itself.
Everyone loves lasagna, so I put it on my “to make for September” list. My plan was to use the last-surviving summer vegetables, particularly zucchini since it’s still growing rampant. Instead of using regular ricotta cheese as the filling, I would make a healthier ricotta mixture. Maybe I’d even blend a vegetable to make the ricotta filling. And then I realized – oh wait, I have this Zucchini Lasagna Recipe in THE COOKBOOK that is already my favorite zucchini lasagna recipe of all time. So instead of reinventing the wheel, here’s the wheel!
My Favorite Zucchini Lasagna Recipe
This is no ordinary zucchini lasagna recipe! Of course, it’s vegetarian, so you won’t find any meat sauce, ground beef, or ground turkey here, but I really pack in the zucchini to give it an extra veggie kick. Here’s where you’ll find it:
- First off, planks of zucchini layer in to replace half of the noodles that you would normally need. That’s the obvious move.
- There is also zucchini blended up INTO the “ricotta” filling itself. You’ll never notice it there, but the zucchini, along with blended walnuts, tofu, lemon juice, and spices, creates a thick, creamy ricotta-like filling without using any cheese.
Yes, I put a moderate amount of pecorino cheese on top of this otherwise vegan lasagna. To make this recipe vegan, either skip the cheese or use vegan cheese on top. If you love cheese, use extra, and feel free to mix in Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese too!
Zucchini Lasagna Serving Suggestions
This zucchini lasagna is a great main dish for a late summer or early fall dinner. If you want an appetizer, I recommend charred cherry tomatoes or burrata. Then, serve the lasagna with crusty bread and a simple veggie side dish like lemon green beans, roasted tomatoes, or any of these summer salads:
- Summer Panzanella Salad
- Strawberry Salad with Avocado
- Classic Caprese Salad
- Or any of my 33 best summer salad recipes!
If you love this zucchini lasagna recipe…
Try my crispy baked zucchini, stuffed zucchini, grilled zucchini, or roasted veggie lasagna next!
Zucchini Lasagna
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 7 ounces extra-firm tofu
- ½ cup chopped zucchini
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
- 5 ounces brown rice lasagna noodles
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 zucchini, sliced into thin planks
- 1 cup grated pecorino cheese
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Make the Zucchini Tofu Ricotta: In a food processor, combine the walnuts, garlic, tofu, chopped zucchini, lemon juice, oregano, red pepper flakes, basil, salt and pepper and process to a spreadable consistency. Add more salt and pepper as desired.
- Prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the package, cooking until al dente.
- Assemble the lasagne: Drizzle a 9x13” baking dish with olive oil, then layer ingredients as follows:
- st layer: ⅓ tomatoes, ½ noodles, ½ ricotta, ½ zucchini
- nd layer: ⅓ tomatoes, ½ noodles, ½ ricotta, ½ zucchini
- Top with the remaining ⅓ tomatoes. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake covered for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more. or until the zucchini is tender, but still has a bite, and the tomatoes and cheese are bubbling. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Season with freshly cracked black pepper.
i loved ur pumpkin recipe ,em a foodie .yummyy
i also love cooking my favourite recipe em sharing with you chilli potatoes recipe
i loved ur recipe ,em a foodie .yummyy
i also love cooking my favourite recipe em sharing with you chilli potatoes recipe
Bonjour,
En français s’il vous plait c’est possible ?
Merci
I made this exactly as is (minus the cheese) and just sprinkled a little vegan parmesan on top. It was delicious and super easy!! My boyfriend and I enjoy this with a salad, some fresh rosemary bread and wine. Perfect for a nice dinner – I’ll definitely be making this again.
PS – love your cookbook by the way!
So glad you both enjoyed it!!
Wow, this was delicious! Used Kite Hill Almond Milk Ricotta and some Kite Hill Almond Milk Yogurt to replace the tofu ricotta, yellow squash instead of zucchini and a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Super simple, will definitely try making this with the tofu, zucchini and fire roasted tomatoes next time!
what a wonderfully “lightened” lasagna recipe! Love how even the ricotta is slimmed down and “moisturized” with extra zucchini, even nice with brown rice lasagna noodles, thank you for this “reconstruction”!
Wow I love this lasagna. I can’t even believe you put tofu in there. Never would have guessed. I’m pinning this for later! Thanks for sharing.
Looks delicious!!
I woke up craving something like this- It must be meant to be (for dinner tonight)!
I just made this for tonight’s dinner! Loved it. I felt bad when I went back for seconds and realized I had eaten a quarter of the pan, then realized that this recipe serves 4 🙂
I’m giving it 4 stars!
Here are some notes on how it turned out:
I used pecans instead of walnuts
I needed to add about 1/4 cup almond milk to the tofu to get it creamy enough
I used 2 cans of tomatoes- one just wasn’t cutting it for me!
I used an eggplant also in my layering
I used no bake noodles, and the corners got reallllllly crunchy
Hi Jeanine
This looks gorgeous! So excited for zucchini to be back in season here in NZ.
I wonder – do you know if your book is available here? Would love to have a browse.
x
Kindest
Buffy
Yum! That looks so delicious!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Sounds fantastic … do you per chance have nutritional info per serving?
We have SO MUCH zucchini, so this recipe is perfect!
This looks so absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try 🙂
Yum, yum yum!!!! this is looks so pretty and fresh and delicious!!!
I want this for dinner!
Oh I’m totally going to try this next week! The farmers market has been abundant with zucchini. I have never had pecorino cheese before. Is it available at most grocery stores?
you should be able to find it at any grocery store – otherwise you can use shredded mozzarella!
Should your answer not be, you could use parmesan, asiago or manchego or other similar cheese instead?
Mozzarella has a completely different texture and most important, lacks taste compared to pecorino or other similar grating cheeses, and of which would result in the finished dish tasting very different than intended.
The recipe will work with any cheese you like to put on top. It’s only 1 cup of cheese on top and it’s not the main flavor in the recipe (the filling is).
Mozzarella sounds amazing on top!
This recipe sounds so delicious and really healthy. I was wondering, my husband doesn’t tolerate soy, is there another substitute besides Ricotta cheese that is just as healthy? Thank You!
Hi Marissa, I think Kite Hill makes a nut-based ricotta that could possibly be subbed in here instead of the tofu.
Ok where can I find that? Does Whole foods or Wegmans carry it? Thank You!
Such a perfect low-carb lasagna recipe!! Cannot wait to give this a try!
Perfect weeknight meal for September! Love the tofu ricotta! I gotta try that!
That sounds so good!
I have a few zucchinis I need to use up, I guess I’ll have to try that! Thanks for sharing 🙂