This vegetarian zucchini lasagna fuses all of the delicious flavors of Italian cooking with a midwestern, healthy twist!
Make this delicious Lasagna Zucchini Casserole for a protein and veggie-filled dinner that’s vegetarian and easy to make.
You know when you get SOOOO excited about something that you just have to tell everyone?! That’s exactly how I feel about AncestryDNA. We are thrilled to be partnering with Ancestry today to not only chat all things DNA and heritage but lasagna zucchini casserole!
First and foremost, if you’ve never heard of AncestryDNA, they are a company that helps you uncover your ethnicity and heritage and find relatives and ancestors by a simple at-home saliva test. That’s right, in just 6-8 weeks you can trace your lineage back generations to find out where you come from! Talk about a remarkable way to connect to where you come from!
Before the Test
My family has done a pretty good job keeping track of our family history and mapping out our family tree. My mom’s side is pretty straightforward because my grandma is 100% Italian and my grandpa is 100% Polish. They are both 1st generation Americans and know down to the town where their parents grew up in Europe.
My dad’s genes date back to Eastern Europe and Russia, specifically Hungary, Czech Republic, and Russia. Knowing all of this information, I’ve always told people that I was a mutt…25% Italian, 25% Polish, 12.5% Russian, 12.5% Hungarian, and 12.5% Czech Republic.
Are you ready for this?!
I was pretty dang close to what I thought my heritage was, but AncestryDNA gave me the accurate answer:
- 43% Eastern European Jewish: Lithuania, Latvia, Russia (paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother)
- 28% Europe East: Poland, Czech, Hungary (maternal grandfather, and paternal grandmother)
- 14% Europe South: Italian/Greece (maternal grandmother)
- 7% Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey (maternal grandmother)
- 8% Other (all?)
Everything in my DNA results makes so much sense other than the Caucasus. I guess even that makes sense because of the proximity to Italy. Because I did this test, I’ve done so much more research on my family history, and now all I want is the rest of my family to take this test! It will be so interesting to see how the percentages vary between my siblings and myself. Speaking of…
AncestryDNA SALE!
From now until August 20th, AncestryDNA is 40% off (excludes taxes and shipping). If you ask me, this is the best gift you can give a loved one! I’ll for sure be buying a whole handful for my entire family so that we can start building our family tree inside the app!
We love Zucchini Lasagna!
So how did I come up with Zucchini Lasagna recipe? Well, I’ve always LOVED my grandma’s Italian cooking, so I thought we’d fuse together some Grandma Marie flavors with a midwestern twist…hence the casserole! Plus, it’s zucchini season and if you have a garden, those things be growin’ wild right now!
This healthy zucchini casserole is such a fun, wholesome twist on lasagna. Did I mention that it’s vegetarian and made with quinoa? No noodles, no meat…but a lot of cheese! Girl, don’t skimp on the cheese! What you need for this zucchini casserole recipe is quite simple:
Healthy Ingredients
- zucchinis
- marinara sauce
- vegetable broth
- quinoa
- Italian seasoning
- cottage cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- parmesan cheese
Sometimes the best things in life are simple, yet full of flavor…and heritage! I can’t wait to make this delicious zucchini lasagna for my family…especially Grandma Marie so that she can get a taste of our Italian heritage with my midwestern cooking!
More Healthy Casseroles
- Naked Spinach Quinoa Lasagna
- Sweet Potato Green Curry Quinoa Casserole
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Brown Rice
- Southwestern Chicken Casserole
- Broccoli, Cheese, and Quinoa Casserole
Zucchini Lasagna with Quinoa
This vegetarian zucchini lasagna fuses all of the delicious flavors of Italian cooking with a midwestern, healthy twist!
Ingredients
- 3 large zucchinis
- 24 oz. jar marinara sauce (2.5 cups)
- 2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced (any kind will work)
- 1.5 cups 4% cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- fresh parsley, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF and spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Slice zucchinis (the long way) into very thin strips. You should need 15 total strips. Lay zucchini onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt to draw out moisture. Set aside.
- Next place marinara, broth, quinoa, and Italian seasoning into a large saucepan. Bring to boil, then turn heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove sauce from heat. Add cottage cheese and onion to the sauce and mix well.
- Pat zucchini with a paper towel to absorb as much moisture as possible and then start to build your lasagna.
- Pour a cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan for the first layer. Then, lay zucchini strips side by side on top of the sauce. We did 5 strips per layer. Add another cup of sauce and sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Repeat two more times, creating 3 layers.
- Top the whole lasagna with 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 400ºF.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes*. Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.
Tips & Notes
- When you first take the lasagna out of the oven, it will look very soupy, let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes to firm up!
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/6 Calories: 366 Sugar: 6 Fat: 16 Carbohydrates: 32 Fiber: 5 Protein: 24Keywords: zucchini lasagna
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More Ways to Use Zucchini
This recipe is sponsored by Ancestry. I was compensated and all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting Fit Foodie Finds and making this website possible!
Not only is this a family favorite meal, but it’s my go-to for whenever any of my friends are under the weather or have a new baby! It’s nourishing, super delicious, and leftovers heat up beautifully! I always add some sautéed ground turkey, mixed with sautéed bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms seasoned with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and Italian seasoning. And I swap the cottage cheese for ricotta. Cannot recommend this enough!
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Do you recommend rinsing the quinoa before using it in this recipe?
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Can this be frozen after making it? Thinking of putting it into individual serving sizes and freezing. I’ve made this recipe many times and love it! Want to make it for a new mama as a freezer meal (individual portions). .
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Definitely! I would wait for it to cool completely and then freeze your servings in airtight containers for up to 3 months 🙂
Very helpful post and additionally really insightful thanks for the blog post
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Delicious! Even my 3 year old loved it! Win/Win!
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Woo hoo!!
This is my third recipe from you guys and I have loved all of them! They are healthy yet simple.
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So glad you’re loving FFF recipes!
Wow, looks beautiful and very yummy, I definitely try this
Wow! This looks delicious. Lasagna is my favorite recipe. I will try to make this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this post it’s very helpful for making this recipe.
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Hii Lee,
I tried your recipe Zucchini lasagna, it made delicious thanks for the ideas it helps me lot keep posting these types of recipes.
Hii Lee,
Your recipe is best I will definitely try this and I hope you will continue sharing helpful recipes.
Since sprinkling the zucchini with salt is supposed to draw out moisture, do you think I could put the zucchini slices in a dehydrator instead? I don’t like to use extra salt even if you are wiping it off later.
Perfect food is which is healthy and tasty at the same time❤ you know I usually don’t like zucchini much but this recipe interested me to eat it. Thanks for your awesome recipes. They bring taste and health on the same plate:)
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What size baking dish did you use?
The instructions say to add an onion but how much? Not listed under ingredients.
Thanks for catching that! It should be 1/2 medium onion, diced!
I made this today and it’s really easy and yummy. I tweaked it a bit because I was making a smaller batch and wanted less liquid. I cooked the quinoa with the broth and 1 cup of sauce and then I added more sauce when I assembled the layers. It turned out fine.
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I made this today and I don’t know if I did it wrong , but I followed the directions for the quinoa and mine came out super thick. When the 15 minutes was up I did pull it off the stove but I left the lid on. I also made a few changes I sautéed for just a min or two some onions and mushrooms and I used some cottage cheese and ricotta to put between the layers.
Is there a sub for the cottage cheese you would recommend?
I’m ridiculously excited this lasagna uses uncooked quinoa…so easy!! I just harvested the very last of my garden zucchini too…I know what I’ll be making! 🙂
SO BEYOND EASY! Just mix it all and pop it in the oven!
What am I missing? How is this using uncooked quinoa? It’s cooked in the sauce on the stove top. Also the instructions and video show onion being added but there is not onion on the list of ingredients. How much onion do you put in?
Did I miss the nutritional information or is it not there? Thanks!