If someone has ever handed you a zucchini that is a foot and a half long and roughly eight inches around, this zucchini lasagna with cottage cheese is one very practical way to use it. My jumbo zucchini was large enough to make all three zucchini layers in a 9×13 casserole.

Instead of pasta noodles, the zucchini is sliced lengthwise on a mandoline into very thin, wide pieces. The important part is getting as much moisture out of those zucchini noodles as possible before the lasagna goes into the oven. When I salted mine, I poured off nearly a cup of water before rinsing and drying the slices.

This zucchini lasagna with cottage cheese uses dry cottage cheese blended with a little milk until creamy, a simple crushed tomato sauce with garlic, onion and fresh basil, and mozzarella over the top. The dry cottage cheese is particularly useful here because you are already fighting the natural moisture in the zucchini.

It makes a filling vegetarian dinner and is a good solution when zucchini season leaves you wondering what on earth you are going to do with that enormous zucchini somebody gave you.

Quick Answer

Zucchini lasagna with cottage cheese is a vegetarian, no-pasta lasagna made by layering very thin zucchini slices with creamy dry cottage cheese and homemade tomato-basil sauce in a 9×13 casserole dish.

Salting and thoroughly drying the zucchini before assembly helps remove the large amount of water that would otherwise end up in the finished lasagna.

My Experience Making Zucchini Lasagna

The biggest thing I noticed when making this lasagna was just how much water came out of the zucchini.

I sliced the zucchini very thin on a mandoline, laid the pieces flat in the same 9×13 casserole dish I planned to bake in and generously salted each layer. By the time I was ready to rinse the zucchini, I had poured off nearly a cup of liquid.

That made it very clear to me that controlling the moisture is not a step worth skipping.

The other decision I made was using dry cottage cheese instead of a wetter cheese filling. It costs me about $8 for a brick, so it is one of the more expensive ingredients in the casserole, but I wanted the protein from cottage cheese without adding a lot more liquid to an already moisture-heavy vegetable.

Once blended with a small amount of milk, it becomes very thick and creamy, almost like a thick ricotta filling.

For another meatless take on lasagna, try my vegetarian lasagna with red lentils.

Why You’ll Love This Zucchini Lasagna With Cottage Cheese

Uses Jumbo Zucchini: One very large zucchini was enough to create all three zucchini-noodle layers in my 9×13 lasagna. If you have more zucchini to use after making the lasagna, this zucchini tomato casserole is another simple way to turn summer zucchini into dinner.

No Pasta Noodles Needed: Long, thin slices of zucchini form the layers instead.

Moisture Is Managed Before Baking: Salting, rinsing and thoroughly drying the zucchini removes a surprising amount of water before it reaches the casserole.

Thick Cottage Cheese Filling: Blended dry cottage cheese gives the lasagna a creamy cheese layer without adding as much moisture as a wetter cottage cheese would.

Simple Tomato Sauce: Crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic and fresh basil make a straightforward sauce while the zucchini is draining.

Vegetarian Main Dish: This casserole is substantial enough to serve on its own with bread or a simple side.

How to Make Zucchini Lasagna With Cottage Cheese

Start by removing the blossom end from the zucchini so you have a flat end to work from. That flat surface gives you a more stable starting point when you begin passing the zucchini lengthwise over the mandoline.

Slice the zucchini into long, wide, ultra-thin sheets. I make these quite thin because they work better as lasagna noodles and the salt can draw the moisture out more easily. Use the guard on your mandoline and take your time, especially when working with a zucchini this large.

As you slice down into the zucchini, you will eventually reach the seedier centre. Once you get to the seeds, flip the zucchini over and start slicing from the opposite side. This lets you keep making good, wide zucchini noodles from the firmer flesh instead of trying to force the soft seeded centre through the slicer.

Lay the zucchini slices flat in the 9×13 glass casserole dish you will eventually use for baking. I do this one layer at a time, generously sprinkling each layer with regular table salt before adding the next. Leave the zucchini to sit while you prepare the cottage cheese filling and tomato sauce. The salt will begin drawing an incredible amount of water from the zucchini. Mine released nearly a cup.

While the zucchini is sitting, place the brick of dry cottage cheese, 3 tablespoons of milk and one egg into a blender. You can use cream instead of milk if you prefer. Blend until the cottage cheese is creamy and fairly smooth. This mixture will still be extremely thick, much more like a thick ricotta than regular cottage cheese, which is exactly what we want here. The zucchini already brings plenty of moisture to the lasagna.

Add a splash of oil to a saucepan and gently sweat the chopped onion and garlic until softened. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the chopped fresh basil. Let the tomato sauce simmer while you finish dealing with the zucchini. Simmering gives the onion, garlic and fresh basil time to work through the tomatoes rather than tasting like separate ingredients.

Once the tomato sauce gets hot it will start bubbling and spitting, so cover the pot with a lid unless you want tomato sauce all over your stove. Give it an occasional stir to keep those bubbles under control. This is also an easy job for an extra helper while you are working on the zucchini, although kids helping around a hot stove should of course be supervised.

By now the zucchini should have released plenty of liquid. Pour that off and carefully transfer the thin slices to a colander. Rinse them very well under cold water to remove the excess salt. Be gentle here because those ultra-thin zucchini noodles become quite delicate and can tear easily.

Lay paper towel across your work surface and arrange the wet zucchini slices over it. Cover with another layer of paper towel, then add another layer of zucchini. Continue layering paper towel and zucchini until all of the slices are laid out and drying. Gently pat away as much water as you can. This step is worth the effort. After seeing nearly a cup of water come out of one zucchini, I certainly don’t want to put that moisture back into the casserole.

Bring the dried zucchini, cottage cheese mixture and simmered tomato sauce over to your 9×13 baking dish. Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce across the bottom of the pan, then cover it with your first layer of zucchini noodles.

Dollop half of the cottage cheese mixture across the zucchini. It is very thick and isn’t especially easy to spread, so don’t fight with it. Add small dollops across the surface and gently spread them as best you can with a clean spoon or clean finger without tearing the zucchini underneath.

Add another layer of zucchini, followed by the remaining cottage cheese mixture. Finish with the third and final zucchini layer, then spoon the remaining tomato sauce over the top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. You can certainly add a little more mozzarella if you want, or sprinkle some Parmesan over the top if you like your lasagna extra cheesy.

Bake the zucchini lasagna uncovered at 375°F for 40 minutes. Leaving it uncovered is important because we want steam to escape rather than trapping more moisture inside the casserole. By the end of baking, the sauce should be bubbling and the mozzarella completely melted.

Turn the oven to high broil for about 5 to 6 minutes to brown that bubbly cheesy top. Stay right there and watch it. Once you turn on the broiler, the difference between beautifully browned cheese and burned cheese can happen quickly.

Carefully remove the lasagna from the oven because everything will be bubbling hot. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it. Giving the lasagna that resting time lets the layers settle and makes it much easier to portion than trying to serve it straight from the oven.

Ingredients:

This recipe uses a relatively short ingredient list, with most of the work going into preparing the zucchini properly.

Jumbo Zucchini: I used one zucchini approximately a foot and a half long and roughly eight inches in diameter. It provided enough thin slices for three complete layers in a 9×13 casserole. Another easy way to use summer zucchini is my zucchini tomato corn side dish with fresh basil, especially when zucchini, tomatoes and corn are all in season together.

Dry Cottage Cheese: One brick forms the base of the creamy cheese filling. Dry cottage cheese contains much less loose liquid than regular cottage cheese, which helps control moisture in the finished lasagna. If you like using cottage cheese in baked vegetarian dinners, my zucchini stuffed shells with cottage cheese use it with zucchini, spinach, marinara and mozzarella in another family-size casserole.

Milk: Three tablespoons loosen the dry cottage cheese enough to blend it smooth and creamy without making the filling runny. Cream can also be used.

Egg: One egg is blended into the cottage cheese mixture to help bind the filling as the lasagna bakes.

Crushed Tomatoes: I use No Name crushed tomatoes because they are economical and work well as the base of the homemade tomato sauce.

Fresh Basil: Chopped fresh basil simmers in the tomato sauce and adds fresh herb flavor as the sauce cooks.

Onion: The onion is gently cooked first to soften it and build the base of the sauce.

Garlic: Garlic cooks with the onion before the crushed tomatoes are added.

Oil: A small splash is used to sweat the onion and garlic before building the tomato sauce.

Mozzarella Cheese: One cup of shredded mozzarella melts over the top of the lasagna and is broiled at the end until bubbly and browned.

Parmesan Cheese: Optional for sprinkling over the mozzarella if you want an extra cheesy top.

Table Salt: Regular table salt is used generously to draw excess moisture from the zucchini slices before they are rinsed and dried.

Substitutions and Add-Ins for Zucchini Lasagna With Cottage Cheese

This recipe has some flexibility, but changes that add moisture need to be considered carefully because zucchini already releases a lot of water.

Zucchini: Several normal-sized zucchini can replace the jumbo zucchini. You will simply need enough long slices to completely cover the 9×13 pan three times.

Dry Cottage Cheese: This recipe was developed around dry cottage cheese because of its low moisture. Ricotta would be the closest conventional lasagna alternative, but it will not behave exactly the same way and should be well drained if it contains noticeable liquid.

Milk: Cream can be used in place of the milk when blending the dry cottage cheese.

Crushed Tomatoes: Another brand of plain crushed tomatoes can be used without changing the basic method.

Fresh Basil: Dried basil can be used when fresh basil is unavailable, although it will give the sauce a different flavor and should be used more sparingly because dried herbs are concentrated.

Onion: The onion contributes to the flavor of the homemade tomato sauce. It can be reduced if needed, although omitting it will change the flavor more than the texture.

Garlic: Garlic can be adjusted to taste, but it is one of the primary seasonings in the otherwise simple tomato sauce.

Oil: Olive oil or another cooking oil suitable for gently sweating the onion and garlic can be used.

Mozzarella Cheese: More mozzarella can be added if you prefer a heavier cheese topping.

Parmesan Cheese: Parmesan is optional and can simply be left off.

Expert Tips, Serving and Storing Suggestions

Tip #1: Slice the Zucchini Very Thin: Thin mandoline slices release water readily during salting and become tender zucchini-noodle layers in the oven.

Tip #2: Do Not Rush the Drying Step: Salting removed nearly a cup of water from my jumbo zucchini. Rinse the salt away and then thoroughly dry the slices before assembly.

Tip #3: Dollop the Cottage Cheese: Blended dry cottage cheese is extremely thick. Small dollops are easier to spread gently across the fragile zucchini than dropping one large mound in the centre.

Tip #4: Watch the Broiler: The final few minutes are only for browning the mozzarella. Stay close because cheese can go from browned to burned very quickly.

This zucchini lasagna is filling enough to serve as the main part of a vegetarian dinner.

Garlic bread is a natural side for catching some of the homemade tomato-basil sauce. I would link directly here to my Pizza Dough Garlic Pull-Apart Bread, which is already on A Cents For Cookery.

A simple salad would also work when you want something lighter beside the casserole.

Let leftovers cool before covering and refrigerating them.

Cover leftover zucchini lasagna and keep it refrigerated for the same amount of time you would other cooked leftovers.

The lasagna reheats well from the refrigerator, although the zucchini may release a little additional moisture as it sits. Keeping the leftovers refrigerated rather than freezing them gives you the better texture.

I do not recommend freezing this zucchini lasagna. I found that the zucchini adds too much moisture after freezing and thawing, and the cottage cheese filling does not thaw particularly well either. This is one casserole I would plan to eat from the refrigerator rather than putting portions in the freezer.

If zucchini season has taken over your kitchen, this zucchini breakfast casserole is another way to use a large amount at once.

Meet Amber

Amber is the home cook and recipe creator behind A Cents For Cookery. She learned to cook growing up off-grid in Northern Ontario, where meals were made on a woodstove and preserving, baking, and making ingredients stretch were part of everyday life. Today she shares practical family recipes, homemade baking, vintage-inspired cooking, and kitchen knowledge for real life.

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