Vegetarian Lasagna With Cottage Cheese

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Make this meatless lasagna with cottage cheese when you’re craving a lighter version of your favorite Sunday dinner and need leftovers for the week ahead.

Even though we’re all about gourmet comfort food, we often like to find ways to make our favorite cozy dishes a bit healthier so we can indulge without the guilt! One of our favorite healthy swaps is using cottage cheese to make cheesy recipes like queso or chicken enchiladas lower in fat and higher in protein.

After trying roasted eggplant lasagna from Cookie + Kate’s Love Real Food cookbook, we were inspired to make our own version of a healthy vegetarian lasagna using cottage cheese. It’s a genius move since you can replicate the texture of ricotta pretty closely by whipping the cheese in a food processor!

This lasagna is an adaptation of Cookie + Kate’s recipe that we find is just as delicious, but easier for us to whip up with few ingredients on hand. When you’re craving classic lasagna but need a healthier, vegetarian option, this is the perfect recipe!

Vegetarian Lasagna Ingredients

We use cottage cheese in this lasagna for a healthy alternative to ricotta cheese. Since this recipe is also vegetarian, it features a simple tomato sauce rather than a hearty meat sauce.

Here’s what you’ll need to make our cottage cheese lasagna recipe:

• Lasagna noodles
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Garlic
• Fresh basil
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Sea salt
• Low fat cottage cheese (2%)
• Shredded parmesan cheese
• Shredded mozzarella cheese

How To Make Vegetarian Cottage Cheese Lasagna

To make this easy vegetarian lasagna, you’ll need a blender, food processor, 9×13 baking dish, and a little bit of patience! Although time consuming, lasagna is also super easy – and makes a big batch of food that you can enjoy for lunch and dinner all week long.

Here’s how to make our vegetarian cottage cheese lasagna:

1. First, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the lasagna noodles until al dente, according to package directions. Once cooked, drain and carefully lay the noodles flat on a large cutting board or sheets of parchment paper to cool.
2. In the meantime, make the tomato sauce and cheese blend. To make the tomato sauce, combine tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, and sea salt in a blender and blend on low speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.
3. To make the cheese blend, add the cottage cheese and shredded parmesan to a food processor. Pulse until smooth, pausing to scrape the sides as you go to ensure a smooth consistency.
4. Next, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the lasagna noodles are cool enough to handle, you can start assembling the lasagna.
5. In a 9×13 baking dish, add a thin layer of sauce to the bottom and spread evenly. Then, add 3 noodles to cover the bottom surface of the pan, overlapping slightly if needed. Top with half of the cheese blend, spreading it evenly over the noodles, and then sprinkle ½ cup shredded mozzarella over the top.
6. Then, add another layer of 3 noodles. Top with a layer of sauce, then the remaining cottage cheese blend, then another ½ cup of shredded mozzarella. 
7. Finally, add another layer of 3 noodles, followed by a layer of sauce and the remaining shredded mozzarella on top.
8. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then, remove the foil and switch the oven to the broiler. Broil until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling, about 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Allow the lasagna to set for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Optionally garnish with fresh basil.

Blending the cottage cheese with the parmesan creates a smooth and creamy blend that really reminds us of the ricotta, which is typically used in lasagna. Paired with a simple tomato sauce and mozzarella, the cottage cheese really shines in this recipe!

Serving Suggestions

We like to slice this lasagna into 12 squares. Depending on what sides you want to serve your lasagna with, 2 to 3 squares makes a good serving size for one person.

Here are some of our favorite sides to go with lasagna:

• Freshly baked bread or focaccia
• Garlic parmesan eggplant fries
• Burrata toast with tomato and basil
• Dressed greens or a simple salad
• Roasted tomato and garlic bruschetta

Lately, Alex has been baking us artisan bread and focaccia using recipes from our copy of Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. It’s by far our favorite side dish for Italian dinners and pasta nights! If you’ve ever wanted to start baking bread at home, we highly recommend checking out Ken’s cookbook and giving it a go.

We hope you love this cottage cheese lasagna as much as we do. Let us know what you think by rating, commenting, and sharing below.