Easy Lasagna Recipe with Cottage Cheese

One serving of lasagna on a white plate with a napkin in front of the plate.

Easy Lasagna Recipe with Cottage Cheese

This timeless lasagna recipe is perfect for kids. It's made with plenty of sauce, is high in protein, and the spinach blends right in. No boiling is required and it's made without ricotta!

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Additional Time 5

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 273kcal

Author Kristi

Equipment

Ingredients

8 Lasagna noodles Preferably whole wheat lasagna noodles.
1 pound ground turkey
1 yellow onion diced
2 tablespoon avocado oil
2 garlic cloves minced
10 ounces spinach I use baby spinach. Cooked and drained.
2 25 ounce jars of marinara sauce
8 ounces two cups shredded mozzarella cheese Part-skim mozzarella.
16 ounces cottage cheese Low fat (2% milkfat).
¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Shredded. I buy it pre-shredded from Costco.
1 tablespoon dried Parsley
1 egg
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
Add oil, onion, garlic, and ground turkey to a large skillet. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, until onions are softened and ground turkey is browned.
Add all but one cup of the marinara sauce to the ground turkey mixture. Remove from heat.
While the turkey is cooking, in a separate bowl, mix together the egg, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper, and drained spinach. Set aside.
Spread one cup of the marinara sauce evenly to cover the bottom of a 9x11 baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Lay 4 lasagna noodles side by side, to cover the layer of sauce.
Spread cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles.
Top with half of the mozzarella.
When the meat sauce (ground turkey mixed with marinara) is ready, spread half of it out over the mozzarella layer.
Lay 4 lasagna noodles out side by side to cover the turkey mixture.
Top with remaining turkey mixture.
Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese evenly over the meat sauce, as a top layer.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. The sauce should be bubbling on the sides.
Let sit for five minutes to set before serving.

Notes

Tips for cooked spinach: I find it much easier to sauté fresh spinach than having to defrost and drain frozen spinach. I buy fresh spinach in bulk and then cook it down by sautéing it in a very small amount of avocado oil so I don't have to take the time to drain it (as if I would if I cooked it in water or used defrosted, frozen spinach).

I either tear the spinach leaves into smaller pieces before I add it to the skillet, or I use kitchen shears to cut the cooked spinach into smaller pieces.
You can use frozen spinach instead of fresh. If using frozen, be sure to defrost it first and drain it very well.
While the turkey is cooking, add water and spinach to a separate medium-sized skillet.
The lasagna noodles should not overlap. If needed, break some of the lasagna noodles to get it to fit the size of your baking dish.
I suggest using a food chopper to chop the onion.
I like to use fresh garlic cloves, chopped or minced. Jarred minced garlic can be used instead.
If you don't have garlic cloves or jarred minced garlic, you can use garlic powder instead. I'm sure garlic salt would work, too.
If you don't have dried parsley, Italian seasoning or oregano can be used instead.
Not all baking dishes are the same. You may have to break some of the sheets of lasagna noodles to get it to fit.
Two egg whites, or ¼ cup of egg substitute can be used in place of one egg.
When raw lasagna noodles are used with enough sauce and baked for the right amount of time, the pasta is al dente, just as it should be.
To be clear, you don't need to buy special "oven ready lasagna noodles" or "no-boil" lasagna noodles. Just use regular lasagna noodles. There is no need to cook the noodles first.
This recipe can be divided in two (one for now, one to freeze or give away) by using two 8x8 square baking dishes instead of a 9x13 baking dish.
Leftovers can be frozen to be reheated for another time.

Recipe variations:

Ground turkey can be substituted with grass-fed ground beef or Italian sausage.
To make it vegetarian lasagna, use Textured Vegetable Protein instead of ground turkey.

Nutrition