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Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods, but I usually avoid this dish. Each serving of meat sauce, cheese, and lasagna noodles pack more than 30g net carbs. This Low Carb and Keto Lasagna Recipe with Cottage Cheese is one of my favorite keto-friendly Italian food remakes. It has all the flavor and feels of traditional lasagna with less than 10g net carbs.
This post is sponsored by Hood and their “Does This Cottage?” campaign. All opinions are my own.
Low Carb Keto Lasagna Noodle Options
One of the biggest challenges when making keto lasagna is cutting the carbs from the noodles. As I mentioned above, noodles have more than 30g of carbs per serving, making the entire dish out of reach for most following a keto or low-carb lifestyle.
In this recipe, I’m using hearts of palm lasagna noodles. It comes in a can and each one has 60 calories with 4g net carbs. I prefer this option because these noodles are already pre-cut for lasagna and they’re low in calories.
Some other keto substitutes for lasagna noodles are:
- Cauliflower Pizza Crust: the traditional Italian crust makes a circular version of this dish. I’ve used 2 crusts to make the layers. Both crusts are 540 calories with 6g net carbs.
- Sliced Zucchini: a large zucchini has 55 calories and 7g net carbs.
Cottage Cheese Lasagna – Benefits of Using Cottage Cheese
You’ll notice that this lasagna recipe uses cottage cheese. And, you might be wondering, why not use ricotta?
While you can use ricotta cheese, for me, the creaminess of cottage cheese is my secret to better-for-you lasagna that doesn’t skimp on or sacrifice flavor.
Specifically, cottage cheese has nearly 70 fewer calories and 5g fewer carbs per serving when compared to ricotta cheese. Plus, it has about 13g of protein per serving.
In general, cottage cheese is super versatile and works in everything from this keto lasagna to this high-protein cottage cheese queso, which includes ground meat, spices, and other wholesome ingredients.
How to Make Keto Lasagna with Cottage Cheese
Making Lasagna with Cottage Cheese is quite similar to making traditional lasagna. This post has a video in the recipe card so I won’t recap all the steps, but here is a quick summary:
- Make the meat sauce
- Mix the cottage cheese layer
- Layer & Bake
Storage & Meal Prep
Cottage Cheese Lasagna reheats well and should be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. There are 6-8 servings in this recipe, which is perfect for meal prep and keeping things simple throughout the week. I generally make 6 servings when eating this alone, but prefer 8 when I’m enjoying this with a side salad or steamed vegetable.
If you’re making this to use later as a frozen meal option, just add each serving to a freezer-safe dish and store it for up to one month. I like to take it out of the freezer the night before I’ll eat it and put it in the refrigerator. By lunch or dinner the next day, it just needs a few minutes to heat in the microwave.
More Keto Italian Food Remakes
- Ultimate Keto Italian Food Recipes List
- Crustless Pizza Casserole
- Italian Sausage Meatballs
- Keto Risotto
More Low Carb & Keto Cottage Cheese Recipes
Keto Lasagna is not the only thing that tastes more delicious because of the creamy goodness of cottage cheese. Some other keto-friendly cottage cheese recipes are:
- Low Carb Cottage Cheese Pancakes
- Keto Breakfast Muffins
- Mixed Berry Popsicles
- High Protein Dip for Veggies
- Bacon Cottage Cheese Dip
- Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Keto Cottage Cheese Lasagna Recipe
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Ingredients
Meat Sauce
- 14 oz Italian Sausage, up to 1lb will work fine
- 1 cup onion, chopped, about 1/2 large onion
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 cups Tomato Basil Sauce, use DrDavinahS for 10% off!
Cottage Cheese Layer
- 1 cup cottage cheese, Cracked Pepper
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
Other Ingredients for Lasagna Layers
- 2 cups Italian Cheese Blend
- 14 oz Heart of Palm Lasagna Noodles
Instructions
- Watch the recipe video below to learn how to make this recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet to medium-high heat.
- Add the onions and garlic to the pan then saute them
- Add the Italian Sausage meat and cook it until it is browned. Add the tomato sauce and allow it to simmer.
- Mix all of the ingredients for the cheese layer
- Layer the Keto Lasagna in a broiler-safe casserole dish by adding meat sauce, low-carb lasagna noodles, cottage cheese mixture, and Italian cheese blend
- Bake the mixture for 40 minutes. Turn the broiler to "high" and cook for 4 additional minutes to brown the top.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
Kris says
I made this last night for dinner with just a couple changes. I used ground beef instead of sausage and mozzarella in place of the Italian cheese blend. It is fabulous. I will definitely be making this more often. I toasted some homemade keto bread with garlic butter to go with it. So good.
Dr. Davinah's Eats Team says
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
Stephanie says
I was initially sceptical about the palmini “noodles” but this dish turned out amazing. I had veggie ground round in the fridge so used that instead of sausage and it was excellent. I used the palmini straight out of the can after a rinse. Will be making this regularly!
Davinah says
Stephanie,
I’m so happy that you enjoyed this. I actually made this dish last night with Beyond ground meat and it was awesome. Thanks for trusting the recommendation on the noodles! I’m always amazed every time I have them at how good of a replacement they are for noodles. Appreciate you taking the time to stop back and write a review.
Best,
Davinah
Cee says
My Palmini noodles should be arriving tomorrow. But, I’m doing my research, many are saying that these noodles should be boiled ahead of time with heavily salted water or soaked in milk. Did you do any of that with your noodles? Also, how many cans are needed to make this? I’m hearing that there are approximately 12 shells per can- and since this will be my first rodeo, I don’t want to use both of the cans I ordered.
Davinah says
Hi Cee,
Yay! You only need one can for this recipe. There are actually like 24 slices in the can. To prep them, all I did was rinse them with cold water. Since I was baking them, I didn’t bother boiling them.
Thanks,
Davinah
Lorrie MN Keating says
The recipe says 8 servings but the video is 6 (more realistic, but it throws the nutrition information way off).
Davinah says
Hi Lorrie!
Thanks for your question. I moved a note from the blog post to the recipe card to answer this question for you and anyone who might be wondering. This recipe makes 6-8 servings. Even though I cut 6 in the video, the reality is that it filled up almost an entire dessert plate. Since everyone won’t want a serving that large, I recommended 8 servings.
Either way, though, this option has far fewer calories and net carbs per serving when compared to traditional lasagna. Specifically, one of my favorite recipes has 800 calories & 51g net carbs per serving. Even if you chose 6 servings, this dish has about 500 calories and 10g net carbs.
Hope that helps!