Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups with a homemade Meat Sauce – the perfect healthy comfort food!
Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups with a homemade Meat Sauce – the perfect healthy comfort food! A ricotta filling wrapped up with zucchini noodles then topped with sauce and more cheese for one delicious bite!
Good things take time. And today’s recipe proves that!
If you know me by now, you know that fast and easy recipes are my jam. During the week when there’s not a lot of time to spare, I like to have a plethora or recipes on hand that can be made in 30 minutes or less.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a recipe that takes a little bite more time and tender loving care to pull off.
Honestly the longest part of this recipe is waiting for the zucchini slices to release some of the water.
What do I mean?
Well, for this recipe we are using thin slices of zucchini as our “lasagna noodles.” Then I take the cheese filling, place a scoop in the middle of the zucchini slice, spread it out and roll it up. What I found is, if you roll the zucchini slices up right away, after the dish is done baking you’re left with a soupy mess. Because, as the zucchini cook they release water. As a way to get around that, I laid the zucchini on paper towel and sprinkled them with salt. Then I let them sit for 20 minutes, gently dabbed them with a paper towel on top to remove the water on the top and voila. No soggy mushy zucchini lasagna.
When putting these roll ups together I literally lined 7 or 8 zucchini slices up, smeared them with the cheese mixture and then rolled them all up. Super easy peasy. You could even get your kids involved to make the process go faster.
I’ve heard if you have your kids help with the cooking process (especially with vegetables) they are more likely to eat it.
Once they are all rolled up you just place them in a baking dish. Then cover them with a delicious homemade meat sauce. I made the sauce while the zucchini were sitting on the counter releasing all their water and getting ready for the party. The final step is topping them with a little more cheese (for good measure) … then bake away!
The sauce gets warm, all the flavors meld together and the cheese gets all melty and delicious. Pretty much these roll ups turn into an irresistible dinner everyone will LOVE. You won’t even miss the pasta, believe me!
These Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups are totally gonna be my go to this fall season. They scream comfort food to me, but in a low carb healthy kinda way. Which is the best way!
Can’t wait to hear what y’all think of this one.
Bon Appetit friends!
Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups
- Prep Time: 40 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: gluten free, low carb, kid friendly, pasta
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: italian
Description
Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups with a homemade Meat Sauce – the perfect healthy comfort food! A ricotta filling wrapped up with zucchini noodles then topped with sauce and more cheese for one delicious bite!
Ingredients
Beef Sauce:
- 1 lb. ground beef (93/7)
- 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- salt to taste
- 1 jar pasta sauce (I use Newmans Own)
Cheese Filling:
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- salt & pepper to taste
Zucchini Rollups
- 3 zucchini, sliced 1/8″ thick (use a mandoline)
- salt
- 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat to 400 degrees F.
- Line counter top with paper towel. Place zucchini slices on paper towel. Lightly season with salt and let sit for 20 minutes. (this will help draw out the liquid from the zucchini)
- In the meantime, heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add grape seed oil and ground beef. Saute until slightly browned, making sure to break up the beef along the way.
- To the pan add in garlic powder, basil, parsley, oregano, fennel seeds and salt. Mix all the spices in with the beef and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour the pasta sauce in with the seasoned beef and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- To a small bowl add ricotta cheese, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon oregano and shredded mozzarella. Using a spoon mix everything together.
- To an 8×8 baking dish. Pour 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom. Spread out evenly so the sauce covered the entire bottom.
- Add 1 teaspoon of the cheese mixture to one end of the zucchini slice. Gently spread out on the slice and then roll the zucchini slice up to form a roll. Place prepared zucchini lasagna roll up in the prepared baking dish. (place it vertical so it almost looks like little roses, not on the flat side)
- Continue this process until zucchini slices and cheese is gone.
- Cover with remaining tomato sauce.
- Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the zucchini lasagna from oven and sprinkle with 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Place back in oven and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and serve. (optional: garnish with fresh basil)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5-6 roll ups
- Calories: 334
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 570 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 14 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 26 g
- Cholesterol: 78 mg
Filed Under:
Want More Healthy Italian Recipes?
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Lighter Baked Chicken Parmesan with Zucchini Noodles
Creamy Butternut Squash Alfredo Pasta
Creamy Lemon Pasta with Prosciutto
