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About This Recipe
Looking for an easy lasagna recipe that the whole family will love? This Cottage Cheese Lasagna recipe is SO delicious and is super easy to make since it uses no boil lasagna noodles and your favorite store-bought marinara sauce. It also is made with cottage cheese if the texture of ricotta cheese isn’t your think (also helps add extra protein!)
The other great part about this homemade lasagna recipe? It’s great for prepping and freezing for later!
Serve this delicious lasagna with a side of parmesan zucchini, roasted broccoli or green beans for an easy weeknight meal.
Looking for more recipes with cottage cheese? Try my cottage cheese egg bake, cottage cheese spinach and artichoke dip, cottage cheese queso, cottage cheese mac and cheese or these delicious high protein scrambled eggs with cottage cheese!
Why You’ll Love This Cottage Cheese Lasagna
- Made with oven-ready noodles! No boiling required🙌
- A classic comfort food that the whole family will love
- High protein! Using cottage cheese and lean ground beef packs this lasagna with over 30 grams of protein
- Great for prepping ahead and freezing for later!
- Easy to make! Only takes of 20 minutes worth of prep
- Ground beef: I used 92% lean ground beef. You could also make this recipe with ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Onion: I love buying a pack of frozen diced onions to help save even more time
- Garlic: you can use fresh minced garlic or frozen cubes for convenience
- Diced tomatoes and marinara sauce: make sure to get a good marinara sauce with lots of flavor! We like Muir Glen tomato basil.
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning, salt, cinnamon (just trust me on this!), and black pepper
- Lasagna noodles: use oven-ready lasagna noodles like Barilla to make this recipe super easy
- Cheese: I used a combination a shredded mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese. I highly recommend fresh shredded for optimal taste
- Cottage cheese: try to find small curd cottage cheese. I love the Good Culture brand and love how it taste in this recipe (not watery at all). You can use reduced-fat but I highly recommend using full fat cottage cheese in this recipe
- Egg: helps make our cheese layer extra creamy
- Spinach: mix in chopped spinach to your cottage cheese layer for some extra greens. You can also try kale, escarole or other cooked greens for the spinach. If using frozen spinach, make sure to drain excess liquid
- Ricotta cheese: swap the cottage cheese for ricotta cheese if you prefer!
How To Make
The full printable recipe is below, but let me walk you through the process so you know what to expect when you’re making it!
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish. Add the ground beef and onions to a large skillet.
2. Cook over medium-high, breaking into crumbles as you go with a wooden spoon. Drain.
3. Add the garlic, stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant then add the diced tomatoes, marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, cinnamon and pepper. Stir together.
4. Let mixture come to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes then remove from heat to cool.
5. Combine all the ingredients for the cottage cheese filling in a bowl.
6. Add about one cup of meat sauce to the bottom of the dish and spread out. Layer with 4 lasagna noodles (you can break one if needed to make it fit), then half of the cottage cheese mixture (375g). Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese (84g).
7. Repeat the layers: Add half of the remaining meat mixture (520g), 4 lasagna noodles, the remaining half of the cottage cheese (375g), 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese (84g). Then add the remaining meat mixture (520g), 4 lasagna noodles, 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese (168g). Sprinkle the grated parmesan over top.
8. Bake for 40-50 min. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes and then remove to brown the top some. Broil for a few minutes at the end if desired.
- Store: store leftover lasagna in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through.
- To freeze cooked lasagna: let lasagna cool completely. Then wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months.
The best way to freeze lasagna is to freeze after preparing but BEFORE cooking. This is ideal if you want to prep a few lasagnas ahead of time to store for meal prep (see my postpartum meal prep guide for more great prep recipes for any season) or if you want to prepare them to bring to friends or family.
- To freeze before cooking: prepare the dish as instructed. I recommend using a disposable pan for easy storing and clean up. Once assembled, wrap tightly with plastic wrap then add a layer of aluminum foil. Label lasagna with name, date and reheating instructions (trust me you’ll thank yourself later for this extra step or especially if you’re taking to someone else). Place in freezer and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: thaw the frozen lasagna in the refrigerator overnight. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes while you preheat the oven. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until fully cooked through. If lasagna is still cold when putting in the oven, you might need to extend the cooking time a little bit.
- You can bake this lasagna from frozen but you will need to double the baking time. If you have time to thaw lasagna, I highly recommend as that much cooking time can sometimes mess with the noodles but it will still work if you forget to pull lasagna out in time.
Easy clean up tip!
Place a baking sheet under your baking dish to avoid spillage in the oven if you filled your pan to the top!
What’s the difference between regular lasagna noodles and oven-ready lasagna noodles?
I HIGHLY recommend using oven-ready lasagna noodles for this recipe so you don’t have to cook them before baking. No-boil noodles are just like regular lasagna noodles except they are pre-boiled for a bit before drying. However, to use regular noodles just cook noodles according to package directions (I recommend cooking to al dente (or slightly less) so they don’t get mushy when baking in the oven).
Can I prep this lasagna ahead of time?
Yes you can prep and assemble this lasagna up to 6 hours ahead of time. To prep, assemble lasagna as directed then cover and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake and eat.
Why do I add cinnamon to lasagna?
Okay, I know it may sound weird but just trust me. By adding cinnamon to the meat mixture, it combines with the sweetness and acidity of the marinara sauce to bring a warm depth of flavor to the meaty savory sauce. Of course, you can omit it if you really aren’t into it but I promise if you give it a try you won’t regret it!
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure leave a review, tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @LaurenFitFoodie or hashtag #LaurenFitFoodie so I can see your creations!
Cottage Cheese Lasagna (with Oven-Ready Noodles)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. lean ground beef I used 92%
- 1 large yellow onion (200g) chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 14- oz. can diced tomatoes drained
- 24 oz. jar marinara sauce get a good one with lots of flavor! We like Muir Glen tomato basil
- 1.5 tsp italian seasoning
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 12 oven-ready lasagna noodles I used Barilla
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (336g)
- 2 oz. grated parmesan cheese (56g)
Cottage cheese filling:
- 24 oz. small curd cottage cheese full fat
- 1 large egg
- 2 oz. grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt & pepper each
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
- Add the ground beef and onions to a large skillet. Cook over medium-high, breaking into crumbles as you go with a wooden spoon. Drain.
- Add the garlic, stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant then add the diced tomatoes, marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, cinnamon and pepper. Stir together. Let mixture come to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes then remove from heat to cool.
- Combine all the ingredients for the cottage cheese filling in a bowl.
- Add about one cup of meat sauce to the bottom of the dish and spread out.
- Layer with 4 lasagna noodles (you can break one if needed to make it fit), then half of the cottage cheese mixture (375g). Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese (84g).
- Repeat the layers: Add half of the remaining meat mixture (520g), 4 lasagna noodles, the remaining half of the cottage cheese (375g), 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese (84g). Then add the remaining meat mixture (520g), 4 lasagna noodles, 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese (168g)
- Sprinkle the grated parmesan over top.
- Bake for 40-50 min. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes and then remove to brown the top some. Broil for a few minutes at the end if desired.
Notes
- To freeze before cooking: prepare the dish as instructed. I recommend using a disposable pan for easy storing and clean up. Once assembled, wrap tightly with plastic wrap then add a layer of aluminum foil. Label lasagna with name, date and reheating instructions (trust me you’ll thank yourself later for this extra step or especially if you’re taking to someone else). Place in freezer and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: thaw the frozen lasagna in the refrigerator overnight. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes while you preheat the oven. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until fully cooked through. If lasagna is still cold when putting in the oven, you might need to extend the cooking time a little bit.
- You can bake this lasagna from frozen but you will need to double the baking time. If you have time to thaw lasagna, I highly recommend as that much cooking time can sometimes mess with the noodles but it will still work if you forget to pull lasagna out in time.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition is hand-calculated and accurate. No autocalulations! However, note that values can vary based on the brands you use and if you substitute ingredients.
