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Short-Order Kitchen

Easy High-Protein Lasagna

By Wes Ellis2 min read
A slice of layered meat lasagna with melted cheese and herbs on a white plate.
Recipe card
Servings
5
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
20 to 30 minutes
Method
Oven
Heat
350°F
Difficulty
Medium
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 5 of the thread Out of the casserole dish

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • Cottage cheese stands in for ricotta, mixed with a little Parmesan.
  • Works with lasagna sheets or any short protein pasta.
  • 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes, just until bubbling.
  • Rest it 10 to 15 minutes or it slumps when you cut it.
THE RECIPE · EASY HIGH-PROTEIN LASAGNA

Ingredients

Meat sauce

Pasta and cheese

You'll need

  • 8x8 baking dish or similar
  • Large pot and colander
  • Large skillet

Directions

Sauce and pasta

  1. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and set aside.
  2. Brown the meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion softens. Drain if needed.
  3. Stir in the herbs, salt and pepper, then the sauce. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes.
  4. If you're using a short pasta shape, stir it into the sauce. Keep lasagna sheets separate.
  5. Mix the cottage cheese and Parmesan in a small bowl.

Layer and bake

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and grease the dish.
  2. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the dish, then a layer of pasta, then the cottage cheese mixture, then the remaining pasta and sauce.
  3. Top with the mozzarella.
  4. Bake uncovered 20 to 30 minutes, until bubbling and the cheese is lightly golden.
  5. Rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
Notes Keeps covered in the fridge for 3 to 4 days; reheat portions in the microwave or oven. Blend the cottage cheese first if you don't like the curds. Roughly 400 calories and 40 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/easy-high-protein-lasagna/

Real lasagna is an afternoon. This is a weeknight: one pound of meat, a jar of sauce, a small pan, and noodles that don't need to be perfect sheets. If you've got protein rotini in the pantry, that works fine. It eats more like a baked pasta, and nobody complains.

Cottage cheese in the middle

Cottage cheese is the swap that makes this one high-protein, and it's also milder than people expect once it's baked under sauce and mozzarella. Stir the Parmesan into it so the layer tastes like something. If the curds bother you, a few seconds in a blender turns it smooth and closer to ricotta.

Tip

Keep the cottage cheese layer in the middle, not on top. Exposed, it can weep a little liquid as it bakes.

The rest is the rest

Everything in the dish is already cooked, so the oven is just for melting and bubbling. The part that actually matters is waiting 10 to 15 minutes after it comes out. Cut it hot and it runs across the plate. If the whole point was lasagna flavor with even less effort, Viral Lasagna Soup gets there in a pot.

Try this

For something similar with chicken instead of a meat sauce, try the Chicken Parmesan Casserole. And Air Fryer Baked Pasta is the fast, single-serving cousin.

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