Turkey and Spinach Veggie Lasagna
Lightened-up, skinny lasagna with ground turkey and plenty of vegetables – carrots, onion, zucchini and spinach!
This jet lag is no joke. I’ve been up at 3AM consistently all week. After all, I’ve been in three different time zones the last few weeks.
So here I am, stuffing my face into this lasagna at 4:34AM.
Because technically, it’s 2:34PM in Cape Town, which makes it lunch time. Plus, this has veggies, cheese, pasta and some more cheese.
Turkey and Spinach Veggie Lasagna
Lightened-up, skinny lasagna with ground turkey and plenty of vegetables - carrots, onion, zucchini and spinach!
Ingredients
- 9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 zucchinis, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 12 ounces ground turkey
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 15-ounce package reduced-fat ricotta
- 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 ½ cups reduced-fat shredded mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, zucchinis and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in ground turkey and cook until turkey has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the turkey as it cooks; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drain excess fat.
- Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste and Italian seasoning until well combined; bring to a simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, Parmesan and egg; set aside.
- Spread 1 cup tomato mixture onto the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish; top with 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat with a second layer. Top with remaining noodles, tomato mixture and remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.*
- Place into oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until bubbling. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until top is browned in spots.
- Let cool 15 minutes. Serve, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
*MAKE-AHEAD: Cover lasagna tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. To bake, remove plastic wrap, cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until completely cooked through.
*TO FREEZE: Cover lasagna tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. To bake, remove plastic wrap, cover and bake for 90 minutes. Uncover; bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until completely cooked through.
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This is the all time best healthy lasagna I’ve ever made. I added mushrooms and that is the perfect addition and used no bake noodles. I shared this with my friend and now she’s making it at least twice a month. Thank you for adding a delicious meal to my list of healthy recipes.
I never remember to leave reviews… I have made this time and time again and it’s so good!! I use no boil noodles and to make my life a bit easier I use jarred sauce and it always turned out great! Thanks so much for another amazing recipe. I know anything I make off your site will for sure be damn delicious!!!
If I want to freeze this, do I bake it before freezing, freeze, then bake again?
Can I omit egg? Or should I substitute it with something else and what quantity?
I’m married to an Italian, his Mom has always made the best Lasagna, not as healthy as this recipe. I was excited to try an healthier version, loved your recipe, I did make a couple of changes, sauce needed a little more flavor, I added around 4 ounces of Roa’s marinara, also Zucchini was added last so it would not become to soft. It was absolutely delicious!!
I made this recipe exactly as written and it was delicious! It makes a lot of lasagna and so froze half of it in individual containers after baking. Thanks for the great recipe.
Delicious I made it in my Ninja Grill XL on Bake mode.
I used Hearts of Palm lasagna noodles for a gluten free option. Absolutely delicious! I will be making this one again. Thank you.
Plan to make this. Can I use fresh baby spinach?
I use fresh baby spinach every time I make this.
I use Chickapea brand chick pea lasagna noodles. They are delicious and gluten free for those who eat that way. You also don’t have to pre-cook the noodles.
Really good! The whole family loved it.
Good, but I strongly recommend to adjust the acidity of your sauce and brown your meet separately from the veggies.
LASAGNA is really delicious, you must not miss it :))))
This has been my go-to lasagna recipe for a few years now. I love that it includes lots of veggies and ground turkey, but still tastes rich and decadent (probably thanks to the amazing ricotta filling, go full fat!). I usually use no boil noodles with great success and have made it vegetarian a few times by swapping the turkey for minced mushrooms.
That’s a great idea i’ll try that!
Thank you ! This turned out damn delicious! I love several of your recipes.
I just made this tonight and it is delicious!! I used fresh baby spinach because that’s what I have but it was yummy yum yum!! I think I put extra garlic also
Looks delicious! I’m planning to make this for a family gathering. To clarify, only the bottom and top layers have the tomato mixture?
This was absolutely delicious! I used low fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta (just not a fan of that flavor). Also used tomato sauce instead of paste since I used oven ready noodles which require extra water for baking. Thanks for the recipe!!!
I made this tonight with oven ready noodles and fresh spinach. It was great. My husband raved about it and we’re excited to have the leftovers for this week!
I am on my third time making this! I double the recipe and also ground up beef and sweet sausage.
This was FABULOUS!!!! So excited to have a new healthy recipe. This is way better than regular beef lasagna.
I’m planning on making this for a meal train family that doesn’t eat red meat so the turkey is perfect! Since it’s two adults & a toddler I don’t think they need a full 9×13 pan. If I do two 9 x 5 loaf pans (one ready to eat & one for the freezer) do you think baking times need to be adjusted?
Yes, baking time may have to be adjusted accordingly. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications. Good luck!
Okay, let me rephrase. If I am splitting the recipe in half, by how much does the cooking time need to be reduced? 20, 15, 10 minutes?
Kasey, unfortunately without further recipe testing, we cannot advise the appropriate cooking time when halving the recipe at this time.
Update: the recipe as listed above will make two 8×8 pans with 4 layers of noodles each. From the fridge overnight I baked at 350 for 1 hour covered, then broiled uncovered for 8 minutes. Came out perfectly. I also added half of a red bell pepper in with the sauce because it needed to be used.
Toddler happily are it and parents both enjoyed it and were pleased at veggie content. I think I’ll try this with zucchini noodles next time!