Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups
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Swap out the lasagna noodles for zucchini. It’s LOW CARB & so much healthier! You won’t miss the noodles at all!
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Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So when I made this for dinner one night, Ben said, “Oh, wow. This doesn’t suck.” I didn’t know what to make of that reaction. Then, about 3 minutes and 22 seconds later, he said, “Babe, I don’t know where this ranks in the things you’ve made but this definitely makes top 5.”
So that should basically summarize what this meal is all about.
We swap out the lasagna noodles for zucchini and roll them up in everything that is good in life – crumbled sausage, ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, which is then baked in a pool of marinara sauce.
With everything that’s happening here, you won’t even miss the lasagna noodles. I promise. Plus, it’s low-carb, it makes enough to feed an army, and it is DUDE-friendly.
tips and tricks for success
- Salt the zucchini. Because zucchini has a high water content (94% water), salting the zucchini beforehand will help draw out the excess water, making it firmer and avoiding mushy, limp zucchini.
- Use your favorite meat. Italian sausage, ground beef, chicken or turkey will all work well here.
- Make ahead of time. Lasagna is a great dish to make ahead of time. Prep and assemble overnight, covered with aluminum foil and stored in the fridge.
- Freeze before baking. This will preserve the texture and prevent sogginess. Always use a freezer-safe baking dish, label, date and freeze up to 2 months.
what to serve with zucchini lasagna roll ups
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups: Frequently Asked Questions
Zucchini can vary so much in size but 3 large zucchini should be about 2 pounds.
Zucchini is very high in water and the salt will help draw out excess water.
Ground beef, chicken or turkey can be used instead of Italian sausage.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
You can use your favorite kind of marinara sauce but we personally love Rao’s.
You can assemble ahead of time and store in the refrigerator, up to 24 hours in advance, baking right before serving.
Yes! Let cool completely; cover the roll ups tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Freeze up to 2 months. For the best results, we recommend assembling, freezing then baking to help prevent any sogginess. But if you’ve already baked your roll ups, no worries at all – it can still be frozen!
Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
- 3 large zucchini, trimmed and sliced lengthwise into 24 ⅛-inch-thick strips
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- 1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce, divided
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Lay zucchini slices flat in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Season with salt, to taste; let stand 15 minutes.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- In a medium bowl, combine sausage, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, basil and garlic; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spread 1 cup marinara sauce sauce onto the bottom of a large cast iron skillet over; set aside.
- Spread 1 tablespoon ricotta mixture evenly along each zucchini slice; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon mozzarella cheese. Roll up and place in the prepared skillet; repeat with remaining zucchini slices and filling. Top with remaining 1/2 cup marinara sauce and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.
- Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lasagna rolls are heated through and the cheese is beginning to brown.
- Serve immediately.
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I was checking out your lasagna roll up recipe and I don’t see what to do with sausage after cooking it. Do I mix it in sauce?
Check in step #3…says to combine sausage, ricotta, parmesan,……..
I love this recipe… I made some modifications because we need low Fodmap and gluten free. We also love the air fryer. … their suggestion is more for me so that I don’t forget it and can come back here…lol.
Couldn’t find a way to save these modifications, so I’m sending i here. I decided to do this in the air fryer. I put a piece of non-stick foil in the bottom of the fryer. I par-broiled the zucchini in advance for two minutes to make it easier to roll. I dried it per instructions and then filled each slice with ricotta mixture but put some extra mozzarella in it and some gluten free bread crumbs. This seemed to hold it together in the air fryer. I also saved the sauce for dipping instead of putting it in the airfryer. After I put the fillings in, I rolled it in an egg to coat it prior to rolling it in gluten free bread crumbs. I then put a toothpick in it and placed it perpendicular onto the foil inside the airfryer. I airfried it after spraying it with Pam olive oil for 16 minutes. Then I added some mozzarella on top and airfried it again for three minutes until melted. Then I plaTed it with a side of marinara dipping sauce pepper the recipe.
Wow! This is a little labor intensive, but SO GOOD, made a lot, and the leftovers heated nicely. Even my antiallthingsveggie friend came back for seconds. This recipe is a keeper! My italian sausage came in a 1lb pack, so I made the recipe as written but sprinkled the remaining 1/4lb on top. Delicious!
So delicious! A great alternative to pasta!
Very satisfying dinner! I skipped the sausage and cut the total amount of shredded mozzarella to one cup. I mixed the entire cup of mozzarella into the ricotta mixture. Because I did that, I spread about 2 Tbsp of the mixture onto each slice of zucchini instead of 1. Used homemade sauce.
Love this recipe!! Even my my 11-year old son loved it. Will def be in my rotation.
What a dish!!! My family loved it so much that I need to make it again for my daughter’s birthday meal. Bit of work but it’s all worth it! I added some crushed pepper while I sauté the sausage.
Great Crowd Pleaser and vegetable trojan horse! First, the recipe is great as is. But if you’re looking to branch out from the basic, here are some things i’ve done slightly differently: The first time I made this, the zucchini was still a little crunchy – still good and very edible, but it wasn’t as much like noodles (for the veggie-averse in my household). So tonight I put the zucchini slices in the oven at 350 while I browned the sausage then let them cool while i assembled the filling. much easier to roll, and softer in the finished recipe. I also threw some chopped mushrooms i needed to use up in with the sausage while it browned. I didn’t have fresh basil, so i used about 1/2 tsp dried (fresh is definitely better if you have it). and i chopped up two big handfuls of fresh spinach and added that to the filling. I wound up with more filling than zucchini, i think because of the mushrooms and spinach, plus i think i had more sausage than the recipe calls for, so i also added a bit more ricotta to keep the same ratio…anyway, i had the idea to make little rolls with cabbage leaves for the leftover filling. If you do this, you should probably blanch the cabbage first, it was fine flavor-wise, but didn’t cut well. Anyway – this is a great recipe, and easy to doctor to use up stuff or sneak in more vegetables. Next time, i think i’ll add some crushed red pepper flakes as another reviewer suggested. Thanks for the recipe!
So delicious! Tastes just like Lasagna! I used chicken sausage and it was absolutely amazing. Used my mandolin to slice the zucchini. Unfortunately I bought organic zucchini so they were on the small side and had to use a 13×9 pan but everything was still very tasty! Will make again for sure!
You need really big slicer
And I run of stuffing earlier then my zucchini. But it was really good
So did i.
Made this several times and always incredible! After eating lasagna I usually feel really heavy and like I need to sleep for a while but not with this recipe! The zucchini complements the ricotta so nicely and it tastes like lasagna without the carb overload. Also super easy to store which is great because I cook for one. Awesome recipe!
I didn’t use the recipe as is, but I followed it as a guide. I added fresh parsley, used turkey Italian sausage, and used my own homemade sauce. I’m a spicy person so adding some giardiniera or red pepper flakes adds the kick I need. I love Damn Delicious!
I also appreciate that I don’t have to scroll scroll scroll to get to the recipe!
I’m always surprised when we prepare a recipe that’s heavy on a vegetable (the zucchini), and my husband says, “This recipe is a keeper.“ (He usually doesn’t say those things about anything involving vegetables.) I’m still laughing as I type this. I admit he found a sweet pork sausage in the freezer, cooked it separately and added it to half of the the ricotta mixture. (I avoid pork or all meat.)
Thanks again for another Delicious recipe!
Made these last night with my 16 yo, they came out wonderfully- tasted great and kept their shape nicely, I would agree we didn’t miss the noodles! We did 1/2 and 1/2 sweet Italian sausage and ground beef- so good! Baked them in a 9×13 glass pan.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Loved this! I used 1 zucchini in my KitchenAid sheet cutter. It made about 12 6” rolls. I let sit and salted to remove excess water and dried off with paper towels. I spread on the ricotta/cheese mixture (1 small ricotta container ) and added the sautéed sausage with the leftover zucchini core and scraps of zucchini not worthy of a sheet with 2 jalapeños diced. I added the sausage mixture on top of the ricotta mixture and rolled up. I cooked in the air fryer for 30 minutes on 320 until 165 degrees was reached. I added a chopped peeled seeded tomato on top the last 10 minutes or so and added more shredded cheese after it was done to melt while I heated jarred marinara in the microwave to top off. I don’t think I changed it much but used different preparations. Yum! I layered them flat in an air fryer pan accessory. Definitely a yearly recipe!
I made this tonight for the first time. I was a bit hesitant, but based on the rave reviews I thought it was worth a try. I made 12 “noodles” (With a wire cheese slicer) and used the same amount of ricotta filling as specified for 24 (Minus the sausage plus a little pesto), slathered it on very generously, and added some remaining ricotta spoonfuls on top of each roll. They rolled up very well in spite of all the cheese mixture, and stayed intact throughout the baking!
This did not disappoint! My husband who is not a zucchini or summer squash fan loved it just as much as I did! This will be a regular on the dinner rotation. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This looks AMAZING! I’m going to give it a try this week and see what my family thinks. Thanks for the idea!
Made it last night. My roll ups weren’t as pretty as your, but the taste was phenomenal. I used 3 vegetarian sausages in the mix and full fat ricotta. Everything was organic and it tasted like lasagna! We loved it! Keep the vegetarian dishes coming.
Thank you for an amazing dish,
Wonderful! We are doing WW so made a few substitutions (such as 1% cottage cheese for the ricotta) and ground beef for the sausage, but it was superb! We had an 11 pound zucchini that was hiding in our garden so this was a great way to use it. Will definitely make again!
Really good recipe! A good way to include my garden’s zucchini into a great dish!