Lasagna With Cottage Cheese Instead of Ricotta

Lasagna with cottage cheese is the version I make most, and not only because the tub is cheaper than ricotta. Blended low-fat cottage cheese turns into a smooth, tangy layer that tastes like the classic, with more protein and far less fat. The catch is water: dump it in straight from the tub and the pan can turn soupy. This recipe fixes that, and gives you 8 big slices at about 417 calories and 33 g protein each.

It uses lean ground beef, a jar of marinara, a bag of baby spinach and regular boiled noodles. Prep takes about 25 minutes, then the oven does the rest.

Ingredients

Makes: one 9×13-inch pan, 8 slices. Prep: 25 minutes. Cook: 1 hour. Rest: 15 minutes.

• 12 lasagna noodles (about 9 oz / 255 g dry)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 5 oz (142 g) baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion (110 g), diced
• 1 lb (454 g) 93% lean ground beef
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jar (24 oz / 680 g) marinara sauce
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 16 oz (454 g) low-fat 2% cottage cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup (50 g) grated parmesan, divided
• 2 cups (8 oz / 226 g) shredded part-skim mozzarella
• Black pepper and fresh basil, to finish

No added salt. Between the marinara, cottage cheese and two cheeses, the pan is seasoned enough. Taste the sauce before you layer and add a pinch only if your brand is mild.

How to make lasagna with cottage cheese

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Boil the noodles 2 minutes less than the package says, drain, rinse with cool water and lay them flat on an oiled sheet pan so they don’t stick together.
2. Warm a large skillet over medium heat and wilt the spinach in it, about 2 minutes. Tip it into a colander and press out as much water as you can with a spoon.
3. Add the olive oil and onion to the same skillet and cook for 4 minutes. Add the beef, break it up and cook until no pink remains, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then the marinara and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Blend the cottage cheese for 20 seconds until smooth (or mash it hard with a fork). Stir in the egg, 1/4 cup parmesan, the squeezed spinach and a few grinds of pepper.
5. Spread 1 cup of meat sauce in a 9×13-inch dish. Layer 4 noodles, half the cottage cheese filling, a third of the remaining sauce and 2/3 cup mozzarella. Repeat once. Finish with the last 4 noodles, the rest of the sauce, the remaining mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan.
6. Cover with foil sprayed with a little oil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the edges bubble and the top is spotted brown.
7. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before cutting into 8 slices. Scatter basil on top and serve.

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How to keep cottage cheese lasagna from getting watery

Watery lasagna is the number one complaint with cottage cheese, and it almost never comes from the cheese alone. It’s the sum of a few small leaks:

• Raw spinach. Fresh spinach releases a lot of liquid in the oven. Wilting and squeezing it first is the single biggest fix.
• Loose curds. Blending makes a smooth, creamy layer and the egg binds it as it bakes, so it sets like ricotta instead of weeping.
• Thin sauce. The 5-minute simmer cooks off some water. If your marinara is very runny, give it 5 more.
• Cutting too soon. A lasagna sliced straight from the oven always slumps. Fifteen minutes of rest lets the layers firm up.

If you prefer the classic small-curd look, you can skip blending. Drain the cottage cheese in a fine sieve for 15 minutes instead, and keep the egg.

Cottage cheese vs ricotta in lasagna

Yes, you can swap cottage cheese for ricotta one for one by weight. Here is how the two compare per 100 g, using USDA data:

Per 100 g	Low-fat 2% cottage cheese	Whole milk ricotta
Calories	81	150
Protein	10.4 g	7.5 g
Fat	2.3 g	10.2 g
Carbs	4.8 g	7.3 g
Sodium	308 mg	110 mg

Across the whole 16-ounce tub, that swap saves about 310 calories and 36 g of fat and adds about 13 g of protein. Per slice, it’s roughly 40 fewer calories and 4.5 g less fat.

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The trade-off is salt: cottage cheese has almost three times the sodium of ricotta. That’s why this recipe skips added salt. If you’re watching sodium, look for a no-salt-added cottage cheese and a lower-sodium marinara.

Taste-wise, cottage cheese is a little tangier and saltier, and blended it’s actually smoother than most grocery-store ricotta. Under sauce and mozzarella, most people at the table won’t notice. If you like cottage cheese in savory dishes, try this cottage cheese pizza bowl on a night you don’t want to wait an hour.

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Nutrition per slice

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central per-100 g values for every ingredient (raw beef, dry pasta, ready-to-serve marinara, 2% cottage cheese, part-skim mozzarella, grated parmesan, egg, spinach, onion, garlic and olive oil), divided into 8 slices:

• Calories: 417
• Protein: 33 g
• Carbs: 37 g
• Fat: 15 g
• Fiber: 3 g

Your numbers will move a little with your marinara brand and how much fat you drain from the beef. Cut the pan into 10 or 12 pieces for smaller portions: at 12, each slice is about 278 calories and 22 g protein. For more dinners in this range, see these high protein recipes ranked by protein per calorie.

Easy swaps and variations

• Ground turkey: Use 93% lean ground turkey in place of the beef. Add 1/2 tsp fennel seed to the sauce for a sausage-like flavor.
• Vegetarian: Skip the meat and cook 1 lb chopped mushrooms and 1 diced zucchini with the onion until their liquid evaporates.
• No-boil noodles: Use 12 oven-ready sheets and add 1/2 cup water to the sauce, since they absorb liquid as they bake. Keep the foil on for the full first 25 minutes.
• Whole wheat: Whole wheat lasagna noodles add fiber and a nutty taste that works well with spinach.
• Cottage cheese and ricotta: Can’t decide? Use 8 oz of each. You keep a classic texture and still cut some fat.
• More vegetables: Fold a cup of grated zucchini (squeezed dry) into the meat sauce.

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Make ahead, storage and freezing

Make ahead: Assemble the lasagna, cover it tightly and refrigerate it overnight. Bake it straight from the fridge, adding about 10 minutes to the covered time. The ground beef should be cooked the day you buy it or the next, since FoodSafety.gov gives raw ground meat only 1 to 2 days in the fridge.

Leftovers: Keep baked lasagna in the fridge and eat it within 3 to 4 days, in line with the FoodSafety.gov cold storage chart for cooked meat dishes and casseroles. Slices reheat well in the microwave, covered, for about 2 minutes. That makes a pan a solid Sunday project for weekday lunches.

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Freezer: Freeze baked, cooled slices individually wrapped for 2 to 3 months for best quality. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat until hot all the way through. This recipe fits right into a freezer meal prep afternoon.

What to serve with it

Lasagna is rich enough that it only needs something green and crunchy next to it: a big Caesar-style salad with a yogurt dressing, roasted broccoli, or green beans with lemon. It also earns a spot on a weeknight rotation of healthy fall dinners and works as a family-friendly dinner that kids eat without a fight.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values via getfoodfacts.com: cottage cheese, lowfat 2% (172182), ricotta, whole milk (170851), ground beef 93% lean, raw (173110), pasta, dry, enriched (169736), marinara sauce (171192), mozzarella, part skim (170847), parmesan, grated (171247), egg (171287), spinach (168462), onion (170000), garlic (169230), olive oil (171413).
• FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart.