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Lasagna is a quintessential comfort food, but there's nothing nutritious about white noodles layered with fatty ground meat and gobs of cheese. Fortunately it's possible to indulge in this Italian favorite without inhaling 800-plus calories and more than a day's worth of sodium and saturated fat in a single serving.
Try one – or all – of these five ingredient swaps and add-ins for a lasagna that you can actually feel good about serving to your family.
Noodles. Switching to whole wheat lasagna noodles adds a boost of belly-filling fiber, but keep in mind that the carbs and calories are essentially the same as white noodles.
And the same goes for gluten-free options. Most are made with ingredients like rice, cornstarch, and potato flour, and some even have 25 percent more carbs and calories than traditional lasagna noodles.
One of my favorite ways to really lighten up your favorite lasagna recipe is to use eggplant in place of noodles for a savings of 200 calories and 40 grams of carbs per serving. I've seen recipes that call for eggplant with or without skin, though skinless eggplant slices can more easily be passed off as lasagna 'noodles'.
Just peel and slice eggplant into quarter-inch slices, brush with olive oil and roast until golden, then layer just as you would regular lasagna noodles.
Zucchini slices and Portobello mushrooms can also be used in place of pasta, though their firmer texture means they're not as subtle a noodle replacer as eggplant.
Meat. Instead of ground chuck, use extra-lean (at least 93 percent) ground beef or bison, or ground turkey breast for 40 percent fewer calories and 65 percent less saturated fat. Or make a Lent-friendly lasagna with shrimp, crab, scallops crawfish, all of which have less than half the calories of even extra-lean ground beef. Or go entirely meatless but still keep it protein-rich by using ground-meat-style soy crumbles (e.g. Boca or Morningstar Farms).
Cheese. Whether your lasagna recipe calls for ricotta, mozzarella, or cottage cheese (or a blend of all three), use the reduced-fat versions for fewer calories and 50 percent less animal-based saturated fat. I generally steer clear of any type of fat-free cheese, though, since the flavor, texture and melting ability just isn't as good.
Red sauce. Make your own sauce with whole tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, and oregano, and you get to control how much salt or sugar is added. If you're using a premade red sauce, look for one that's low in sodium with no added sugar. My favorite is Sal and Judy's Heart Smart Italian Sauce , which has just two grams of sugar (naturally occurring from the tomatoes, no added sugar) and 250 mg of sodium – much lower than the 7 to 10 grams of sugar and 360 to 410 mg of sodium found in many other 'heart smart' pasta sauces.
Add-ins. Layer in as many veggies as possible. Not only are they loaded with nutrients, they also add volume to lasagna for a minimal amount of calories. Mix things up with vegetables like mushrooms and spinach, as well as roasted veggies like zucchini, squash, and red, yellow, and orange peppers. You can even add a little cauliflower puree to ricotta cheese or carrot puree to tomato sauce to pump up the antioxidant benefits.
I love this lower-carb, lower-calorie lasagna by Sodexo Executive Chef Marc Gilberti of Ochsner Health System's Cafe Zucchini.
Eggplant Lasagna
Makes 12 servings
2 medium eggplants, peeled, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 medium onion, diced
1 pound ground beef (at least 93 percent lean), browned
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper
16 ounces jarred pasta sauce (such as Sal and Judy's Heart Smart Italian Sauce)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9- by- 13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Place a layer of eggplant covering the bottom of the dish.
Layer 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1 cup cottage cheese, half of the diced onion, half the ground meat, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, and salt and pepper to taste. Repeat layers. Finish with a third layer of eggplant slices.
Top with jar of pasta sauce, spreading evenly over the dish. Sprinkle with parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes, until golden brown.
Per serving: 210 calories, 8 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 9 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber 25 grams protein.
Molly Kimball is a registered dietitian in New Orleans. She can be reached at eatingright@nola.com. Comment and read more at Nola.com/health.
