Heart healthy lasagna with spinach, lowfat cottage cheese and plant-based soy crumbles

Yes, this lasagna has a lot of cheese in it and I’m at peace with that.

Did you know lowfat cottage cheese is awesome in lasagna? I’m not saying that lowfat cottage cheese is “better than” part-skim ricotta, but it’s a convenient substitute if you happen to have cottage cheese on hand and don’t want to buy ricotta.

Protip: Boil the lasagna noodles for only 3 to 5 minutes, until they just turn flexible. This will help you avoid soggy/crunchy lasagna. Before I learned that trick, my lasagnas were always way too soggy or way too hard and crunchy. I don’t use “oven-ready” lasagna noodles, just regular ones as I haven’t had really good luck with oven-ready lasagna noodles in the past.

Print Recipe

Meatless Lasagna

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Servings: 6

Calories: 576kcal

Ingredients

12 lasagna noodles
1⅓ tablespoon olive oil (divided use)
10 ounces soy crumbles
½ yellow onion (chopped)
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
15 ounces canned tomato sauce
1 garlic clove (minced)
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
20 ounces frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups 1% low fat cottage cheese
2 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with nonstick spray and pre-heat the oven to 375 °F
Make sure the frozen spinach has been thawed, with as much liquid squeezed out as you can possibly manage to.
Boil a pot of water and cook the 12 lasagna noodles for 3-5 minutes until just slightly softened. Cook them too long and your lasagna will be mushy, don't cook them at all and your lasagna will be crunchy.
Set the noodles out flat on a plate or cutting board while you make the rest of the lasagna.
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium and cook the soy crumbles until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove the soy crumbles from the skillet and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Cook the chopped onion and minced garlic until the onion turns soft and translucent.
Add the diced tomatoes (with all liquid), the 15oz can of tomato sauce, the dried basil, the dried oregano, salt and pepper to the skillet. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then turn the heat down to low, cover the skillet with a lid, and let the tomato sauce simmer for about 15 minutes.
While the tomato sauce simmers, stir together the cottage cheese, the shredded mozzarella and spinach in a bowl.
Now, arrange the lasagna! Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish. Arrange 4 of the noodles on top of the sauce (I like to put 3 noodles lengthwise and 1 crosswise)
Put ⅓ of the tomato sauce on top of the noodles, followed by half of the cheese mixture, and half of the soy crumbles.
Arrange 4 more noodles on top of the soy crumbles (again, I like to put 3 noodles lengthwise and 1 noodle crosswise). Top the noodles with another ⅓ of the tomato sauce, half of the cheese mixture, and half of the soy crumbles.
Arrange 4 more noodles on top, and top with the remaining ⅓ of the tomato sauce.
Cover the casserole dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 375 °F for about 35-40 minutes.
Remove the foil, sprinkle the 2 ounces of Parmesan cheese over the top. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes, until the cheese has melted.