Eggplant Lasagna

4.98 from 101 votes

Simple to make and delicious to eat, this vegetarian gluten-free low carb eggplant lasagna is a tasty dinner that's loaded with flavor.

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This delicious vegetarian eggplant lasagna is a great meat-free and low carb dinner that the whole family will love. Perfectly cheesy, with a rich tomato and ricotta filling, it’s hearty and filling, and perfect for those following a keto lifestyle.

Eggplant lasagna in a large baking dish

Ingredients & substitutions

  • Eggplant: Eggplants are sliced lengthways to replicate sheets of lasagna noodles. Salt the eggplant to remove excess water and soften them. Here’s a quick guide on how best to cut eggplant.
  • Vegetables: Onion and garlic.
  • Seasonings: Italian seasoning, black pepper and fresh basil.
  • Marinara sauce: You can make your own marinara sauce for this recipe, or buy your favorite brand from the store.
  • Egg: Egg is used to bind together the ricotta cheese and help it to solidify so that the filling doesn’t ooze out when you serve it.
  • Cheese: We use three different cheeses for this eggplant lasagna recipe; whole milk ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella. Ricotta adds a creamy texture, mozzarella gives those great cheese pulls and parm adds the cheesy flavor. If vegetarian, use a rennet free parmesan.
Ingredients to make the recipe

RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL

How to make eggplant lasagna

prepare the eggplant

  • Slice the eggplant, place on a rack and sprinkle with salt.
  • Let sit and then pat off the excess moisture. Repeat on the other side.
2 image collage to show the eggplant slices with salt and the wiping off the released moisture with paper towel

make the marinara & ricotta mixture

  • Soften the garlic and onion with the seasonings.
  • Add the marinara sauce and fresh basil and combine.
  • Whisk the egg and add the ricotta, parmesan, basil and garlic.
  • Stir to combine.
4 image collage to show the marinara sauce cooking and bowl for mixing the ricotta mixture

layer the ingredients & bake

  • Spread some of the marinara in the bottom of a baking dish.
  • Top with eggplant slices, some overlap is totally fine.
  • Top with the ricotta mixture.
  • Add the shredded mozzarella.
  • Repeat the layers so there are three total layers.
  • Bake until golden brown and bubbling.
6 image collage to show the layering of the eggplant lasagna

Tips for making lasagna with eggplant

  1. Buy a large eggplant. This allows for the slices to be wide and long to mimic the size of lasagna sheets.
  2. Don’t skip the salting process. Eggplant has a lot of water content and will release a lot of moisture when cooked. Salting the eggplant before laying in the lasagna draws out that moisture so that the lasagna is not soggy after cooked.
  3. Cover the lasagna with foil when you bake it. If you bake it uncovered, the cheese on the top of the lasagna will burn. Bake it covered, then move under the broiler to brown the top after cooking.
  4. Make it meaty. You can easily make this with ground beef, chicken or turkey if you prefer. Brown the meat with the onions and then mix it in with the marinara sauce.

Frequently asked questions

Can you make it ahead of time?

This eggplant lasagna is a great make ahead meal. This recipe makes enough for 8 servings, so you can easily enjoy it later in the week. Once cooled, cover the lasagna and keep refrigerated for up to 5 days. Reheat it, covered with foil at 360F for around 20 minutes to warm through.

Can you freeze it?

Yes! This baked lasagna freezes really well and will keep well for up to 6 months. Reheat it straight from frozen at 360F for around 30 minutes, covered with foil for the first 20 minutes.

What do you serve it with?

This low carb lasagna is great to serve with a side of salad or veggies. Try it with:
Classic Greek Salad
Mediterranean Chopped Salad
Cauliflower Au Gratin
Green Beans with Almonds

Slice of eggplant lasagna on a plate with a fork

This delicious eggplant lasagna is a great low carb dinner option that the whole family will enjoy. It’s perfect for weekly meal prep and freezer meals to keep you on track with your lifestyle goals!

More low carb recipes :

More Lasagna Recipes

If you try this healthy-ish feel good Eggplant Lasagna recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!

Eggplant Lasagna

Simple to make and delicious to eat, this vegetarian gluten-free low carb eggplant lasagna is a tasty dinner that's loaded with flavor.
5 from 101 votes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 335
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large eggplants ends trimmed and sliced into ⅛ -inch planks
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ yellow onion finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 25 ounce jar marinara sauce
  • ½ cup finely chopped fresh basil divided, plus more for garnish
  • 1 large egg
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese whole milk
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese divided
  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F and place one rack in the middle of the oven and one rack in the upper third. Line two baking sheets with a cooling rack. Place eggplant slices on racks and season generously with salt. Let sit 15 minutes, then dab excess moisture with a paper towel. Flip eggplant slices and repeat.
  • In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened and translucent, 5 minutes. Add garlic and Italian seasoning, cooking until fragrant, 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add marinara sauce and ¼ cup fresh basil, stirring to combine. Simmer until warmed through, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk egg, then mix in ricotta, ¾ cup Parmesan, remaining ¼ cup basil, and freshly ground black pepper.
  • In a 13×9 baking dish, pour ⅓ marinara on bottom of pan. Top with ⅓ eggplant slices, then ⅓ ricotta mixture, and 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat this sequence an additional 2 times, finishing off the final sprinkling of mozzarella cheese with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan and black pepper. Lightly grease a sheet of foil and cover lasagna, greased side down, with foil. Bake on middle rack until eggplant is softened and cheese is melted, 30 minutes. Remove foil.
  • Preheat broiler to high and transfer lasagna to top rack. Broil until cheese is slightly brown and bubbling, 2-3 minutes. Remove and let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with more fresh basil and serve immediately.

Notes

Storage: Store the baked lasagna in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing: The baked eggplant lasagna will keep well in the freezer for up to 6 months. It can be reheated from frozen.

Nutrition

Calories: 335kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 85mg, Sodium: 989mg, Potassium: 694mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1077IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 633mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Cuisine Italian
Course: Main Course

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Comments

  1. Thanks for the yummy recipe (just like so many of your recipes!)

    Would it work to assemble this the night before so that it can be ready to pop in the oven the next day?

    1. You’re so welcome! Yes, this eggplant lasagna is a great make ahead meal. This recipe makes enough for 8 servings, so you can easily enjoy it later in the week. Once cooled, cover the lasagna and keep refrigerated for up to 5 days. Reheat it, covered with foil at 360F for around 20 minutes to warm through.

  2. I’m so upset the eggplant was so tough. I think roasting it before doing this should be apart of this recipe.

    1. I agree, the eggplant needs to be roasted first as mine was tough and hard to cut as well. Or possibly a longer cook time would help.
      The flavors were excellent though. I’ll definitely try it again.

  3. I’ve always use cottage cheese, which we prefer, rather than ricotta in my veggie lasagna recipes and it works very well. I have yet to try this recipe, which looks yummy, and will use cottage as a sub for ricotta with no worries.

  4. Hi Yumna,
    Can I swap the ricotta for cottage cheese , do you think? I often use cottage cheese as a low fat alternative for mozzarella in my lasagna (the mouth feel is appr the same and no-one tastes the difference when it is hot and in the middle of a lasagna), and I was wondering if I can do this instead of ricotta as well. Thanks for letting me know!