Okay, let's talk lasagna, peeps. Ooey, gooey, hearty, satisfying, amaaaazeballs lasagna.
Mouth watering yet? Did we just become lasagna buddies? Eh hem...well, mine is, at least.
I love love LOVE lasagna. And who doesn't love a good sweet potato recipe.
But, I also love staying near and dear to my healthy routine. Because, when I get outta whack, I feel grumpy and icky and blobby and, you know...just not right.
So, I decided it was time to make my own version of lasagna that I could really get behind: a healthy lasagna that was actually good for me. Not loaded with empty carbs, high saturated fat, and all the usual suspects that my mind tells me I want.
Instead, I made a sweet potato lasagna that (woohoo) was loaded with protein, fiber, calcium, and other delicious nutrients.
Biggest win of the day, though?
The absolute dreaminess of this sweet potato lasagna.
I mean...we're talking about LASAGNA here. It's hard to imagine I would enjoy something that didn't have lasagna noodles, that didn't have layers upon layers of luscious ricotta cheese. And, alas, it's true. Pinky swears.
The thinly sliced sweet potatoes are awesome. They work perfectly as a replacement of lasagna noodles. I try to cook them until they're just about tender so they hold up some.
If you don't yet have a mandolin, I highly recommend getting yourself one. They're pretty cheap and they're so helpful to get those even, thin slices which is key to making the lasagna slices so they cook evenly. You can pull it off using a sharp knife, but a mandolin will make it loads easier and more precise.
I also replaced the ricotta cheese with cottage cheese which is chock full of protein and tastes great as an alternative. Soooo goood!
So, if you're into the whole pasta carby yumminess thing, but also wanting to stop eating all the mindless, empty carbs, give this here recipe and try and make your mind, body, and tastebuds happy.
Oh, and if you're looking for another sneaky and healthy way to get your pasta fix, I got this crazy good quinoa penne pasta casserole that will blow your mind. Totes yummy and healthy! Woot woot!
Sweet Potato Lasagna
Sweet Potato Lasagna
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes thinly sliced
- 1 ½ lbs lean ground pork
- 1 egg
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 2 ½ cups tomato sauce/marinara
- 8 cremini mushrooms sliced
- ½ yellow onions diced
- 2 clove garlic minced
- ⅓ cup chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 oz mozzarella
Instructions
- First, preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Now, slice the sweet potatoes very thin, approx. ⅛ - 1/16 of an inch. (You can either use a mandolin or a sharp knife.) The more uniform the better so they cook evenly.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese with the egg and and finely chopped italian parsley. Mix well and then set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Once hot, add the lean ground pork, dried oregano, dried thyme, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Cook this until it becomes well-browned, which should take 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Once the meat is well-browned, remove it from the pan and set aside. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat from the pork. If you have more than that, you can discard the rest.
- Add diced yellow onion and cook it over medium-high heat until it starts to become tender.
- Then, add in the cremini mushrooms and cook for an additional 4-6 minutes, or until the mushrooms start to become tender.
- Add in minced garlic and cook for one more minute, until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Return the cooked pork and add the tomato sauce into the pan and stir to combine. Once this is heated through, remove from the heat.
- To assemble the lasagna, use a 9x16 casserole dish and create the first layer with the sweet potato slices. Make sure to overlap each slice to create an even layer.
- Pour out half the meat sauce over the sweet potato slices and spread out evenly.
- Pour out half of the cottage cheese mixture over the meat sauce and spread evenly. (It’s okay if it doesn’t look perfect - it will still be super tasty.)
- Repeat these three steps with another layer of sweet potato slices, meat sauce, and then the cottage cheese.
- Top with a thin layer of sliced fresh mozzarella and then cover with tin foil.
- Place in the oven bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the sweet potato slices are almost fully tender. If you have thicker slices it may take longer.
Video
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links for products I use frequently and highly recommend.
Becca
I recommend fully to add sliced sweet potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil for 3 minutes, then to rinse in cold water. That way you won't have crunchy sweet potato layers and it will be softer like the original texture of lasagna noodles.
I, also, highly recommend to use Ricotta Cheese (instead of cottage cheese) so that it follows the authentic Italian lasagna dish and gives it the real lasagna taste.
I used italian sausage that I chopped up and sauted first, instead of pork. Added 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of dried sage.
Lastly, I got 3 layers out of this dish.
DIane Kinn
I had the lasagna in the oven 1 hour and 15 minutes. The sweet potatoes are still crunchy! Now I turned the oven to 425! I set the timer for 20 more minutes. We’ll see how it is. I’m disgusted! The taste is good but we’re hungry! The sweet potatoes are cut 1/16 inch
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