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.
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 (mine was just $14!) 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
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground pork
- 1 egg
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce/marinara
- 8 cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 yellow onions diced
- 2 clove garlic minced
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 8 oz mozzarella
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First, preheat your oven to 375 F.
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Now, slice the sweet potatoes very thin, approx. 1/8 - 1/16 of an inch. (You can either use a mandolin or a sharp knife.) The more uniform the better so they cook evenly.
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In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese with the egg and and finely chopped italian parsley. Mix well and then set aside.
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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.
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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.
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Add diced yellow onion and cook it over medium-high heat until it starts to become tender.
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Then, add in the cremini mushrooms and cook for an additional 4-6 minutes, or until the mushrooms start to become tender.
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Add in minced garlic and cook for one more minute, until the garlic becomes fragrant.
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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.
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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.
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Pour out half the meat sauce over the sweet potato slices and spread out evenly.
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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.)
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Repeat these three steps with another layer of sweet potato slices, meat sauce, and then the cottage cheese.
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Top with a thin layer of sliced fresh mozzarella and then cover with tin foil.
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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.
Recipe Video
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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.
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
Yikes, that’s strange. I haven’t had that issue with the sweet potatoes being too crunchy. I do like them being somewhat firm so they hold up. Next time, I’d recommend pre-baking them longer so they aren’t as difficult to cook in the lasagna.
i liked the recipe! i would give it 3.5 stars only because the sweet potatoes were still crunchy despite me cooking them a bit longer. I added red pepper chili flakes to give it a bit more flavor. yum! thank you. i don’t get to eat lasagne due to a gluten allergy so this was great!
Very tasty. I just made it for dinner tonight. I added a little fresh basil. My only criticism is that it is quite watery. I’m hoping as it cools, the water will absorb.
Omg…..I devoured it😋
I didn’t have all the ingredients so I had to make some substitutions. I used sauteed leeks and carmelized onions, andoulle sausage mixed with ground beef, mixed cottage cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta cheese,( I didn’t have enough ricotta). I did my best to slice the potatoes uniform…next time I’ll use a mandoline slicer. I will definitely make it again👍
Tks for improving my food choices. Allergic to flour and dairy, but can make substitutions..
I eat Sweet Potatoes every day…God Bless you.
This looks tasty. Can a slice the sweet potato the day before assembling the lasagna?
Planning on making this within the next few days! It looks great! Out of curiosity, why did you use cottage cheese rather than ricotta cheese? Is it healthier?
Yes, it is healthier and an easy swap for more protein and less fat. Cottage cheese has a similar taste, fewer calories and less fat than ricotta cheese (81 calories and 1 gram of fat for low-fat cottage cheese vs. ricotta, which has 171 calories and 10 grams of fat). Hope that help explain it. Enjoy!!
The italian way to do it is definitely ricotta cheese and that’s what I am doing. It gives lasagna an off-italian taste with cottage cheese
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I have mushroom and pork allergies so I just modified the sauce. I use mostly diced tomatoes for the sauce to make up for the lack of mushrooms. For the meat, I use about 1 lb of lean ground pork and about 1/2 lb of turkey meatballs in my sauce. The flavor is amazing!
I’ve made it twice now and also had an issue with my sweet potatoes not cooking enough. This time, I baked them for a little while before hand, but I’m still going to have to cook it for about 55 minutes to get my desired tenderness – it doesn’t hurt anything else in the lasagna to cook a little longer.
Did you partially precook the sweet potatoes? And if so, what method did you use?
I show exactly how I did it in the video so you can know for sure 🙂
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I had a heart attack last week and have been having trouble keeping my blood sugar down without meds. I’ve been searching for cardiac/diabetic friendly recipes that are tasty and not full of the veggie I hate (most of them, unfortunately). My hubs and I made this and I’m just eating it now, it’s so wonderful. Thank you. <3
Can I freeze this in portions as well?
Lasagna has been sounding so good lately.
Ooo and I agree. Way tooo many pop ups on your website!
I made this last night and it was delicious!!!! I love the fact that you make your own tomato sauce which is also delicious. Thanks for sharing!
It was delicious. Two things. Many of the sweet potatoes didn’t cook and after coming out of the oven it was very full of juice. Not sure where the juice came from as I used very lean meat. Definitely will make again,
What about a vegetarian version? No animal flesh for us in our food. We try our best to eat cruelty-free. Thank you.
I’ve made this a few times, with different variations of meat and cheeses, and all were a hit. Thanks for a great recipe!
Make without meat then?
I made this last night and it was delicious. However, I was left with a lot of liquid in the dish. I followed the recipe. Did you have that problem? Thx!
Your website has too many popups and ads! It’s quite annoying when all I want to do is see the recipe.
Hope this helps!
What creative way to make lasagna. I love sweet potatoes so I will have to give this one a try.
Yay! So glad you think so 🙂
This looks so good, I am going to try it! Why did you choose pork over beef? Just curious – I don’t usually cook ground pork
Good question, Sarah. I tend to like lean ground pork in lasagna for some reason – the flavor is a little lighter and seems to scream lasagna to me lol. Ground beef would work very well, too, if you’d prefer. 🙂