This recipe was my first go round cooking with eggplant. It is a really popular low carb vegetable, but one I have never really used in my own personal kitchen. It was one of those foods that I always said I didn’t like, when in actuality I had never tried it. I had seen a lot of low carb eggplant recipes floating around and would always say NOPE. I don’t like it. So basically I was acting like a 5 year old. 🙂 Boy, was I wrong. It is delicious. Especially when made into a low carb lasagna recipe.
So what better way to try it out for the first time than covered in cheesy, saucy low carb goodness. If you are not a fan of eggplant but are really missing lasagna since switching to a low carb lifestyle, then I have some amazing options for you as well. How about Low Carb Lasagna Stuffed Peppers? Or maybe my “Just Like the Real Thing” Low Carb Lasagna. Those have both been real crowd pleasers. They come kid and husband approved! Or better yet, try my Low Carb Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna. The ham, chicken and swiss cheese come together in perfect harmony to make a delicious spin on low carb lasagna.
For this recipe I left the skin on the lasagna, but you can certainly peel it before cooking. I left it on to help the eggplant stand up to the sauce and the cheese and to prevent it from turning to mush. It really seemed to help.
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Eggplant Lasagna with Meat Sauce – Low Carb, Gluten Free
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes 8 Servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 6 cups Hearty Tomato Meat Sauce (get recipe here)
- 2 cups full fat ricotta cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 8 small fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Cut ends off eggplants and slice lengthwise in ¼ inch slices. You should end up with about 10 slices total.
- Brush each slice of eggplant with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Bake about 7 minutes each side.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan and basil. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Pour 2 cups of sauce into the bottom of an 8×13 baking dish. Spread into an even layer. On top of the sauce, layer half of the eggplant slices.
- Layer on half of the ricotta mixture, spreading evenly across the entire dish. Sprinkle ½ cup mozzarella cheese on top of the ricotta mixture.
- Pour 2 cups of meat sauce on top of the cheese and spread in an even layer across the entire dish. Layer the remaining eggplant on top of the sauce.
- Layer second half of the ricotta mixture, spreading evenly across the entire dish. Sprinkle ½ cup mozzarella cheese on top of the ricotta mixture.
- Pour remaining 2 cups of meat sauce on top of the cheese and spread in an even layer across the entire dish.
- Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese evenly across the entire dish. Sprinkle oregano on top of cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and broil on high 5-8 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.
Notes
Per Serving – Calories: 330 | Fat: 20g | Protein: 29g | Net Carbs: 9g
Anonymous says
I made this recipe and it was delicious! I added a little spicy Italian sausage to my meat sauce to give it a kick. Next time I make it, I will remove all the eggplant skin because it can be a little harder to cut through. Also be sure to cut your eggplant slices thin enough that they get cooked fully. I might also consider adding some slices of zucchini in addition!
Julia says
I LOVE this recipe and have made it 3 times already. I’ve started adding sliced zucchini also and that gives the dish more structure IMHO. I also sometimes dice mushrooms and peppers into the meat sauce. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
★★★★★
Anonymous says
How much Fiber would you say this recipe has? With and without the meat sauce?
Kyndra Holley says
I’m sorry but fiber is not something I track in my recipes. Do you use Myfitnesspal? If you added the ingredients into there, you could come up with the fiber content fairly easily. Hope this helps. Thanks
Jennifer says
I made this tonight for dinner. I left the meat out and made it vegetarian. It was delicious! Thank you for your recipes!!
Astrid says
bake for 30 min at 400 as well? thanks!!
Margie says
I made this today and it was fantastic. The eggplant required a longer cooking time for my personal taste. I used organice grass fed beef for the first time and I was impressed. No nasty gristle that typically makes me never want to eat ground beef again…I will make it again and it will be an awesome recipe to play with.
Keryn says
OMG!!! this was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Michele says
I made this last night and it was AWESOME!! The whole family loved it! Thank you so much for your awesome recipes!!
Alyssa says
I made this last night- and wow. Everyone enjoyed it (even my 2 year old…who was excited we were having “pizza”…lol) I didn’t make the meat sauce- I made my own sauce, with no meat (as it was meatless monday). This will probably go into our rotation of dinners for once every month or so. Thanks for posting!
Peace Love and Low Carb says
I love it when a recipes works out for the whole family. It makes for a much more harmonious meal. So happy you enjoyed it.
Suzie says
i added mushrooms! was so good!!
Sarah says
This was fantastic! Rarely do I make a recipe exactly as written, but with this, I did. The sauce is great, the balance of flavors is great. I will make this again and again. Thank you so much for putting lasagna back on the menu in my house!
Peace Love and Low Carb says
I am so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know. 🙂
Hanna says
I don’t normally leave comments on blog posts but I found this through google and just had to leave some feedback. I’ve made this on Monday, to take to work for lunch and it’s SO good I’ve been taking it every day since, every single lunch this week. Makes me look forward to lunch even. Thank you for this amazing recipe 🙂
Peace Love and Low Carb says
Thanks so much for the kind words and for coming back to the site to tell me. So happy you enjoyed it!
Aimee says
Better than lobster….words I never thought I would hear my husband say about anything. But he did in fact say that after 3 bites of this lasagna. And we just had lobster last weekend for a low carb diet treat. We live in Maine and the man knows his way around a lobster, so believe me, high praise indeed! He’s normally not much of one for vegetables, so the comfort food cookbook has been a lifesaver as we try to back away from a pre-diabetic lifestyle. Thanks so much!
Peace Love and Low Carb says
Best compliment ever! 😉
Duane says
Funny….100 + years ago in New England they used to consider lobsters garbage…
At one point in the 1800s local prisoners were fed only lobster and they sued for inhumane treatment….
(they probably went into ketosis…)…
Paloma says
So delicious!!! Will definitely keep this recipe handy!! thanks so much for sharing!!
Laurie says
I’ve just made this but doubled the ingredients. I peeled the eggplant before cutting it into thin slices and pre baking it. Yummy! Thanks for a great recipe!
Pascale Dabit says
Thank you so so much for this recipe. I am actually eating it at the moment. It’s the bomb. I adjusted the seasoning in the sauce to my liking. Other than that, it’s perfect !!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Shay says
Can you freeze this?
Peace Love and Low Carb says
We have never had any leftovers 🙂 If you do freeze it, be sure to let us know how it re-heats.
sue says
oh. my. gosh. this was honestly one of the THE MOST delicious things to ever be made in my kitchen! i followed the recipe as written and it was phenomenal! i highly recommend giving this a try. i cannot wait to have leftovers for dinner tonight! thanks for posting such a great recipe! <3
Peace Love and Low Carb says
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for the rave review
Billie says
Making this tomorrow!! Have two eggplants in the fridge screaming at me!!!
Lauren says
I found this recipe on Google and I’ve never left a comment on a recipe before so here we go.. I’m following a keto diet but was dying for anything that resembled pasta so I decided to give eggplant lasagna a try. I followed the recipe exactly, including the meat sauce, and oh my word it is SO GOOD! Kicked my pasta craving out the window and definitely left me satisfied. I would say though that I wish I used 2 eggplants because one didn’t seem to cover the layers enough.. maybe my eggplant just wasn’t big enough, I don’t know. I would also peel the eggplants to make them easier to cut, especially when ready to serve. I sort of struggled keeping the eggplants from sliding out of their layers. Other than that, it’s absolute perfection!
Jennifer A says
would you happen to know the carb count?
Sarah says
The favor if this dish is fantastic ! One issue I encountered was that the eggplant was so tough’.. I had to use a steak knife to cut thru it… the only thing I forgot to do was add foil on top while baking .. could that be the reason? Has anyone else encountered this? I have put it back in the oven now to try to get it to soften up, any suggestions welcome!! Thanks
Ivanna says
You probably cut it too thick.
lisa stevenson says
Im making this tonight
Cheers
Lisa
Lara says
I love lasagna and eggplant, and since going keto I haven’t had either. So glad I found this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
Michelle says
Made this tonight and I can’t believe how amazing this is!! The tomato meat sauce recipe is superb! I am a fan for life.
★★★★★
Sarah Burns says
I made this tonight and added garlic powder to the cheese mixture. This was a fabulous recipe! The eggplant was incredible. My husband who normally doesn’t go for Italian food absolutely loved this -he was amazed at how good it was. Thanks!
★★★★★
Karen says
I made this tonight and it came out delicious! Very easy to follow and to make!
Thank you
★★★★★
Leah says
Help! i cut the eggplant the short way- will the recipe still work?
Nishu Chauhan says
Oh my! Hubby would love this! Pinning now! Thanks for sharing!!
★★★★★
Michael says
The flavors here are outstanding. The eggplant takes on the flavor of the dish and is nearly indistinguishable from “real” pasta, except perhaps for a bit of the mouthfeel/texture. This dish refrigerates extremely well and tastes just as good or even better the next day.
★★★★★
Jennifer A Gutierrez says
hi, I made this without meat and it was great, but my eggplant was so tough 🙁
Sue says
I am making this today. Can you make it earlier in the day?
Laurie-Anne Rocca says
Can this be frozen?
Lynnie says
Excellent recipe…..everyone loved it!!!
★★★★★
Libby Sartain says
This recipe didn’t work for me. Maybe because I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. It was a big soupy mix. The eggplant sort of disintegrated! I am going to turn the left overs into a sauce and server over spiralized zucchini, because the flavor was excellent.
Kyndra Holley says
Yes, cottage cheese would definitely make it too watery. I hope you try it again with ricotta. Glad you still enjoyed it!
Merja says
OMG! Reading this and salivating’ must make! Until I read it has 99 net Carbs!!! Obviously I need new glasses!! 🤪Thank you for great recipes!!
Kyndra Holley says
It is 9g
Yolanda F. Del Rio says
We are having your lasagna for dinner, the meat sauce came out perfect . I did not have enough eggplant, used grilled zucchini for the second layer