Weight Watchers Lasagna – Drizzle Me Skinny!

April 1, 2024

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This Weight Watchers Lasagna is stuffed with selfmade goodness and is plated up with solely 7 WW factors per serving. This veggie-loaded tackle the traditional Italian favourite shouldn’t be solely scrumptious however nutritious and filling as properly. From the sensible ingredient swaps to the additional veggies, and from-scratch tomato sauce, you may really feel nice about serving this recipe to your loved ones, or having fun with it to your personal meal prep.

I like making selfmade lasagna as a result of it”s a labor of affection with extremely satisfying outcomes. Whereas it may be time-consuming to make meals from scratch, I’ve included plenty of suggestions and methods on how one can make this mouthwatering recipe really feel like one thing that is straightforward sufficient to whip up every time the temper strikes. Be happy to double the batch and freeze particular person parts for a fast, handy, and hearty meal to warmth up for later.

A single serving of baked lasagna sits on a white plate. A bowl of salad sits to the right and the casserole dish to the left.

Why You Ought to Attempt This Recipe

Crowd pleaser: This dish is stuffed with savory meat and gooey cheese in each chunk. Simply served up with recent bread and salad, this particular occasion-worthy meal is at all times a win. Even choosy eaters can recognize this dish as a result of the added greens aren’t center-stage.
Nutritious: Lasagna is a real consolation meal. The standard recipe calls for plenty of heavy elements, which do not at all times match into your plan for the day. Thankfully, it may be made in many alternative methods. For this lightened-up lasagna recipe, I’ve stored the traditional style on the core. Spinach and zucchini are added for his or her dietary worth however in a manner that will not overpower the traditional flavors and love.
Do-it-yourself taste: This dish makes use of a selfmade marinara sauce. Not solely does this lower the quantity of salt and sugar within the recipe, nevertheless it offers the lasagna a shiny, recent taste that store-bought sauce cannot replicate. Making selfmade sauce isn’t troublesome or time-consuming and one of the best half is that you would be able to at all times add herbs and regulate the seasoning to suit your style preferences precisely.

Recipe Overview

Serving Measurement: 169g
Variety of Servings: 12
Time to Prepare dinner: 40 minutes
WW Factors Per Recipe: 7 per serving, 84 per whole batch

Ingredients needed for Weight Watchers Lasagna shown in various sized bowls

Substances in Weight Watchers Lasagna

1 pound 93% lean floor turkey: Utilizing turkey as an alternative of the normal beef retains this recipe lighter and incorporates much less fats.
½ medium yellow onion: Yellow onion supplies a delicate candy and savory depth to the selfmade sauce.
3 cloves garlic: Contemporary garlic supplies a punch of taste. Make sure you mince the garlic finely to keep away from huge chunks in your sauce. Alternatively, you may add the entire cloves into the sauce after which take away them after the sauce is completed cooking.
1 (28-ounce) cans of entire tomatoes: Complete canned tomatoes are the bottom of the selfmade sauce. Complete tomatoes are much less acidic than pre-crushed or diced tomatoes so you will not really feel the necessity to add sugar.
12 entire lasagna noodles: When creating this recipe, I wished to maintain common lasagna noodles for his or her style. Be happy to make use of different noodles corresponding to chickpea noodles or whole-wheat noodles. Simply bear in mind that they’re extra agency and will change the general texture.
1 ½ cups low-fat cottage cheese: Stuffed with protein, blended cottage cheese is a superb swap for ricotta.
1 giant egg: Egg binds the cottage cheese combination.
¼ cup grated parmesan: Parmesan provides an umami punch and thickens the blended cottage cheese.
3 teaspoons dried Italian mix seasoning: This herb seasoning provides taste all through the lasagna.
2 teaspoons sea salt: Salt is split and used to present a taste enhance to the sauce, the noodles, and the cottage cheese.
2 medium carrots: Reasonably than add white sugar to the tomato sauce, entire carrots are added into the pot whereas cooking after which eliminated. Their pure sugars are launched into the sauce to steadiness any bitterness from the canned tomatoes.
2 cups shredded low-fat mozzarella: Utilizing part-skim mozzarella retains this dish mild however nonetheless supplies the traditional melted tacky style.
1 medium zucchini: Zucchini provides taste to the meat sauce and a wholesome dose of vitamins.
¼ cup drained frozen spinach: Spinach boosts the vitamin and in addition provides some fiber to this tacky dish.
½ teaspoon olive oil: A contact of olive oil provides a delicate, savory taste to the tomato sauce.

Directions for Making Weight Watchers Lasagna

1. Crush the tomatoes: First, preheat the oven to 375°F and put together a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Then, pour the cans of tomatoes into a big bowl. Use a potato masher or your palms to crush the tomatoes till principally damaged down. It ought to resemble crushed tomatoes from a can. Put aside.

2. Make the cottage cheese combination: In a medium bowl, combine the blended cottage cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, the egg, parmesan, and drained spinach till properly mixed. Cowl and place into the fridge till you’re prepared to make use of.

A bowl of the cottage cheese and ricotta mixture tinted slightly yellow with streaks of spinach

3. Brown the meat: In a pot over medium warmth, brown the turkey, for about 7-10 minutes. Break the turkey into crumbles with the spatula. As soon as no pink items are remaining, add the onion, zucchini, and garlic. Prepare dinner for 3-4 minutes till the onion is softened and aromatic.

A blue dutch oven is filled with browned turkey and dotted with shredded zucchini

4. Construct the sauce: Pour the hand-crushed tomatoes into the pot. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning, and the olive oil till properly mixed. Place the entire carrots into the pot. These are used for his or her pure sugar and might be eliminated later. Should you choose to maintain them, shred or finely cube the carrots and saute them earlier than including them to the pot.

A blue dutch oven is filled with tomato sauce. Dried herbs sit on top prior to mixing along with two carrots

5. Prepare dinner the sauce: Carry the pot to a boil then cut back to a simmer for 20 minutes when you put together the remaining elements. Stir often.

A blue Dutch Oven filled with cooked meat sauce

6. Boil the noodles: Fill a separate giant pot with water and convey to a rolling boil. Add ½ teaspoon salt and the lasagna noodles. Boil till al dente, for 10-Quarter-hour. If utilizing a special sort of noodles, observe the bundle directions. As soon as executed, drain the noodles and rinse them beneath cool water. Place on a baking sheet or reducing board till prepared to make use of.

A silver colander with cooked lasagna noodles

7. Assemble the lasagna: Start layering the lasagna by inserting spoonfuls of the meat sauce into the underside of the pan and spreading it into a good layer about ¼” thick.

A clear baking dish with the first layer of meat sauce on the bottom

8. Construct the layers: Place a layer of noodles on prime of the sauce then add spoonfuls of the cottage cheese combination. Unfold into a good layer.

A clear baking dish is filled with various layers of lasagna. The current top layer has a white and green cottage cheese layer

9. Add the meat sauce: Add spoonfuls of the meat sauce on prime of the cottage cheese then prime with a layer of mozzarella. Repeat with the remaining elements to make three layers of lasagna, with three noodle sheets per layer.

A clear baking dish is filled with the assembled lasagna and cheese is partially covering the noodles. A small bowl of mozzarella sits to the side.

10. Bake: Bake the lasagna for 35-40 minutes till the perimeters are effervescent and the highest is browned. For a browner prime: Broil for 3-4 minutes. For a much less brown prime: Cowl the lasagna with foil for the primary 25 minutes of baking. Let cool for a minimum of Quarter-hour to permit the lasagna to set. Serve heat.

The baked uncut lasagna. Browned on the top and edges and garnished with fresh parsley.

Variations and Substitutions

Swap the meat: This recipe makes use of floor turkey however be at liberty to make use of beef or Italian sausage. A mix of meat additionally works nice within the selfmade sauce. Utilizing floor turkey and a few hyperlinks of candy Italian turkey sausage with the casing eliminated may even impart plenty of taste.
Add extra veggies: Be happy so as to add much more greens to this nutritious ww pleasant lasagna. Sliced mushrooms, eggplant, and bell peppers are tasty additions.
Use pre-made sauce: Whereas this recipe makes use of a easy selfmade sauce, be at liberty to make use of any sauce you will have available. Merely add it to the recipe instead of the hand-crushed tomatoes. In case your sauce may be very thick, you might want so as to add an additional ¼-⅓ cup of water. This may assist the sauce keep the correct consistency whereas it warms.
Go for ricotta: Cottage cheese is a brilliant and engaging swap for ricotta. Should you love ricotta and have further ww factors, be at liberty to make use of it on this recipe. It would make your lasagna style richer and extra creamy.

Suggestions and Tips for Making Weight Watchers Lasagna

Plan forward: Should you’re desirous about making this recipe however really feel brief on time, you may simply make the sauce and cheese combination forward of time. Tomato sauce will get higher over time so making the meat sauce 1-2 days earlier than will solely lead to an much more savory style. You possibly can even make your entire lasagna forward of time. Merely cowl it and refrigerate for as much as 24 hours. Take away it from the fridge half-hour earlier than baking to permit the elements to return to room temperature.
Wring out properly: Make sure you wring out as a lot extra moisture from the spinach and zucchini as doable. In any other case, the moisture will come out whereas baking and make for a soupy lasagna. A clear kitchen towel or cheesecloth is good for this.
Make it a skillet meal: To make this tasty dish even faster, you may skip the layering to make it a skillet Weight Watchers lasagna. To cook dinner the lasagna proper into a big skillet, make the sauce per the directions, then break the lasagna noodles into bite-sized items earlier than boiling. You can too use penne or bow-tie pasta. Drain the pasta and blend it proper into the sauce. High with small spoonfuls of the cottage cheese combination throughout and a beneficiant sprinkle of mozzarella to cowl the highest. Preserve the warmth on low and canopy the skillet till the cheese melts. You possibly can then serve it in bowls for a sooner weeknight different.

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