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2.23.20

Paleo Zucchini Lasagna with Sausage {Whole30, Low Carb}

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Whole 30 Egg Free No Added Sugar

This Zucchini Lasagna was sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm and all opinions are my own, as always.

This low carb Paleo Zucchini Lasagna is the perfect answer to your cravings!  Thin sliced zucchini is layered with a creamy cashew-based cheese sauce and a savory sausage marinara mixture.  It’s packed with flavor and veggies, completely dairy free, grain free, Whole30 compliant and the leftovers save well!  

This recipe exceeded my expectations with the first bite!  

Being an Italian food lover while avoiding both pasta (grains) and cheese (dairy) isn’t the easiest. However, I know it’s possible to make a great dairy-free cheese sauce using cashews and just had to try it layered in a zucchini lasagna.  

Add in deliciously savory all natural turkey sausage, some extra greens, and my favorite marinara sauce, and you get a low carb, dairy free lasagna that’s a total winner. 

What You Need to Make Paleo Zucchini Lasagna with Sausage

The “cheese” sauce is simple and cashew based – you’ll need a high speed blender or food processor to get it nice and creamy.  Here’s everything you’ll need for the lasagna:

  • Cheese Sauce:
  • Cashews
  • Almond Milk, unsweetened
  • Avocado oil, or olive oil
  • Garlic
  • Lemon juice
  • Nutritional Yeast
  • Sea salt
  • Lasagna: 
  • 4-5 med-large zucchini 
  • 2 packages Jones Dairy Farm No Antibiotics Ever Golden Brown Turkey Sausage
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • Italian seasoning
  • Fresh spinach or kale, chopped
  • Marinara sauce
  • Fresh basil and parsley 

About Jones Dairy Farm All Natural Turkey Sausage 

I love all of the Jones Dairy Farm products and their all natural, no antibiotics turkey sausage works so well in this recipe. The flavor is delicious, it’s Whole30 compliant and makes a great base for the meat layer in the lasagna.  

Jones Dairy Farm also makes amazing no sugar pork sausage (used in my sausage potato and spinach soup) and all natural chicken sausage to throw into quick meals, plus the BEST no sugar bacon!  

Get the recipe for my savory sweet potato bacon waffles here. Since Jones Dairy Farm’s line of Antibiotic Free, Paleo Certified products contain NO sugar or preservatives, they’re perfect for paleo and Whole30 recipes.  

Definitely check out their website to browse their amazing products and find out find out where you can purchase!

How to Make Zucchini Lasagna

Make the cheese sauce first. Simply place all the ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until very smooth and creamy.  

Next, thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise. Spread out in a single layer on 2 baking sheets topped with wire racks and lightly salt them.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes at 375° F to dry them out.  If you skip this step, the lasagna will be more watery (see below.)

Meanwhile, make the sausage mixture. Sauté the turkey sausage in the oil until golden brown.  Lower the heat and add in the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper, if desired.

Cook until softened, then add the spinach or kale and stir until wilted. Add in 1 cup of marinara and stir to heat through.  

Now it’s time to layer the lasagna!  I started with a 1/2 cup of the remaining marinara, followed by a layer of zucchini, 1/2 of the sausage mixture, 1/3 of the cheese sauce, and 1/2 of the parley and basil.  

Repeat the layers one more time, and then place a final layer of zucchini, cheese sauce, and fresh herbs before baking.  I baked my lasagna for 22 minutes so it was hot and bubbly with a lightly browned top.

How to Avoid Watery Zucchini Lasagna

I can’t stand when my zucchini recipes get watery!  It’s a real problem since zucchini holds a ton of water, which is released while it cooks.

The key is removing much of the water before layering it in the lasagna.  To do this, I salted it first.  After 5 minutes or so you’ll see it “sweating” and can pat it dry with paper towel. 

Then, I pre-baked it for about 10 minutes.  You want it to appear dry before removing it from the oven.  While the zucchini will still release some extra water while it bakes in the lasagna, following these steps will give you the best chance at a not-watery zucchini lasagna! 

I hope you’re ready for a seriously delicious zucchini lasagna that you’ll want on repeat in your house!  I know you’re going to love it – enjoy!

Paleo Zucchini Lasagna with Sausage {Whole30, Low Carb}

Paleo Zucchini Lasagna with Sausage {Dairy-Free, Whole30}

This low carb Paleo Zucchini Lasagna is the perfect answer to your cravings! Thin sliced zucchini is layered with a creamy cashew-based cheese sauce and a savory sausage marinara mixture. It’s packed with flavor and veggies, completely dairy free, grain free, Whole30 compliant and the leftovers save well!
Author: Michele Rosen
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: dairy-free, Italian, low carb, Paleo, Whole30
Keyword: low carb, paleo, whole30, zucchini
Servings: 8 servings
Print this Recipe
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review
4.72 from 25 votes

Ingredients

Cheese Sauce:

  • 2 cups cashews **
  • 3/4 cup almond milk
  • 2 Tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Lasagna:

  • 4-5 med-large zucchini
  • 2 7 oz packages Jones Dairy Farm No Antibiotics Ever Golden Brown Turkey Sausage thawed and chopped into small pieces*
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • Crushed red pepper (optional)
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1-2 cups fresh spinach or kale chopped (optional)
  • 2 cups marinara sauce divided (I used Rao’s)
  • 1/4 cup Fresh basil and parsley chopped

Instructions

Cheese Sauce:

  1. In a high-speed blender (I used a VItamix), combine all ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Sauce should be warm by the end of blending, if not, transfer it to a saucepan to heat before serving.

Lasagna:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375° F. Cut the ends off the zucchini and slice lengthwise into thin slices. Sprinkle with sea salt and spread out in a single layer on 2 baking sheets topped with wire racks. The salting and baking steps will dry out the zucchini. You can skip it, but the finished lasagna will be more watery.
  2. Pat the salted zucchini with paper towel to remove excess moisture, then bake zucchini in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until tops appear dry. Remove from oven and set aside until ready to assemble.
  3. Meanwhile, make the sausage mixture. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, then add sausage and sauté until browned, stirring as needed, about 3-5 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium and add in the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, stir, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper, if desired.
  4. Cook and stir until softened, then add the spinach or kale and stir until wilted. Add in 1 cup of marinara and stir to heat through, then remove from heat.
  5. Spread 1/2 cup of remaining marinara onto the bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole dish.
  6. Add zucchini slices on top of the pasta sauce side by side.
Top the zucchini with 1/2 of the turkey sausage mixture and evenly spread 1/3 of the cheese sauce on top. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chopped fresh herbs on top.
  7. Repeat these layers, leaving enough zucchini for a final top layer.
  8. Top the lasagna with the last layer of zucchini, remaining cheese sauce, and remaining parsley and basil. Bake in the preheated oven (middle rack) for 20-25 minutes, until hot and bubbly. 
 
Garnish with basil before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Recipe Notes:
*You can sub the turkey sausage with 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, bulk sausage, ground turkey or chicken.
**If you’re using a high speed blender like a Vitamix, you won’t need to soak the cashews beforehand. If you’re using a food processor, I recommend soaking the cashews in hot water for 2 hours prior to making the sauce

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal
Carbohydrates: 20g
Protein: 20g
Fat: 23g
Saturated Fat: 4g
Cholesterol: 43mg
Sodium: 1139mg
Potassium: 907mg
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 8g
Vitamin A: 855IU
Vitamin C: 29mg
Calcium: 90mg
Iron: 4mg

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @PaleoRunningMomma on Instagram and hashtag it #PaleoRunningMomma

Want More Whole30 Recipes Using Jones Dairy Farm No Sugar Added Sausage and Bacon?  Try One of These!

Bacon Sweet Potato Waffles

Sausage Potato and Spinach Soup

Bacon Zucchini Fritters

Turkey Sausage Marinara Spaghetti Squash Boats

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken Bites

Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!

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About Michele

More than a little into running and paleo recipes (yoga now too!) but I'm not here to rain on your grains (or anything else) so come along for the ride! I do a little too much of everything (except cleaning), and I enjoy laughing at myself. As long as I'm the one making the jokes, that is. Just kidding. So bring me your angst, your appetite and your frying pan and climb aboard!

Reader Interactions

Reader Reviews & Comments

  1. Joanne Vacalebre says

    February 23, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    please tell me the best mandolin to use for slicing the zucchini

    Reply
    • Katja says

      March 1, 2020 at 10:19 am

      Can this be assembled ahead of time, then fresh baked the next day?

      Reply
      • Emily says

        October 27, 2020 at 1:57 pm

        5 stars
        Be careful! I made the sauce ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator and the blotter EXPLODED EVERYWHERE! We heard a huge bang and our entire fridge was covered.

        Reply
        • Angel Stewart says

          April 9, 2021 at 10:23 pm

          Haha! Your explosion saved me from even attempting making this ahead! Thank you! 💜

          Reply
  2. Katie says

    February 24, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    My boyfriend and I’s new favorite dish! Comforting without the guilt…definitely recommend baking the zucchini as suggested at the beginning. Not watery at all. And I’m an ultimate cheese girl but OMG…..that cheese sauce was to die for!

    Reply
  3. Stella says

    February 25, 2020 at 2:48 pm

    This was amazing!! I love all your recipes!!

    Reply
  4. Jo-Ann Osipow says

    February 29, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious! I’m not a talented cook and had no problem following the recipe. Family loved it!

    Reply
  5. Gene says

    March 1, 2020 at 12:25 pm

    Could this be made with eggplant instead of zucchini?

    Reply
  6. Christi says

    March 7, 2020 at 4:50 pm

    Are the measurements of 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup nutritional yeast correct? It just seems like a lot more than is usually called for in most recipes. Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Dana says

    March 24, 2020 at 1:59 pm

    5 stars
    This was amazing!!! I can’t wait to make it again!

    Reply
  8. Cristette Cadriel says

    March 24, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    I have been trying some of your recipes and every single one has been delicious… This meal as well was amazing. I LOVE all your added information. It really helps build confidence for someone like me who is trying to become comfortable in the kitchen with cooking healthy meals. Thank you for all your extra input. Everyone in my family loved this meal and it was a great leftover too.

    Reply
  9. Cristette Cadriel says

    April 2, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    5 stars
    Another fabulous dish. I appreciated the extra tips regarding baking the zucchini to help the lasagna becoming soggy. Excellent leftovers as well. Can’t wait to make it again.

    Reply
  10. Ckap says

    April 26, 2020 at 11:24 pm

    5 stars
    This was excellent, thank you! We added some turkey pepperoni to the layers and it was also good! Following the directions for the zucchini and cutting them into very thin slices meant the lasagna wasn’t watery whatsoever! I used a vitamix and the cheese sauce was super easy. It yielded a ton, we would probably do 3/4 of the cheese recipe in the future. This will definitely become a staple!

    Reply
  11. Julie Krause says

    May 10, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    Thank you so much, another “hit” from your site! Normally I feel like it’s really easy to tell a substitute, but the zucchini worked so well in place of the noodles. Oh! Also! I subbed for spicy Italian sausage and it worked really nicely.

    Reply
  12. Christie P says

    June 26, 2020 at 11:28 pm

    5 stars
    Really delicious! The cashew sauce is amazing, don’t know how she comes up with this stuff! I was too impatient to salt or bake the zucchini first and it wasn’t soggy but I also cut the zucchini on a thin mandolin so maybe that helped? Will definitely make again.

    Reply
  13. Heather says

    July 9, 2020 at 12:37 pm

    Would any plant based milk work? I’m not a fan of almond milk and drink flax milk.

    Reply
  14. Munira says

    July 24, 2020 at 6:46 am

    guys this recipe was DELICIOUS!! We just made it today and WOWOWOWOW the cheese sauce I could drink it hahaha easy recipe to follow we used ground chicken instead of sausages! Totally adding it to our meal rotation THANKSSSS for this!

    Reply
  15. Caitlin says

    July 24, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing! I don’t even miss regular lasagna. Seriously so good. I have to convince myself not to make it every weekend! ?

    Reply
  16. Panda says

    September 20, 2020 at 12:36 pm

    What can I am dairy free but do not do well with nutritional yeast? Any suggestions on a substitute?

    Reply
  17. Joseph J says

    September 28, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    5 stars
    This lasagna is fantastic! I did not think it would be possible to pull off a good lasagna using only paleo ingredients, but I was intrigued so I gave it a try. I was wrong. This recipe is so good! I used some bulk Italian pork sausage from the local market, but next time I might try cutting it with half plain ground turkey or beef because the sausage flavor was almost too intense. Another tip is to use a Julienne cutter to slice the zuchinni. I made a mess trying to do it with a knife until I watched a few youtube videos and realized I was using the wrong tool for the job. Also, I soaked the cashews in hot water for 2 hours, even though I used a blender rather than a food processor. The cheese sauce is amazing! I’ve never had plant-based cheese sauce that tasted this good. This recipe is a winner for sure. Thank you so much for posting this.

    Reply
  18. Angelica says

    March 9, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    5 stars
    Best diary free sauce I’ve ever had! This recipe was so good.

    Reply
  19. Jennifer says

    April 8, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    5 stars
    Worth the effort! Froze this dish and cooked later and it was wonderful! Highly recommend

    Reply

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Hi! I’m so happy you stopped by! My name is Michele and I’m a Paleo eater and recipe creator, runner, mom of 3, and the gal behind Paleo Running Momma! Over here you’ll find real-food, clean eating family favorites that you’ll be excited to share with your loved ones. I hope you stay awhile, eat, savor, and enjoy!

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