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Piece of White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef with browned melted cheese on top on a plate with parsley. It's a make-ahead family dinner! It's creamy, hearty, and delicious with layers of noodles, zucchini, ground beef, creamy cheese, and a silky white sauce. 

White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

This White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef is a delicious make-ahead family dinner! It's creamy, rich, hearty, and mouthwatering delicious.  You get layers of noodles, zucchini, ground beef mixed with herbs, seasonings, and creamy cheese, plus a silky white sauce in every layer. 

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword family dinner, lasagna, pasta, zucchini
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 769 kcal
Author Carrie Tyler

Ingredients

Ground Beef Mixture

  • 1 lb 90% Lean Ground Beef no antibiotics
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
  • 3 teaspoons Fresh Italian Parsley
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 6 ounces Cream cheese
  • 8 ounces Shredded Mozzarella (divided for beef and topping)

White Sauce

  • 2 cups 1% milk skim, 2% or whole will work
  • 1 ½ cups Chicken Broth
  • ¼ cup Butter, salted or unsalted
  • ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Other Lasagna

  • 8-10 Lasagna Noodles
  • 2 Large Zucchini

Instructions

Prep-Ahead Steps

  1. Prepare the zucchini by cutting it into long strips from stem to stem that are about ¼ inch thick. They will resemble the size of lasagna noodles. You should get 4 long strips per zucchini.

    Hand holding slice of zucchini on a cutting board for White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

  2. Mince the garlic, chop the parsley, and measure out the fennel seed, oregano, salt, and pepper. Then add all to the ground beef in a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine.

  3. Preheat a large pot or dutch oven on medium-high heat and add in a teaspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add the ground beef mixture and break it up. Let it cook for 5 minutes, stirring halfway through until it gets browned.

    Ground beef and herbs cooking in a pot for White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

  4. Stir in the cream cheese until melted and combined. Turn off the heat and stir in half (4oz) of the mozzarella. Set aside off the heat until ready to the assemble.

    Cheese added to ground beef and herbs cooking in a pot for White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

  5. Make the White Sauce. First, warm the milk slightly in the microwave or in a pot. Preheat a separate medium sauce pot on medium-low heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour and let it cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk until fully combined into a smooth thick mixture. Slowly whisk in the broth. Stir in the salt and remove from the heat.

    Whisk mixing white sauce in a pot for White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

Assemble the Lasagna

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.

  2. Before you start to assemble, make sure that your lasagna noodles are ready. If they are no-boil noodles, you are set. Otherwise, you need to par-cook them in boiling water for just a few minutes so they are pliable.

  3. Layer 1 - Start by spooning a thin layer of the white sauce onto the bottom, just so the pasta sheets don’t stick to the bottom.  Then add the first layer of lasagna noodles. Layer white sauce over the noodles and then top with HALF of the beef mixture. Next, top with a layer of HALF of the Zucchini strips (usually 4 strips), and then more white sauce.

    Ladle pouring white sauce over zucchini slices on top of beef and lasagna noodles in dish for White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

  4. Layers 2 - Repeat - Add a layer of noodles, white sauce, the remaining half of the beef mixture, and the final layer of zucchini strips and more white sauce. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese and parsley on top.

    Shredded cheese and parsley on top of assembled White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef

  5. Cover your lasagna with aluminum foil and then bake on the center rack for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for another 15 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, I turn the broiler on to get a nice browned top. Let rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving.

    White Lasagna Recipe with Zucchini and Ground Beef with browned melted cheese on top in casserole dish! It's a make-ahead family dinner! It's creamy, hearty, and delicious with layers of noodles, zucchini, ground beef, creamy cheese, and a silky white sauce. 

Recipe Notes

  1. You can substitute ground chicken or ground turkey in this recipe. The beef will render more fat and therefore, more moisture. So you may need to add a splash of milk to the ground chicken when you mix in the cheese to help it mix in.
  2. You can freeze your fully assembled lasagna either cooked or uncooked. If you freeze it uncooked, you will want to thaw it in the fridge for 24 hours before baking it. If it is fully thawed through to the center,