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Baked cottage cheese lasagna slice on a white plate, layers of beef, cheese, and noodles visible, steam rising over a wood table.

High-Protein Cottage Cheese Lasagna with Ground Beef

A beef and cottage cheese lasagna baked in a 9x13-inch pan, delivering 44g of protein per slice from real food.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, American comfort, Tex-Mex, Italian-American
Calories: 432
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Meat Sauce
  • 450 g ground beef (80/20) / 1 lb
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion small, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 680 g marinara sauce / 24 oz jar
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes optional
  • salt and black pepper to taste
For the Cheese Filling
  • 450 g cottage cheese, small curd / 2 cups; 4% milkfat
  • 2 eggs large
  • 60 g parmesan, grated / 1/2 cup
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg optional
  • salt and black pepper to taste
For Assembly
  • 225 g lasagna noodles / about 9 sheets; boiled al dente
  • 300 g mozzarella, shredded / 3 cups; part-skim, divided

Method
 

Make the Meat Sauce
  1. Bring a 6-quart / 5.7L pot of salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles until al dente, about 9 to 10 minutes or per package. Drain and lay flat on a sheet pan so they don't stick.
  2. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch / 30cm skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook 4 to 5 minutes until soft.
  3. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon. Cook 7 to 8 minutes, until no longer pink and internal temp reaches 160F / 71C.
  4. Stir in marinara, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
Mix the Cheese Filling
  1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add cottage cheese, parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir until combined, it will look loose and curdy, that's normal.
Assemble and Bake
  1. Heat oven to 375F / 190C. Spread about 1 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch / 23x33cm baking dish.
  2. Layer 3 noodles over the sauce. Top with a third of the cottage cheese mixture, a third of the remaining meat sauce, and a third of the mozzarella.
  3. Repeat the layers two more times, ending with mozzarella on top.
  4. Cover tightly with foil, tenting it so it doesn't touch the cheese, and bake 30 minutes.
  5. Remove the foil and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the cheese is melted and golden in spots and the sauce bubbles at the edges.
  6. Rest the lasagna 15 minutes before cutting so the layers set and slices hold together instead of sliding apart.

Notes

  • Boil noodles just to al dente, they soften more in the oven.
  • Cottage cheese filling looks loose before baking, it sets as it cooks.
  • Check for bubbling sauce at the edges as the main doneness cue.
  • Rest 15 minutes minimum before slicing.