This kale lasagna with cottage cheese is a hearty, veggie-packed twist on vegetarian lasagna that’s comforting, nourishing, and surprisingly easy to make. Layers of chopped, seasoned kale alternate with a creamy cottage cheese mixture, rich tomato sauce, and no-boil lasagna noodles to keep things simple. Perfect for make-ahead meals, cozy weekends, or any night you want a wholesome, satisfying meatless dinner.
Kale yeah, it's lasagna night!
When it comes to comfort food, I’m all about carbs and cheese baked together into bubbly perfection. And lasagna—well, this is where cozy meets practical. It’s everything I want in a comfort food, with plenty of room to pack in vegetables and a good dose of protein.
This kale lasagna is lasagna HNL-style. It’s a hearty, meatless pasta bake layered with seasoned chopped kale, a creamy cottage cheese mixture, rich tomato sauce, and no-boil noodles to keep things simple. I use my favorite homemade pasta sauce because it sneaks a lot of hidden veggies into the lasagna, but a jar of your favorite marinara is totally fine as well!
It’s make-ahead friendly, freezer-friendly, and delicious enough for both busy weeknights and cozy weekend meals.And, listen. If you don't have the bandwidth for all, that layering right now, I see you. Make my one-pan vegetarian skillet lasagna instead and save this kale lasagna recipe for another night.
Let's make kale lasagna together!
It’s easy, friends, and I’m going to talk you through it step by step.
Step 1: prepare your ingredients
Thaw your frozen kale, place it in a clean dish towel, and squeeze the bejeezus out of it to get out as much liquid as possible.
Also, take a minute to mix together the cottage cheese, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.
Step 2: start assembling
Start with a generous layer of pasta sauce at the bottom of your casserole dish, then add three lasagna noodles. They may not completely cover the bottom, but bear in mind that they’ll expand as the lasagna bakes.
Top the noodles with half of the cottage cheese mixture, then another layer of noodles.
Step 3: keep layering
Spoon pasta sauce over the noodles to cover, and then scatter half of the kale over top of the sauce.
Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of noodles, then the remaining sauce. Top the sauce with the shredded mozzarella.
Step 4: bake it up!
Bake! Place the casserole dish in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes until brown bubbly perfection has been achieved.
Let the lasagna stand for 10 minutes before you cut into it (this is the hardest part), and then serve!
👩🏻🍳 A note from Katie: If chopped, frozen kale is hard to find where you live, you can either blanch and chop fresh kale, or use an equivalent amount of chopped, frozen spinach in this recipe.
Kale Lasagna with Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen kale defrosted, and liquid removed
- 4 cups cottage cheese I used full-fat
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups Instant Pot Pasta Sauce or your favourite jarred marinara sauce
- 12 no boil lasagna noodles
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 375°F.
- Place the thawed, frozen kale in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze as much liquid from it as you possibly can.1 lb frozen kale
- In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.4 cups cottage cheese, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Spoon some pasta sauce over the bottom of a deep 9x12 inch casserole dish.4 cups Instant Pot Pasta Sauce
- Add three no-boil lasagna noodles.12 no boil lasagna noodles
- Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture on top of the noodles, and top with three more noodles.
- Generously cover the noodles with pasta sauce, and then scatter half of the kale over top.
- Repeat the layers until you have used up all of the cottage cheese and kale, finishing with a layer of noodles covered with pasta sauce.
- Scatter the top with shredded mozzarella cheese.2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Place the lasagna in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling up around the edges, the noodles are soft, and the cheese is golden on top.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- Lasagna can be assembled up to a day ahead of time, kept in the fridge and baked when you're ready.
- Lasagna can be frozen, either baked or unbaked, in a dish wrapped tightly with foil.
- To re-heat the lasagna, you can put the whole dish back in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or heat individual slices in the microwave.
- Individual slices of lasagna can be wrapped in foil and frozen.
Pär says
Thanks for an amazing recipe, Nutrition Lady! The lasagna turned out great! I can really recommend making a fresh batch of the Instant Pot Pasta Sauce for the lasagna, linked in the recipe. It was well worth the effort. I will be making both the sauce and the lasagna again.
Claire says
Yum yum yum! Made with 2% cottage cheese, lentil noodles, and 3 cups of sauce because that is how much was in my jar. Delicious! I assembled early in the day and refrigerated, popped it in the oven when I was ready. One of the easiest lasagnas I’ve ever made and tasty to boot.
Allison says
This was a hit with the whole fam. I invested in my future and made 2 smaller lasagnas so one is in the freezer for later!