What?! Does that title really say no pasta? In lasagna? Is that possible?!
Yep! I’ve been adapting lots of recipes so that I can still eat the flavors that I love while keeping the carbs (that my diabetic body can no longer process) WAY down!
I started with some of my favorite desserts, like this Sugar-Free Almond Joy Dark Chocolate Bark recipe. Desserts are pretty easy to adapt since there are now so many wonderful sugar substitutes on the market.
And now, my goal is to start making some of our family’s favorite main dishes very low carb. Its important to me to be able to continue enjoying cooking and eating with my family, trying to keep things as “normal” as possible despite my new dietary needs. This means that I can’t constantly be making two dishes each night for dinner.
This week my daughter and I made lasagna by substituting thin deli chicken meat for the noodles, a method that friend recommended to me. We just placed thinly sliced deli chicken for the pasta layer, and everything else stayed exactly the same. It was actually EASIER to make than the traditional pasta recipe. Not boiling noodles in a separate pot saved a step and some time.
And the end result was the familiar, hearty, comforting taste of traditional lasagna. I’m happy to tell you that we absolutely couldn’t taste the chicken at all, and the swap of pasta for chicken went completely unnoticed by my other four kiddos. I think this proves that it was a success!
If you’re trying to cut out some sugar and carbs for the new year, give this recipe a try; I think you’ll love it!
Low Carb (No Pasta) Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- ¾ lb ground beef
- 1/2 small onion chopped (or 1 t onion powder)
- 2 cloves garlic minced (or 1 t garlic powder)
- 1 jar no sugar marinara sauce or crushed tomatoes
- 16 oz. ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- ½ t salt
- ¾ lb mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¾ C Parmesan cheese
- thinly sliced deli Chicken Breast protein noodles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large skillet, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in marinara sauce.
- In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, and 1/2 tsp salt. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange chicken breast slices over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes.
- Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings.
Annie: Thanks for your recent low carb recipes. Also the information on the Stevia-natural sugar replacements. I have followed your website for a while. I am so happy that you are doing well.
Thanks, Holly! I’m enjoying adapting the recipes to low-carb, and I’ll keep sharing. Thanks for following along. 🙂