Are you looking for a pasta free lasagna that actually tastes like lasagna and turns out perfect every single time? You’ve come to the right place! This Keto Cabbage Lasagna is loaded with delicious flavour, easy to make and totally delicious. Bonus: it reheats great!
This recipe was originally published on November 3, 2018 and has since been updated with new images and content, though the recipe itself has remained the same because, well, it was already perfect.
Tomatoey cheesy meaty goodness all layered together in one single dish? Yup, lasagna is pretty dang delicious if I do say so myself. It’s one of those epic meals I always get excited about especially when my mom says she is making hers. Yup, she makes the best lasagna on the planet. One of the funnest challenges I’ve had lately is trying to re create her lasagna.. low carb!
This incredibly delicious Low Carb Cabbage Lasagna is so close I’d bet even my brother would go crazy for it. He calls broccoli ‘death bush’ and cauliflower ‘bleached death bush’ so you can imagine how he would feel about cabbage replacing pasta!
My husband much prefers this cabbage lasagna to it’s carb loaded cousin any day of the week! And believe me, I’ve been making it a lot lately, trying to perfect this recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card for ingredient measurements.
- avocado or olive oil
- onion
- red bell pepper
- garlic
- ground black pepper
- spicy spaghetti seasoning
- ground beef
- marinara sauce
- cottage cheese
- green cabbage
- fresh basil
- mozzarella
- fresh parmesan
Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning – One of my most favourite spice blends! I used to buy the Clubhouse Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning but now I make my own! If you don’t have any, and don’t want to make it yourself, it can be switched out for Italian seasoning.
Marinara Sauce – Be careful when buying pasta sauce as they can have lots of sugar and other additives. I generally make my own Keto Marinara Sauce, otherwise RAO’s is a great brand to buy and can be found in most grocery stores.
How to make Cabbage Lasagna
The two major steps before building this Keto Lasagna are simmering the meat sauce until nice and thick and boiling the cabbage. I have made this cabbage lasagna a lot and find all of these steps necessary to get the best texture and flavour!
Meat Sauce
The meat sauce can take up to two hours to simmer until thick enough, so start on that right away.
Heat a medium saucepan on medium heat and avocado or olive oil. Dice up a small onion and half of a red pepper and add them to the pot once the oil is hot. Cook for a couple of minutes until the onion is translucent. Stir in minced/pressed garlic, black pepper, spicy spaghetti seasoning and the ground beef.
Cook until the beef is no longer pink, drain the excess grease and put back on the stove. Stir in the marinara sauce, cottage cheese and bring to a low simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 – 2 hours, stirring every 10 minutes or so to avoid burning. The sauce should be very thick once done. You can skim the grease off of the sauce during the cooking process. (I keep a little bowl and a spoon beside the pot and skim every time I stir)
Cabbage
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the core from the cabbage. I do this by carefully cutting around the core on an angle with a knife so that you end up with an empty space running halfway into the cabbage where the core used to be. This makes it easy for the leaves to peel away from the cabbage during the boiling process.
Using a pair of tongs (no, don’t just toss it in the pot and run like the wind), carefully place the cabbage into the boiling water and reduce the heat to a low boil.
After about five minutes the leaves will start to peel away from the head. You can gently help them if you wish, but you will want to leave each leaf inside the boiling pot of water until they become super soft. Using the tongs, remove each leaf from the pot as they become soft, rinse with water and place on paper towel or clean kitchen towels to dry. It will take about 20/30 minutes to cook the whole head.
Assembly
Now it’s time to build this Keto cabbage lasagna!
Heat your oven to 350°. Thinly slice a dozen basil leaves, grate a whole wack of mozzarella and a bit of parmesan cheese. Combine the cheeses in a medium bowl, mix the basil into the meat sauce and spread 1/3 of the sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish. Spread the sauce with a spoon to ensure even coverage, then sprinkle 1/2c cheese over the sauce and cover evenly with 4 or 5 cabbage leaves.
* I like to cut the ribs from the cabbage before building the Keto lasagna because I don’t like their texture, however my husband has no problem with the ribs. Totally a personal preference and because I’m the one who makes it, I remove the ribs.
Sprinkle just under 1c cheese over the cabbage, then half of the remaining meat sauce. Spread evenly with a spoon then add 1/2c cheese mixture and 4 or 5 more cabbage leaves. Cover the cabbage with just under 1c cheese, then spread the remainder of the meat sauce over the cheese. Add 1/2c cheese, 4 or 5 cabbage leaves and the remaining cheese mix.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and turn the oven to broil. Broil the lasagna until the cheese is bubbly.
Slice the lasagna into 12 and serve hot with extra chopped basil and grated parmesan cheese.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you freeze cabbage lasagna?
YES! This Low Carb Cabbage Lasagna makes enough to feed my family for two meals, which means I’m totally off the hook for cooking for one meal after I’ve made this delicious dish! I either re-heat it for dinner sometime in the next 3-5 days (this is how long it will last in the refrigerator once cooked) or I will freeze half of the lasagna for another day when I know I will be too tired or busy to cook.
This lasagna will be fine in the freezer for up to 18 months! If you don’t want to part with one of your baking dishes, cool each piece completely, wrap in wax paper, then tin foil and keep in a heavy duty freezer bag. Wrapping each piece up individually makes for an easy lunch or dinner meal for one.
How can I use cabbage instead of pasta?
The best way to make Keto lasagna, in my opinion, is by replacing pasta was cabbage. The flavour is spot on and texture is very similar, but only if you first boil the leaves in salted water. If not, the cabbage will be firm and hard to cut.
What side dishes go well with Keto Cabbage Lasagna?
I always think of Low Carb Caesar Salad and Keto Garlic Bread when it comes to cabbage lasagna, but Green Salad and/or Cheesy Keto Flatbread are also great side dishes!
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Keto Cabbage Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1-1.25 lbs ground beef *see note 1
- 1 tbsp spicy spaghetti seasoning *see note 2
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 500 ml full fat cottage cheese
- 1 recipe Keto Marinara Sauce or 1x 680ml pasta sauce *see note 3
- 1 medium head green cabbage
- 12-15 large basil leaves
- 500 grams mozzarella
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Cutting Board and Knife
- Medium Saucepan
- Large Stock Pot
- Tongs
- Paper Towel
- Tin Foil
Meat Sauce
- Heat a medium saucepan on medium heat and add the olive oil. Dice the onion and red pepper and add them to the pot once the oil is hot. Cook for a couple of minutes until the onion is translucent. Mince or press the garlic and add to the saucepan with the black pepper, spicy spaghetti seasoning and ground beef.
- Cook until the beef is no longer pink, drain the excess grease and put back on the stove. Stir in the pasta sauce, cottage cheese and bring to a low simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring every 10 minutes or so to avoid burning *see note 4. The sauce should be very thick once done. You can skim the grease off of the sauce during the cooking process. (I keep a little bowl and a spoon beside the pot and skim every time I stir)
Cabbage
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Don't skip the salt, it helps to take moisture out of the cabbage leaves.
- Cut the core from the cabbage. I do this by carefully cutting around the core on an angle with a knife so that you end up with an empty space running halfway into the cabbage where the core used to be. This makes it easy for the leaves to peel away from the cabbage during the boiling process.
- Using a pair of tongs (no, don't just toss it in the pot and run like the wind) carefully place the cabbage into the boiling water.
- After about five minutes the leaves will start to peel away from the head. You can gently help them if you wish, but you will want to leave each leaf inside the boiling pot of water until they become super soft.
- Using the tongs remove each leaf from the pot as they become ready, rinse with water and place on paper towel or clean kitchen towels to dry *see note 6. It will take about 20/30 minutes to cook the whole head; you will want about 12-15 leaves.
Assembly
- Heat your oven to 350°. Thinly slice the basil, and grate the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Combine the cheeses in a medium bowl, mix the basil into the meat sauce and spread 1/3 of the sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9×13" baking dish. Spread the sauce with a spoon to ensure even coverage then sprinkle 1/2c cheese over the sauce and cover evenly with 4 or 5 cabbage leaves *see note 7.
- Sprinkle just under 1c cheese over the cabbage then half of the remaining meat sauce. Spread evenly with a spoon then add 1/2c cheese mixture and 4 or 5 more cabbage leaves.
- Cover the cabbage with just under 1c cheese, then spread the remainder of the meat sauce over the cheese. Add 1/2c cheese, 4 or 5 cabbage leaves and then top with the remaining cheese mix.
- Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and turn the oven to broil. Broil the lasagna until the cheese is bubbly. Slice the cabbage lasagna into 12 and serve hot!
Video
Notes
- Replace the ground beef for ground turkey for a yummy spin on this Low Carb Cabbage Lasagna.
- Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning – One of my most favourite spice blends! I used to buy Clubhouse Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning but now I make my own! If you don’t have any, and don’t want to make it yourself, it can be switched out for Italian seasoning.
- Marinara Sauce – Be careful when buying pasta sauce as they can have lots of sugar and other additives. I generally make my own Keto Marinara Sauce, otherwise RAO’s is a great brand to buy and can be found in most grocery stores.
- Find the time to allow your sauce to simmer properly. If you increase the temperature to a high simmer you could end up burning your sauce and if you don’t simmer it long enough there could be too much liquid left and you could end up with a soup rather than a lasagna. The length of time it will need to simmer for depends on how liquidy the pasta sauce is that you choose. I’ve had times where it took 1 hour, and other times it took 2 hours.
- Don’t forget the salt while boiling the cabbage leaves. Salt helps to remove liquid from the cabbage leaves to avoid a soupy lasagna.
- Rinse the cabbage leaves well with water after they have been boiled – this step helps to remove some of the salt from the dish.
- I like to cut the ribs from the cabbage before building the lasagna because I don’t like their texture, however my husband has no problem with the ribs. Totally a personal preference and because I’m the one who makes it, I remove the ribs.
I”m always on the hunt for great and healthy pasta. And I know I’ve come to the right place. I love your version of lasagna because it’s low carb and use cabbage. Can’t wait to try this version!
Thanks Amy! I love this recipe so much, I just want other people to give it a try and be amazed at how delicious it really is!
Wow! Low carb because there isn’t pasta…there’s cabbage! I wonder if I can fake out my family! I think this sounds delicious and is very creative!
Yes it’s amazing! My family loves this dish 🙂
How fun. I’ve never heard of cabbage lasagna! I love cabbage and I love lasagna, so I imagine that I’m going to adore this dish! It looks comforting and delicious! Aleta, your photos are gorgeous and droolworthy!
Thanks so much Elaine, you are too kind! My family prefers cabbage lasagna to pasta lasagna because the flavour is sooo delicious and there is no carby after bloat!
This lasagna is genius! I love cabbage and I love how it stands in for noodles! I also think your brother sounds hilarious – “bleached death bush!”
CABBAGE lasagna?? What? Where has this been all my life??
My mom also made the best lasagna. It’s funny how that is usually the favourite home cooked meal that people remember from their childhoods.
Totally! Makes sense too, it’s usually made for a special occasion or as a ‘fancy’ dinner.
We stay pretty low carb most of the time, especially now that the fella is back on Keto and cabbage is our do everything utility veggie for so many things. I love using it as a replacement for lasagna sheets! I’ve never tried adding cottage cheese in my lasagna before though, so I’d really like to try your version sometime!
Thanks Jenni, I love this dish so much, we have it all the time. I much prefer it to pasta lasagna, as does everyone in my home, it’s just so delicious!
This is a great idea! It’s like a lasagna version of stuffed cabbage. I bet it’s packed with flavor.
Exactly! So yum!
Who doesn’t love Lasagna?! We all do !! However, I never thought of trying it out using cabbage, definitely on my list to try. Makes the perfect low-carb dinner option
Thanks Alisha 🙂
I am surprised!!! Cabbage… really?! OMG this is genius. I absolutely love this recipe. It sounds super delicious and it’s so healthy. I must give this a try.
Thanks Natalie! It is sooo yummy, I hope you love it too!
Never in my life did I imagine a low-carb lasagna was possible! I’m so impressed and craving this right now! Perfect for my keto diet 🙂
I aim to please!
As an Italian I would have to say that nothing could possibly take the place of my mamma’s homemade lasagna. But as an alternative I think this is fantastic! I great low carb idea. And the way you prepare the cabbage leaves reminds me of a recipe my German MIL made. I will definitely try out this recipe. My kiddos will be super surprised.
Thanks Marisa! You’d be surprised how similar it tastes to pasta lasagna!
Love the cabbage lasagna combo ~ so interesting! Thanks so much for sharing this low carb combo :).
You’re welcome!!
Cabbage anything reminds me of my grandma. She would most certainly approve of this recipe! I’m so intrigued by this one!!
Thanks Lorie 🙂
My family of 5 devoured this and are all super excited there is left overs for lunch! We used only ricotta, no cottage cheese. We were so surprised that it wasn’t watery! Followed directions exactly!
Taking the time to add it to my recipe box right now!!!
Hey Amy! Thanks so much for sending me this lovely message! I am so glad you loved this lasagna, it is one of our favourites as well! <3
I have never heard of using cabbage instead of lasagna sheets and love this idea! I love lasagna but it’s such a heavy meal – I am so excited to discover a lighter alternative!
Thanks Katerina! I hope you love it 🙂
Hands down the best lasagne I have ever had.
Wow thanks Tracy, I am so glad to hear it!
If I want to use ricotta instead of cottage cheese (what I have on hand) do I still simmer it in the sauce? Or do I just add it into the cheese layer?
That’s a great question Tawni! You could do either. Personally, I would simmer it in the sauce to help reduce as much moisture as possible, though because ricotta doesn’t have as much moisture as cottage cheese, it wouldn’t be as much of an issue if you added it to the cheese layer.
Can you assemble ahead a bake later?
You bet!
I made this tonight. I simmered the sauce for a full 2 hours. I was so concerned that there was not enough actual sauce for the lasagna, that I actually poured a small amount of the leftover Rao’s on the last layer of cabbage. It was perfect. My kids (5, 5, and 7) pushed the cabbage to the side but devoured the meat sauce and cheese. I still have tons of cabbage leaves left I figure I’ll use as wraps.
Hey Deborah, I’m glad you and your kids liked the lasagna 🙂 That’s a great idea to use leftover leaves as wraps!
Hi! Could I use ricotta cheese in place of cottage cheese? Thank you.
Hi Magon, you can absolutely use ricotta in place of cottage cheese if you prefer 🙂
Sorry Aleta but what do you mean by 1/2c and 1c in the recipe. I think it means cottage cheese but the sprinkle of 1/2c and sprinkle of just under 1c I find confusing. Can you explain it a little better for me please. Joan
Hi Joan 🙂 The cottage cheese is added to the meat sauce, so when referring to the cheese in the assembly, it is referring to the shredded mozzarella 🙂
Hi Aleta, thanks for the prompt reply. I must have had a senior moment. Realized that the 1/2c meant 1/2 a cup moments after sending the question.
Made this for my daughter and son-in-law; they loved it.
Joan
Ohhhh I see! I am so they loved it so much, it is one of my absolute favourites myself 🙂