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This delicious, cheesy and gooey lasagna recipe is so yummy! Zucchini & Bacon Three Cheese Lasagna is a flavorful homemade dish that’s sure to impress your guests.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Zucchini & Bacon Three Cheese Lasagna

It may sound weird, but with fresh, summery zucchini, plenty of bacon, three types of cheese, and a little pinch of nutmeg, it’s just bursting with flavor. It’s fun to make and super impressive because you get to toss around phrases like “fontina cheese”, “freshly grated nutmeg” and “Oh, I’m just whipping up a béchamel sauce!”

Give it a try… you won’t be disappointed! :)

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

How to Make Zucchini & Bacon Three Cheese Lasagna

What better place to start than with bacon! I’m seriously considering making this my desktop background. You’ll need about 6-8 slices cooked bacon, and here’s how I do it: Arrange bacon slices on a cooling rack (like for cookies) and set on top of sheet pan. If you don’t have a cooling rack, you can just put it in the sheet pan. Or a 9×13 dish. Either will work! :) Place bacon in a cold oven, then turn heat to 400. You don’t have to wait for the oven to preheat, go ahead and set your timer for 16 mins. After 16 mins, flip the bacon and bake for another 16-18 mins, or until done.  Quick. Easy. Painless. Not to mention crunchy & yummy! :)

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

While the bacon is baking, let’s prepare the zucchini. You’ll need 1 zucchini, or about 2 cups, diced. This summer I planted eight zucchini plants and ended up with more zucchini than any two people could ever possibly eat. So I just pick my zucchini as it’s ready, dice it, and freeze it in ziploc bags. Then when I get ready to use it, it’s all diced up and ready to go. Perfect!

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Toss zucchini in olive oil, just enough to coat, add 1-2 cloves minced garlic, and plenty of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I never used to grind my own pepper until I got this. Love it! Now I never use anything else.

Roast zucchini in an 8×8 baking dish at 400 degrees for 15 mins… You don’t need to spray it, there’s plenty of oil to keep it from sticking. Go ahead and toss it in the oven with your bacon after you flip it if ya want! :)

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

You’ll also need 3 ounces of shredded fontina cheese. Ooh. I forgot to measure how much that is. I would guess about a cup. I just get the deli to cut off a 3 oz block, then bring it home and shred it.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Now for the good stuff. Once your bacon has cooled, chop into bite sized pieces. Combine bacon, roasted zucchini, fontina cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 egg, and more kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside while you whip up your béchamel sauce… :)

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

You’ll need just a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg… delicious! :)

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1 tbsp flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup milk. Increase the heat to just above medium. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk a pinch each of salt, pepper, and nutmeg into your béchamel sauce. Perfect!

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Pour the béchamel sauce into the bottom an 8×8 dish. I use the same dish I roasted the zucchini in. Top with 2 lasagna noodles.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

I like no-boil, oven ready lasagna noodles. Plus these are perfectly sized for 8×8! Nevermind the weird waves. Not sure what that’s all about.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Top with the zucchini mixture…

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

2 more lasagna noodles…

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

And 1 cup of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Now for the really good stuff. Top with fresh mozzarella. I use smoked mozzarella when I can find it.. It gives the lasagna a wonderful smoky flavor. But… this time I couldn’t find it. I did find these mozzarella pearls though.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Very cool.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Aww. They’re cute.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Cover with foil bake at 400 for 20 mins.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Uncover, add a little more parmesan cheese on top, then bake for an additional 15 mins.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Until it looks like this.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

Just look at those beautiful, crispy, golden brown and delicious bubbles of mozzarella.

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

*chomp*

Zucchini & Bacon Lasagna

If you can resist, let stand 10 mins before serving. It’s beautiful, cheesy, gooey and delicious! Enjoy! :)

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Zucchini & Bacon Three Cheese Lasagna

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: Italian

Description

This delicious, cheesy and gooey lasagna recipe is so yummy! Zucchini & Bacon Three Cheese Lasagna is a flavorful homemade dish that’s sure to impress your guests.

Scale

Ingredients

Béchamel Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • Pinch of salt, pepper, & freshly grated nutmeg

Lasagna

  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
  • 3 ounces fontina cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
  • 1 cup of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce
  • 3 oz smoked mozzarella cheese
  • 4 oven ready (no boil) lasagna noodles

Instructions

  1. Dice zucchini, add garlic, coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Roast in an 8×8 baking dish at 400 degrees for 15 mins until soft. Leave oven on at 400, and save the 8×8 dish for the lasagna.
  2. Combine the zucchini, bacon, Parmesan, fontina, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside.

For the béchamel sauce

  1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk a pinch of salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the béchamel sauce.
  2. Pour the béchamel sauce into the bottom of the 8×8 dish. Top with 2 lasagna noodles, the zucchini mixture, 2 more lasagna noodles, the marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a little more parmesan cheese to top.
  3. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 400 until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes.

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32 Responses
  1. Phil

    This is a really inspiring recipe, which I used to create my own version. I started with the Bechamel sauce, doubling it at subbing fresh whipped cream for half of the milk. to finish it I added a slice of cheddar since it reminded me of cheese sauce. instead of chopping up the other ingredients (bacon, zucchini) I sliced the zucchini, and instead of lasagna noodles I used penne and wide rice noodles. Other modifications also, but it turned out perfect! Thanks for the inspiration.






  2. Robyn

    I made this for the second time last night, and it was AMAZING!! I added spinach to mine, just to add something extra. My whole family loved it, and I am looking forward to making it again.

  3. Melissa

    This recipe is absolutely delicious! I have tweaked it a bit, using an Italian blend instead of parmesan and fontina (nearly impossible to find Fontina where I am at) and alfredo instead of marinara due to allergies and acid issues. This recipe is to die for. :)

  4. Meredith

    This recipe is absolutely delicious!!! We made it last night for dinner, and even my 11 month old could not stop eating it! We doubled the recipe and put it in an 8×13 dish, and, to make it a little thicker, we added another layer of noodles with marinara sauce. With a side salad and garlic bread, it’s perfection. Thanks for the great recipe. This is definitely going into our regular rotation of easy-to-make meals!

  5. Betty Luna

    Hello Amanda I´m from Colombia and like very much you web page , is very Nice , the designs of your crafts and the receipe but is to fat for me , do you have a same dleicios receipes low calories ?? Congratulations your work is very pretty. regards Betty

  6. Jennifer

    I stumbled upon your recipe the other day and decided to make it for dinner last night. I loved it! It was so delicious and my 7 year old liked it to. He doesn’t like veggies that much, so getting him to eat them is tough. But, with the bacon thrown in there, he gobbled it right up! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. If there are any others you can suggest for me to get my son to eat veggies, I would appreciate it.

  7. Pati L

    Love this!! My mom & I made this last week while visiting her in Iowa. Now that I’m home, I just printed out my own copy and plan to make it tonight! Thanks for sharing this!

  8. Dalia

    I’ve been wanting to try this ever since you posted this recipe, and finally made this last night. Amanda, thank you for sharing! It is absolutely delicious!! I love it and I’m passing the recipe to my sister.

  9. Lorna Evenson

    Made this tonight and it was super yummy! I would have added another zucchini, but besides that – it was so good! The bacon gave it a nice flavor that you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to taste in lasagna. I didn’t have any fontina cheese or mozzarella, so I used a low fat Italian 4 cheese and parmesan. It was delicious – great recipe! My husband also thought it was good and went back for seconds.

  10. Brook

    I tried this and LOVE IT!!! I used turkey bacon, and it was scrumptious! Even my picky husband loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!:)

  11. Monika

    Amanda- this recipe is awesome! Just made it for dinner with my husband and it is fantastic. Took me no time to make and he loves it! I added garlic bread and green salad to the plate and it was a great Italian meal! Thanks for all the inspiration!

  12. tina

    Good golly, Amanda, eight plants?! I have 2 (one’s not producing) & I’m inundated with squash. I can’t imagine eight :) This recipe is wrong on so many levels, but I’m diving in. I’ll be cooking it tonight. Thanks!

  13. Stacy

    Amanda, I made this last night. I cannot even begin to tell you how much my husband and I enjoyed it. I even blogged about it this morning. We ate the entire thing except for one slice. SOOOOOOO good!!! I want more, NOW!!!

  14. Nikki

    Thank you so much for this recipe… and detailed instructions… this looks and sounds so delicious. And I love Zucchini!

  15. Wizzythestick

    I love that lasagna is such an easily adaptable recipe. Great for using up in season veggies as you’ve done here

  16. Jennifer Hartshorne

    I just found your website and I plan to visit often! I’m definately going to try some of your recipes and I hope you’ll share more!

  17. Denise Ackerly

    THANK YOU!!!! Made this tonight. Dee-spankin-licious! For the 4 of us, I made it in a 11×7 dish and we had only 2 little pieces left over! I usually make our bacon in a clay baking dish, but I like your way much more since all the fat drips down and the bacon isn’t sitting in the grease.

    FYI–for those of you who are also new to trying it this way with the shallow sheet pan (3/4 inch deep or so) and the cooling rack, BE SURE to take the pan out of the oven SLOWLY! My husband pulled it out a little too quickly and the oil splashed over the side and luckily landed on the throw rug in front of the stove and not his leg! The hot oil melted that part of the rug loops (guess it is polyester). Be Careful!

    Another 2 tips–My bechamel began a bit too lumpy. Threw it in the blender for a a few seconds and continued cooking it with no problems. Also, if you have a picky “I hate veggies” eater in your family, puree the roasted zucchini/garlic and egg before adding the bacon and cheese. Barely discernible.

    Thank you again, Amanda!

  18. Shannon

    Oh my goodness! This looks SO good!!!!! I will be making this for sure next week (already have this week’s menu).
    Thanks for sharing!!!!

  19. christine

    Now this is a fantastic introduction of Zucchini for my 4 yrs old baby. She’s a pasta and cheese lover, but I’m having a hard time of introducing more veggie on her diet. Good job here. If you wont mind I’d love to guide Foodista readers to your post. Just add the foodista widget to the end of this post so it will appear in the Foodista pages and it’s all set, Thanks!

  20. Alberta

    That looks amazingly delicious. How’s the consistency once it cooks? I always worry about fresh veggies like that giving off too much water once cooked. One more question…does your cooling rack warp or anything when using it in the oven? I’ve been looking forever for something oven safe and haven been to chicken to try the metal cooling rack. Appreciate your recipes and all the work you put into presenting them. Thanks!

    1. Amanda

      Hi Alberta! It turns out great- roasting the zucchini first probably helps with that. I use the cooling racks in the oven all the time and the heat doesn’t seem to affect them. They haven’t warped yet!

  21. Sarah

    Looks yummy! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe and the detailed instructions! (oh- and this comment form is really cute too!!)

  22. Sheryl

    This recipe looks delicious and I love that it seems so easy to make! I’m planning on passing along this recipe to my mom, too. She plants a garden every year and she has zucchini coming out of her ears! I think this is going to be a tasty way to use it up! Thanks for the recipe! :-)

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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