Shop
My
Custom
FREE 5-Ingredient Recipe EBook
GET IT NOWMy Cauliflower Lasagna Has All The Cozy Layers You Crave In A Lighter Package
This cauliflower lasagna is a lot like my zucchini lasagna and eggplant lasagna, but easier because you don’t have to alternate layers. I actually made this one first, way back in 2016, and it’s still one of my favorite comfort meals. It’s also similar to my cauliflower baked ziti, but a few tweaks give it a totally different vibe. Here’s what makes this version special:
- All the flavors of classic lasagna – Cauliflower makes a perfect stand-in for noodles here, but otherwise you’ve got the usual, cozy lasagna layers: meat marinara, creamy ricotta, and melty mozzarella. You won’t miss the pasta at all!
- Quick to assemble – Unlike traditional lasagna recipes, you don’t need to stack multiple layers here. My cauliflower lasagna is faster, easier, and just as delicious.
- Perfect for make-ahead meals – You can prep the components in advance or assemble the whole thing and bake it later. It reheats beautifully and makes weeknight dinners so much easier.
- Lighter comfort food – This dish tastes cheesy and hearty, but it’s also low carb, gluten-free, and packed with veggies and protein. It can be a one-pan meal all by itself, or round it out with my artichoke salad, Caprese salad, or low carb dinner rolls.
If you’re craving something cozy and cheesy that also makes you feel good, grab a casserole dish and make this cauliflower lasagna with me!
“I made this the other day, and it came out delicious! It’ll be one of my go-to recipes. I love lasagna and can’t have the pasta, so this was an excellent substitute.”
-Susana
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my cauliflower lasagna recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Cauliflower – Cut a whole head into bite-sized florets, or if you want to save time, pre-cut cauliflower works.
- Ground Beef – I usually go with beef because it adds the richest flavor, but ground turkey, chicken, pork, or even Italian sausage all work great here.
- Aromatics – Both onion and garlic! Freshly minced garlic has the best flavor, but a teaspoon of the jarred kind will do in a pinch.
- Marinara Sauce – My homemade marinara (with crushed tomatoes) works perfectly here, but your favorite store-bought version is fine too (I love this brand). If you use plain tomato sauce, add extra garlic and a few Italian herbs to build flavor.
- Cheeses – A blend of ricotta and grated parmesan cheese for the creamy layer, plus shredded mozzarella cheese for that melty finish. You can also swap in cottage cheese or farmer’s cheese instead of ricotta, but I recommend blending them first for a smooth consistency.
- Egg – To bind the ricotta and parmesan mixture. You can omit this if you need an egg-free version.
- Fresh Basil – For the meat sauce, plus more for a pop of freshness and color over the cauliflower lasagna. If you don’t have fresh, a tablespoon of dried basil works for the meat.
- Olive Oil, Sea Salt, & Black Pepper – For sauteing and simple seasoning. I sometimes swap avocado oil for olive oil, which works just as well for roasting.
How To Make Cauliflower Lasagna
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Roast the cauliflower. Toss the florets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, then spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast until golden and tender.
- Cook the onions and beef. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and sauté the onion until it starts to soften. Add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper and cook, breaking it apart with a spatula, until browned.
- Stir in the garlic, marinara sauce, and fresh basil. Simmer to blend the flavors.
- Mix the cheeses. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, and egg until smooth and creamy.
- Assemble the cauliflower lasagna. Add layers of cauliflower into a baking dish, spoon the meat sauce on top, then add dollops of the ricotta cheese mixture and spread gently. Finish with shredded mozzarella on top of the cheese mixture.
- Bake until hot and bubbly. If you want th cheese more browned, you can do that under the broiler for a couple minutes at the end. I highly recommend a sprinkle of fresh basil leaves before serving!
My Recipe Tips
- Make sure the cauliflower roasts long enough to cook off any extra moisture. If it’s underdone, it can make the dish watery once baked. Using a thicker marinara sauce also helps.
- Save time by prepping components at the same time. I like to roast the cauliflower while the meat sauce cooks, then mix up the cheese filling as the sauce finishes. Once everything’s ready, just layer and bake.
- Sometimes, I start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish before adding the cauliflower. It helps prevent sticking and gives the bottom of the lasagna a little extra flavor.
- Add the ricotta layer in small dollops. I usually make a 3×3 grid, then spread it out gently. This helps avoid mixing into the meat layer.
- Add the fresh basil only the minute you serve. It tends to brown from the heat of the melted cheese, so it’s best to eat immediately.
- If you’re picturing cauliflower lasagna noodles as full sheets, you can make them using my cauliflower pizza crust recipe. Personally, I think roasting the cauliflower tastes just as good, and it’s much easier.
- Want to add extra vegetables? Bell peppers and spinach work perfectly here. Just sauté them with the onion before adding the meat sauce, or layer sauteed spinach right between the sauce and ricotta for a little extra color and nutrition.
Cauliflower Lasagna
My cauliflower lasagna has all the cheesy, meaty flavor you love, with cauliflower in place of noodles. A veggie-packed, low carb dinner!
Remove Ads
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.
Cauliflower:
Meat Sauce:
Cheeses:
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
-
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C). Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Spread on the baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown.
-
Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, until shimmering. Add the onion and cook for 5-8 minutes, until starting to brown.
-
Add the ground beef. Break up with a spatula or meat chopper, and season with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes, breaking apart with a spatula, until browned.
-
Stir in the garlic, marinara sauce, and 1/4 cup fresh basil. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
-
In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, grated parmesan cheese, and egg, until smooth.
-
When the cauliflower is done roasting, transfer it to a 9×9 inch (23×23 cm) baking dish. Pour the meat sauce over the cauliflower and spread evenly. Dollop the ricotta cheese mixture over the meat sauce (I do 9 dollops) and spread gently. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
-
Bake the cauliflower lasagna for 10-15 minutes, until hot and bubbly. If you like, you can place the pan under the broiler for 1-2 minutes at the end to brown the cheese. Top with more fresh basil right before serving.
LAST STEP: Leave a rating to help other readers, or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/8 of the entire pan
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you get the best texture and easy assembly.
- Storage & meal prep: I have several meal prep options here.
- Note on nutrition info: The nutrition values may vary a bit depending on the brand of marinara sauce you use.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
Add Your Notes Your Notes
Try More Of My Recipes
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead.
Cauliflower Lasagna
Meal Prep Options
- Store leftovers: The cauliflower lasagna keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Meal prep the layers: You can roast the cauliflower, prep the cheese mixture, and make the meat sauce ahead of time, then store them separately in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready, just assemble and bake.
- Meal prep the entire casserole: Assemble the entire cauliflower lasagna in advance, cover it, and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake. This is my favorite option for easy weeknight dinners.
- Freeze: It freezes really well for up to 3 months. You can freeze it before baking or after it’s cooked and cooled. If frozen unbaked, thaw overnight before baking, or bake straight from frozen — just know it will take a little longer to heat through.
- Reheat: Warm in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F, until heated through. For single servings, microwave for about 1-2 minutes for an easy, cozy lunch.
42 Comments
Stephenie
2This is a great recipe! Even my brother, who does not do a keto diet, loved this recipe, and we’re Italian! The only thing I changed was using frozen cauliflower florets that I microwaved and used those in the recipe. Super fast and oh so good! Recommend highly. A Must try!
Julie
2This was delicious! I made extra sauce a whole onion, a full can of crushed tomatoes and adjusted spices. I also substituted ground Turkey. Highly recommend for a healthy and delicious meal!!
Debbie
2I made this last night and it was spectacular! Roasting the cauliflower really helped the cauliflower in taste. ( I am not a cauliflower fan!) I added the salt and pepper as stated, but also added some oregano and garlic powder. I did roast mine slightly longer for a texture I would like. Once combined and all of the cheese melted (which I also added cream cheese as suggested) it was divine! Thank you Maya for yet another wonderful recipe.
Susana Garcia
2I made this the other day and it came out delicious! It’ll be one of my go-to recipes! I love lasagna and obviously can’t have the pasta so this was an excellent substitute. I did add way more garlic (because, why not??) and a bit more meat and cheese. Thank you!!
Charles Meekings
1Another hit with the family that hates cauliflower. Actually, I didn’t tell them that it had cauliflower. My cauliflower didn’t crisp up, but it still roasted nicely. Knowing how fussy my wife and kids are, I hid the cauliflower by making a purée and adding cream and parmesan. One of my kids thought that it might’ve been coleslaw because of the texture, but they loved the taste. Kids have given their thumbs up, so can cook again.
Eileen
0Hi, Love your recipes! Just wondering where the higher carb count comes from in this recipe? Is it just the onions? (which can be omitted)
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Eileen! The carbs here would be mainly the onions, marinara, and cheeses. Yes, you can omit the onions, and if you don’t mind it less saucy, you could reduce the amount of marinara sauce. Hope this helps.
SueV
0I made the cauliflower lasagna recipe for dinner tonight. It was very runny even though I drained the meat after cooking. The taste was ok, too bland; I think it needs some other spices/cheeses (parm and/or ricotta) to “up” the taste.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thanks for the feedback, Sue! I actually am testing this recipe right now and have an updated, improved version coming soon.
Dionne
0This recipe turned out really good. I added the ricotta cheese mix and it was so so good.
Mary W
0Delicious ? tastes like lasagna ?
Charlene
0At my daughter’s watching grandsons today and decided to make dinner for them. Based on ingredients on hand, it came out delicious. Would be even better with the fresh ingredients mentioned in the recipe though. Dry pan fried cauliflower rice just until it reached some color. Placed in a 9×13 greased pan. Next dry sauteed some cubed zucchini and seasoned. Placed on top of the cauliflower rice. Package wasn’t marked, but was either a 1 1/2-2 lb pkg ground beef. Fried, seasoned. Added garlic. Added almost 2 cups of a chunky marinara sauce, a sprinkling of Parmesan. Laid over vegetables in dish and topped with mozz. Baked as directed. Had to take a taste out of the corner – SO yummy. Comfort food, ah… Now going to have to make another for hubby at home:)
Reba D
0Very tasty. My people said not to announce it as lasagna, though. But, none left over! Quite delicious, thank you!!!!
kit
0I am dying to try this lasagne recipe, but I have searched and searched and taped and started over several times. I cannot find the “image” to tap on to find out how to make the cauliflower noodles. I have found “tap image below” but there is nothing and I’ve found “tap the image above” but there is no image that takes you to the video.
Help appreciated!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Kit, You have two options for your cauliflower noodles. Either layer roasted cauliflower in between layers of sauce and cheese, or you can make this recipe for cauliflower pizza crust and use it as your noodle layers. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
MICKI HERGENREDER
0Where is the video??
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Micki, The video is in the recipe card. If you cannot see the recipe card, then you may need to turn off your browser’s ‘Reader Mode’ to be able to view it.
Lucy
0I have multiple sclerosis and not able to do much anymore (such as cooking!), but my wonderful husband and I were both intrigued by this recipe. He happily worked in the kitchen as I read off the directions for him, though we had to halve the recipe as we didn’t have the full head of cauliflower, and it came out of the oven looking and smelling sooo good. I think next time we’ll add more Italian seasonings to the meat mixture (oregano, thyme, rosemary) and maybe even some cream cheese to that mix as well. But this recipe is definitely a keeper! 🙂
Patricia
0I am going to make this using very small cut-up cauliflower as my husband is not fond of it. But this looks so good. He is a good sport to let me try new recipes.
Sandy Hammond
0I’m going to try this today. The only change would be mashing the cauliflower and add some cream cheese to it. Then layer meat mixture and cheese on top! I’m making myself hungry!!
Lilly Hughes
0Made it today. Good flavor. I realize you can eyeball so I bought a small cauliflower. It never got tender. Roasted for 10 minutes, then 5 more minutes. Decided to make it a layer between meat sauce layers, thinking it would cook more if surrounded by more heat. Still not cooked enough. I like the idea that you can freeze. Most of these recipes are difficult to half, and the two of us can’t eat it all even two nights in a row. Love that it is low carb and gluten free. No health reasons for gluten-free, but I feel better when I don’t eat it. Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Lilly,
I’m glad you like the flavor!
Regarding the cauliflower not getting tender, the culprit is likely crowding the pan too much. Cauliflower needs air flow to roast, so putting it between sauce layers will not really cook it very well inside. Next time, use a larger pan, spread it out more, and make sure the cauliflower is tender before making the casserole with it.
I’m the same way as you with gluten-free recipes – I just feel much better without it!
Danielle
0Hi! Could you use riced cauliflower for this as well?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Danielle, Yes, you can. I would probably pan fry it to cook it first, in place of roasting the florets.
Holly
0I just discovered your recipes, and I love them! This was delicious, but was pretty soupy when I cut into it. Is it supposed to be that way? Or did I do something wrong? Thank you!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Holly, I’m glad you liked the taste! Mine isn’t usually soupy, I would guess that it might be differences in marinara sauce? Try a thicker kind if possible.
Rachel
0This was delicious! Thank you.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Rachel!
Loren
0I never comment on posts but I made this last night and it was SO delicious. I didn’t have basil so I added some Italian seasoning and extra salt and pepper. I also used a whole jar of pasta sauce. It was so yummy! Everyone loved it.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Loren! I’m so glad you liked it. I add Italian seasoning too sometimes.
Brendan
0Where’s the print button? I just printed this recipe and it cost me 12 pages of nothing to get the recipe. Put a print button on there!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Brendan, the print button is at the top right of the recipe card, you’ll see a printer icon. I just tested it and it only printed two pages for me. There may be something in your printer settings that needs to be changed. Sorry that happened!
Nancy
0Do you drain the diced tomatoes?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Nancy, No, there’s no need to drain them. You can if you want to, but in this recipe it doesn’t make too much difference one way or the other.
Kayla
0So the diced tomatoes are the marinara sauce?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kayla, No, they are separate. The recipe ingredients list both – 1 cup marinara sauce (I used Kirkland Signature Organic Marinara Sauce) and 1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes (found in the canned vegetables aisle). Hope that clears it up!
Kathryn Smith
0Could leftovers be frozen? Mainly the cauliflower without losing it’s flavor?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yes! I’ve frozen this before and it worked great. Just reheat in the oven at 350 degrees until heated through.
Susan C Huth
0I usually use frozen cauliflower in dishes like this. Would you say one 16 oz bag would do it?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Susan, That sounds like a good time saver! Yes, a 16 oz bag of frozen florets should be enough. (Note that a fresh head of cauliflower weighs about 2 pounds, but the weight is different for just florets that are frozen.) You’ll need to roast the florets for longer from frozen in step 2 – just until they are crisp-tender. Otherwise the recipe will be the same.
Lauren
0How is the cauliflower prepared? Chopped, grated or whole?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Lauren, The cauliflower is cut into florets. (I noted this in parentheses next to the cauliflower on the ingredients list.) Hope you get to try the recipe!