Keto Carnivore Style Lasagna
This meaty, cheesy keto carnivore lasagna starts with a rich meat sauce, and easy to make. No noodles or zoodles needed!
The other day, I had some ground meat and tomatoes to use up, so I decided to make a nice ragout of beef & pork meat and let it cook all day long, and then I assembled a lasagna with layers of some egg and cheese. Obviously, a proper ragout starts with mirepoix of carrot, celery, and onion, but those ingredients are minimal, and you can just make this a meat-only sauce if you want.
The magic of this keto carnivore lasagna is my innovative structure made with luscious cheese & eggs mixed together to create a sort of firm but soft layer that was close to lasagna noodles well-cooked in Béchamel sauce. It didn’t even need noodles or “faux” noodles like some low carb recipes have, most of which probably use almond flour (this is nut-free). I loved it and I hope you will, too…even if you dislike cottage cheese!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 medium onion (30 grams)
2 large stalks fresh celery (55 grams)
3 medium white mushrooms (40 grams)
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon, olive oil
1 pound each, ground beef and Italian sausage or ground pork
1/2 teaspoon each, your favorite dried Italian herbs
(parsley, oregano leaves, basil leaves, thyme)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup beef or chicken broth
2 tablespoons red wine or fruit vinegar (balsamic or apple cider)
3/4 of a large fresh garden tomato (100 grams)
2 1/2 cups tomato sauce or marinara
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 ounces aged Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 1/2 cups full fat cottage cheese or whole milk ricotta
4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
DIRECTIONS
Chop the onions, celery, mushrooms, and garlic.
In a small container or cup, combine the beef or chicken broth with the red wine or fruit vinegar (balsamic or apple cider, optional) and set aside.
In a 4-quart dutch oven or stock pot over the stove top, heat the butter and olive oil on medium-low, and add the onion, celery, and mushrooms, cooking until slightly softened. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute or so. Scoop the vegetables out and set aside.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the ground meat to the same pot, breaking up very well into small pieces while cooking. Add the dried herbs and continue cooking until browned. Add salt to taste and stir. Drain the meat, if desired.
Splash in the broth mixture and de-glaze the pan by scraping the surface gently with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to collect all the browned bits.
To the meat in the same pot, add the chopped tomatoes, and the tomato sauce. Then stir in the cooked vegetables that were set aside previously, along with the red pepper flakes (optional).
Cook your meat sauce for another 45 minutes to 2 hours on low, or until sauce is reduced by almost half, and the meat is very soft and tender (this recipe was only tried with very thick sauce, you don’t want it soupy).
Preheat oven to 350F
Prepare two 8 x 8″pans (I used two Pyrex glass 7 x 5″ pans) by lining them with parchment (important) all the way up each side. I wouldn’t recommend a big 9 x 13″ pan, it will result in a very flat lasagna.
Whip or beat the heavy cream with a whisk or hand mixer until fluffy.
In a small bowl, scoop in the cottage or ricotta cheese, then break in the eggs, and add the whipped cream, and the garlic powder. Mix together very well and break up until as smooth as possible (if using cottage cheese, mash well with a fork until you get smaller curds like ricotta). Add the black pepper and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese and fold it in until all combined.
Sprinkle half of the shredded Parmesan cheese into each of the parchment-lined pans (not to cover) and then scatter a handful or so of the mozzarella. It need not be a thick layer of cheese, just enough to mostly cover the parchment.
Carefully drop spoonfuls of the meat sauce and flatten into a layer as much as possible without spreading the first cheese layer around.
Next, spoon out some of the egg mixture to cover the meat sauce, and flatten down as much as you can.
Next, scatter a layer of shredded mozzarella, trying as much as possible to have very little meat sauce peeking through.
Repeat a layer of the egg mixture, flattening down.
Repeat a layer of the meat sauce and flatten.
Repeat a layer of the mozzarella.
Repeat a layer of the egg mixture, flattening down.
Add a final layer of meat sauce and flatten.
Cover with the remaining mozzarella cheese, and optionally, sprinkle some more shredded Parmesan on top.
Bake uncovered, for 50-60 minutes or until the center is firm and the cheese is browned all over.
Let the keto carnivore lasagna cool for about 15-20 minutes on the counter top before slicing and serving, or just dig in with a large spoon. Ideally, if you are aiming for best presentation, cool in the fridge overnight and slice and microwave each portion about 1 1/2 minutes in a deep microwave-safe covered dish or cover with a paper plate (with enough room so it doesn’t lay on the cheese while cooking).
Makes 12 servings (about 6 squares per pan).
Notes:
If using a jarred marinara sauce, be sure to choose one that’s very low in carbs. I used a variety (Priano brand) from Aldi that has 5 g net carbs per quarter cup, about 10 servings per jar.
All in all, depending on what ingredients you use, this keto carnivore lasagna will be around 520 calories and about 7 g net carbs per serving. Obviously, any ingredient on this recipe that isn’t on your carnivore diet plan is optional.
Your pan should be pretty much full to the top after the keto carnivore lasagna is assembled, which will result in a nice, high lasagna. So be sure to place the pans on top of a large rimmed baking sheet (I’m glad I did, my lasagna was dripping a bit of grease, but I chose not to drain my meat for a richer lasagna) before placing into the oven. I chose to bake one pan at a time, so if you are baking both at once, you may find you need to increase cooking time, but the only thing that’s raw is the egg/cottage cheese mixture, so maybe not.
Enjoy!
4 Comments
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Think I’ll try this out soon.Thanks!
This is an absolute fantastic recipe and my family loves it very much.
The Lasagna looks delicious. It however, is not Carnivore diet friendly.
Let’s, yes, low carb, yes.
Thanks for the compliment, Kevin. Not sure if I made it clear enough, but all the ingredients in the recipe that aren’t animal-based would be optional for anyone who wanted this to be truly “carnivore-friendly.”