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    Home » Italian Recipes

    Italian Turkey Lasagna | Easy No Boil Recipe

    March 11, 2020 by angelakallison 8 Comments

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    This recipe for Italian Turkey Lasagna is simple, delicious, and so easy to make. Featuring ground turkey, no boil lasagna noodles, ricotta, and mozzarella, it's a great weeknight dinner that's tasty enough to entertain with.

    Italian Turkey Lasagne in a white baking dish.

    Ground turkey is a delicious healthy substitute for ground beef or pork in typical lasagna dishes. The meaty flavor gives all of the texture you love without all of the grease and fat.

    This recipe for Italian Turkey Lasagna is guaranteed to be your new favorite way to make this classic Italian dish. Plus, it's easy to make from scratch and only takes minutes to put together.

    With all of the delicious lasagna flavors you love, this recipe features ricotta, parmesan, a meaty sauce, and so much cheese! It's the ultimate comfort food.

    Italian Turkey Lasagna.

    You can assemble this dish in less than 30 minutes and bake immediately, or refrigerate and bake later. Read on for how to make the BEST ground turkey lasagna recipe out there!

    How to Make a Healthier Lasagna

    There are many ways to cut calories and boost protein in your lasagna recipe. With only 379 calories per serving, this Italian Turkey Lasagna recipe is lower in fat and calories than most classic lasagna recipes.

    Here are some more great ways to reduce calories when making lasagna:

    • Substitute lean ground meat for traditional beef or pork. Using ground chicken or turkey is a great way to cut calories while keeping the texture.
    • Add veggies to your sauce. In this Easy Vegetable Lasagna recipe, the veggies are pureed into the sauce, so you'd never even know they are there. Great trick for getting kids to eat more vegetables too.
    • Substitute cottage cheese for ricotta cheese. A good way to do this and keep the ricotta texture you love is by pureeing the cottage cheese in a food processor. Additionally, you could use part-skim ricotta or do half ricotta, half cottage cheese.
    • Use thinly sliced zucchini in place of traditional lasagna noodles. This is a great trick to cut calories and carbs from your recipe.
    • Half the amount of mozzarella in the recipe. You'll find by doing this you really don't miss the cheese at all. As long as you don't omit the cheese altogether.

    And, if you just have to have the traditional lasagna, pair it with a healthy side or starter salad like this Italian Tomato Onion Salad. You may find that half a portion of lasagne is sufficient if you have a hearty salad to begin with.

    Italian Turkey Lasagna recipe.

    Are No Boil Lasagna Noodles Tasty?

    They can be! No boil lasagna noodles have really come along way since their inception. Initially, these noodles were gummy and just didn't taste good. However, these noodles are much better now and truly make lasagna so much easier to put together.

    After trying various different types of no-boil noodles, here are the best oven-ready lasagna noodles:

    • Trader Joe's No Boil Italian Lasagna Noodles
    • Market Place Oven-Ready Lasagna Noodles
    • Barilla Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

    If you only have traditional noodles on hand, you can still use them for this Italian Turkey Lasagne recipe. Just cook until al dente and build the lasagna as usual.

    Another tip for easily cooking lasagna noodles is to place the noodles in a large baking dish or casserole dish. Pour boiling water over the noodles, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Carefully drain and you'll find that you have perfectly al dente noodles for your lasagna.

    So no more getting out that huge pot and waiting for water to boil for lasagna noodles. Give the no-boil noodles a shot and you will be pleasantly surprised.

    Italian Turkey Lasagna Recipe

    The key to making this recipe easy is to gather all of the ingredient and assemble the components ahead of time. The ground turkey lasagna consists of four layer components:

    • Ground turkey meat sauce
    • Ricotta parmesan mixture
    • Shredded mozzarella
    • No-bake lasagna noodles

    Once you have all of these prepared, assembling the Italian turkey lasagna is easy. It's just a matter of layering and repeating until you reach the top of the pan.

    Italian Turkey Lasagna

    Firstly, you will need to prepare the sauce. This simple ground turkey meat sauce comes together quickly and only requires ground turkey, spices, canned tomatoes, and onions and garlic.

    Next, the ricotta mixture is simply a blend of ricotta cheese, parmesan, and eggs. You could part-skim or whole milk ricotta cheese for this lasagna. Also, you could use a parmesan reggiano blend or all mozzarella if you like.

    How to Assemble the Turkey Lasagna

    Once you have your components ready, you can begin assembling. I recommend using a deep casserole pan with high sides, like this Emilie Henry Large White Baker. This is a 4-layer lasagna, so you will need room to layer.

    Start with about half a cup of the sauce spread thinly on the bottom of the baking pan.

    turkey meat sauce spread over the bottom of a baking dish.

    Next, layer on the no-bake lasagna noodles. If necessary, snap the noodles to into smaller sizes so they fit in the pan.

    no-bake lasagna noodles layered overtop of the turkey meat sauce in the baking dish.

    Spread on ⅓rd of the ricotta mixture so that it covers the top of the no-boil lasagna noodles.

    ricotta cheese mixture spread overtop of the no-bake lasagna noodles.

    Then, spoon on about a cup of turkey meat sauce and sprinkle on ¼ of the mozzarella overtop of the ricotta.

    meat sauce and cheese in the lasagna layer.

    Repeat the layers, ending with sauce and the remaining mozzarella. Use non-stick foil or a sheet of foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to cover the lasagna.

    turkey lasagna ready to be covered and put in the oven to bake.

    Bake for about an hour. Then, uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the lasagna is bubbly.

    Italian Turkey lasagna.

    If desired, place the lasagna under the broiler for about a minute to lightly brown the cheese. Let the lasagna rest at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

    Hope you love this recipe! Be sure to comment below and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

    Italian Turkey Lasagne in a white baking dish.
    Print Recipe
    5 from 6 votes

    Italian Turkey Lasagna

    This simple and delicious recipe for Italian Turkey Lasagna comes together fast and is perfect for a weeknight dinner or entertaining. Made with ground turkey, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and no boil lasagna noodles.
    Prep Time30 mins
    Cook Time1 hr 10 mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Italian
    Keyword: healthy lasagna, italian lasagna, turkey lasagna
    Servings: 12 servings
    Calories: 379kcal
    Author: Angela Allison
    Cost: 9-11

    Equipment

    • 9 x 13 casserole dish

    Ingredients

    Turkey Meat Sauce

    • 2 teaspoons olive oil
    • 1 pound ground turkey
    • ½ large onion, diced (about a cup)
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
    • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 2 15 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
    • 2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce

    Ricotta Filling

    • 2 15 ounce containers ricotta cheese (part-skim or whole)
    • 1 cup shredded parmesan
    • 2 large eggs, beaten

    Lasagna Layers

    • 1 12 ounce package oven ready lasagna noodles (about 16 noodles)
    • 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
    • Heat oil in a large skillet or pot over medium high heat. Add in the ground turkey and onions and cook until the turkey is no longer pink, breaking up the turkey meat with a spoon as it cooks. Stir in the garlic and cook for one minute. Add in the tomato paste, oregano and salt, and stir for another two minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for five minutes; set aside.
    • To make the ricotta filling, stir together the ricotta, parmesan, and eggs; set aside.
    • To assemble the lasagna, spoon about half a cup of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Place four of the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, breaking the noodles to fit if necessary. Spread on ⅓rd of the ricotta cheese mixture, ¼ of the mozzarella, and about a cup of meat sauce. Repeat layers, ending with the last layer or lasagna noodles, sauce, and topping with remaining mozzarella cheese.
    • Cover the lasagna with nonstick foil and bake, covered for an hour. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

    Notes

    This Italian Turkey Lasagna recipe can be assembled in advance and just baked before serving. Be sure to add about 10 extra minutes to the bake time. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 379kcal
    Italian Turkey lasagna pinterest pin.
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    Comments

    1. Vicky

      March 13, 2020 at 8:18 pm

      5 stars
      Anytime I can take a family favorite and make it healthier is a good day! Thanks for this recipe!

      Reply
    2. Dannii

      March 14, 2020 at 2:25 am

      5 stars
      Lasagna is total comfort food and this looks delicious! I can't wait to try it.

      Reply
    3. Paula Montenegro

      March 14, 2020 at 3:02 am

      5 stars
      The perfect recipe to have frozen at all times! So perfect that you use turkey, such a great and healthy change from my usual recipe!

      Reply
    4. Saif

      March 14, 2020 at 3:41 am

      I love lasagna. That is one of my favorite pasta dish. If I am using lasagna sheet that isn't oven ready, how many minutes should I baked in the oven? Thanks

      Reply
      • angelakallison

        March 14, 2020 at 6:37 am

        Hi! Just boil the pasta until al dente and bake as instructed. Enjoy!

        Reply
    5. Priya Lakshminarayan

      March 15, 2020 at 12:36 pm

      This would be perfect for a feast! Sounds tempting.

      Reply
    6. Karen

      December 24, 2021 at 3:05 pm

      5 stars
      Have made this a couple times. The first time I mistakenly used 2 pounds of turkey. It was great. Will always double the meat. This time I made with lean beef and Italian sausage. I am horrible with layering lasagna and never end with what I am supposed to. But still delicious!

      Reply
      • angelakallison

        December 29, 2021 at 5:40 pm

        Thanks for the comment! So happy you love it! 🙂

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Angela, the recipe creator of This Italian Kitchen. Cooking alongside her Italian family, she grew up creating authentic meals and desserts.

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