Keto Lasagne with Wrap Sheets
This keto lasagne uses our Low Carb Keto Wraps in place of pasta sheets, layered with a slow-simmered beef ragù and a creamy white sauce thickened with Xanthan Gum instead of flour. Each portion has 13.4g net carbs. It serves 6 and takes 25 minutes to prepare and about 1 hour 35 minutes to cook, plus 10 minutes resting.
Keto lasagne keeps everything you love about the classic, the rich beef ragù, the creamy white sauce and the golden cheese top, and swaps the pasta sheets for something with far fewer carbs. This one uses our Low Carb Keto Wraps, which soften in the sauce like fresh lasagne sheets, and a white sauce thickened with a little Xanthan Gum instead of flour. Each portion has 13.4g net carbs. If you've been searching for a keto lasagna recipe, it's the same dish; lasagne is the British spelling.
The method is based on BBC Good Food's classic lasagne, rated 4.7 out of 5 from 342 ratings, which builds three layers of slow-simmered beef ragù, sheets and white sauce in a dish of about 30 x 20cm and finishes it with mozzarella. For the sheets, we followed keto cooks on Reddit. In a popular r/ketorecipes thread, one cook said using tortillas in place of pasta gave the closest texture to real lasagne they'd found, with no sheets to pre-cook, and advised draining the fat from the meat so the lasagne isn't greasy or soggy. In another thread on a lasagne made with keto tortillas, a cook wrote that each portion gets about one tortilla, and that resting the dish for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing helps. Our twist: the Groovy Keto wraps as the sheets and a flour-free white sauce.
The wraps' pack and product page don't include a lasagne method, so this recipe is our adaptation of a classic beef lasagne: wraps in place of pasta sheets, and a white sauce thickened with xanthan gum instead of a flour roux. The 6 portions, the ½ tsp of xanthan gum and the cooking times are our estimates, not kitchen-tested. Cook the mince thoroughly, check the white sauce coats the back of a spoon, and make sure the lasagne is steaming hot in the middle before you serve it.
Low Carb Keto Wraps
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Xanthan Gum
View productHow keto lasagne compares with classic lasagne
A classic lasagne gets most of its carbohydrate from the pasta sheets and the flour in the white sauce. BBC Good Food's classic lasagne uses a 300g pack of fresh lasagne sheets, and its nutrition panel gives 31g carbs a serving. Mary Berry's lasagne al forno on BBC Food gives 56g carbohydrates a serving. In this keto lasagne, each wrap has 4.4g carbohydrate, and the white sauce has no flour at all, so each portion has 13.4g carbohydrate. None of the ingredients contains polyols, so that's also the net carbs figure.
| Food | Carbs | Net carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Our keto lasagne, 1 of 6 portions | 13.4g | 13.4g |
| Classic lasagne, 1 of 6 servings (BBC Good Food) | 31g | 31g |
| Mary Berry's lasagne al forno, 1 serving (BBC Food) | 56g | 56g |
| Lasagne, homemade, 100g | 15.2g | 15.2g |
The BBC Good Food figure is from the recipe's nutrition information, for one of its 6 servings. The Mary Berry figure is the per-serving figure BBC Food gives for her recipe, which serves 8 to 10. The homemade lasagne figure is UK CoFID 2021 data for "Lasagne, homemade" (19-481), per 100g. Our figure is for 1 portion (1/6 of the dish). None of these contains polyols, so net carbs are the same as carbohydrate.
Most of the carbs left in our version come from the tomatoes, the milk in the white sauce and the onion. Our guide to tomatoes on keto has the figures for tinned tomatoes, passata and purée. The wraps don't taste of pasta, and they're softer than dried lasagne sheets, but under the ragù and white sauce they give the same layered bite.
Tips for the best keto lasagne
- Cook the ragù down well. Simmer it uncovered until it's thick enough to hold a line when you drag a spoon through it. A thin, wet ragù is the main reason a lasagne turns out watery, and the wraps can't soak up as much liquid as pasta does.
- Brown the mince properly. Cook it in a hot pan until there's no pink left and it's browned all over. The browning gives the sauce its depth, and spooning off excess fat stops the layers sliding apart.
- Add the xanthan gum slowly. Sprinkle it over the hot milk while you whisk, rather than tipping it in, or it will clump. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon; add another small pinch only if it's still thin after 3 minutes.
- Fit the wraps to the dish. Two round wraps cover a 30 x 20cm dish if you overlap them slightly. Tear off the curved edges that ride up the sides and use them to patch any gaps.
- Dry the mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella holds a lot of water. Drain it, pat it dry with kitchen paper and tear it into small pieces so it melts evenly.
- Rest before cutting. Ten minutes out of the oven lets the sauce settle into the layers, so each portion comes out in a neat square.
Keto Lasagne with Wrap Sheets
- Prep time25 min
- Cook time1 hr 35 min
- Total time2 hours
- Serves6
- Net carbs13.4g a portion
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for greasing
- 1 small onion (about 100g), finely chopped
- 1 celery stick (about 40g), finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 750g beef mince
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 200ml beef stock (made with 1 stock pot)
- Leaves from 4 thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 30g unsalted butter
- 300ml whole milk
- 150ml double cream
- ½ tsp Xanthan Gum
- 50g Parmesan, finely grated
- A pinch of ground nutmeg
- 6 Low Carb Keto Wraps (from 2 packs of 4)
- 125g ball mozzarella, drained, patted dry and torn
- Salt and black pepper
You will also need a large, deep frying pan or casserole, a saucepan, a whisk and an ovenproof dish of about 30 x 20cm. You'll have 2 wraps left over; once a pack is open, keep it in the fridge and eat the wraps within 2 days, as the product page advises.
Allergens: contains gluten (wheat, in the wraps), milk (butter, milk, cream, Parmesan and mozzarella) and celery. See the allergen notes under Nutrition.
Method
- Soften the vegetables. Heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in a large, deep frying pan or casserole over a medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Brown the mince. Turn up the heat, add the 750g beef mince and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until it's browned all over with no pink left. Spoon off some of the fat if a lot collects in the pan. Wash your hands after handling raw mince.
- Simmer the ragù. Stir in the 2 tbsp tomato purée and cook for 1 minute. Add the 400g chopped tomatoes, the 200ml stock, the thyme and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the ragù is thick and there's very little liquid left. Remove the bay leaf and season to taste.
- Make the white sauce. While the ragù simmers, melt the 30g butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Pour in the 300ml milk and 150ml cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Sprinkle in the ½ tsp Xanthan Gum a little at a time, whisking all the time, then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, still whisking, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat and stir in 30g of the Parmesan, the nutmeg and a little salt and pepper.
- Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan), gas 4. Lightly oil an ovenproof dish of about 30 x 20cm.
- Layer the lasagne. Spread a third of the ragù over the base of the dish. Lay 2 wraps on top, overlapping them slightly, and tear off any edges that ride up the sides to fill the gaps. Spoon over about 4 tablespoons of the white sauce. Repeat twice more, so you have three layers of ragù and wraps, then pour the rest of the white sauce over the top so the wraps are completely covered.
- Top and bake. Scatter the torn mozzarella and the remaining 20g Parmesan over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, until golden and bubbling. It's ready when the lasagne is steaming hot all the way through: cut into the middle and check that steam escapes from the centre.
- Rest and serve. Leave the lasagne to rest for 10 minutes so the layers can set, then cut it into 6 portions and serve.
Ways to serve keto lasagne
- With a green salad: rocket or little gem leaves with a sharp olive oil and lemon dressing cut through the richness.
- With greens: buttered tenderstem broccoli or green beans are simple sides that need no extra pan space.
- With garlic flatbread: brush one of the spare wraps with garlic butter and warm it in a dry pan, or make our keto tortillas.
Adding sides or extras will change the nutrition figures, so the table below is for the lasagne as written.
Ways to vary keto lasagne
- Courgette sheets: instead of the wraps, slice 2 large courgettes (about 500g) lengthways into 3 to 4mm strips, sprinkle them with salt, leave them for 15 minutes and pat them dry before layering. That brings each portion to about 11.0g carbohydrate.
- Beef and pork: use half beef mince and half pork mince, as Gennaro Contaldo does in his classic lasagne on BBC Food.
- Mustard white sauce: whisk 1 tsp Dijon mustard into the white sauce, as Mary Berry does in her lasagne al forno. This adds mustard to the allergens.
- Spinach layer: wilt 200g spinach, squeeze it very dry and scatter it over the middle layer of ragù.
The variations will change the nutrition figures; the courgette figure is our estimate from CoFID data for raw courgette (13-627). If you'd like another make-ahead beef dish, our keto cottage pie uses the same kind of ragù under a cauliflower mash.
Storage, freezing and reheating
- Keeping: let any leftovers cool, then cover them and put them in the fridge within 1 to 2 hours. We suggest eating them within 2 days, following the Food Standards Agency's leftover advice. Reheat leftovers until steaming hot all the way through. Reheat leftovers only once.
- Freezing: freeze the cooled lasagne, whole or in portions, within 1 to 2 hours of cooking. We suggest using it within 3 months for the best quality. Defrost it in the fridge and eat it within 24 hours of defrosting.
- Reheating: reheat in portions, covered with foil, in the oven at 180°C (160°C fan), gas 4, for 20 to 25 minutes, or in the microwave, until steaming hot all the way through. Reheat leftovers only once.
The fridge, freezer and defrosting times follow the Food Standards Agency's guidance on how to chill, freeze and defrost food safely. Its advice on cooking your food says minced meat should be cooked thoroughly, and that lasagne is best reheated in smaller portions so it heats evenly.
Nutrition
Per portion (1/6 of the dish):
| Nutrient | Per portion |
|---|---|
| Energy | 737 kcal |
| Fat | 53.7g |
| of which saturates | 27.6g |
| Carbohydrate | 13.4g |
| of which sugars | 7.8g |
| of which polyols | 0.0g |
| Net carbs | 13.4g |
| Fibre | 12.0g |
| Protein | 44.1g |
| Salt | 2.13g |
Net carbs are carbohydrate minus polyols; this recipe has none. On UK labels, fibre is already listed separately from carbohydrate, so it isn't subtracted again. Figures are calculated from the Low Carb Keto Wraps pack (per 100g: 308 kcal, 13.9g fat, 11g carbohydrate, of which 0.7g sugars, 26g fibre, 22g protein, 1.7g salt; 4.4g carbohydrate a wrap), the Xanthan Gum pack (per 100g: 320 kcal, 0g fat, 4.6g carbohydrate, 74.9g fibre, 6g protein, 1.5g salt) and UK (McCance and Widdowson's CoFID) data for the olive oil, onion, celery, garlic, beef mince, tomato purée, tinned tomatoes, stock (as stock gel), thyme, butter, whole milk, double cream, Parmesan and mozzarella. They are for the whole dish divided into 6, with the fat from the mince included, and don't include the salt, pepper, nutmeg, bay leaf or the oil for greasing. Energy is calculated from fat, protein, carbohydrate and fibre.
Allergens: the lasagne contains gluten (wheat, in the wraps), milk and celery. The Low Carb Keto Wraps product page says they contain gluten from wheat flour and may contain traces of soy and mustard. The Xanthan Gum is packed in a facility where there may be traces of nuts, cereals, milk and eggs. Stock pots vary by brand, so check their labels for other allergens. Always check the current label before cooking for anyone with an allergy.
FAQ
What can I use instead of pasta sheets?
We use Low Carb Keto Wraps, which soften in the sauce like fresh lasagne sheets and have 4.4g carbohydrate a wrap. Thin lengthways slices of courgette work too, and bakers on r/ketorecipes also suggest aubergine or thinly sliced portobello mushrooms. Salt or roast vegetable slices first to draw out water, so they don't make the lasagne watery.
How do you stop a keto lasagne going watery?
Simmer the ragù uncovered until there's very little liquid left, and spoon off excess fat from the mince. Cook the white sauce until it coats the back of a spoon, and drain and pat the mozzarella dry. If you use vegetable sheets, salt or roast them first. Then rest the baked lasagne for 10 minutes before cutting, so the layers set.
Can you freeze lasagne?
Yes. Let the baked lasagne cool, then cover it and freeze it within 1 to 2 hours, whole or in portions. We suggest using it within 3 months for the best quality. Defrost it in the fridge, eat it within 24 hours of defrosting, and reheat it until steaming hot all the way through. Reheat leftovers only once.
How many carbs are in keto lasagne?
Each portion of our keto lasagne (1/6 of the dish) has 13.4g carbohydrate and no polyols, so it has 13.4g net carbs. About 4.4g of that comes from the wrap, and most of the rest from the tomatoes, milk and onion. For comparison, BBC Good Food's classic lasagne has 31g carbs a serving, according to its nutrition panel.
How do you know when lasagne is cooked through?
The Food Standards Agency says that with a larger dish like lasagne you should see steam rising from the surface, and steam escaping from the middle when you cut into it. The sauce may bubble too. With a food thermometer, the middle should reach 75°C for 30 seconds, or 70°C for 2 minutes. Always cook the mince thoroughly first.
