Calories in Meat Lasagna

If you're looking for a low-calorie meal, you probably want to avoid lasagna. Most versions are loaded with meat and cheese, causing them to be high in both fat and calories. Restaurant versions tend to be among the worst offenders, but some homemade versions can be just as bad. Use less fatty meats -- or skip the meat altogether -- and limit the amount of cheese you add to reduce the overall calories in this dish.

A portion of meat lasagna on a plate. (Image: Bernd Jürgens/iStock/Getty Images)

Restaurant versus Frozen

A plate of meat lasagna from a restaurant might have as much as 900 calories. Even chicken and vegetable versions at chain restaurants can have more than 500 calories per serving. A slice of prepared frozen meat lasagna has about 350 calories, while a low-fat frozen meat lasagna entree comes in at about 312 calories. To keep your calories in check, you can also opt for a frozen cheese lasagna, which has only 293 calories per 1-cup serving.

Homemade Alternatives

A typical homemade sausage lasagna recipe can contain as much as 630 calories per serving. However, if you cut the amount of cheese in half, use reduced-fat cheese and replace half the sausage with lean ground beef, the calories go down to about 350 per serving. You can make your lasagna healthier without cutting back on the cheese by using lean ground turkey, vegetables, reduced-fat cheese and whole-wheat noodles, although the calorie content will be similar at 360 per serving.