Air fryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites

Craving for Lasagna but don’t want to deal with the mess that comes with it? These Air fryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites might just be the answer. They pack all the meaty and cheesy goodness of classic lasagna into easy, snack-sized bites. With sautéed spinach, they add a fresh, herby twist to the savory filling. Air fried to perfection, they’re quick to make and gone before you even know it.

Air fryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites

Recipe by Heizo
5.0 from 3 votes
Course: SnacksCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

2

hours 
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

2

hours 

20

minutes

Air Fryer Lasagna Bites are crispy, cheesy pockets of goodness made with boiled lasagna sheets, a creamy mix of cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, and sautéed spinach. Rolled up, air-fried until golden, and perfect for snacking or party bites.

Ingredients

  • Meat Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 piece medium onion, chopped

  • 6 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/2 kilograms 85-percent lean ground beef

  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste

  • 2 cups tomato sauce

  • 1 teaspoon Salt (or to taste)

  • 1 teaspoon Pepper (to taste)

  • Spinach
  • 1 cup 1 cup Spinach

  • 1 tablespoon 1 tbsp of Olive oil or butter

  • 1 clove 1 clove Garlic, minced

  • 1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

  • Lasagna Bites
  • 8 pieces lasagna sheets, boiled

  • 2 cups cottage cheese

  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese, freshly grated

  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

  • 1 cup spinach, chopped and sautéed

Directions

  • Meat Sauce
  • Heat the pan: Pour 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil into a Pan over medium heat.
  • Toss in the onion and garlic: Add the chopped onion until translucent. Then, the minced garlic.
  • Add the ground beef: Add the 1/2 kilograms ground beef and cook the meat until you see brown and crispy bits. Make sure to drain any excess fat.
  • Pour tomato sauce, tomato paste and seasonings: Pour the tomato sauce and paste, then sprinkle in Italian seasonings, salt and black pepper.
  • Stir and let it simmer: Stir everything, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 30 minutes to one hour. Keep it from sticking by stirring it from time to time.
  • Spinach
  • Heat the pan: Add a splash of olive oil or butter and set it over medium heat.
  • Add the aromatics: Toss in chopped onions, then garlic until fragrant.
  • Add Spinach: Drop in 1 cup of chopped spinach carefully and stir for about two minutes.
  • Season: Sprinkle with some salt and pepper to taste.
  • Lasagna Cheese Blend
  • Mix all the cheese: In a mixing bowl, pour 2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese, 2 cups of Cottage Cheese, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan.
  • Add Spinach: Add the chopped spinach to the cheese mixture and stir thoroughly until everything’s evenly combined.
  • Season: If you need more flavor, sprinkle some pepper or salt to taste.
  • Lasagna bites
  • Prepare the lasagna sheets: Boil the lasagna sheets according to the instructions. You can also use oven-ready noodles, but boil them or soak them in warm water for a few minutes to soften them until they’re pliable.
  • Roll the bites: Lay a lasagna sheet flat, spread a layer of cheese blend and meat sauce over it. Then, carefully roll it up into a bite-sized cylinder. lasagna sheets rollairfryer lasagna
  • Air frying Lasagna Bites
  • Preheat the air fryer: Set your air fryer to 180°C or 356°F and let it warm up for a few minutes.
  • Add lasagna bites in the air fryer basket: Spray the inside with oil and arrange the lasagna bites in the air fryer basket. Make sure they’re not overcrowded. air fryer lasagna bites
  • Add some cheese: Sprinkle some cheese before cooking them (optional)
  • Air fry: Spray olive oil and air fry for 8 minutes. Flip the bites and cook for an additional 8 minutes until golden brown.
  • Serve: Let the air fryer lasagna bites cool for a minute, then serve them in a bowl or plate with your favorite dipping sauce. three-cheese airfryer lasagna

Notes

  • Adjust time and temp: Note that air fryer models vary, and some may require or lower or higher cooking times and temperatures. If your bites aren’t browning well, add a couple of minutes.
  • Do not overcrowd: If cooking multiple lasagna, arrange them in a single layer with enough space in between to allow even airflow.
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What are Lasagna Bites?

As a huge fan of meat and cheese, lasagna has always been one of those comfort dishes that keep calling me back. But between hours of prep, oven time, and cleanup after sitting down with a saucy, heavy plate, it’s not exactly what I have in mind on lazy days.

That’s what makes Lasagna Bites superior. They have everything I love about classic lasagna — flavor and texture — but inside bite-sized snacks. Unlike lasagna, lasagna bites have a much crispier exterior with warm, cheesy, and saucy insides. You can serve them on smaller plates or in bowls. Since they’re less messy than lasagna, they’re easy to pick up with your fingers for casual dinners or movie nights. No need for a knife, no need for a fork to scoop out messy, gooey layers.

And probably one of the best parts about choosing lasagna bites over regular lasagna is that I get to pair them with my favorite dip!

What makes Air fryer Lasagna Bites special?

Why? Air fryer and Lasagna Bites.

These two alone make preparation easier, and eating them is less messy. With an air fryer, cooking lasagna bites is much faster and results in a crispy finish. It’s also perfect for busy people looking for a quick craving fix or for those who live alone and don’t have anyone to share a whole oven-baked lasagna casserole with.

Since air fryer meals need less oil, you can consider them a much healthier option as well.

Air Fryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites ingredients

To make these Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites, you only need three main things: lasagna sheets, cheese filling, and sauce.

Sauce and Meat

For the meat sauce, it’s a mix of ground beef simmered in tomato sauce and paste, along with seasonings, spices, and herbs.

  • Ground beef: I personally go for 85-percent lean ground beef for the perfect balance. Higher lean percentages often end up with meat that’s a bit too dry when cooked. While fattier beef with below 80% releases way too much grease, making the sauce too oily and heavy.
  • Herbs and seasonings: A mix of garlic, onion, Italian seasoning, chopped parsley, with some salt and black pepper to taste, boosts the flavor and aroma.
  • Tomato sauce and tomato paste: For a thick sauce with a rich, intense tomato flavor that blends perfectly with the cheese filling. You can also use whole peeled tomatoes processed in a food processor.

If you don’t want to go through the process of making your own meat sauce, you can simply use your favorite tomato sauce or marinara.

Lasagna bites

Now for the main part; the lasagna bites.

  • Spinach: Add a healthy boost with spinach, either fresh or thawed frozen, works great. Just chop it up and sauté with olive oil, garlic, and onion for extra flavor.
  • Three-cheese: This Air Fryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites recipe uses cottage cheese, parmesan, and of course, mozzarella for that perfect cheesy pull. Personally, this is my favorite combination, but you can always opt for other cheese such as Ricota, Provolone, Fontina, Pecorino Romano and such.
  • Lasagna noodles: Make sure to boil the sheets just enough to soften them. They need to be pliable; otherwise, rolling will be tough.

How to Make the Best Air Fryer Lasagna Bites?

Wanna know how to make the best Air Fryer Lasagna Bites? Here’s how.

Lasagna sauce recipe

For me, the best Lasagna calls for the best pasta sauce. No matter how good the cheese is, a bad sauce instantly ruins the dish for me. Because of that, I usually make my own. Of course, you can adjust this recipe to your liking, or use store-bought pizza sauce or marinara sauce instead so you can skip this step.

  • Mince 6 garlic cloves, and 1 medium onion.
  • Heat the pan and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
  • Saute onion first until it becomes translucent and fragrant. Then, toss in the garlic and cook for another fifteen seconds until it’s golden brown. When cooking garlic, especially, make sure not to burn the garlic as it gives a rather bitter taste, which is something you don’t want in your lasagna.
  • Add ½ kilogram of ground beef to the pan. Stir gently and cook until the meat turns brown and develops crispy bits. While cooking, you may notice some white lumps or fat, scoop them out and discard.
  • Pour 2 cups of tomato sauce and 3 tablespoons of tomato paste into the mix. Then, add the seasonings such as the Italian seasonings, salt and black pepper. Stir well to combine, then lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for at least 30 minutes. Don’t forget to stir occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Lasagna Bites

  • First things first, prepare your lasagna bites. You can choose regular lasagna sheets, or the oven-ready ones. If it’s the former, prepare it as per the instructions. If it’s the latter, I suggest soaking them in hot water for about 15-20 minutes until pliable. This way, you won’t struggle that much when folding them into lasagna bites.
  • For the cheese blend, just mix 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, 2 cups of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of Spinach.
  • Lay the lasagna sheet flat, then spread a thin layer of the cheese blend, followed by the meat sauce. Avoid adding too much of either, as this can make rolling the sheet more difficult. Make sure to leave about 1-2 cm at the end of the sheet empty.
  • With your hands, carefully roll it up into a bite-sized cylinder.

Air Fry!

  • Preheat the air fryer to 180 °C or 350 °F for three minutes.
  • Lightly spray the air fryer basket with olive oil, then arrange the lasagna bites inside. If desired, add a little mozzarella on top, followed by another light spray of oil. Make sure to leave enough space between each bite for even cooking.
  • Transfer the air fryer lasagna bites into the basket, seam-side down, so they don’t open while cooking. Top with mozzarella cheese, and a bit of oil.
  • Cook for 16 minutes, flip once at the halfway mark, until both sides are a golden brown.
  • Once the air fryer lasagna bites are done, let them cool for about a minute so they’re easier to handle. Then, pile them onto a bowl or plate and serve with your favorite dipping sauce on the side for dunking.

Variations

When making lasagna, you’re in control! Swap out ingredients, go vegan, or make it your own, it’s totally up to you! Here are some variations you might want to try.

  • Add spice: Like with any other snack, lasagna bites can be made spicy depending on your preference. Just add red pepper flakes to the meat sauce. The more you add, the spicier it gets.
  • More veggies: If you want to cut down on meat or skip it entirely, try adding more veggies to the sauce. Bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and other favorites work great.
  • Add more herbs: You could also include more Italian herbs that suit to your liking such as Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme or Fennel Seeds.
  • Different cheese options: If you’re out of Cottage Cheese, Mozarella or Parmesan, toss in some Ricotta, Provolone, Fontina and Cream Cheese.
  • Meat: If you’re not a fan of ground beef, you can select among wide variety of meat such as turkey and pork.

What to serve with Air Fryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites

Enjoy this recipe with the following:

Best Dip options for Airfryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna Bites

If you need some ideas for your dipping sauce, you may give these a shot for a more enjoyable snack.

  • Marinara Sauce
  • Garlic butter sauce
  • Alfredo Sauce
  • Spicy Ranch Sauce

How to Store Air fryer Lasagna Bites

These Lasagna bites are not only easy to make, but you can even store it for later if you don’t feel like eating them all in one sitting.

Make sure that the Lasagna Bites are cool enough before placing them in an airtight container and inside the refrigerator. Lasagna Bites can be stored for up to four to five days before they lose quality. However, you can store it in the freezer so it can last for up to 2 months.

How to Reheat Airfryer Lasagna Bites

You can reheat leftover Airfryer Three-Cheese Spinach Lasagna bites simply by using a microwave, an oven or an air fryer too.

Microwave certainly is the easiest and quickest among the three. Place it on a microwave-safe plate and heat it for about one to two minutes. Then put it out of the microwave, and let it cool for a minute before eating it.

As for the air fryer, preheat it to 350°F or 175°C for 2–3 minutes. Then, arrange the bites inside the air fryer and reheat for five minutes, flipping halfway through.

The same process as an Oven, but make it 10-15 minutes until they’re golden brown.

Estimated Nutrition

Note: The nutrition details provided are based on general calculations and may not reflect exact results. Actual values can differ depending on the ingredients used, portion sizes, and how the food is prepared. Use this as a general guide, not a medical or dietary recommendation.

Nutrition Facts

8 servings per container

Serving Size502 servings


  • Amount Per ServingCalories803
  • % Daily Value *
  • Total Fat 37g 57%
    • Saturated Fat 15g 75%
    • Trans Fat 1.3g
  • Cholesterol 158mg 53%
  • Sodium 2051mg 86%
  • Total Carbohydrate 49g 17%
    • Dietary Fiber 9g 36%
    • Sugars 19g
  • Protein 63g 126%

  • Calcium 59%
  • Iron 31%

* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.


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