Hearty, comforting, and freezer-friendly, this plant-based lasagna has it all! This vegetarian lasagna recipe is filled with a veggie-ricotta mixture between layers of pasta and my homemade marinara sauce. It’s a simple, foolproof recipe that can feed a crowd without you having to break a sweat in the kitchen.
A twist on a classic, this is going to be the best vegetarian lasagna recipe you’ll ever have. The secret is the veggie-ricotta mixture. After being sautéed, the vegetables are blended together with the ricotta so that every bite you take is full of flavor.
Key Ingredients You Need
- Marinara sauce — I highly suggest that you try your hand at making homemade marinara sauce. You won’t believe how much flavor you can pack into a homemade sauce.
- Lasagna Noodles — You can use regular noodles or no-boil noodles to save yourself a few extra minutes.
- Cheeses — There’s no such thing as too much cheese! This vegetarian lasagna has ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. The ricotta is for the creamy, delicious filling, whereas the mozzarella gets nice and melty, binding it all together. The parmesan cheese provides a tangy and salty flavor.
How to Make Vegetarian Lasagna
Step 1: Sauté the carrots, zucchini, and onion until it has softened. It’ll take 5 to 8 minutes.
Step 2: Add in the spinach and cook until wilted.
Step 3: Add softened veggies and ricotta into a food processor or blender and pulse until less chunky but not purèed.
Step 4: Spread ½ cup marinara sauce evenly on the bottom of your baking dish.
Step 5: Layer the cooked lasagna noodles (or no-boil noodles) over the marinara sauce.
Step 6: Spread ⅓ of the ricotta veggie mixture over the noodles.
Step 7: Sprinkle on 2 tbsp of the grated parmesan and ¼ cup of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat Step 5 to Step 7 three times.
Step 8: Bake, covered with aluminum foil for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
Tips For This Recipe
- Let your lasagna rest before cutting into it. Doing so helps it firm up and hold its shape when you cut into it to serve. Plus, it gives it a chance to cool down enough to enjoy!
- Want to make this vegan? You can swap the ricotta for tofu ricotta. You can also use vegan mozzarella and parmesan cheese as well.
- If you need this to be gluten-free, swap the noodles for a gluten-free version.
- Feel free to change the vegetables and use what you have on hand. Try mushrooms, squash, kale, leek, bell peppers, and more! The possibilities are endless.
- Dried herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme, or Italian seasoning pair very well with this vegetarian lasagna.
- Depending on the size of your baking dish, you might need more or fewer noodles. Mine requires 3 sheets to make a single layer across.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store this lasagna assembled but unbaked, tightly wrapped in the fridge for 24 hours. Once baked, allow the lasagna to cool completely before storing. You can portion it out into airtight containers or wrap the whole dish tightly in plastic wrap for up to 4 days. To reheat, you can microwave individual slices. If you are reheating a large portion, you can do so in the oven. Bake at 350F until warmed through.
To freeze cooked lasagna, allow it to cool fully before freezing. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum or store in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight before reheating.
Alternatively, you can freeze an assembled, unbaked lasagna. Tightly wrap the unbaked lasagna in plastic wrap and then aluminum and freeze for up to 3 months. I suggest using an aluminum tray when freezing a whole lasagna as you can bake it without worrying about ceramic or glass casserole dishes experiencing thermal shock when baked.
A few sides that go really well with this recipe are my Goat Cheese Balls, Avocado Hummus Taquitos, Instant Pot Smashed Potatoes, and my Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms.
IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE TRY THESE OUT!
If you’ve tried this Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe then don’t forget to leave me a 5 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Vegetarian Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 1 zucchini chopped
- ½ onion
- 5 oz spinach
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- salt & pepper to taste
- 12 lasagna noodles option to use no-boil lasagna
- 1½ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese divided into 4
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese divided into 4
- basil for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add oil. Once the oil is warmed, add the carrots, zucchini, onion, and salt & pepper. Cook about 5-8 minutes until veggies are softened.
- While the veggies are sautéeing, cook lasagna according to package instructions if you aren’t using no-boil lasagna (drain and set aside).
- Next add spinach in batches stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted then remove it from heat.
- Add veggies and ricotta into a food processor or blender and pulse until less chunky but not purèed. Make sure everything is combined.
- To assemble the lasagna, spread ½ cup marinara sauce evenly on the bottom of your baking dish (my baking dish is approx. 8”x12”) then layer in the following order: one layer of lasagna noodles, then spread ⅓ of the ricotta veggie mixture evenly over the noodles, then top with 2 tbsp of the grated parmesan, ¼ cup of the shredded mozzarella and repeat 3 times. For the top layer, just add sauce and parmesan, and mozzarella cheese.
- Bake, covered with aluminum foil for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Let cool before serving.
Video
Notes
- Let this rest before cutting into it. Doing so helps it firm up and hold its shape when you cut into it to serve. Plus, it gives it a chance to cool down enough to enjoy!
- Want to make this vegan? You can swap the ricotta for tofu ricotta. You can also use vegan mozzarella and parmesan cheese as well.
- If you need this to be gluten-free, swap the noodles for a gluten-free version.
- Feel free to change the vegetables and use what you have on hand. Try mushrooms, squash, kale, leek, bell peppers, and more! The possibilities are endless.
- Dried herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme, or Italian seasoning pair very well with this vegetarian lasagna.
- Depending on the size of your baking dish, you might need more or fewer noodles. Mine requires 3 sheets to make a single layer across.
Made this a few times now and will make again for a few friends for Super Bowl. Amazing recipe and just the right proportion of ingredients!
I'm so happy to hear that Michelle!
Hi Justin,
This looks so good! I just watched your video and came straight to your site to get the recipe. I just wanted to point out that in the photo of your ingredients, you list basil but in the recipe it's spinach. I'm going to make this soon!
Thanks for letting me know Gloria!
I set the temp as mentioned but my dish came out so dry.
I'm sorry to hear that. Do you think your oven might be running hotter than you think?
10/10
Will definitely be making again! Made this on a Sunday to have lunches all week. Flavors were great.
I'm so happy to hear that Katie 🙂
Can I make it with fresh noodles lasagna?
Absolutely Rita!