Best Vegetable Lasagna
Seriously the best veggie lasagna! This meatless lasagna recipe is packed with bell pepper, zucchini and carrots, sautéed until golden on the edges.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
I set out to create the best vegetable lasagna recipe. Here it is! This vegetarian lasagna is cheesy (of course), and loaded with vegetables, spinach and a simple tomato sauce.
If you have any meatless-meal skeptics in your life, this lasagna will change their mind. I’m sure of it.
This lasagna is based on my spinach artichoke lasagna on the blog and the roasted eggplant lasagna in my cookbook. I love those less-conventional vegetarian lasagnas.
Yet, I wanted to offer a classic vegetable lasagna suitable for holidays and weeknights, and this is it. The tomato sauce is the same across all three recipes, but the vegetables vary.
For this recipe, you’ll chop bell pepper, zucchini and carrot into very small pieces and sauté them until they’re nice and golden on the edges. That caramelization brings out so much more flavor. Then, add spinach to the skillet and cooked it down for a few minutes so it doesn’t get too soggy.
The Best Vegetable Lasagna
Five reasons to love this recipe:
- You can easily adjust the vegetables to suit the seasons or your pantry (see recipe notes).
- The sauce is made from scratch with basic ingredients. It only takes a few minutes to make.
- Use no-boil noodles and you don’t have to bother cooking them. Just layer them up!
- I recommend cottage cheese instead of ricotta, which has more protein and flavor (trust me).
- You can even make this recipe gluten free and/or vegan. See the recipe notes for details.
The end result is a super flavorful, nutrient-dense, veggie-packed lasagna. This lasagna might not be the quickest weeknight option around, but it is a reasonably simple recipe that will absolutely satisfy your comfort food cravings.
Enjoy, and please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! Your feedback is so important to me.
Craving more vegetable-packed casseroles? Here are more of my favorites:
- Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables
- Lentil Baked Ziti
- Better Broccoli Casserole
- Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole
Watch How to Make Vegetable Lasagna
Best Vegetable Lasagna
Seriously the best veggie lasagna! This lasagna recipe is packed with bell pepper, zucchini and carrots, sautéed until golden and tender on the edges. Recipe yields one 9-inch lasagna, enough for 8 slices.
Ingredients
Veggies and spinach
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 to 6 ounces baby spinach
Tomato sauce (or substitute 2 cups prepared marinara sauce)
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh basil + additional for garnish
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Remaining ingredients
- 2 cups (16 ounces) low-fat cottage cheese, divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles*
- 8 ounces (2 cups) freshly grated low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- To prepare the veggies: In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Once shimmering, add the carrots, bell pepper, zucchini, yellow onion, and salt. Cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until the veggies are golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes.
- Add a few large handfuls of spinach. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted. Repeat with remaining spinach and cook until all of the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, to prepare the tomato sauce: Pour the tomatoes into a mesh sieve or fine colander and drain off the excess juice for a minute. Then, transfer the drained tomatoes to the bowl of a food processor. Add the basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes.
- Pulse the mixture about 10 times, until the tomatoes have broken down to an easily spreadable consistency. Pour the mixture into a bowl for later (you should have a little over 2 cups sauce). Rinse out the food processor and return it to the machine.
- Pour half of the cottage cheese (1 cup) into the processor and blend it until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to large mixing bowl. No need to rinse out the bowl of the food processor this time; just put it back onto the machine because you’ll need it later.
- Transfer the cooked veggies and spinach mixture to the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until they are more finely chopped (but not puréed!), about 5 to 7 times, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of whipped cottage cheese. Top with the remaining cottage cheese, then add ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt (to taste) and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine. Now it’s lasagna assembly time!
- Spread ½ cup tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9” by 9” baking dish. Layer 3 lasagna noodles on top (snap off their ends to fit, and/or overlap their edges as necessary). Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Top with ¾ cup tomato sauce, then sprinkle ½ cup shredded cheese on top.
- Top with 3 more noodles, followed by the remaining cottage cheese mixture (we’re skipping the tomato sauce in this layer.) Sprinkle ½ cup shredded cheese on top.
- Top with 3 more noodles, then spread ¾ cup tomato sauce over the top (you may have a little sauce leftover) to evenly cover the noodles. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup shredded cheese.
- Wrap a sheet of parchment paper or foil around the top of the lasagna (don’t let it come into contact with the cheese). Bake, covered, for 18 minutes, then remove the cover, rotate the pan by 180° and continue cooking for about 10 to 15 more minutes, until the top is turning spotty brown.
- Remove from oven and let the lasagna cool for 15 to 20 minutes, so it has time to set and cool down to a reasonable temperature. Sprinkle additional basil over the top, then slice and serve.
Notes
*Lasagna noodle recommendations: I like to use DeLallo’s Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (affiliate link) and Whole Foods’ 365 No-Boil Lasagna Noodles. See below for gluten-free suggestions.
Change it up: Feel free to play around with the vegetables here. You’ll want to use about 3 cups chopped veggies total (excluding the onion). Mushrooms or butternut squash might be nice!
Make it gluten free: Substitute gluten-free lasagna noodles. Choose no-boil (oven ready) noodles if possible; if not, cook them according to package directions. (Fair warning, I tried using DeBoles brand of no-bake lasagna noodles and they weren’t done cooking in the time specified here. Reheated leftovers were ok, though.)
Make it dairy free/vegan: Double the recipe for my vegan sour cream (also available in my cookbook, page 217) and use 2 cups instead of the cottage cheese. Skip the step where you would blend the cottage cheese and just barely blend the spinach/veggies into the sour cream. Omit the mozzarella and use all of the tomato sauce for the final layer. Serve the lasagna with a dollop of additional sour cream on top or, better yet, my basil pesto.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Do you think this recipe is good to make ahead? If so, would you amend the recipe in any ways?
Thanks!
Yes, I think this is a great one to make ahead! You can either baked it all the way or put it together and refrigerate for a few hours before you are ready to bake it. I hope this helps!
I made this once and am going to make it again tonight. I puréed the onion because I wanted the flavor but not the chunks, my daughter wouldn’t eat it if she saw them and also I didn’t sauté the baby spinach I figured baking it was enough. This lasagna is delicious
Could I substitute ricotta for the cottage cheese (I don’t like it).
I accidentally wrote ricotta on my shopping list, and it was very good. I prepared it as directed. Both my husband and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks!
Yes, you can do that! It will just adjust the nutrition and may make it slightly more rich. Hope this helps!
I just wanted to follow up. We love this recipe. I initially just used ricotta b/c I accidentally wrote it down instead of cottage cheese. Since then, I altered the recipe to use 1/2 cottage cheese and 1/2 ricotta as the ricotta was a little too rich although delicious. I knew my girls would love it, so I made it when they came home for Christmas. They loved it too. I love how the lasagna stays ‘stiff’ and does not fall apart.
This looks relatively easy for lasagna. Can’t wait to try it. The veg is chopped finely enough that it doesn’t scream “vegetarian food” for those of us who are omnivores or who live with them.
Let me know what you think!
I think I just decided what I am bringing to the potluck this weekend ;) Thank you! Yummmmm.
You are very welcome, Meredith! How did it turn out?
Seriously. The best vegetable lasagna I’ve ever made! We also love the spinach and artichoke version. Keep the recipes coming. We love every single one of them!
Definitely a 5 Star recipe but two of my stars disappeared.
I love to hear that! Thank you, Linda :)
I love that you mix the cheese and the veggies! I always try to layer them with the noodles and sauce, but this will reduce a step!
I like to cut steps where I can and have it still taste so good! Enjoy, Allison.
Wow what perfect timing! I was just looking for a great lasagna recipe for my vegetarian fiance and saw that you posted this today!
Thanks for all of your delicious recipes ideas and the cute story lines that accompany them – they definitely brighten up my day : )
Hooray! You are welcome. Let me know what you think. :)
Could I use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese?
Thanks!
Yes, you can it will just change the texture and taste slightly but is a great alternative!
This looks delicious and I would love to have more veggie lasagnas in my life! One question- the concept of cottage cheese in a lasagna isn’t really my jam. Why did you choose that cheese? Is it healthier? Could I just use ricotta instead? Thank you! Looking forward to maybe giving this a try!
You can use ricotta cheese, Laura. I chose cottage cheese as it is pretty similar when used in lasagna and made it a little healthier. I hope this helped!
Yum! We have made the veggie lasagna from your book a couple of times now, but have substituted in spinach for the eggplant. Glad to see there are some other veggies we can add as well!
It really is the best – thanks for the update!
You are welcome, Lucy!
We always make lasagna for Christmas, so I’m totally trying this recipe this year!
Great! Let me know what you think :)
Hi Kate,
Love this recipe, I use cauliflower sheets instead of pasta. Gives a new dimention to the dish. Low carb alternative.
Thank you for your yummy recipes, I am trying the Gingerbread cake next.
Have a wonderful Festive Season.
Maeve
You are welcome! I am thankful you are giving the recipes a try. Thanks so much for your review!
Lasagna used to be one of my favorite noodle dishes! I can imagine how amazing this one tastes. I definitely will use vegan cream cheese for the vegan substitution!
Let me know what you think!
Thanks for sharing this great recipe. I’m a huge fan and love it in the winter.
Also very excited that joined your community and posting simple delicious recipes!
You are very welcome! Thank you for the review and your kind words.
I am definitely going to try this but will add the veggies to Tofu Ricotta*in place of the cottage cheese. *Recipe from the Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook – its a good one too.
Let me know how it goes, Glenda!
It looks great however, it would be fantastic if there were a whole lot more recipes, without, CHEESE!!
Hi Laura – For me, some recipes just require cheese-like this one :) But, I will take your comment into consideration. Thank you!
this looks so good..
Thank you!
Love all the veggies!!
Me too!
Made this last night and it was delicious! Used some leftover sliced yellow squash, zucchini and mushrooms along with the carrots and onion. The crushed red pepper added just the right amount of heat. Will make again.
Sounds wonderful, Jim! Thank you, for the star review!
I used some leftover kale that was sittin in the fridge. LEFTOVERS FOR THE WIN!
Leftovers are the best!
Made this for dinner tonight. My 3 quart sauté pan was small for the volume of veggies and I never really got the golden edges. After I added the spinach I had quite a bit of liquid to cook off. As an extra precaution, I drained the veggies prior to adding to the cottage cheese. I do not own a 9×9 (yet) so I squeezed it into an 8×8. With the brand of noodle I used, I could only fit two per layer. I did bake on a baking sheet to catch any overflow and there was a little bit. The flavor was very good but the carrots were a little under cooked. I may roast the veggies next time.
Thanks for the comment and review, Heather! I recommend getting a the large pan and dish. But, if you can’t then I think roasting the vegetables is a great option to ensure they are all evenly cooked and equally delicious!
A deep 9×9 baking dish is now on my Christmas/Birthday list! And, as an update, my leftovers heated up nicely for lunch today.
This is absolutely delish! I made it for my hubby (he’s a meat eater) and he went back for seconds!
Great! Seconds (or thirds) are always a sign of success. Thank you for your review, Shelly.
Yet another delicious dish Kathryn! Made it last night for our dinner and so excited to have leftovers for lunches at work! Love how you can adapt the veggie mix to whatever is in the fridge as well. Thanks, hope you are having a wonderful trip away with your Grandma! X
Well, thank you Holly! It was a wonderful trip :)
This looks delicious! Do you think you’d be able to make it ahead and just put it in the oven before people come over? I’m specifically thinking of making the night before, not freezing.
Hi Lauren! I think you could do that just fine. The lasagna might need a few extra minutes in the oven since it’s starting off cold.
I haven’t made this recipe yet but I did want to let you know that I really appreciate your efforts to make yummy healthy food AND share it with the world! Every recipe I have made from your website has been delicious and I’ve shared them with my family and friends. Your recipes have also made it possible for people I introduce to Medical Medium, who have health issues, to have yummy foods that heal their bodies and stick with the Medical Medium healing information.
So thank you and Merry Christmas!!
Thank you, Helen so much for your kind words. I am thankful for your words and support! Have a great Holiday season. :)
I made this last night & the flavors were amazing! However, not sure what I did wrong, but the noodles were still hard even after cooking for an extra 20-25 min.
I will make it again, but next time preboiling the noodles or using wanton wrappers in place of the noodles.
Hi Liz- I am sorry the noodles were still a little undone. What brand did you use? I am happy to still liked the flavors!
I think they were from Sprouts? Every time I use oven ready noodles, they never fully cook (any brand). Any ideas on what I could be doing wrong?
I’m going to try this recipe again on Christmas Eve for family & friends.
Amazing! I followed this recipe almost to the letter. Forgot to buy spinach and used kale instead. This really is the best vegetable lasagna we have ever had. Thank you!
I am happy to hear that, Jill! Thank you, for sharing. Since you liked it so much, if you would want to leave a star review I would really appreciate it!
This lasagna was AMAZING! I have three small children and they gobbled it up. I always feel good making your recipes for my family because they are wholesome and well recieved.
Thank you
I am happy to hear your kids loved it and that my recipes work so well for your family, Aimie! If you would want to leave a star review, I would appreciate it!
Will definitely make this again
My husband gave this a 12 on a 10-point scale and he really likes meat! Thank you for another awesome recipe, Kate! I wasn’t sure about the cottage cheese so that was the only ingredient change I made…we went with the ricotta. I also shredded the carrots, so no problems with undercooking. I’ve been holding off on buying your cookbook, hoping Santa comes through ;)
Winning! That’s great to hear, Brenda. I hope Santa comes through too! You would love it. :)
Made this last night for the family. It was delicious! I love the simplicity of the sauce. And although the hubs did say he likes meat in his lasagna, for a veggie one it passed the test! :)
Win! I am glad it passed the test Diana.
Any idea if this would turn out just as well if I 1.5x the recipe and baked in a 13×9 pan?
Looking for a new recipe to try for Christmas.
Thanks!
I haven’t tired that yet, but I don’t see why not! Just make sure the layers don’t get too thin.
I tried it and it worked great! Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
I haven’t made it yet, Kate. But I can tell you when I do I’m going to use Ricotta in place of your cottage cheese…and can you tell me why you have eliminated Ricotta? I always thought it was a standard cheese in lasagna.
When I read your ingredients I had a flashback to when I was in Tennessee with my husband who was in the service and the stores didn’t carry ANY Italian cheeses back then. I used cottage cheese and white cheddar. Well it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t lasagna!
Hi Pamela, I personally don’t like ricotta (so bland) and started using cottage cheese on America’s Test Kitchen’s recommendation. I like it better!
Hi Pamela! I appreciate your question. I chose cottage cheese as it is a lighter option to make this a little healthier. But, you can substitute ricotta cheese to fit your preference! These two options can be interchangeable depending on taste and goal for nutritional content. Hope this helps!
This was incredible! Made it last night and it became the topic of conversation for most of the evening.
Great to hear, Brittney! Thank you, for your star review.
Hi Kate, it taste AMAZING but it fell apart when I plated. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly. Do you have any tips on what I can do to make it hold together better once cut and plated? Thanks.
Hi Anne, so glad you enjoyed the flavor! Did you let it rest for 15 minutes as instructed before slicing? Otherwise the layers tend to separate. Be sure to use a very sharp knife to slice. I wish I knew what more to suggest!
Awesome
Thank you, Anne!
Kate can I freeze your vegetable lasagna@
Hi Susan! If you want to freeze it, bake it first, let it cool to room temperature, and then freeze it. You can either freeze it whole and let it defrost for 24 hours in the fridge, or freeze individual portions, which can be defrosted in the microwave.
Kate this recipe is absolutely magnificent. So appreciate you and your recipes! My family lives off food your book and blog most days of the week.
Here’s how I tweaked it:
– used a 9x 13 glass dish oiled with olive oil
– used Jovial’s gluten free brown rice lasagna noodles. Perfect texture, reheated the next day beautifully.
– used grass fed cheddar cheese instead of mozerella, and less cheese than recipe asked
-definitely used cottage cheese. My husband *loathes* cottage cheese. I didn’t tell him until after he went back for seconds that I’d used it. He couldn’t believe it. Whipping the cottage cheese was genius! My 2 school aged boys scarfed this down as well!
– I ran out of sauce so I added some of my favorite organic basil marinara sauce (so I used more than recipe calls for)
Next time I’ll add mushrooms just because i can but that’s the only change I’ll make!
Amazing. Thank you!
Thank you, Laura for providing your variation!
First time stopping by and had to try this recipe! It was so light that I took it to work for my lunches. I will definitely be making this one again.
Great! Thank you, Tiffanie.
This recipe was a huge hit, even with my 18 month old son. I was surprised at how quickly and easily everything came together. I followed the recipe exactly as written (except I used full fat cottage cheese and frozen spinach) and wouldn’t change a thing. So flavorful. Thanks Kate!
Wonderful! Thank you, Annie. I appreciate it. If you would want to leave a review, that would be great!
I’ve wanted to trip making veggie lasagna for over a year, but couldn’t stand the thought of spending that much time and that many ingredients in something bland or unappetizing that my family wouldn’t eat. This is only the second recipe I’ve tried from your site, but based on how much we all loved your Best Lentil Soup, I decided to take a chance on your lasagna. I made it for my staunchly carnivore in-laws tonight, and they loved it and asked for the recipe (though they said they might add sausage). I doubled it (how’s that for an act of faith?)and put it in a deepish standard-sized baking dish because we love leftovers (I always triple your lentil soup recipe for the same reason). Pretty sure my husband got me your cookbook for Christmas. I’m looking forward to opening it. Thank you for putting so much time and care into this recipe. It paid off!
Um, *try
A couple of notes:
1)I cubed the carrots first and started them cooking while I cut the other veggies, to make sure they weren’t too crunchy like some commenters complained of. They were great.
2) My 4-year old found the tomato sauce too spicy, so I’d probably reduce the red pepper flakes for an audience that doesn’t appreciate that slight burn.
3) This was surprisingly filling – one square was basically a meal in itself. I loved that I didn’t have to make a veggie side!
4) The Delallo noodle boxes don’t specify how many noodles they contain, but it took less than 1.5 for a double batch.
Mmm… I’m looking forward to leftovers.
I’m happy you took the chance, Andrea! I appreciate your feedback and review.
Served a variation of this for Christmas Eve dinner with my parents last night – it was a hit (so were our pre dinner cocktails…your Maple Whiskey Sours)! So yummy. Happy Holidays!
I think that is a great combination! Thank you, Daphne. If you wouldn’t mind leaving a star review, that would be wonderful! Since you liked it so much :)
Oops! Thought I gave all the stars the first time around. Hope they stick this time :-)
I am very disappointed in the “best veggie lasagna”. I bought the noodles you recommended and used the same ingredients-which I know now was a waste. The lasagna was MUSH.
Did you drain the tomatoes for a while? If there was too much liquid still, that might have made it mushy.
That was my thought. It is very necessary to drain the tomatoes. Or did you use marinara? Very sorry to hear that your lasagna didn’t turn out well!
Thank you for this recipe! My family makes vegetarian lasagna every Christmas, but I wanted an improved recipe this year and decided on yours! I think I need to season the sauce a little bit more next time, but everything else was spot-on. SO DELICIOUS! This will be our go-to Christmas recipe; thank you so very much!!
What a fun dinner for Christmas! Thank you, for your commend and star review.
This was a huge hit at Christmas dinner! I only had a 9×12 pan, so it was a bit stretched, but I will definitely make it again. Even my veg-hating son (where did I go wrong??) enjoyed it.
I think that is a win! Thank you, Linda for your comment and review.
I’m excited to make this tonight but was unable to find whole wheat no-boil lasagna noodles at three different stores, so I gave up and bought regular ones. I know that recipes for no-boil noodles tend to have more liquid to cook the noodles. Would you recommend fully cooking the noodles in advance and reducing the liquid somehow, or, just partially cooking (or soaking even?) the noodles and keeping the sauce/ liquid levels the same?
Hi Rachel – Great question! I recommend cooking them almost all the way and then they can cook the remainder during the baking/cooling time. Hope this helps!
I adore your blog and am using it daily! Just ordered your cookbook too!
Do you have a recipe for lentil sloppy joes?
Thank you, Kathy for your support! I don’t have a lentil sloppy joe recipe. Sorry!
Looks so yummy! Can’t wait to make :)
Do you by any chance remember where you bought your plates? I loved them!
Thanks, Maria! They’re from Crate and Barrel!
I’ve made this recipe several times and it is delicious this is the first time I’ve ever had or made vegetable lasagna and I’m never going back. I feel good after eating it, not heavy and weighed down. It’s worth the time it takes to make it. Thanks so much for all your recipes. I have liked every one of them.
Great to hear!! You are welcome. If you would want to leave a star review since you liked it so much, I would really appreciate it!
It was a Cookie & Kate weekend – made this for a couple of dinners this week, made a soup and a salad for lunches this week! All were amazing. This lasagna is hearty and is filling. My husband was impressed! This takes a little time – not too bad (and worth is as you get a couple of meals out of it) – I cut all the veggies up earlier in the day which made it easier to put together in the evening. Another great recipe!
Love, love that! Thanks for your support, Jennifer. I appreciate the review. I love the leftovers for this one!
Looks delicious; plan to prepare this weekend for a dinner party.
I want to add mushrooms and one guest is allergic to onions. Research suggests fennel as a substitute, but I’ve never cooked with it. Will it blend with the other veggies?
Got your book for Christmas and LOVE it! Honey scones for the WIN :)
Hi Cindy – Great question! I wouldn’t recommend fennel in this instance. I’m not sure of the particular allergy, but maybe check to see if shallots, scallions, chives or leeks would be ok. They are of similar family. Thank you for the support! Good luck with your dinner party. Sounds like fun!