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.
Fantastic! Made this for my vegetarian kiddo for thanksgiving. It was a hit. Leftovers fir lunch were amazingly mouthwatering. The flavors were fantastic and rich. Will definitely keep this as a favorite recipe and make again and again for our vegetarians and non vegetarians alike!
Hi Kate,
I plan to make this veg lasagne in addition to a traditional meat lasagne for a progressive dinner tomorrow night. I’d like to do it today-please confirm that it is fine to make/bake a day ahead, then reheat prior to serving.
Hi Kerri, Sorry I can’t confirm it will work a day ahead. I would suggest bake the day ahead and then warm in the oven prior to serving. Let me know how it works!
This is my favorite recipe! My hubby is a total meat eater and he loves this too!
QUESTION? Can I make this ahead of time… assemble and have it ready to go a day or a few hours in advance?
Thanks!!
Hi Sam! I get this question a lot. I haven’t tried it, and don’t typically recommend with these types of recipes. But, I believe some other readers have tried it and didn’t mind the results. Let me know if you try it!
Is it possible to make this recipe without a food processor? I have a whisk.
This was so good and my 4 year old eats it up! Thank you so much!!!
That’s wonderful, Sol!
Can I assemble this the day before and let set in the refrigerators before baking? Will that make a difference. Third time making it. Love it. Thank you, June
Hi June! I believe others have tried it and didn’t mind the result. I personally haven’t tried it, sorry!
This is absolutely delicious! I prepared it with butternut squash, spinach and onions, and added Rao’s tomato basil sauce. I can’t stop eating it and am sure my family will love it too. Thank you for such a great lasagna recipe!!
I like that combination and I do love Rao’s! Thank you for your review, Stacey.
Hi, Do you think I can make this ahead and leave it for a few day then bake it?Will it still have the same consistency?
Hi Cindy, I don’t recommend it. But, I believe a few other readers have tried it and didn’t mind it. It’s best made right away.
I have followed you for quite some time and have made many of your delicious recipes. Thank you!
I ordered your beautiful, well organized cookbook. I always appreciate the tips. I have to tell you I am very disappointed that nutrition information was not included. This is one of the things I appreciate on your site as this is important information.
First off, I love your recipes! For the best vegetable lasagna, how far in advance can I prepare it ? I’d like to prepare it ahead and then bake it on Christmas Eve.
Wonderful!! My one year old ate this for dinner for 3 days and wanted seconds each time. I did use less salt and bottled marinara, and this no boil lasagna noodle bake dish to make things easier and it was delish!
I want to make this ahead so should I freeze it then cook it or cook then freeze it?
I’ve made this a few times and love it! Yummy!
Thank you.
Margie
Excellent recipe. I used regular lasagna pasta, doubled the garlic, and added portobello mushrooms as you recommended. I did not have fresh basil so I used four teaspoons of dried sweet basil, which worked well but agree that fresh basil would be best. Thank you so much.
Fantastic recipe! I more or less followed the recipe as written, except probably added even more basil than called for. I did drain the vegetables after sauteeing, as there was a fair amount of liquid in the pan. I also found that it needed longer in the oven, about fifteen minutes longer than indicated, and a good twenty-five minutes to firm up after taking it out of the oven.
The BEST lasagna! This is on my list forever. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Joanne!
Need a health Christmas dinner. We are having Ham and one guest does not eat red meat or ham. Looking for something healthy to serve. Am I missing something: You said you make homemade tomato sauce, then you give instructions that include CANNED TOMATOs. Where can I find your “homemade” recipe? Judi
Hi J, yes I use canned tomatoes for this recipe. Sorry I don’t have one with fresh tomatoes.
If I make this a day ahead, at what temp and for how long do I need to reheat it the next day? (Thanks – your recipes are always terrific!)
I haven’t tried it, sorry! I would search the comments to see what other readers may recommend.
Can I cook this at 375 instead of 425 to accommodate a meat lasagna?
I’m not sure, Cheryl! I’m not the expert with meat. I would assume higher temperature would be better since you would be adding more the the density?
This was an amazing recipe. Thank you for all your work to develop this recipe. I made it and my family loved it! I did not have any noodles, so I used sliced zucchini. Do you know how omitting the noodles would change the nutritional values?
Hi Lori! I’m glad you love this one. Yes, changing the ingredients will change the nutrition.
Can I make this ahead for Christmas?
Hi Ginny, I haven’t tried it, but I believe others have had luck. I recommend baking it and then reheating it. Letting it set unbaked it can get watery.
Can this be prepared and assembled a day ahead and stored, uncooked, in the fridge? I’m not sure how that this would work with no-boil noodles. Thanks!
Hi! I haven’t tried it, but I believe most readers have had luck with baking and reheating. It tends to get watery otherwise.
If I cook this lasagana the day before – how long, and what temperature, should I heat it up at for the next day when I serve the dish??
Hi Tanya! I haven’t made it ahead of time, sorry! I would try a warming function on your oven or possibly 325-350 and keep an eye on it. Likely help to let it sit on the counter for a little bit before putting it in the oven so it doesn’t take as long and likely want to cover it in the oven. Let me know what you do!
I just made this last night for company exactly like your receipe (with one exception of gluten free (GF) noodles) and it was GREAT! Now I’m making it again for Christmas day. On the gluten free noodle substitution, in which I used Jovial 100% Organic Brown Rice Noodles, I had trepidation about the “no boil” on the package, so I did boil them for 4 minutes in salted water to make sure that they’d be soft. One idea I had for a dairy free version, was to replace the cottage cheese and mozzarella with cauliflower cream (pureed steamed cauliflower with some salt and sauteed yellow onions). I’ll try this sometime in the future and see how it comes out. Have you tried this?
Thanks for sharing! For a dairy free version, my vegan sour cream works well. :)
This recipe was really good. I doubled the recipe and put it in a 9×13 and it fit perfectly. I made so many changes that it barely looked like the original version. I put in extra carrots and two green bell peppers and an yellow one, one small zucchini, one white onion and a few broccoli leaves from my garden since I didn’t have any spinach. I also used jarred pasta sauce and yogurt instead of cottage cheese or ricotta. I was very skeptical since I had meddled so much, but it turned out great! The pasta was a little al dente, but I don’t think I cooked it for long enough. Otherwise it was amazing! Any recipe that can survive broccoli leaves is worthy of five stars.
Thanks for sharing! I’m happy it still worked out well for you, Faith.
My first time making lasagne and it was a great success! Added mushrooms for some extra goodness. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be making this one again.
You’re welcome, Marg!
I made this for Christmas and it was a big hit. I used three 14.5 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes and 1/3 cup basil (everything else the same for the tomato sauce) and I had some extra veggie mixture so put another layer on top with a bit of tomato sauce I had left. I also added some Parmesan cheese to the veggie mixture. I baked in an aluminum 9 x 9” pan and immediately upon removing from the oven, I put a lid on it, threw into an insulated container and travelled 1 hour. It was perfect, still hot and not watery at all. My brother grabbed the leftovers to take home so I have to make again this weekend for me! Loved it….thanks and happy holidays.
Thanks for sharing!
Unfortunately this didn’t work for me, I ended up with a giant soupy wet mess. I had a hard time fitting all the chopped vegetables in the pan (I have a 10 in skillet I think) and it was so crowded they never browned. I doubled the cooking time and they were still releasing moisture. I should have kept going but thought I should trust the recipe more. I drained the canned tomatoes. But I think since the veg were still wet, the lasagne never firmed up during baking. I baked it for another 10 minutes but it was still a vegetable mush. Such a rare miss for C+K!
Hi Monica, I’m sorry to hear that! What vegetables did you use and how small did you cut them up?
This is one of the best lasagna recipes hands down! I made this for our Christmas dinner as my sister in law is a vegetarian. WOW! Everyone (meat eaters!) just ate it up. I used my own sauce recipe to go along with it. I will recommend this to everyone. Thank you for posting this.
This is a very good lasagna! We will add this to our meals we will repeat!
I made your vegetarian lasagne recipe and it was delicious. However I did not caramalize the vegetable as I had overlooked that part. I was very careful pulsing the veg as I do not like baby food consistency – my pulsed veg outcome was excellent. I used NO salt and pepper (never do & pepper occasionally). I prefer to use Fire-Roasted tomatoes as it seems to add a more tastier taste. Next time I will cook longer than the first covered 18 mins you recommend as my noodles were a tad chewy not cooked taste. All over a good recipe I will do again.
Hi Gillian, thank you for your feedback! Ovens can vary so I hope it works out better for you next time.
Thank you for the tip – oven variations didn’t occur to me. Cheers and Happy New Year
My sister is vegetarian and wanted to try this recipe. It was so good. It does take a little time to make but it was well worth the work. The flavors of everything mixed together were amazing. I will be making this as I watched her and I got what she was doing. I can’t wait to have this again. We used the Cottage cheese with chives in it from store and it was tasty. This recipe can be changed in so many ways so it can taste a little different every time. I give it two thumbs up! Happy Holidays.
I’m glad you thought it was worth it, Kim! I appreciate your review.
I really love your recipes! The only thing that it’s hard for me it’s transforming the measures in ml and Grams :(
I’m sorry, Diana! I know some people have used myrecipes.com or Allrecipes.com for conversions.
Question: can I assemble the lasagne and cook the next day? Or if I cook it the day it’s assembled, what’s the best way to warm up the whole lasagne before serving?
Hi Catherine! I don’t typically have luck with that. I believe some have tried it and it’s been ok. I recommend cooking and then reheating, if needed.
I do not often leave comments, but this was a Christmas hit enjoyed my all!!
Thanks!!
This was really good. I had some of the vegetable and cottage cheese spread left over so I put it in the fridge and used it the next day on some ritz crackers for a snack. I also used it on a veggie naan pizza.
I brought this to my daughter’s for Christmas–lots of kids and a vegans who agreed to break from tradition and eat dairy. Everyone loved it. I like chunky tomatoes so left the pieces big. Also used 1/2 stewed tomatoes. Added a lot more veggies, esp. zucchini and, finally, used 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cottage cheese because I wasn’t sure of using all cottage cheese (will try it next time). I sure it would be just as good made as directed without my minor changes. My daughter just asked for the recipe because her children wanted to make it!
Thank you for sharing, Lauri! I appreciate your review.
Wow, this is delicious! Even my husband, who loves meat said this was fabulous. Definitely a keeper. Thank you so much for sharing
That’s wonderful to hear, Claire! Thank you for your review.
Very good!! Thanks so much :)
You’re welcome, Mary!
2020 – made my first lasagna ever and it was the bomb! Thank you for the wonderful recipe. Since we don’t currently have a working stove top, I sautéed the chopped vegetables in my instant pot before assembling. I also used jarred marinara. Will definitely make this again.
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing your method. I hope your stove top starts working soon!
Great recipe! I made it exactly as directed, to see how it would be the first time before making any adjustments. The adults loved it, my teen son was ‘okay’ with it – but he’s never a fan of vegetarian meals.
Next time I will use a bigger pan (9×13), as my smaller pan was quite full and splattered in the oven. Solved it mid-bake with a sheet pan underneath with parchment on it to catch the drips. Thanks Cookie and Kate!
Hi Adele! Thank you for sharing. What size pan did you use? 9×9?
Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for this recipe. Simple delicious! This is my first recipe from your blog and am excited to try more.
A great one to start with! I’m excited for you to try more, Holly. Thank you for your comment and review!
I made this yesterday and I was so scared I was going to mess something up. It was the easiest recipe to follow and it was delicious. My husband is looking forward to me making it again!
I am an experienced and confident cook. But I underestimated the
Time it took to accomplish all the stepsthank goodness, my guests, all close friends, were quite patient.
The other issue I had, I found the dish a bit bland. Any suggestions
you might have for spicing ?
Overall the dish was enjoyed by all.
Cornelia Hanhardt
corneliakh@comcast.net
Superb lasagna recipe. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Nick!
This lasagna is amazing! Delicious and super easy. This is for sure being added to my ‘go-to’ recipes! Thanks Kate.
Made your go-to list, that’s great! Thank you for your review, Tammy.
Great recipe
Hi Kate! I just finished assembling the lasagna and will put it in the oven later for supper (super excited to try it)! I didn’t have the no-boil noodles available, so I cooked my lasagna noodles according to the package instructions. Because of this, should I reduce the amount of time the lasagna cooks in the oven? Thanks for the help :)
Can’t wait to try this recipe but just wondering as I am dairy free what could I use instead of the cottage cheese?
Thanks
Hi Lianne! I have some dairy free recommendations below in the notes section. 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.
OMG I made this for my family last night and it really is the best lasagne ever. I have been making vegetarian lasagne for my family for years now but this takes it up a notch or 2 or 3 or 5! I won’t be going back to my original recipe. I can’t wait to make it for my friends. Thank you.
I loved this recipe!!
Wonderful, Stephanie!