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.
This lasagna is soooo good!! I never used cottage cheese before and it tasted great. I’ve tried a few of your recipes so far and they have all been excellent. I’m so glad I found your site….Thank you!
So good! Thank you so much! How do I store left overs and reheat the next day in the oven as I don’t own a microwave?
Thanks again!
Probably just divide up portions as you normally would for lasagna, freeze, and then reheat the portions in an oven save dish? Lasagna is great storing in the freezer as many of them are sold frozen!
Yes, that would be my suggestion! Thanks, Ashley!
I must say this veggie lasgna is the best lasagna I’ve ever had! And I REALLY loved my previous meat lasagna. Just incredible the flavors, the textures, and even really easy to cook! Thank you so much for putting this together. And I never thought I’d like cottage cheese, but it really does taste amazing!
I love to hear this one is a favorite! Thank you or sharing, Christine.
Wow what a delicious lasagna. I have cooked some other veggie lasagnas but this one is my favorite. I’m glad I tried it. Delicious!
How long does this last in freezer? I would think Longer than meat lasagna?
Hi… I’m keen to try this recipe based on the great reviews. Can you advise if it can be frozen as I will need to make in advance, thanks
I’m not sure, sorry! I don’t freeze all my recipes.
I’m wondering if you tried to freeze it yet, and if you can pass on whether it worked well. I made this lasagna last week, and my while family loved it, and now I want to make it for a sick friend.
I froze this for my sister who was having a baby and she said it was delicious! I made a few small modifications based on personal preference and what I had readily available, but the basic recipe was the same. I use no-boil noodles, assembled, and froze without cooking. She cooked it from frozen in a 400 degree oven until hot through (hers took 2 hours but it had 4 layers instead of three, so a 3 layer lasagna might be done in 90 mins).
Hi. Thanks for letting me know. I never thought to freeze it uncooked but makes sense.
This is the best lasagna I have ever had – including Bolognese in Bologna. It is even amazing cold. The cottage cheese works on a million levels.
My only subs – good quality jar sauce and I used carrots, mushrooms, spinach, onions, peppers as the vegetables.
Kate – I love your blog. Every recipe is a huge success.
Such a delicious recipe, it turned out fantastic!
Thank you, Stephanie! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks! We just made the lasagne, only instead of cream cheese we used ricotta cheese, zucchini we got an egg plant, sautéed it, the added an extra layer and added more of the vegetable and ricotta cheese on top.
This recipe just happened to pop up when I googled “vegetarian lasagna,” and I’m so glad it did — and that I’ve been introduced to your site! I used a jarred marinara, and it was wonderful (Mezzetta Delicate Marinara Pasta Sauce). Kids and husband all loved this one! Really fantastic, didn’t miss the meat one bit!
I’m glad you made it too, Summer! Thank you for your comment and review.
I made this tonight and it was soooooo good! I have to confess, I made it with meat sauce (cause that’s what was available at the store), so I skipped the food processor part. But this was amazing. All the hearty cheesy goodness of lasagna, but without any sore stomachs or heartburn like I get from traditional lasagna, and lots of veggies! Excited to try it meat-free in the future!
Can this recipe be made ahead of time? If so, how do you bake?…added time, adjusted temperature, etc..?
Hi Kristen! I haven’t tried making this ahead of time. You could see the other comments to see if others have and what they recommend, sorry!
I did make it ahead of time and followed the same cooking instructions and just watched it. It ended up taking a bit longer (otherwise it was too runny) but turned out awesome!
My wife and I had half for dinner and I could not wait to eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. Great recipe! Thanks!
Made this last night and it turned out great. The simple ingredients packed great flavor. It was a hit even the kiddos loved it.
This looks delicious! I really don’t like cottage cheese or ricotta, though, so do you have a suggestion for what I might substitute it with so that it doesn’t lose its creamyness?
Hi Heidi, I guess you could try without. I don’t have a great recommendation without trying something else. Sorry!
You could use a bechamel sauce instead of the cottage cheese.
I used goat cheese. 4oz of it and mix it with the vegetables. And it turned so good!
Absolutely superb. We’ve been vegetarian now for 6 months and lasagna is one thing I really truly miss….until I found this. Made for friends over the weekend and it’s absolutely sublime. Taste is insane and it was n absolute winner
I’m so glad I found this recipe! It’s become a regular meal in our house, and it makes enough to have for the days in between my night shifts so I don’t need to worry about what to cook, and even the 3yo will devour it. I follow the recipe exactly, I haven’t needed to make any changes because it comes out awesome as is Thank you!
I’m glad it’s a regular! Thank you for your review, Kylie.
Delicious!!!!! In an effort to hide the veggies from my little picky eaters, I minced the spinach in my food processor before cooking it down and blended it with all the veggies to almost a purée. I also blended all the cottage cheese, so when I combined with veggies it was all smooth. I substituted fontina for the mozerella, as we prefer the flavour, it also melts better.
My family loved it, especially my husband. He didn’t miss the meat one bit!!
Hi, last time I made this the lasagne sheets didn’t cool properly. Any tips on how to make tonight’s version cool a bit better? Thanks
Edit** COOK properly!
Hi, last time I made this the lasagne sheets didn’t cool properly. Any tips on how to make tonight’s version cool a bit better? Thanks
Hi Fiona! Thank you for your comment. Make sure you have a cooling rack or hot pad to help, instead of letting it cool on the stove where it’s warm on top. I hope that helps!
No-bake noodles need liquid. Next time just add some water to the tomato sauce or the juice from the drained tomatoes. It will work just fine then
Want to take some food down to daughter’s family and this looks delicious BUT can I freeze it?
Hi Maureen! I didn’t have luck with this frozen, but I believe others haven’t minded it. It may become a little watery once thawed. Let me know how it works for you!
I made the vegetable lasagna, using fresh homemade noodles. It was AMAZING! I doubled the recipe , enough for dinner for a crowd of friends. Was a HUGE hit…the balance of flavors was wonderful. I WILL MAKE THIS AGAIN!!!
Thank you for sharing, Bruce! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Delicious! At last a satisfying veggie meal. Even my husband who is reluctant to try vegetarian food loved it. It will have a regular place on our table. Thank you, amazing lasagna.
This was a hit with my guests! I used the gluten-free noodles so that my niece could enjoy it. I especially love the addition of spinach, for its nutritional value (I put lots in)! I used a 9 x 13″ pan and it worked out just fine.
Does it work to make this a couple of days ahead and then bake? If so, how would you adjust baking time considering it would go into the oven cold? Thanks!
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried it and would be hesitant it would become watery. Sorry!
I would bake it the same, but bring it out of the refrigerator an hour before going in the oven to allow it to come up to room temp.
This was delicious. Didn’t miss the meat at all. Even got teenager approval! It came together very quickly. I’ll definitely make this again.
Hooray! Thanks for sharing, Joan.
This is absolutely delicious – proper comfort food with the added bonus of loads of colourful veggie goodness!
Wonderful to hear, Izzy! Thank you for your review.
This recipe is perfection as-is. I’ve made it maybe 3-4 times now and I just love it. Will never make another lasagna recipe!
That’s great to hear, Katy! Thanks for your review.
This takes a bit of time but is the best veggie lasagna I have made! No changes-it is wonderful as is!
Mine was not as pretty as yours but it tasted great! The only change I made was dried basil instead of fresh (because there’s nowhere to get fresh near me that doesn’t cost a fortune). We will definitely make again. Healthier, cheaper, and just as yummy as our old meat recipe!
So simple yet gorgeously tasteful. I made this to feed some well deserving volunteers. They LOVED it! I also made an extra bit for my husband and I. Delicious!! I do want to try it vegan style for some friends. Thank you for making life a bit more simple while not throwing out ease and taste!
This is a go to recipe for my misfit box. Homemade pasta also work. My kitchen smells amazing and I have lunches for the first half of the week!
I just made this. WOW! It’s absolutely delicious. Even meat-lovers (like my fiance) will gobble this up. Following all the directions, it came out perfectly. Thank you, Kate, for this fabulous recipe!!
This is by far the best vegetable lasagna recipe I have made. We aren’t a vegetarian household, but are trying to incorporate more meatless meals into our diet, and my meat loving husband could not stop raving about this! Thank you for the tip about mixing up the veggies as long as they total about 3 cups – it was a great way to use up all the little loners from our crisper drawer. We zucchini, butternut squash, bell pepper, fennel, and mushrooms to total 3 cups, then the onion and spinach on top of that. We like a little spice so I added a bit of cayenne to the vegetables. So good!!
This was delicious! I made it vegan using your variation with the sour cream and my parents (including my dad who thinks dinner has to include meat) did not know it was made without meat! The only thing I found was that the tomato sauce needed a lot more water added because the lasagne dries out a lot while cooking
My mom made this recipe for us with gluten free noodles after we welcomed a new arrival. It was awesome! I’ll be making it myself soon!
Super easy and delicious! My kids loved it, even my picky 4 year old who I normally have to beg to eat veggies. Made enough for 2 meals for my family of four. Much healthier than other veg lasagne recipes I’ve tried.
This recipe is excellent. I’m so pleased I tried it out today. Everyone including the kids had two serving and I had nothing left over. Thank you for sharing x
Used no boil lasagna, added necessary water per instructions, and cooked longer and noodles did not cook and have a water lasagna.
:( The recipe does not indicate what type of lasagna noodles (no boil or regular). Plus the instructions did not include the step about cooking the noodles.
Wait!!! of course – I re-read the recipe and saw the NO BOIL part. Your instructions do not include to add water but the box of the noodle say to add 1/2 cup water/milk. My noodles ARE oven ready…so do I add the water per the box instructions or just follow your instructions and no add addtional water? Dish was not ready per your time suggestion….hopefully it will be ready after it is reheated. THANK YOU….don’t know how I missed your note about NO BOIL and longer baking. (sigh)
Hi Cristina, I’m sorry, I’m not entirely sure—none of the no-boil noodles I’ve used have required additional water.
This recipe looks amazing! However it’s really hard to find good quality cottage cheese here in Rotterdam, can I substitute this with Ricotta cheese or another ingredient instead?
Ricotta will work great!
I only have red onion. Do you think that would still work?
For sure!
I made this recipe 3 times now :) it’s delish! Thank you for sharing! I made few changes though. I added some mushroom for a bit different flavour, used capri cheese instead of cottage cheese and plain yellow on top. I also added bechamel sauce between layers and it turned out great. I usually divide the labor to two days. One day it’s the veggie filling the next the sauces. I also pre-boil lasagne sheets as the ones u get where I am don’t cook through otherwise. My almost 3yo loved it as well as we did. Overall a 5* recipe :)
Just wondering if anyone has tried this with vegetables replacing the noodles at all (ie. Zuchini or Eggplant)? If so, did it work out or did any adjustment need to be made? Thanks!
I would be interested to hear what people thought of that!
I would probably slice the zucchini or eggplant with a mandolin and sprinkle with a little salt. Let it sit while cooking the veggies. Pat dry and if possible, lightly grill the slices. This will help drain out the water that the zucchini and eggplant naturally have. Then assemble as directed by recipe.
I use low carb lavash high fiber sheets. Just cut them, like the size of lasagna noodles. Just use them as if they were cooked noodles.
Just made it! It was fabulous! My meat-loving, extremely suspicious of vegetables, husband said “lovely” – high praise indeed :D
Hello ! I have never used “no boil “ noodles. I followed your instructions but just want to make sure I was meant to put dry (no boil) noodles straight From the box into the lasagna ? The reason I am asking is it just came out of the oven and the end of the noodles at the top seem tough still. I prepared this lasagna ahead of time and am driving to serve it at dinner later. Thanks
Hi Leila, no-boil noodles are designed to go straight from the box to the lasagna, yes. Hope your lasagna turned out great!
This recipe is delicious. I made the dairy free version, my family went nuts!
Seriously disappointed. Followed the recipe to the T and it was awful. Very disappointed.
We made this last night and it was a huge hit for the whole family! We are expecting another baby in April and I’d like to make another to freeze, as I know how hard it is to get veggies in during the postpartum timeframe. Do you recommend cooking before freezing the assembled dish?
Hi Claire! How exciting! Yes, definitely cook and let it cool to room temperature before freezing.
INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS, WOW! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with the world, along with many of your others. It has been a hit every time Ive made it. Question, what would the reheating temp be in an oven and for how long? I don’t have a microwave. Thanks again!
Hooray, thanks Kristen! I think your best bet would be to reheat it at the temp specified for baking the lasagna, just until it’s warmed all the way through. The length of time will depend on the portion size. Hope that helps!
I love this recipe but I will admit I make a “lazy cook’s version” of it. I cook the vegetables (mushrooms instead of zucchini because my daughter doesn’t like zucchini) and then just mix them with a half kilo of ricotta. I use a jar tomato sauce, but do simmer it a little while with 4 cubed small tomatoes (fresh), garlic, basil, and oregano. Then I assemble as normal. I cut my vegetables pretty small, so I just skip everything with the food processor.
Great recipe! Easy to make and delicious! Thank you! :-)
Is this made in a regular size lasagna pan? Or smaller casserole pan?
Hi Cindy! I used a 10-inch baking dish, which is in between a small 8″ brownie dish and a large 9×13″ baker. Hope you have something similar in your kitchen!