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.
Seriously this is one of the best lasagnas ive ever made. deliscious honestly!! Everyone loves it
thank you!
You’re welcome!
Hi!
Is it possible, to substitute the spinach? It’s impossible to buy some here at this time of the year. :)
Greets,
Nina
Sure, you could try another green of your liking or omit if you want.
Kate, I’ve made this recipe many times since I first discovered it. It’s my go to lasagna recipe. I love blending the cottage cheese and then mixing with the veggies. That was a genius idea. I have been roasting the veggies first instead of sauteing them and I have also been using almond flour lasagna noodles. My husband never even noticed the difference. Great recipe!
Dear Kate,
I made this lasagna once a couple of months ago and the family keeps asking for me to make it again because it is so delicious. I went back to internet to find it again today and noticed that there is a comment component of the recipe. Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe.
Clay
I made this for dinner tonight. It was absolutely delicious. My husband loved it too. I’ve only made meat lasagne for us in the past. This recipe will be my new go – to. Thank you!
So tasty! When I saw how easy the recipe was, I did not expect it to be so packed with flavour. Previous vegetarian lasagnas I have made have been watery. This is the perfect texture, full of flavour. Thank you.
So tasty! When I saw how easy the recipe was, I did not expect it to be so packed with flavour. Previous vegetarian lasagnas I have made have been watery. This is the perfect texture, full of flavour. Thank you. .
This is definitely a keeper! I added mushrooms & broccoli..It was delicious! The family can’t wait for me to make again. Thank you!!
Great recipe. Made it today exactly as per recipe and it tasted delicious.
Thank you for posting such a wonderful recipe.
We loved this recipe. I ended up using can of fire roasted tomatoes with the sauce ingredients. My veggies on hand were onion, carrot, zucchini, cauliflower, plenty of spinach; and only1cup plain Greek yogurt; seasoned earlier with dried oregano, thyme, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, olive oil; instead of cottage cheese stirred into veggies. I didn’t have enough mozzarella so mixed in Monterey Jack for the layers and topped the final cheese layer with parmesan. And using the good advise here for my DePuma’s gluten free lasagna sheets, I added a little more juice at the end from the roasted tomato can to make sure the pasta was all covered and moist to cook through. Baked a little longer too, 30 minutes covered, 20 minutes uncovered and 15 minute rest in turned off oven with door ajar. Since there’s only 2 of us. I froze half the remaining and tomorrow we’ll eat the other half. Can’t wait. Thank you.
Perfect for my children who don’t like traditional veggie lasagnas which have big strips of zucchini and eggplant. Delicious!
Hooray! I’m happy your kids loved it, Kristen.
I didn’t use no-boil lasagna, and I’m using a 10 x 13 pan. I don’t think the noodles are cooked enough. Help!What do I do to cook the noodles more? I’m leaving it in the oven, turned down the temp, and just watching it every 2 minutes.
The filling tasted wonderful, and the kitchen smells amazing, but I don’t know what to do…
Hi! Did you cook them prior to at all? Sometimes just letting it set out while it cools can help soften the noodles without over cooking it. Sorry for my delay!
Made this last weekend. I generally don’t love lasagna, but this was amazing! I did use jarred sauce and I roasted the vegetables instead of sautéing,but truly delicious! Thank you for giving me a lasagna I actually enjoy (and my daughter felt the same way!)
Wow! Another 5 star recipe from you. Thanks so much for this one! I haven’t made lasagna in ages and am so glad I found this recipe. I *did* add meat to the sauce to avoid my husband’s protests, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was amazing!!
By far the best Lasagna I have made and tasted! Thank you for your recipe !!!
You’re welcome, Taylor!
Phenomenal recipe! Thank you for posting this!
Hi there,
I have Ricotta cheese and am avoiding another grocery shop. Will that substitute ok and equally for the cottage cheese?
thanks!
Sure! If you have ricotta, that will work well too. i just prefer cottage cheese.
thanks so much for your quick response and your great recipes.!
Made this tonight for the first time- just what our family was craving! I made them with gluten free lasagna noodles and It turned out perfect!! Thank you!
Great recipe! Has the luxuriousness of traditional lasagna, but the veg and cottage cheese combination doesn‘t weigh you down. I will make it again, but next time I think I would saute the garlic with the other veggies. In the sauce it somehow didn‘t cook enough and sometimes I got a big chunk of strong garlic.
This was super tasty!! To save time I used a jar of marinara pasta sauce and skipped putting the veggies in the food processor. I had ricotta on hand so used that. Also used a sweet onion, which I’m guessing helped this lasagna taste slightly sweet, which we loved! Will definitely be making again!
I’m wondering what to do with the tomatoe juice I drained from the tomatoes. I didn’t read instructions to add it back in.
Thanks for clarification.
Hi Beth, I put my tomato juice in the freezer to use in place of water next time I make broth or cook rice/quinoa.
Hi Kate!
I have made this several times and it is amazing. I am currently having trouble finding cottage cheese. Could Greek yogurt be used as a substitute? Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.
Hi Jennifer, I don’t think greek yogurt will get you want you are after. I would recommend checking out the vegan option, if you can’t find ricotta.
This is my daughter and my go to lasagna recipe and we think it is AMAZING! My daughter wants to give it 10 stars! We use gluten free noodles, lactose free marble cheese and we even found lactose free cottage cheese. I would love to show you the picture l took! Anyway thanks for this recipe it is sooooo good.
10 stars, I wish that was an option! I’m glad it was such a hit, Teri. Thanks so much for sharing!
I’ve always been afraid to try lasagna – seemed really hard. Your recipe was so easy to follow! And delicious! Made with gluten free noodles and subbed your marinara for the listed sauce.
I have made this 5 times now and it never fails! It is now my go to for when friends come over for dinner – it is consistently easy, delicious and a fan favourite.
the best vegetarian lasagna recipe i found it! delicious.
Hello!
Can I make this without a blender or food processor?
Thank you:-)
Hi Nell, you can as I know others have. Just make sure to cut your vegetables really small I hope it works well for you!
Hi, can I make this in a 9 inch by 12 inch pan? Thanks! Can’t wait to try it.
Hi Katie! I believe others have and it’s worked well.
Just made this and it’s a hit!! Changes I made: I small chopped the veggies from the start & not again. I didn’t bother with whipping the cottage cheese, just mixed it all up with the cooked veggies. I used extra sauce & mozzarella since I used a 9×13 casserole, & also cooked it a few extra minutes because of this.
SO delicious. Replaced the red pepper with mushrooms because my partner does not like red pepper [sigh]. I was worried about how this would taste because of this swap – but it was AMAZING. My partner said it was in his top five favorite meals we have ever had at home! Thanks Kate!!
I made this yesterday. Hooray! Absolutely beaut – everyone loved it, even our young fussy eaters.
I had a bigger baking dish so I needed to make more filling but that was no drama. I used ricotta cheese but I might try cottage cheese next time as you suggest.
Thank you again.
Thank you! I’m glad you loved it and had what you needed, Justine.
We are a household divided as I’m transitioning to no meat and my family is not. I made this recipe for Easter dinner and it was absolutely amazing! I did use ricotta instead of cottage cheese as that’s what my family preferred in their traditional meat lasagna.
Glad I found your site and I’m looking forward to trying other recipes.
The lasagna turned out perfect and my meat-loving boyfriend also enjoyed it. There were alot of steps but it was worth it. We had to cook it for a bit longer than recommended, after 30 minutes the noodles were still a bit hard.
That’s great, Larissa! I’m happy you thought it was worth the steps. :) Thanks for your review!
Hi Kate
I’ve made several of your recipes and they always turn out great. This is by far the best tasting vegetarian lasagna I have made. I loved the cottage cheese, it taste way better than ricotta in my opinion.
I love to hear that, Summer! Thanks for your review.
This is my new favourite lasagna – so delicious! I used extra basil, and I added mushrooms to the veg mix. I also ended up having to combine multiple cheeses because I only had about 1/2 the required mozzarella, so I supplemented it with Monterey Jack, cheddar and Parmesan. Both my bf and I agree that this is the best lasagna we’ve tried. So glad I tripled the recipe for leftovers!
I love mushrooms in this! Thank you for sharing Joanna.
This was excellent, I did sub the cottage cheese for ricotta because that is what I had on hand.
That works, Deborah! Thank you for sharing.
I added ground beef as a layer and it worked great! Love this recipe, but I’m wondering why it’s necessary to rotate the dish 180 degrees after 18 min?
Hey Keri! Most ovens don’t bake evenly, so rotating the pan ensures that the lasagna is evenly browned.
Hi Kate,
Thank you! Terrific recipe – substituted mushrooms for zucchini and used Rao’s sauce.
We have purchased your cookbook and tried several recipes. We are really impressed with how each one consistently turns out yummy. Today after this great recipe – we had to comment:)
Cheers,
Ann
Sooo good!
WOW. so good. If you’re on the fence because of the time commitment, jump in and make this lasagna! Took me about 2 hours from starting to cut up the veggies to having it on my plate and 45ish minutes of that was in the oven plus another 20 for it to cool so really it’s just prep and assembly. I made it with jarred tomato basil pasta sauce and added 2 cloves of garlic in with the veggies. Instead of oil, I used veggie broth to cook the veggies in and it didn’t give me any problems. So delicious, I can’t wait to eat the leftovers again for lunch tomorrow. I start college in August and plan on freezing portions to microwave and enjoy later it’s that good. 10/10
Thanks for the encouragement to others, Ashley! I’m excited you loved it.
Omg loved this recipe it was my first time making lasagna and it was amazing my whole family loved it thank you sooo much will be doing again
Great result! I used butternut squash, carrots, spinach and broccoli for my veg and Pro Fusion lentil noodles for gluten free. I also used half ricotta and half cottage cheese (as this is what I had in my fridge). For the sauce I also did half half of a pre-made sauce (I use Jamie Oliver as it’s the only one I can find without added sugar) and half as per the recipe. The lasagne was delicious and went down very well with my non gluten free, meet eating partner. :) :)
This was the best lasagna recipe I’ve ever made! Thank you!
This Vegetarian Lasagna recipe is PHENOMENAL and I am really a carnivore most every meal! Fabulous flavors following exact instructions using marinara and adding mushrooms. I doubled it, cooked both after assembly then divided up and froze portions. It reheats very nicely. Thank you!
I made this last night and OH MY GOODNESS it was so good! I have 4 kids and they DEVOURED it. It’s hard to find something that they all like. This was truly amazing! I used mushrooms, red peppers, carrots, and eggplant for the veggies. Next time I’ll go heavier on the mushrooms because I love mushrooms. I made two 9×9 pans because I have teenagers and I’m so glad I did! Thank you! I loved it so much I ordered your recipe book!
Aren’t we supposed to cook the tomato sauce after blending it?
No, no need—it essentially “cooks” while the lasagna is in the oven.
It said not to let aluminum foil touch the top when wrapped but didn’t say it for the parchment lol. The first 18 min with parchment paper totally ripped the top layer of cheese and bits of my lasgna pasta off :(
So should it touch the parchment at all? What is the purpose of the cover in the beginning? To prevent the cheese/top layer from burning?
Waiting for the last 12 minutes!!
Hi Lisa, I’m sorry for the confusion! That detail (don’t let it touch the cheese) was supposed to apply whether you used parchment or foil. I’ve edited the recipe for clarity. The cover helps the lasagna bake through evenly and prevents the cheese from turning too brown, but you could possibly get away without it. Hope you’re enjoying the lasagna regardless!
Great result! I used butternut squash, carrots, spinach and broccoli for my veg and Pro Fusion lentil noodles for gluten free. I also used half ricotta and half cottage cheese (as this is what I had in my fridge). For the sauce I also did half half of a pre-made sauce (I use Jamie Oliver as it’s the only one I can find without added sugar) and half as per the recipe. The lasagne was delicious and went down very well with my non gluten free, meat eating partner. :) :)
Best lasagna recipe ever! I don’t miss the meat at all. Ever since I found this website, every recipe is a hit. Thanks for blessing us with all the delicious and healthy recipes!
Thank you, Paola! I’m excited you think so.
This was so easy to make and so tasteful! Everyone loved it at home.
Wonderful to hear, Moira! I appreciate you taking the time to review.