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.
Absolutely delicious! My meat-loving husband devoured it. I had some celery, riced cauliflower and mushrooms I needed to use, so I added everything to the original recipe and it was SO good!
Is it possible to make a second lasagna and freeze it for later use? If so how long could it stay in the freezer? Love your recipes!!
Hi Alex! You can freeze it, although it may get a little watery for you. I don’t have specifics on how to cook it just yet frozen. It should last a few months in the freezer.
Hi! Do you think it would work using cheese ravioli instead of the ziti? Or do you have a different vegetable lasagna using ravioli ? thank you!
Hi Sharon! You could try Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables for a variation.
This was so good! I’ve never had vegetarian lasagna before but have always wanted to try it. It was way better then I even thought it would be! I like it better then meat lasagna. I did mess up though and misread the directions and ended up mixing the veggie mix, cottage cheese and sauce all together in the bowl. So I built my lasagna with Noddles, “veggie” sauce and cheese. It turned out really good! Next time I will do it just as instructed to see if there is a difference. I can’t wait to make it again!
I only have regular noodles. How do I adjust the liquid for precooked noodles. I can’t wait to make this. Thank you.
Hi! You will want to follow my gluten free noodles note. That trick should work for regular noodles.
Hi Kate. This is one of my favorite recipes of yours. My question is – If I prepped and put together this recipe the night before and cooked the next day, would I still have The Best Vegetable Lasagna ever?
Thank you Jenny
Hi Jenny, I’m hesitant to say go for it as it could get watery as it sets not baked.
I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you!
This recipe is incredible!!!! The flavors are amazing and it has become a family favorite! I’ve been making it in a round casserole dish, which is not really ideal… and I don’t have a 9×9 as you list in the recipe, but I do have do have an 8×8. Do you think it’s possible to use a 8×8 rather than a 9×9 baking dish? Or would it not fit?
Hi Annie! The 8×8 will be too small and you will run out of room. Sorry! Maybe split it between two pans if you can?
Great veggie lasagna!
Can you freeze it?
Hi Sharon! I believe others have tried it and didn’t mind the results. I don’t have specifics for you on how to cook yet, sorry!
This recipe is so good! My husband even asked me to be sure to add it to our rotation. I made it exactly as instructed for our first time, but I’m already looking forward to trying again with different vegetables.
Thank you for sharing, Clarissa! I appreciate your review.
I’ve made a lot of vegetable lasagnas in my time, and this is my favorite! It’s cheesy and comforting, yet packed full of veggies and flavor. Perfect with a Caesar salad on these cold winter nights. My husband, who is not a vegetarian, loves it too. I’ve already made it twice this month, and I suspect I’ll be making it again soon. Thanks for a great recipe!
I invited my Niece out one day recently for Lunch and since she is a Vegetarian, I decided to try this Lasagna. It was Delicious ! Even better the next day when the flavors had a chance to mingle . I would definitely make this again. Sent some home for her Hubby who also Loved it and even asked me for the recipe.
Thank you, Patricia for sharing!
Awesome recipe! Made with oven ready lentil noodles from aldi and a jarred tomato basil garlic marinara sauce, it turned out delicious. Super easy to make. Will make again!!
Wonderful! Thank you for your review, Jess.
This is a really good recipe. My DIL is gluten-free, so I used the GF lasagna noodles. I increased the recipe by 30 – 40% so that I could make a 9 x 12 pan. Everyone loved it!
Wonderful, Carol! Thank you for your review.
Hi Kate, I have made this recipe several times and love the taste! However it always ends up very watery for me. Have you got any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong? Thanks
Hi Sue! I’m sorry to hear that. When you are cooking the vegetables, is there still water left in your skillet from the vegetables? Are they getting caramelized? Are you using store bought marinara or the one listed in the instructions?
I figured it out, I was using fresh lasagne sheets as I thought that was the same as no-boil! Made it tonight using no-boil and it turned out great :)
Thank you for sharing, Sue! I’m glad it turned out.
Adult the best lasagne I’ve ever made!
Tip- I used a salad spinner to spin the extra liquid out of the tomatoes which helped prevent it turning out watery like most of the veggie lasagnes I’ve made before
Interesting idea! Thank you for your review.
I’m a fan of a lot of your recipes but I was slightly disappointed by this one, not as flavourful as I had hoped. It was ok but i won’t make it again. I made the recipe exactly as written, only thing is I added a few mushrooms that I wanted to use up to the vegetables. The pasta was undercooked in some spots (maybe having a bit more sauce could have helped) and I got a lot of water at the bottom of the pan when serving. Taste was good but i felt it was missing something… oh well!
Hi CT, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you make sure your vegetables were cooked per the instructions? If they aren’t, then you will have more water. Mushrooms do tend to release more water as well. I appreciate your feedback.
Such a great dish!
Thank you, Natalie!
Hello!
Can I prepare this 1 day ahead to bake the next day? What would be the best way?
Thank you!
Hi Gina! I haven’t tried it. Leaving this uncooked too long may release some water in the ingredients and may not get you the result you want.
Thank you for this recipe. Tried it today, turned out really good. My teenage son loved it and we loved the fact that it had all those healthy veggies..
Made this last night and it was so good!! It was perfect for my family of 4 and a little leftover for lunch. My kids are anti-veggie but they really liked this. I made almost exactly as the recipe states. The only changes were that I added a little garlic when cooking the veggies and I used 12 ready bake noodles by Barilla in a 9×13 pan. The noodles expanded during the bake and it fit perfect. I also added Parmesan with the mozzarella on the top layer before cooking. Thank you for this recipe :)
Yes! I heard this one is a great one for the kiddos. I appreciate you taking the time to review.
I followed this recipe step by step, and it was yummy, but I found it to be a bit bland relative to other veg lasagnas I’ve made. The prep time is also quite off… it took me more like 45-50 minutes to follow all the pre-baking steps.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love all the flavor and it took you more time. I appreciate your review, Sara.
This recipe is so so delicious! It’s my first time making a Cookie and Kate recipe after hearing rave reviews from friends. It did not disappoint.
Great to hear! Thank you for your review, Yosra.
I made this recipe using jarred marinara (too tired after work), I don’t have a 9×9 tray so I used my 9×13. I used 4 noodles plus 1 extra broken to fit the pan. This worked well as I had extra veggies to use up anyway. I used mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper, butternut squash(previously roasted and cubed) and lots of baby spinach. I used 2 cups of cottage cheese and the extra veg created enough filling for the extra noodles. I also used the full jar of sauce 645ml Newman’s own to ensure the noodles are fully cooked. OMG this is definitely in my bi-weekly rotation. What a great way to get your veggies! Next time I will use reduced fat mozzarella, felt a little guilty eating too much cheese. Just a thought:in order to make this freezer friendly, I am going to add an egg to the CC mixture, cook and freeze. Thinking that might help with additional moisture. Thanks girl! Fab recipe!
Thank you for sharing, Samantha! I’m happy you loved it and that it is going to become a regular for you.
Liked the combo. Tromboncino squash sliced into lasagna-like pieces instead of pasta for gluten free. Chard for spinach. Everything from a fall garden except the oil and cheese.
I’ve made this recipe a number of times and wanted to let you know that Capello’s (almond flour) lasagna noodles work great! They are all I’ve been using lately. Thanks Kate. Love this lasagna.
You’re welcome, Anne! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
The most delicious lasagna I have ever made. I will definitely be making this again!
Hi Kate,
Thanks for this great recipe – used ready tomato sauce but it still was a yummy dish. For next time won’t be chopping the veggies – my food processor cuts them already into small cubes and don’t want my lasagne to be so less mushy than before.
My Italian friend said lasagne looked absolutely perfect )) And oh my, what a beautiful smell!
Thank you again and greetings from Warsaw, Poland.
Joanna
Hi Kate!
I made this for my meat-loving family, and they absolutely loved it! We ended up making another one soon after to give to my neighbors who also loved it. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe, and I definitely recommend it to everyone!
Megan
Thank you for your review, Megan! I appreciate you taking the time.
How well does this freeze and reheat? For some reason I’m skeptical about the cottage cheese…
Hi Mariana! I haven’t had the best luck yet, but I know others haven’t minded the results. It does seem to release some water.
I am making this for my mother’s birthday to give to her. I found that there’s not enough sauce over the top noodles, and they are still firm…I added much more than the suggested amount of sauce on top, probably double… So I’ve put it back in the oven with the parchment, in hopes that they’ll continue to cook through. Haven’t tried it, as it’s for someone else…so can’t comment on the taste.
Excellent! Recipe is a keeper
Just made this for dinner and it was delicious! I followed your recipe as is and this is a keeper! (Get to eat leftovers tomorrow)
Can’t wait to make it again!
Thanks so much
I’m happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing, Suzie.
Does this work well when doubled?
It sounds yummy!
Hi! I believe it has worked well for others, Patrica.
What an excellent recipe! Loved it! So easy to make. Thank you Kate
We love this recipe and I’d like to make it the day before I bake it. Has anyone tried that with this recipe?
Hi Sarah, I’m not sure that will get you a desired result as it tends to release some water(marinara, dairy, etc). If you bake it, it does make great leftovers!
The basil is clearly mentioned in the ingredients under tomato sauce section.
If the veggies are too watery and haven’t carmelized, you just need to cook them longer until the water evaporates and the veggies do carmelize.
Omg where did I go wrong? Tasted good, but looked so disgusting. Turned into a soupy mess, what did I do wrong? My husband lovingly called it lasagna smoothie. Help!
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. Did you cook the vegetables long enough to get the water out? What type of tomato sauce did you use?
I make lots of vegetarian recipes which are delicious. This one is THE BEST and is great as. This week I adding leftover vegetables such as mushrooms, eggplant and Swiss chard from the garden ( Ididn’t have spinach). Was still yummy. Thanks.
(I freeze the leftover can juices and use it to make spinach ricotta cannelloni).
This was delicious. It took a lot longer to back than directed so I had to lower the temperature so that it didn’t burn on the bottom and top but it was more than worth the wait. Other than that I made it exactly as written. (I wonder if the no cook lasagna I used was the problem.) It doesn’t matter because it was soooo good. I’ll make this again.
Yum! Best veggie lasagna ever
Awesome! Thanks, Camilla!
I made this today for my vegetarian family. It was a bit hit. It takes more than 30 min to prep, and I had to cook it an additional 10 min, removing the foil, in order for the cheese to turn brown. I also will reduce the salt a bit next time as the mozzarella has plenty. Will definitely make it again! Thank you :)
I’m happy it turned out for you, Anita!
Best lasagna every! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I never thought cottage cheese would work so well in this. Can’t wait to make it again.
I’m glad you were surprise, Pamela! Thank you for taking the time to review.
I never leave comments on recipes but I had to for this one because it’s SO good. I didn’t make my own sauce but the part about mixing the cheese with the vegetables is genius! My husband said it’s the best lasagna he’s ever had and I agree. It’s been hard finding a good lasagna recipe since we both became vegetarian but this is for sure a winner. Thank you!
I’m glad this one was so good you had to leave a comment, Nicole! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
I absolutely love this recipe! I have made it every week for three weeks now! I also roast aubergine , butternut squash and courgette together instead of frying and it tastes amazing! Seriously glad I found this recipe, I’ve sent it to about 3 friends who all say it’s life changing. I know I sound dramatic but who knew cottage cheese could do that!
Life changing? Thank you for the rave review, Louise. I appreciate you taking the time.
Hi Kate absolutely love you and your recipes :) hey just wanted to know more about doubling the recipe. would you use 6 sheets of pasta instead of 3 when layering?? Thanks
Hi Jess! I would use a larger pan and use as many as fits across. If that helps!
Super yummy. My wife loved it, and the kids (9yr & 6 yr) – well, they’re picky, but ate it. Great way to “hide” veggies. Will make again but probably double it! I added a bit of parmesan in 2nd and 3rd layer, but otherwise followed the recipe.
GET READY TO HAVE YOUR SOCKS KNOCKED OFF. I’ve never made traditional meat lasagna, but after making this, I don’t know that I ever will. It is incredible. SO flavorful, so filling. I’ve made it twice this last year, once with family and another time for a friend, and it was a hit both times.
Hooray! Thank you for sharing, Lauren. I appreciate your review.
Hi – I made this recipe exactly as it states and the lasagna was a hit with my family. Thank you for the delicious recipe! It’s going to be a staple in my household.
You’re welcome! Thank you for your review.
Can I prep this the day before and bake the next day?
Hi! I find it releases water when that happens and may not get you the best result. It does make great leftovers!
Can I make this ahead of time time and freeze?
Hi Tyra! You can, but the results may be a little more watery. I’m working on testing it frozen and how to thaw, but don’t quite have it down just yet. Let me know what you think if you try it!