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 was the best Lasanga I’ve ever made. Different than meat lasanga, but I didn’t even miss the meat!! It was delicious and I can’t wait to make it again. I made a double portion so I could freeze some. A day later it was all gone :(
Hooray! I’m excited to hear that, Gigi.
I’m in Australia and I made this for dinner tonight. I used the vegetables in the recipe + butternut pumpkin. Love the flavours. Absolutely delicious. Will be making again
I’m in Australia and I made this for dinner tonight. I used the vegetables in the recipe + butternut pumpkin. Love the flavours. Absolutely delicious. Will be making again.
I started dating a guy that doesn’t eat meat. He is not a vegetarian “per se”, just doesn’t eat meat. I have 2 great lasagna recipes, but of course they call for meat. I have never liked the taste of ricotta, so I thought this would be a great “meatless” alternative. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find ANY cottage cheese (which is what I normally use), so I had to make a substitution. I made a few other changes as well – I grated the carrots and zucchini, and diced the onions and peppers, in place of the cottage cheese, I used cream cheese. Now, I will admit that I was a bit afraid of using cream cheese (seemed very weird to me), BUT, I will NEVER make lasagna again with cottage cheese! I did not miss the meat at ALL, this was soooo goood!!
Hands down the BEST veggie lasagna! I have been using this recipe for over a year now – everyone loves it!
Wonderful to hear, Kristi!
This recipe sounds wonderful! I’m planning to make it soon. I’m using regular lasagna noodles and prefer to preboil them. Should I make any adjustments so it’s not to soggy?
Hi Vickie! I hope love this recipe. I recommend following the notes I have for gluten free cooking. Be sure to report back to tell me what you think!
I’d try roasting the veggies and letting the cottage cheese sit in a strainer before using to remove some of the liquid.
I love this veggie lasagne. It might be my favorite of your recipes although I love many many of your recipes.
This is 2nd time I’m assisting my wife with this.calling out the layering steps to her…this time it’s better.
I suffer from GERD. So no tomatoes for me .what can I used instead of tomatoes?
Hi Nizam, I’m sorry I don’t have a great option for you to get this to turn out the same. You could try Lemony Green Pasta with Peas & Ricotta if you are looking for a tomato free sauce. Let me know if you try it!
Try a bechamel sauce, Nizam!
I also have GERD. try adding sugar to the tomato mixture. It reduces the acid in the tomatoes. Also, I take an over the counter acid reducer when I eat tomato recipes.
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but you can make your own tomato sauce and let it simmer for a few hours. This reduces acidity.
This is what I did,Sarah, I skipped the step of straining the tomatoes and cooked the sauce down to 2 cups instead. I love this recipe, it makes lasagna-making a breeze!
You could try using Baking Soda as it will neutralize a lot of the acidity of the tomatoes. You might need to cook out the sauce to help with the chemical reaction. I use this method on tomatoe soup and sauce instead of sugar as I want to reduce the acidity without sweetening the soup.
The best,best lasagna I have ever eaten….my daughter makes it and I was lucky enough to be there for supper.
Thank you
Hi Kate…made this recipe using Morinu Tofu…and the veggies… And Tinkyada lasgna noodles… Great stuff but next time I will start earlier in the day!!!
Irene from Canada
Can I make this in the evening and cook the next afternoon
I’m not sure how that would turn out. Sometimes as it sits without being cooked, it may release some water. Let me know if you try it!
I made this in the a.m.and put it in the fridge. Baked it up in the evening and it was perfect. Because I drained the tomatoes well it was not overly wet to begin with. I think that made a big difference.
Thank you for sharing, Lenny! I’m glad that worked out.
I’ve replaced the cottage cheese with soya milk, as I’m lactose intolerant. But with the rest, I’m absolutely happy, such an easy recipe but so tasty, I love it!
I’m glad it worked, Andie! Thank you for sharing.
Andie, They do have lactose free cottage free if you can find it at your store.
Hi! Planning on trying it this week end, but where i live in Portugal we never find cottage cheese. Do you suggest an alternative? Thanks!
You can use ricotta. I hope you love it!
I used a tofu ricotta recipe instead of cottage cheese.
Excellent recipe, although I wandered pretty far from it. Lasagna is one of those things that is agreeable with all sorts of changes.
I cooked the vegetables as in the recipe. I made my own version of tomato sauce. I used ricotta (can’t buy cottage cheese in the country where I live) and mixed it with a couple beaten eggs. I didn’t blend the vegetables, I used them as layers and the crunch was really enjoyable. Because fresh mozzarella is so inexpensive where I live, I used mini balls of it and cut them in half, used them throughout the layers. Only put parmesan on top. It was wonderful, and will be, as some went to the freezer. So it was a great place to start and came out excellent.
Hi Kate have you tried mushrooms in this? I’m wondering if you think they would work as an additional vegetable?
Mushrooms are great in this! Just be sure to cook them enough.
I’ve made this recipe before and loved it! I’m traveling to a rental house with some family and wondering if I can pre-make the lasagna and keep it frozen (basically all the steps minus the oven part) and then put it in the oven when we are ready to eat it. Also, if there’s a way to get a list of any of your recipes that either last 4-5 days in the refrigerator or can be pre-prepared and frozen for eating at a later date, that would be delightful! Thanks so much! You are my favourite go-to for recipes.
Hi! I don’t have a recommendation on freezing and thawing, sorry. I don’t have recipes filtered that way. I do know several main dishes should be fine for that length of time. Always use your best judgement.
I made this lasagne yesterday and it was delicious! I changed it up a bit to save time by using a jar of marinara sauce, instead of making it from scratch. I also omitted using my food processor and instead alternated layers of the noodles, sautéed veggies, cottage cheese, sauce and mozzarella. I used a 9×13 dish and only 2 layers of noodles (that would be 6 noodles which didn’t cover the whole surface of the dish, and that was fine with me). I sprinkled a bit of Italian seasoning and parsley over the top mozzarella cheese layer and cooked as directed. Yummy, I’m adding this to my list of favorite go-to pasta dishes!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jan! Thank you for sharing.
We love this recipe at our house! Is there any portion of it that does well when made ahead of cooking time?
It depends how long as it does tend to release moisture as it sits and may end up in a less than idea result. Let me know if you try it!
This is my favorite lasagne recipe and have made it several times. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you for sharing, Laura!
Love this lasagna! Any recs for quantities when using a 9×13″? 1.5times the ingredients?
Hi Paige, I haven’t used a 9×13 for a single recipe. I believe others have made a double and it worked fine. You can always check the comments to see what has worked for others!
This is my go-to lasagna. It’s flavourful, hearty and veggie-filled! I’ve tried other recipes and both your vegetarian and vegan lasagna are the best. Every time I make this recipe for family and friends, it’s a big hit. Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome, Tia! Thank you for your review.
Frozen spinach okay?
Hi Beck, I haven’t tried it. If you do, be sure to thaw and drain the moisture out. You won’t need to sauté as long.
Love this recipe! I did jarred pasta sauce but everything else the same!
Thank you for your review, Patty!
Excellent lasagna, and it looked so pretty when I served it! Very flavorful! I’ll definitely be making this again.
This lasagna is packed with goodness. I love it so much. It takes some effort but the effort pays off in loads of flavor and yummyness
Thank you for your review, Sherry!
Temps were 70 yesterday, today 36! Making this for the 2nd time! Yum!!!
Recipe sounds delicious. I wanted to prepare ahead and cook the next day however, you mentioned it may may release a lot of water. Would it be ok to cook, and then reheat the following day?
Hi Lisa, once cooked it’s great leftover. I hope you love it!
This is one delicious dish! I scaled it down, using a 1.5 qt oval casserole and made it into a vegetable bake, using penne pasta. I made my own marinara sauce before finding this recipe, so I used that. I also used a combo of yellow and orange peppers from the freezer. I liked the idea of whirling the cottage cheese through my mini-processor for a creamy, cheesey sauce with the veggies. Thanks for this great recipe that I’ll surely make again!
I made your lasagna a day early planning to cook it for dinner tomorrow. I didn’t read in your recipe instruction that it was okay to do this. Should I freeze it until tomorrow? Do you think this would affect the results?
FYI I have made this before and had great reviews but can’t remember if I made it a day early.
Hi Raylee, what did you end up doing and how did it turn out? Sorry for my delay!
Delicious! Made for my son and his boyfriend when his mom and sister came to town and everyone loved it. It was easy to make – minus all the chopping of course – and the cottage cheese instead of ricotta was a good choice. Not sure I will use the red pepper flakes again as I’m on the fence about that ingredient in this lasagna so I will try again without and see which I like better. Will be making again and again.
That’s great to hear, Monica! I appreciate your review.
This was absolutely magical! My boyfriend and I added beyond Italian sausage into the sauce and that made it taste identical to the meat version of lasagna. Out of this world!
That’s great to hear, Destiny! Thank you for your review.
Such a delicious recipe! I modified it a bit because of what I had on hand. I had no boil lasagne noodles and whole milk ricotta. I used a large zucchini, the carrots and some baby bella mushrooms and omitted the other vegetables. I also had some leftover pasta sauce. I admit I was skeptical of pureeing the vegetables with the cheese but the filling is so delicious!
I cooked the covered casserole at 375 (glass pan) for 45 minutes, then uncovered and cooked for another 15 until the top was lovely and browned.
Will definitely make this again.
My favorite recipe. It’s a huge hit everytime I make it.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I used Newman’s Own sauce from the grocery store, but otherwise followed the recipe. It is so flavorful! I used “oven ready” lasagne noodles and they came out a little more al dente (as predicted) but I figured that would be the case since this dish only cooks for about 30 minutes vs an hour. Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be making it again.
Highly recommend!
Thank you for sharing, Blair! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I’ve made this before and loved it. Found it can get a little watery and thought pressed cottage cheese might work great. My question is actually, do you think you could pre/make the filling items a few days ahead or even freeze them, before layer with noodles. I find gluten-free lasagna gets mushy, if layered, frozen and cooked later.
Hi Joana, I don’t think it will give you the result you think. But, if you do try it let me know!
Made this recipe so many times in the past — one of my families favourites ! Just wondering if you have ever prepped it earlier in the week & how long it remained edible in the fridge?
Hi! Leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 4 days. Gently reheat individual servings in the microwave or oven as needed.
Have made this lasagna for so many parties and groups – my new go to! Have used gluten free noodles too and usually sun half the cottage cheese for tofu! Blends right up and adds great protein.
Question: what’s the best way to make this ahead? Don’t want things to get too soggy but would be great to be able to assemble ahead of time. Big thanks!!
Hi Ari, I haven’t had the best luck with storing uncooked. It does do well leftover. I’m glad you love it!
Made this as a meal prep for my boyfriend and I. It turned out delicious! Thank you! Will definitely be making this again.
Great to hear, Alexa!
I have made this recipe a few times already! It is packed with flavor and the family loves it! Thank you for sharing with us ❤️
I have made this recipe twice! Even the carnivore men love it. I even learned how to use my food processor, and enjoyed the effect of smoothing out cottage cheese. This was filling and flavorful. The red pepper flakes are very peppery, so be careful about adding extra unless you can handle a strong presence of pepper.
That’s great, Melanie! I appreciate your review.
I tried this with ricotta instead of cottage cheese, and it was way too much ricotta. If you try this substitution, I suggest scaling back the amount of ricotta by 40 – 50% vs cottage cheese.
I am in Australia.Tried this last night, took a bit longer than expected, but it was so yummy. The kids wanted meat so I inserted some cooked mince to one side of the tray. Will definitely be making this again.
Thank you for sharing, Sutha!
Always a little skeptical when you see a recipe ranked this high. Especially for a lasagna recipe as lasagna styles vary and people have preferences on the type of lasagna they like. And throw in that there is cottage cheese in this recipe. End result, I agree with all the 5 star reviews and would give it 6 if I could! Amazing balance of flavors. I added a flat of mushrooms to the vegetable mixture and some pea protein crumbles and fresh basil to jarred marinara sauce. Will make this again for sure! Thanks for the great recipe Kate!
Wonderful, Beth! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you tried it.
Love this recipe, I put my own twist.
Had a rainbow of vegetables and didn’t use my food processor. Is was very good
I have made this twice in two weeks. My family go wild over this. I had been struggling to get my husband and 19 year old to eat veggies. When I cook them separately my family forgo the veggies and eat everything else. I had actually made this vegetable lasagna for myself because I was fasting meat, and they surprisingly ate all of my lasagna. If I had thought for 1 minute that they would have remotely been interested in a veggie lasagna I would have made a bigger pan. Nevertheless, thank you! IT’S A HIT!!!
That’s great to hear, Eraka! Thank you for sharing.
My family loves this recipe – thank you! I swapped out the carrots and used pumpkin instead – and roasted everything first – finishing off in the pan. Simple, easy comfort food.
So so delicious. I think I’ll skip the food processor part, as I like to have the texture of the veggies. Thank you for this recipe. I will put this in my rotation for meatless Monday’s.
Great to hear, Tee! I appreciate your review.
I was afraid to try it so I used a different recipe that had a white sauce. I will definitely try your recipe soon though. It sounds yummy!
Hi there. Can you use a bechamel or Alfredo sauce instead of tomato sauce? If so would it still be 2 cups? Thanks…really excited to try this!
Hi Nina, you could try it. But I prefer this recipe as written. I hope you try it!
Wow! So yummy! Great recipe. It’s a keeper.
Great to hear, Claire! I appreciate your review.
I made this last night. The whole family loved it. Hubby said best ever vegetarian lasagne and to keep the recipe. I added eggplant too!!!
Absolutely delicious!!!! All gone in one sitting. Should have made more!!!