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.
I made this as my first lasagna ever and omg, it was so yummy! Restaurant quality. This is definitely on the list of my favorite meals 5/5. Thank you for sharing this meat free alternative.
Our family favorite!! Great for holidays and parties, especially if you need a meat free dish for guests! I use my favorite store bought sauce to cut out some of the work. If making ahead, cook it and then reheat.
I love to hear that, Ellen! Thank you for your review.
This recipe is delicious. I have a 17ish x 10ish (4.5 qt) pan that I used and doubled the recipe. I baked it for a little over an hour at 375 because of the size and it turned out perfect. I served it to 6 hungry friends (none of us are vegetarian) and everyone seemed to love it. They also commented that it seemed “light,” but not in a bad way. My favorite part is the cottage cheese veggie filling, so much better than the normal lasagna filling.
Thank you!
Wow this lasagne is delicious.we are all meat eaters in our family but we all really loved it. In fact my great granddaughter is not a good eater but she couldn’t eat enough of it. We have never seen her eat so much. Thank-you for such a lovely recipe
Great to hear, Margery! I appreciate your review.
This lasagna was okay, but I have to say the carrots ruined it for me. Maybe they needed to be sautéed even longer to make them softer (they weren’t crunchy in the lasagna, but definitely identifiable bits). I’m a big carrot fan in general, but I didn’t think the flavour fit in with the lasagna. Other than that, the recipe went well.
Based on your notes, I switched out the bell pepper, carrots and zucchini for a carton of mushrooms and 1 yellow squash and extra spinach. I also used a jar of marinara and had a little bit leftover in the jar when done putting everything together.
Although a little watery, the end result was delicious, and I was surprised it didn’t need a full hour to cook.
I was frustrated with the print version (5 pages without the notes?!). There were a lot of details that could’ve been left out because they had already been covered in your blog portion. Other reviewers suggestions show how to speed things up …there’s no way it takes the average home cook 30 mins of prep time for your basic recipe.
Loved this recipe. I made it last night for my family and they loved it. I used a 9×13 pan as that is all i had. I added grated Pecorino Romano cheese on top when i served it. It was delicious!! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. Definitely will be making it again.
I’m glad you loved it, Natalie! I appreciate your review.
Love this recipe! Have made it a handful of times and it’s always great! I make it in a 9×13, and sometimes toss in extra veggies if I have some I need to use up.
I made this for the first time and I did use my own sauce rather than this one. The flavor and texture were really good. The whipped cottage cheese was amazing. My only issue though is the water that came out of it. I had a puddle on my plate and there was a couple of inches of it in the pan after I took my first piece out of the pan. Has anyone else had this issue?
I’m sorry to hear that. Did you cook your vegetables until they were caramelized?
Can it be assembled the day before and cooked the next morning?
I find it is best right away. I know others have tried it and didn’t mind the results. I find it tends to release some water.
Made this with penne rigate, so rather a layered casserole, because I couldn’t find whole wheat lasagne noodles. It was either lasagne noodles or whole wheat noodles, gotta go whole wheat. Oh, it’s delicious, and huge. Will freeze some and hope for the best.
The BEST. I made this exactly as written and turned out delish! My husband even said the best veggie lasagna I’ve made. The cottage cheese was so creamy and delish along with the veges. Sauting the veges gave this a very nice taste and it got nice and brown and bubbly in the oven. This is a KEEPER.
I’m glad you love it, J!
I love this recipe, but I think my baking dish is too shallow, I only get about 2 “levels” of noodles, before I hit the top.
This recipe was really good! I used the food processor as you recommended and followed the recipe. (I did add some fresh grated Romano cheese to the cottage cheese!) Everyone loved it. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Beth!
This recipe was really good! I used the food processor as you recommended and followed the recipe. (I did add some fresh grated Romano cheese to the cottage cheese!) Everyone loved it. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Beth!
I have had love real food cook book since may 2018 love! I love the eggplant, lasagna………. And I loved it just a little quicker without having to do all the eggplants! Thanks so much
Enjoyed the consistency of this lasagna. Followed recipe exactly, except I added mushrooms. Unfortunately I didn’t feel it was savory enough to satisfy my palate. Having recently switch to vegetarian lifestyle, I’m afraid I missed something with this recipe. Perhaps more savory vegetables, or other seasonings. I did not have any problems with watery issues, it set up nicely and cut into nice firm pieces.
Thank you for your feedback, Karen.
Hi!
Can we do this recipe with fresh lasagna?
I haven’t tried it. But, I believe others have and didn’t mind the results.
I made this today. It turned out great! I did not use the food processor at all. I chopped all the vegetables as small as I could and I also added chopped fresh mushrooms. I used small curd cottage cheese and beat it smooth by hand. After sauteing the vegetables I felt there was no need to put it through a food processor, as the vegetables were tender. I then mixed them with the cottage cheese in a large bowl. I used a 9X13 pan and used a 24 ounce jar of tomato,basil spaghetti sauce. I baked it without the cheese on top and then after the first bake I removed the cover and added the cheese. This is the best vegetable lasagna I have ever tasted! The flavor of the combined vegetables with the cottage cheese was awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for sharing how you made it, Kathy! We appreciate your review.
This is my new go to! I make it into two smaller lasagnas and freeze one (uncooked) for later. Everyone loves it!
I’ve made this lasagna two times and will certainly continue making it. So delicious and balanced. I added eggplant and next time, plan to use squash. Can’t wait to keep experimenting with different vegetables, tomato sauces and cheeses. Save this recipe!!
I’m glad you loved it, Kara!
I came across your recipe in my search for more vegetable recipes and the photo enticed me to try it. I am participating in a Meatless May challenge. I made it exactly to your ingredients and process and it turned out lovely! I loved the delicate flavours and smoothness of the vegetable layer with the whipped cottage cheese. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Ceecee! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Made this lots of times. Every time I get a tasty meal. But, it is always watery. Once made with no boil, another time the boil first type. The boil first is better. I always do the cover and uncover. Taste is great but, presentation is never life the picture.
Soooo good!!! It didn’t last! Kids and adults loved it! Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Melani! I’m delighted you enjoyed it.
I made this dish as part of Easter dinner, as one of my guests is a vegetarian. The dish was packed with flavour, and it was a big hit among the meat eaters as well. I had requests for the recipe, and they were directed to your site. Thanks.
It came out way too moist, practically a lasagna soup more than anything >:( I don’t know what kind of blender y’all have because mine basically pureed the veggies after pulsing it just three times :( Taste was good but everything was swimming in the veggie puree and lasagna did not solidify at all, and basil burned on top :(
I’m sorry to hear that, Micaela. Did you measure the vegetables out? Maybe you blended them to long or didn’t get enough of the liquid cooked out of the vegetables by getting them caramelized.
Delicious! I used butternut squash instead of bell pepper (just personal preference) as well as store-bought tomato sauce and it turned out perfectly for my dinner party. And not too difficult to put together!
Wonderful to hear, Natalie!
I made this today for my vegetable lasagna loving, 39 year old son. He recently told me he loved it and why don’t I make it (because I have always disliked it) Lol it was a big hit and quite a surprise. Thank you for the recipe.
I’m glad this was a hit for everyone, Leslie! I appreciate your review.
I made tis last night and it was delicious. I used what veggies I had so apart from carrots and onions, I added chopped capsicum, a small turniip and silverbeet instead of spinach. I didn’t sieve the tomatoes (Just me, I can’t discard anything), and there was a bit of liquid at the bottom because of this. But all in all, fab flavour, and definitely making it again!
Great to hear, Janet! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Hi, do you think it would be possible to make this a few hours in advance before I cook it? Maybe leave it in the fridge.
Others have tried it and didn’t mind the results. I prefer to bake it right away.
Hi, I think you have an error in the recipe. When looking at the ‘remaining ingredients’ the low-fat cottage cheese is 2 Cups (16oz) but the mozzarella is 2 cups (8 oz). Shouldn’t the mozzarella be 2 cups (16 oz) too?
I’m making this for Friday dinner and can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Hi Sue! It’s a difference of how much something weighs. I hope that helps!
This is an awesome recipe. I’ve made it twice and absolutely love it! Thanks Kate! Love replacing ricotta with cottage cheese and it’s loaded with vegetables. ❤️
I’m glad you loved it, Cindy! I appreciate your review.
It was delicious. I substituted cottage cheese wth ricotta (no need to blend) added an egg and a little bit of salt and dried parsley. I did not mix this with the vegetables. I added fennel seeds and garlic to the vegetable mixture. During assembly I put1/3 cup of sauce in the bottom and put another half a cup of sauce in noodles in the middle, vegetables, ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. I didn’t have a 9×9 so I used a 9×13. I layered four noodles accrossed. I was pretty short on sauce for the top covered, and added additional mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and sliced black olives. Definitely would make this again I just would double the sauce even for a 9×9 pan.
It was delicious. I couldn’t find no boil noodles so I just parboiled them. I substituted cottage cheese wth ricotta (no need to blend) added an egg and a little bit of salt and dried parsley. I did not mix this with the vegetables. I added fennel seeds and garlic to the vegetable mixture. During assembly I put1/3 cup of sauce in the bottom and put another half a cup of sauce in noodles in the middle, vegetables, ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. I didn’t have a 9×9 so I used a 9×13. I layered four noodles accrossed. I was pretty short on sauce for the top covered, and added additional mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and sliced black olives. Definitely would make this again I just would double the sauce even for a 9×9 pan.
Yum, made this yesterday, big hit. Used veggies on hand yellow pepper, button mushrooms snd 2 carrots grated. Didn’t process cottage cheese just added as a layer, but did mix in freshly grated parmesan to the c/cheese. So much easier ghan making a béchamel sauce.used defrosted spinach squeezed dry, and probably used s bit more than the weight suggested in recipe. Will make agsin!
Thank you for sharing how you made it, Msmoo!
We loved it!! Will make again! I didn’t do any blending, used bought sauce (Classico Tomato & Basil), and used regular pasta that I did NOT pre-cook but did soak in warm water while I made the rest. This all made it easy to make! It was so good!
I’m glad you loved it, Becky! Thank you for your review.
This is one of my favourite recipes of all time. Seriously yummy and packed with so much flavour. Would recommend to anyone to give it a go. It’s relatively easy to make too.
I just made this exactly as the recipe says and the flavors are amazing. My meat loving family even liked it and asked for more. This will now be my go-to recipe and by the way, processing the cottage cheese is brilliant. I would’ve never thought to do that and mixing it with processed veggies. I think that’s why my family liked it, no chunky veggies!
Great to hear, Donna! Thank you for your review.
This recipe is fabulous! I’ve made is several times now, and it always comes out great. I have used the cottage cheese and veggie mixture for other baked pasta dishes too, and my family loves it!
I love to hear that, Ashford!
This is the best lasagna I’ve ever made!!!! That whipped cottage cheese makes it so creamy and delicious. I will definitely be adding this to my monthly rotation!
I love to hear that, Kirsti!
Absolutely delicious! My husband would trade his birthright for my meat lasagne, but tonight he said this was on par
This is by far my favourite lasagne recipe, thanks so much!
With lots of gratitude all the way from Cape Town
Great to hear, Celeste! I appreciate your review.
Made this for my son’s 57th b’day dinner. So disappointed. Followed the recipe to the nail and found it very bland. I did not like the processed veggies-too soft; thankfully the pasta was done perfectly held its
shape so gave the dish some tooth. I also think ricotta cheese is much taster than processed cottage cheese. Finally, this dish was very labor intensive for such a dissatisfying outcome. Wish I had found and read the comments before I invested $ and ⏱️ into this recipe.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this as written.
Can I cook it and heat up next day?
I have 10 coming, will the basic recipe feed that many?
I will not have time to cook it before guests arrive. Could cook it halfway then finish before they arrive.
Thoughts?
Hi! This is great leftover. You can increase the recipe based on how much you need, but be sure you use a large enough casserole dish or split it between a few.
Sounds delicious! Just curious: why did you combine the vegies with the cottage cheese rather than the tomato sauce as would be more common with veg lasagna?
ie In most recipes you saute vegies, add tomatoes etc, simmer 15min or so, then layer noodles/cottage cheese/tomato veg sauce
I found I like this version best. I hope you try it!
Prep took 1.5 hours not 30mins. Tasted good but def not a time friendly recipe.
I’ve made this recipe twice now for my fiancé, and he loves loves loves it! He said it’s the best he’s ever had and he’s never even eaten a veggie version before. This is going to be a staple in our home when we start our own family. Thanks for share this with the world!
Amazing lasagne. Took a while to make but well worth it. So fresh tasting with the basil. My partner has never tried a vegetable lasagna and would NEVER have picked this from a menu but he loved it so much that I’m doing it again tonight.
Thanks for a great recipe:)
You’re welcome, Hannah!
I make veggie lasagnes often, and used to have a go-to recipe that is delish but cumbersome to make. THIS lasagne is my new “go to”. My husband keeps saying “it was so light and flavorful”.
Absolutely delicious and I couldn’t believe we didn’t even need to cook the tomato sauce. I love this!
I love to hear that, Tracy! I appreciate your review.
I was having 12 people to lunch today and I made this recipe. My daughter and I LOVE Cookie and Kate recipes. I doubled the recipe. I don’t have a food processor, so I used my hand mixer for whipping the cottage cheese and the veggies. I also made it on Saturday night, put in fridge and cooked on Sunday.
It was absolutely delicious!
It will definitely be added to our rotation of meals.
I’m glad you love my recipes and share this lasagna with friends! Thank you for your review, Deanna.
I always make this recipe for my family, my mom says it’s the only veggie lasagna she likes!
I love to hear she likes this one, Clover! I appreciate your review.