Vegetable Lasagna is what you make when you want to load up on veggies with something that’s filling, comforting and so moreish, you don’t even think twice about it being Meat Free!
This incredible Vegetarian Lasagna is made with a creamy ricotta and spinach filling as well as layers of roasted vegetables and a homemade tomato lasagna sauce. It’s one of my favourite fridge clean out recipes because it can be made with just about any roastable veggies!
Why you’ll love this Vegetable Lasagna
It is hard to top an epic, meat lasagna made with layers of slow cooker ragu, béchamel sauce and oodles of cheese. But if there’s anything that can give it a run for its money, it’s this Vegetarian Lasagna. Here’s why you’ll love this so much:
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Roasted Vegetables – Roasting trumps stove sautéing when it comes to bringing out flavour in vegetables;
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Jar Roasted Red Peppers – with a touch of smokiness and sweetness, this is an optional extra that I love to add because it adds that extra special touch;
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Customisable – use whatever roast-able veggies you please;
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Spinach and Ricotta layer – It just takes this over the top! But it’s optional – you could easily just double up with another layer of roasted vegetables;
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Simple homemade lasagna sauce – skip the jar, this homemade tomato sauce is simple and so good!
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Cheese – goes without saying that melty cheese is all part of a great lasagna experience!
How to make Veggie Lasagna
There are a few components to putting together a Veggie Lasagna so we love that it makes a BIG batch and that it reheats 100% perfectly!
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Roast vegetables;
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Mix up ricotta and spinach;
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Make the simple tomato lasagna sauce;
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Layer the lasagna as follows:
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Smear tomato on base (to stop lasagna sheets from sliding)
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Top with lasagna sheets
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Roasted vegetables
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Some tomato pasta sauce plus cheese
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Another layer of lasagna sheets
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Spinach and ricotta filling for lasagna
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Top with lasagna sheets and pasta sauce
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Sprinkle with cheese. Ready to bake!
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Vegetarian Lasagna ingredients – vegetables
Roasted Vegetables
I used pumpkin, zucchini and onion as my roasted veggies, but feel free to use whatever you have / want. Anything roastable is fine, just chop it so it cooks in the same time.
I cut mine pretty chunky because otherwise they cook too quickly in the oven – I like to roast veggies for at least 20 minutes minimum to get the maximum benefit of caramelisation.
Roasted Red Peppers
My “special ingredient” – Roasted Red Peppers! Basically, it’s capsicum / bell peppers that have been fire roasted so they have that gorgeous smokey flavour.
It’s sweet, soft and slippery and it adds an awesome extra dimension to this lasagna. Yep, I take the easy route and buy it in a jar but if you’re a keen bean, make your own!
Vegetable lasagna is sensational served fresh out of the oven, but it’s also one of those dishes that are terrific the next day. The flavour of those roasted veggies and that spinach ricotta layer develop overnight, and just a quick reheat in the microwave is all that’s required to bring it back to the original molten state.
So, fellow Carnivores. Have I convinced you to give this a go??? 😜 – Nagi x
My favourite Meat-Free Comfort Foods
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Chickpea Potato Curry – big curry flavours made with pantry staple spices!
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Browse the Vegetarian recipes collection
Vegetable Lasagna
Watch how to make it
Sometimes it helps to have a visual, so watch me make this Vegetarian Lasagna recipe!
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Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables (Note 1):
- 500 g / 1 lb pumpkin , 2cm / 4/5" cubes
- 2 large zucchinis , cut into 2cm / 4/5" chunks
- 2 onions (any type) , cut into wedges
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- Salt and pepper
Spinach Ricotta:
- 250 g / 8 oz frozen chopped spinach , thawed
- 500 g / 1 lb ricotta (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup / 50 g grated parmesan (or 3/4 cup shredded cheese)
- 1 egg
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg, optional (fresh or powder)
- 1/2 tsp each Salt and pepper
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 small onion , finely chopped (any, I use brown)
- 700 g / 24 oz tomato passata (Note 3)
- 400 g / 14 oz crushed tomato
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml water
- 3/4 tsp each dried thyme and oregano (or basil, parsley)
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (can omit / adjust to taste)
- Salt and pepper
Lasagna:
- 330g / 11 oz jar roasted red pepper strips, drained (Note 4)
- 375 g / 13 oz fresh lasagne sheets (Note 5)
- 300 g / 3 cups shredded mozzarella (or MORE!)
Instructions
Roasted Vegetables:
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Place vegetables on the tray, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Toss.
- Roast for 25 minutes, turning at 15 minutes, until tender and browned.
- Remove from oven, loosen from tray with spatula while warm (can stick when cools).
Sauce:
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 3 minutes until golden.
- Add passata, crushed tomato, water, dried herbs, chilli, salt and pepper. Stir. Simmer on medium low heat for 20 minutes. Adjust salt at the end. *Add a teeny touch of sugar if it's a bit sour, depends on quality of tomatoes used.*
- Remove from stove and let cool for 5 minutes before using.
Ricotta Mixture:
- Place ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined.
Lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 160C/320F.
- Spread a ladle of tomato sauce on the base of a large baking dish (Note 5).
- Cover with lasagna sheets, tearing as required to fit.
- Top with roasted vegetables, scatter over red peppers. Spoon over 2 1/2 cups of Sauce, then sprinkle with half the cheese.
- Cover with lasagna sheets. Spread over Ricotta mixture.
- Cover with lasagna sheets. Pour over remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden. If using dried lasagna sheets, stick a knife in the middle to ensure it's cooked - if it needs longer, cover and stick it back in the oven.
- Rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Store leftovers per notes - brilliant reheated!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This Vegetarian Lasagna recipe was originally published February 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters. No change to recipe – I wouldn’t dare!
Life of Dozer
Whenever I go away, I never pack until the night before. Because the sight of a suitcase reduces Dozer to this:
I used broccoli, sweet potato, pumpkin and mushrooms. I also swapped the lasagne noodles out for sheets of thinly sliced zucchini to make it a low carb meal. I also made my own ricotta in the thermomix. All in all, a perfect, delicious dish.
Love this recipe!
So delicious
Made it exactly as written except I use acorn squash instead of pumpkin. It was fantastic!
I would like to clarify baking temp. Re pie says 390? Is that correct? I would think 350 or 400, never have seen 390 before. Making for Christmas and excited to try. Thanks!
It’s because the recipe was designed in Celsius, (200) not Fahrenheit (390). Australian recipes often cook at this temperature.
Hello.
Thanks for the recipe. It is wonderful.
I´ve made more roasted vegetables and ricotta mixture, can I freeze it or is there anything else I can do?
Don´t wanna throw it away.
Thanks
Absolutely delicious.
Subbing corn tortillas for lasagne sheets worked really well.
Thank you.
I am glad you enjoyed it Julia! N x
Absolutely delicious & the tip about substituting lasagna sheets with corn tortillas worked perfectly. Thank you
Hi Nagi
My partner cooked dinner last night. He made the vegetable lasagne. Followed the recipe to the letter and we now have lunches and future dinner too. It was awesome. He will be taking over cooking on Sundays from now on. He will have your website on “speed dial” for excellent ideas and clear instruction. Thanks!
front-face suggesting parmesan as an ingredient means it is difficult to justify calling it “vegetarian” lasagna instead of “vegetable” lasagna, but the recipe is great!!! parmesan is made from calf rennet, therefore explicitly NOT vegetarian
There are so many vegetarian cheeses available. Including parmesan. People just need to check the ingredients 🙂
It’s called “vegetable” not “vegetarian” lasagne
May I skip or replace the egg with something else?
I love this recipe and I wanted to try it in my instant pot. How long do you think I would need to cook it using the pressure function? Thank you
Hi Louise! This recipe is not appropriate for the instant pot. You need to roast the vegetables and then bake the lasagne in the oven. N x
We loved this!
Next time I’ll try to add more lasagna sheets – probably another layer of pasta to split the vegetables. One package of lasagna sheets here is 500g and I think that should work out really well.
I have made many Vegetarian Lasagnes before and this one was the simplest and tastiest yet. It also seemed lighter and healthier than many other lasagnes, thanks to all of the veggies and less pasta. Great for our Meat Free Monday. I added twice as much spinach to further up the vitamin content !
This vegetarian lasagna was a huge hit with friends we invited to dinner last week. Cooking for vegetarian friends can be a challenge but your lasagna was delicious. Easy to find ingredients and easy to follow directions. Thank you Nagi and Dozer for another great recipe.
Hi Nagi. Long time cooker, first time question. I need to make a dairy free version of this. Can I use a silken tofu rather than ricotta?
I haven’t tried to be honest, the texture will be different but it may just work! Love to know if you give it a go! N x
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I didn’t read your note about ricotta when writing my shopping list so ended up with Coles brand ricotta but found it still tasted good. I added some cauliflower to my roasting tray as well and next time I’m going to try adding a few chopped kalamata olives to the pepper strips.
Oh my goodness! My hubby said best I’ve cooked during the whole lockdown, and I’ve cooked plenty! Thankyou for my new passion!
I made this today and it was absolutely delicious. It was nice and tall, so juicy, full of flavour, and didn’t fall apart when I served it. Amazing!
This was so delicious!!!