Fitness / September 25, 2024

Vegetable Lasagna Recipe

Embrace Meatless Monday with this delicious Vegetable Lasagna Recipe. It’s packed with color, flavor, and cheesy goodness.

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Mealtime should never be boring or bland, and with this vegetable lasagna recipe, you can embrace Meatless Monday head-on! The lasagna has so much flavor that you will never miss the meat. All that ricotta and mozzarella give you a gooey, cheesy mouthful of deliciousness, bite after delectable bite.

Vegetable lasagna is perfect for any occasion and an ideal dish to take to potluck dinners. Put it on your buffet table and watch your guests ooh and aah as they cut into those layers of pasta, veggies, sauce, and cheese. Because it holds up so well and gets better after a day or two anyway, you can easily prepare it before you need it, so time will never hold you back.

What Is Meatless Monday, and How Does Vegetable Lasagna Help?

Meatless Monday began in 2003 as a way to reduce meat consumption for better health and the betterment of the planet. Eating less meat and more plant-based foods helps fight climate change, preserve water and land resources, and decrease the risk of preventable chronic diseases. Vegetable lasagna is a great way to embrace Meatless Monday by starting the week with a vegetable-packed pasta meal.

Is This Vegetable Lasagna Recipe Healthy?

Avoiding meat one or more days a week may help improve heart health, weight management, brain health, and lower cholesterol. Consuming more plant-based foods, including vegetables and fruit, may reduce inflammation and blood pressure. This recipe for vegetable lasagna provides you with plenty of essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, helping you lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Sauté Your Veggies to Maximize the Flavor of Your Lasagna

Sautéing your vegetables before adding them to the lasagna accomplishes two important features of this dish. First, it imparts incredible flavor that you would not get from using the vegetables raw. Second, it pulls out some of the water content in the veggies, so you don’t wind up with a watery lasagna. Drain the excess liquid from your skillet before adding the cooked vegetables to the lasagna.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cups fresh spinach
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
Salt and pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Prep

Preheat oven and prepare baking dish.

Layer

Cook vegetables, layer with noodles, sauces, and cheeses.

Bake

Cover, bake, uncover, and bake until golden.

Devour!

FAQs & Tips

How to Make Ahead and Store

Vegetable lasagna is an easy dish to make in advance. You can cut and store your veggies ahead of time in an airtight container in the refrigerator and sauté them when you are ready to assemble your lasagna. Alternatively, you can prep and cook the vegetables and put them in the fridge until you are ready to complete your dish. If you choose this method, remember to drain any liquid from the container that may have accumulated overnight.
You can also assemble the lasagna and store it unbaked and covered tightly for a day before baking, or freeze it unbaked for up to 3 months. Once baked, veggie lasagna can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Can I Use This Recipe for Gluten-Free Vegetable Lasagna?

This recipe can be made using any wheat- or gluten-free lasagna noodles. You can also use hearts of palm lasagna sheets, which I have done on many occasions. By doing so, you increase the vegetable content of this recipe exponentially. I like to boil the hearts of palm sheets for 5 to 10 minutes to help them become a bit softer, as per the directions on the package. You can also substitute eggplant or zucchini slices for the lasagna noodles.

What Other Vegetables Are Good In Lasagna?

There are no rules when it comes to lasagna. You can add anything you like. Some of my favorite vegetables for lasagna are mushrooms, broccoli, eggplant, yellow squash, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, and asparagus. You can even roast the veggies on a sheet pan and use them for the lasagna. Check out this recipe for Roasted Vegetables, which would be great in a lasagna. I recommend eliminating the Dijon mustard when using the veggies for this recipe.

Serving Suggestions

Vegetable lasagna is a hearty main course dish to enjoy alongside a salad such as Broccoli Salad, Classic Caprese Salad, or Green Goddess Salad. You can also bake a loaf of this Keto Almond Flour Bread, toast the slices, and top with a spread of garlic butter. Thinner slices toast up crispy and are so good with lasagna.