Garden Vegetable Lasagna
A healthy garden vegetable lasagna, with layers of spinach ricotta, zucchini and onions, noodles, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese. A delicious vegetarian lasagna that freezes wonderfully, so make a double batch and freeze another one for later!
I get so happy going out and looking at my garden. We spent the spring grading our hill and building six 4″ x 8″ raised beds. 2 whole beds are dedicated to arugula and lettuce, and we’ve been having lots of salads using them up.
Now that it is getting warm out, we are starting to see our first tomatoes and zucchini coming in. We have 8 tomato plants, 3 zucchini plants and 2 yellow squash plants. For just the 2 of us.
I may have gone a little overboard planting.
We have a few little baby green tomatoes that are just starting to grow. It has been cloudy and overcast here in California for almost a month, but it is finally getting bright and sunny, so I’m hoping to have some tomatoes to enjoy in just a few weeks.
Last week our first zucchini blossoms sprouted up, and this week the little tiny squash are growing. I can’t wait to have more zucchini than I know what to do with.
One of my favorite ways to cook up zucchini is in this garden vegetable lasagna. It is my very favorite lasagna recipe. I skip the meat, and instead add in lots of delicious vegetables. I add in lots of spinach to the ricotta, which gives it a beautiful green color. And instead of the typical meat layer, I swap that out for a layer of sautéed zucchini and onions with some garlic. Add in some layers of noodles, mozzarella cheese, and your favorite marinara sauce, and you have yourself a delicious, healthy lasagna.
Even though it is just the 2 of us, I still make a big 9×13 garden vegetable lasagna. This will last us 2 dinners, and Shawn will eat a big square of it for lunch all week. 1 meal prep, 2 dinners, and 5 lunches. Can’t beat that! And if you know Shawn, you know that it is the highest compliment to a recipe if he will eat leftovers that many times in a row. That boy likes his variety.
This garden vegetable lasagna freezes beautifully! If I have enough ingredients on hand, I’ll just make a double batch and freeze the other one. If I do that, I’ll make it in one of those disposable aluminum lasagna pans you can buy at the grocery store. That way my glass baking dish isn’t held hostage in the freezer.
As soon as I have a ton of zucchini on hand, I know I’ll be whipping up a few batches of these to freeze.
Garden Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 32- oz container ricotta cheese
- 2 10-oz packages frozen spinach, thawed and all water squeezed out
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 25-oz jars marinara sauce
- 9- oz package NO BOIL lasagna noodles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees with the oven rack in the middle position.
- Preheat a medium size skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil, then cook the zucchini and onion for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add in the garlic, cook another 30 seconds until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
- While the vegetables are cooking, in a medium size mixing bowl combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Assemble the lasagna in a 9x13 baking dish. Layer in this order: tomato sauce, noodles, spinach ricotta mixture, zucchini onion mixture, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, noodles, spinach ricotta mixture, zucchini onion mixture, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, noodles, spinach ricotta mixture, zucchini onion mixture, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, noodles, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the lasagna with parchment paper, then aluminum foil.
- If freezing, make sure the aluminum foil is covering it so it is airtight. Will keep in the freezer for 3 months. When ready to cook, bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for 90 minutes covered, then 15 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown.
- If not freezing, bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 45 minutes covered, then 15 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Cut and serve warm.
- Leftovers will keep in an airtight container for 1 week.
More Italian Recipes:
Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats
Healthier Spaghetti and Sausage Meatballs
38 Comments on “Garden Vegetable Lasagna”
Bonjour! If i have fresh spinash can you tell me if i have to cook it before melting to my ricotta mix ? Merci !
Yes, I would sauté it in olive oil or butter first to cook it down. Then squeeze it out with a paper towel to get all the moisture out. This way you won’t have a soggy lasagna!
I make lasagnas for lasagnalove.org. People in need of a meal can sign up to get a lasagna delivered free of charge. I have been making lasagnas for 10 months. I have used this recipe (adapted slightly) for the vegetarian requests and gotten RAVE reviews.
Thank you for such a great recipe! If you like to make lasagnas and you like to help people, sign up at lasagnalove.org and you can support their great mission once a month or as often as you want!
Hi Sheila! I have heard of lasagna love and I am so honored you use my recipe so often! Seriously means so much to me. I am thrilled that you have gotten such wonderful reviews. You are so kind! Hugs!
OMG! This was DELICIOUS! I volunteer with Lasagna Love (https://lasagnalove.org/) and I was matched with someone who needed a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian lasagna so I searched all my fav food bloggers for a vegetarian lasagna that I could easily adapt. I used gluten-free lasagna sheets (the fresh refrigerated kind), homemade almond based ricotta and vegan mozzarella. The family loved it and so did mine (I had to make one for myself too of course)! I typically cook dairy-free and gluten-free but my lasagna usually has meat – we did not miss it at all! Thanks for a great recipe will definitely be making this again!
Jamie! This totally blew me away! What an amazing volunteer organization! So so honored that you were able to use my recipe and tweak it to your liking. Made my day!
My meat-loving husband says this is his favourite lasagna! He frequently suggests I pick up the ingredients to make this lasagna for him. I usually make at least two when I make this lasagna; one to eat fresh and one or two for the freezer for later!
I’ve also served this lasagna several times for guests and it’s a hit each time! Once I forgot to tell a friend that it was vegetarian, after dinner he raved about it so much and he wanted the recipe and only then realized it didn’t have any meat.
This is my go-to recipe and continues to be a family favourite!
This totally made my day! Thank you so much! What an honor that you and your husband loved this recipe so much and have had such success serving it to guests! The BEST!!
I have never signed up for any food blog before, but…this lasagna was amazing. I have tried many recipes and they were good, but this one is crave-worthy. Thanks!
Wow! What a compliment Elizabeth! I am so honored you are following my food blog. I am so happy you liked my lasagna.
Two questions:
Can regular boil lasagna noodles be used and if so, would I need to cut down on the marinara or other liquids?
Also, can it be put together, frozen, thawed in fridge then heated? I would like to try to make it ahead for Christmas.
Thanks!!
Yes! You can use boil lasagna noodles! No need to adjust the amount of marinara.
Yes! This freezes beautifully. Assemble it, then freeze it RAW. Take it out 24 hours before to thaw in your fridge, then bake it according to the directions.
This is a great one for Christmas! Your whole family would love it. I love making it for my family since my mom and sister are vegetarian, and this is a dish all can enjoy.