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Looking for the best vegetarian lasagna recipe? You're in the right place. This Butternut Squash and Spinach lasagna will become one of your favorites! This lasagna is stuffed with vegetables and combines Ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozzarella cheeses to create the ultimate Fall and Winter comfort food.
This delicious veggie lasagna recipe is healthy, meatless, gluten-free friendly, and perfect for the Fall and Winter season. Because it uses butternut squash, it's a great choice as a holiday vegetarian main dish or just a holiday recipe. It's so good, it's popular with kids!
To me, this is a great recipe to make any time of year, but because this lasagna has butternut squash, it is surely a good holiday veggie main dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's Eve.
This vegetarian recipe uses butternut squash puree, which you can easily make by following my easy step-by-step tutorial: how to make butternut squash puree. Or, you can always buy pureed butternut squash at the store.
I also want to warn you that this is my most photo-intensive post yet with lots of step-by-step photos which I think are quite helpful to make this delicious vegetarian lasagna. So, if you want to go directly to the bottom of this post - just scroll down.
Cooking tips
- Use cooked lasagna noodles. Bring a large pot of water to boil, cook the noodles al dente, rinse each noodle with cold water and drain. This will guarantee the perfect texture!
- Make this vegetarian lasagna gluten-free! Use brown rice gluten-free lasagna noodles and follow all the recipe instructions as-is.
- For butternut squash filling, make your own butternut squash puree from scratch or use a store-bought version.
- Here is a great tutorial on how to cook fresh spinach - this recipe uses lemon juice and lemon juice which will pair well with the butternut squash, but you can also skip the lemon and/or lemon zest if you don't like it.
- No boil lasagna noodles. You can use no-boil lasagna noodles with this recipe! You might need to add about ½ cup of milk or water or vegetable stock to the squash purée, in addition to the milk called for in the recipe. (Thank you, Debbie, for your great tip!) You might also have to bake the lasagna for 10 extra minutes.
- Make this lasagna vegan. Use vegan Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses, then make vegan ricotta out of tofu and lemon juice using this recipe. (Thank you, Laura, for this wonderful tip!)
- Don't like vegetarian and want protein or meat? No problem. Add rotisserie chicken or cooked crumbled bacon in between lasagna layers.
I also tested this butternut squash and spinach lasagna with gluten-free noodles, and it works great! I used Tinkyada gluten-free brown rice lasagna noodles - almost the whole 10 oz package. So, yes, this recipe is gluten-free friendly, for sure!
Bake this vegetarian lasagna at 375 F covered with foil for the first 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake for additional 10 minutes.
With this delicious meatless vegetable lasagna, you will have no leftovers!
How to make vegetarian butternut squash and spinach lasagna (step-by-step photos):
First, prepare the butternut squash filling. Using a food processor, combine butternut squash puree with Ricotta cheese, milk, salt, and nutmeg. Add more milk if needed (to make the butternut squash filling very creamy). Mix very well, taste, and add more salt, if needed:
Next, make spinach filling by mixing cooked spinach, Ricotta cheese, Mozzarella cheese, minced garlic, salt and pepper:
Prepare a baking dish - I used a casserole dish 11 inches x 8.5 inches x 3 inches deep. Grease the bottom of the baking pan lightly with olive oil spray. Spread ⅓ of butternut squash filling on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle lightly with mozzarella cheese.
Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions, rinse with cold water and drain. Top the first layer of butternut squash mixture with cooked lasagna noodles without overlapping - as you can see I used 3 noodles. Use as many noodles as you need for your baking dish.
Spread half of spinach filling over the cooked noodles.
Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese:
Top with cooked lasagna noodles:
Spread another layer (⅓) of butternut squash mixture:
Sprinkle lightly with Mozzarella cheese:
Top with cooked lasagna noodles:
Spread the remaining half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese.
Top with the final layer of cooked noodles:
Spread a generous amount of butternut squash filling (the remaining ⅓) over this final layer of noodles:
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and remaining Mozzarella cheese (about ½ cup of Mozzarella):
Generously sprinkle the cheese with Italian seasoning, paprika, basil:
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes.
Your veggie lasagna is ready!
Recipes with Butternut Squash
Since you're looking at this butternut squash and spinach lasagna, I assume you like butternut squash. Here are a few other delicious recipes using this wonderful ingredient. All these recipes are also vegetarian and meatless.
- Butternut Squash and Spinach Tortellini
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cinnamon Butternut Squash, Pecans, and Cranberries
- Black Bean and Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole
- Quinoa Salad with Butternut Squash, Pine Nuts, Caramelized Onions and Feta cheese
Butternut Squash Salads:
- Autumn Salad with Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seeds
- Butternut Squash Salad with Spinach, Pecans, Cranberries, and Pomegranate
Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients
Butternut Squash Filling:
- 2 cups butternut squash puree (about half of squash)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup milk or more, if needed
- ¼ teaspoon salt plus ⅛ teaspoon more
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Spinach Filling:
- 8 oz spinach (1 cup cooked spinach)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
Other Ingredients:
- 10 oz lasagna noodles cooked (for gluten free, use Tinkyada brown rice lasagna noodles)
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese or more
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese on top
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
Butternut Squash Filling:
- For this filling, you will need to have pre-cooked butternut squash puree. Using food processor, combine 2 cups of butternut squash puree with Ricotta cheese, milk, salt and nutmeg. Add more milk if needed (to make the butternut squash filling very creamy). Mix very well, taste and add more salt, if needed.
Spinach Filling:
- Combine cooked spinach, Ricotta cheese, mozzarella, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix, taste, and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Note: The recipe I provide for how to cook spinach uses lemon juice and lemon zest which pairs nicely with butternut squash but you don't have to use lemon juice and/or lemon zest if you don't like it.
Cooking lasagna noodles:
- Bring a very large pot of water to boil, and cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Rinse in cold water, drain. Using knife, trim noodles to fit your baking dish (if necessary).
How to assemble vegetarian lasagna:
- Prepare a baking dish - I used a casserole dish 11 inches x 8.5 inches x 3 inches deep. Grease the lasagna dish lightly with olive oil spray. Spread ⅓ of butternut squash filling on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle lightly with mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked lasagna noodles without overlapping (I used 3 noodles).
- Spread half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.
- Spread another layer (⅓) of butternut squash mixture, then sprinkle lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.
- Spread the remaining half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with the final layer of cooked noodles.
- Spread a generous amount of butternut squash filling (the remaining ⅓) over this final layer of noodles, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and remaining mozzarella cheese (about ½ cup of mozzarella). Generously sprinkle the cheese with Italian seasoning, paprika, basil.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes.
Notes
Make it GLUTEN-FREE
- Use brown rice gluten-free lasagna noodles (or any other kind of GF lasagna noodles) and follow all the recipe instructions as-is.
How to use NO-BOIL LASAGNA NOODLES
- You can use no-boil lasagna noodles with this recipe! You might need to add about ½ cup of milk or water or vegetable stock to the squash purée, in addition to the milk called for in the recipe. (Thank you, Debbie, for your great tip!) You might also have to bake the lasagna for 10 extra minutes.
How to make it VEGAN
- Use vegan Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses, then make vegan ricotta out of tofu and lemon juice using this recipe. (Thank you, Laura, for this wonderful tip!)
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I made this tonight and it is as delicious as it sounds! Will definitely make it again, thank you
First time making this and turned out great. Colorful and flavorful holiday meal.
If making this dish for 16 should I double recipe?
Yes!
Why even bother with noddles,? Just keep it gluten free and easier one the time by layering the squash and spinach mixtures, then pour on tomato sauce and cheese... i do this all the time with all kinds of veggies, lasagne, eggplant. It is my favourite comfort food
I just wanted to say that I made this recipe vegan tonight and it was amazing - so amazing that both my 2 and 4 year old had seconds. I used canned butternut squash puree from Trader Joes, frozen cut leaf spinach, tofu ricotta (Thug Kitchen's recipe) and Go Veggie mozzarella shreds. I only used a very small amount of the shreds and just added salt to the two filling mixtures until it seemed salty enough. I had no need to add milk or nut milk to the butternut squash mixture. So any vegans out there - this recipe is a wonderful one! My husband said he liked it better than traditional lasagna before we went vegan (:
Kaitlin, thank you very much for your very thoughtful comment and your feedback about how to make this recipe vegan! I agree with you - I like this butternut squash and spinach lasagna (the non-vegan version though :)) way better than the traditional lasagna! 🙂
Your ingredient list says 2 cups ricotta. Step 2 says to mix 2 cups ricotta with the squash. The next step says mix ricotta with spinach. How much ricotta? Didn't you already use the ricotta?
Step 2 says to mix 2 cups BUTTERNUT SQUASH PUREE with ricotta cheese (which is listed as 1 cup ricotta cheese under subheading Butternut Squash Filling). Then, the next step guides you to make spinach filling under subheading Spinach Filling to combine spinach with ricotta cheese again (1 cup of ricotta). Total, you use 2 cups of ricotta for the whole recipe. 1 cup of ricotta for butternut squash filling, 1 cup of ricotta for spinach filling.
Wasent too bad. But not much veggies in the recipe. I added some of my own and used green lentil lasagna noodles.
Green lentil lasagna noodles sound very interesting and delicious!
This has been one of our favorites recently. So simple to make for a big group of people!
Just made this with no boil lasagne noodles and it's excellent!!!!!!!! Followed the directions fully, added a little more of the squash puree and made sure it was extra creamy, more of a sauce texture than a mixture. I boiled some water and poured it into a sheet pan, layer the noodles in every step it called for them. A little more tedious but it's so good! I let them sit in the boiled water for about 2 min.... shook them off, and transferred them straight to the pan I was cooking the lasagne in. Thanks for he awesome recipe!
I also made this with no boil lasagna noodles. It's delic, but the noodles are a little chewy. I'll try your method next time. Thanks for the comment.
I tried this with rice no-bake noodles after reading a review that it worked fine. They were very chewy still and ruined the texture of the otherwise tasty casserole. There was plenty of liquid. I just don't think it had enough time to cook. Regular lasagna cooks for 45 minutes, and this was only 30. But who knows. Point is, I will definitely stick with traditional noodles next time. My mistake.
I LOVE this lasagna! Can it be prepared then frozen? Are leftovers OK frozen as well? Just wondering if the squash might be a little watery after freezing.
Waaaaaay too many photos. It takes forever to get to this great recipe! I added sauteed mushrooms. Yum!
I made this lasagna this evening and it turned out fabulous! So yummy! Two things: next time I would have made more than 1 cup of spinach, as it seemed much too sparse spreading onto the layers - also the butternut squash puree was a lot thinner than I expected it to be, others mentioned they mashed up butternut squash themselves rather than using the puree for a different consistency so next time I will try that! Otherwise, absolutely delicious with the GF tinkyada noodles. This was even approved by a 2.5 year old and a 1 year old! 🙂
Thank you, Emilee! I am so glad you liked it! Great tips: the more spinach the better, and yes, using mashed up butternut squash as opposed to the puree will work too!
This was delicious. I did add a little nutmeg and some fresh minced sage to spinach layer (needed closer to 16 oz of spinach cooked down to have enough for 2 layers). Will be making this again soon. Thanks!
Thank you, Crystal! Yes, more spinach is always better in this recipe.
Love this recipe you might like my Butternut Squash Lasagne! https://leishamulvey.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/butternut-squash-lasagne/