Don’t be intimidated by vegetable lasagna — just because it weighs a lot doesn’t mean you can’t handle putting it all together. Follow this super-simple recipe, smear some crusty bread with garlic butter, and get your appetite ready.
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Growing up, I was only ever privy to lasagnas that contained ground beef. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Sometimes we want a great classic, a comforting dish like lasagna, but we want a healthier version of the typical recipe. This lasagna is chock-full of goodness — garlic, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and baby spinach — so you can eat guilt-free.
- There is just the right amount of sweetness in the form of the orange peppers. This brings a bit of spritz and life to the dish and will keep your palette, which is probably expecting the same ol’ lasagna, guessing.
- This a great recipe to use up all the leftover vegetables in your fridge. There are lots of ingredients but I’m sure so many of them can be found in your fridge or pantry.
Is This Healthy?
- Eating vegetables — surprise, surprise — is a good thing. Eating a dish like this one, in which there is a wide variety of vegetables, is even better. These foods are high in nutrients and low in fat and calories. The carrots and spinach, in particular, contain fiber, which will keep you feeling full longer. Fiber also keeps you regular, which may be important to those of us with digestive issues.
- The ricotta and skim milk is a much healthier way to make the creamy layer, as opposed to the decadent bechamel sauce typically used in lasagna recipes.
INGREDIENTS
All those vegetables have got to come from somewhere. Cue a march to the grocery store. The good news is that most of these items can be found in one section: the produce aisle.
the vegetables:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 carrots
- 3 small oranges peppers (or 1 large one)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 6-8 button mushrooms
- 5 small zucchini
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5-6 oz baby spinach
- 8 lasagna sheets
the tomato sauce:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
- ½ tsp salt
the topping:
- 2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
- ½ cup skim milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- black pepper
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Chop all the vegetables.
Fry
In a pan over MEDIUM heat, add the olive oil, onions, and garlic and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and salt, and fry, tossing every few minutes until they are soft. Set it aside until you are finished with the other elements.
Add all the sauce ingredients to a pot and simmer on LOW for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. If the sauce is too thick, it won’t cook the lasagna. Once it is cooked, set it aside.
Whisk
Whisk the ricotta, milk, salt, and pepper together in a bowl.
Layer
Build the layers. Start with half the vegetables and make a layer on the bottom of the dish, then half the tomato sauce, then layer on 4 pieces of lasagna, you can break the lasagna sheets a bit to make them fit. Using more or fewer sheets is fine. Repeat these layers once more. Pour on your ricotta mix and scatter on the mozzarella.
Bake
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and browns.
Variations
- Use a store-bought marinara sauce instead of making your own if you are in a scrap for time.
- Use smooth low-fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta.
- You can really use any combination of vegetables you like for the lasagna.
FAQs
The lasagna sheets actually still need some liquid to cook in, like boiled pasta. So make sure that your tomato sauce still has some lovely liquid in it as well as make sure your vegetables haven’t dried out too much.
Yes, you can add meat. Ground beef, turkey, or chicken will work.
Yes, you can use egg-free pasta and instead of ricotta, you can use vegan cream cheese and soy milk.
Yes, you can. it is also nice to make a double recipe and then make more layers in your lasagna, or you can make a single recipe and use a smaller dish to make extra layers.
How to Store Easy Vegetable Lasagna
Let the lasagna cool to room temperature. Cover it up with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. It should keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, put the lasagna in a 350°F oven until it is heated through (about 25-30 minutes). You can also microwave portions of the lasagna but for optimum quality, stick with the oven. If you want to save the lasagna for MUCH later, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Before reheating it as prescribed above, let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
Ingredients
The Vegetables:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 carrots
- 3 small oranges peppers (or 1 large orange)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 6-8 button mushrooms
- 5 small zucchini
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5-6 oz baby spinach
- 8 lasagna sheets
The Tomato Sauce:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 can tomatoes diced
- ¼ cup fresh basil roughly chopped
- ½ tsp salt
The Topping:
- 2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
- ½ cup skim milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Chop all the vegetables.
- In a pan over MEDIUM heat, add the olive oil, onions, and garlic and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and salt, and fry, tossing every few minutes until they are soft. Set it aside until you are finished with the other elements.
- Add all the sauce ingredients to a pot and simmer on LOW for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. If the sauce is too thick, it won’t cook the lasagna. Once it is cooked, set it aside.
- Whisk the ricotta, milk, salt, and pepper together in a bowl.
- Build the layers. Start with half the vegetables and make a layer on the bottom of the dish, then half the tomato sauce, then layer on 4 pieces of lasagna, you can break the lasagna sheets a bit to make them fit. Using more or fewer sheets is fine. Repeat these layers once more. Pour on your ricotta mix and scatter on the mozzarella.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and browns.
Tips & Notes:
- If your lasagna sheets are still a bit rigid, remember: they still need some liquid to cook in, like boiled pasta. So make sure that your tomato sauce still has some lovely liquid in it for the pasta AND to prevent your veggies from drying out.
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
Did I read the ingredients correctly? It calls for oranges?
Good catch Stephanie, I meant orange peppers! The recipe is corrected.