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This vegetarian lasagna is the real deal. Classic marinara, creamy bechamel, layers of veggies, and major crowd-pleasing power. A community-favorite with easy-to-follow directions, you’ll come back to this foolproof veggie lasagna recipe again and again!
save this recipe!Lasagna 2.0
Confession: growing up, I hated lasagna. I know, sounds crazy, right? But hear me out—it was the ricotta’s texture that threw me off (after all, baked ricotta does have a grainy texture).
I later discovered that traditional Italian lasagna doesn’t even use ricotta. Instead, it calls for bechamel, a smooth and creamy white sauce.
That’s why we’re going all-in with bechamel for today’s vegetarian lasagna (that’s packed to the brim with vegetables). It’s surprisingly easy to make and the 15 minutes of prep time is worth every second.
Reader rating
“This has become our go-to recipe for lasagna. It is flavorful, delicious, and so easy prep work wise. We even made it for my partner’s dad for father’s day and he went back for seconds! That’s quite the compliment coming from a man who makes a lot of his own dishes by hand.” —Tiffany
Looking to go noodle-free? Try this eggplant lasagna or this zucchini lasagna (they’re both gluten-free!). And if you’re short on time, my dump-and-bake lasagna casserole is a game changer.
Key Ingredients
Our vegetable lasagna requires only a handful of ingredients. This is an overview, but you can jump to the recipe card for exact measurements!
- Veggies: I love zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, and baby spinach, but you can also try mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, carrots, or celery.
- Bechamel: We’ll use bechamel sauce instead of ricotta. It’s easy to make and makes the lasagna so creamy.
- Marinara: Here’s how to make fresh tomato marinara (or use a store bought jar).
- Noodles: We’re using no-boil noodles, which cut your prep time down dramatically.
- Cheese: Shredded mozzarella melts perfectly!
Making Veggie Lasagna Is Easy
As with most Live Eat Learn recipes, I’ve pared down this recipe as much as possible to make it super easy and approachable (full directions in the recipe card at the end of this post).
- Prep veggies in a saute pan.
- Make bechamel on the stovetop.
- Layer noodles > bechamel veggies > cheese > marinara > (and repeat!).
- Bake covered until almost done, then uncovered to brown the cheese
- Rest the lasagna for a few minutes, and enjoy!
Prep Ahead
Lasagna is a great meal to make ahead of time! Assemble everything in your baking dish, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until ready to bake (up to 3 days).
Easy Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe (No Ricotta!)
Ingredients
Lasagna Veggies
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, 15 mL
- 1 eggplant, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 handful spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Bechamel Sauce
- 2 cups milk, low-fat or whole, 470 mL
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, 56 g
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 30 g
- ½ cups grated parmesan cheese, 30 g
- ¼ tsp each salt and pepper
Remaining Ingredients
- 12 oz box no boil lasagna noodles
- 1 24 oz jar marinara sauce, click for homemade recipe, 680
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 200 g
Instructions
- Veggies: Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add 1 eggplant, 1 zucchini, and 1 red bell pepper (all diced), cooking until veggies are soft, about 10 minutes. Add 1 handful spinach and 2 cloves garlic (minced) and cook, stirring constantly, until wilted down, about 1 minute.
- Bechamel: Heat 2 cups milk in the microwave for about 2 minutes until warm. Melt 4 Tbsp unsalted butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Whisk in the ¼ cup all-purpose flour, cooking and stirring until the mixture is slightly golden brown and no longer smells like raw flour, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in all of the milk, stirring well to combine evenly. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in ½ cups grated parmesan cheese and ¼ tsp each salt and pepper
- Assemble: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread ½ cup of marinara onto the bottom of a 9×13-inch casserole dish. Layer in ⅓ of the lasagna noodles.Then layer – ⅓ of the bechamel, half of the veggies, ⅓ of the cheese, and 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with ⅓ of the lasagna noodles.Repeat for the second layer – ⅓ of the bechamel, the second half of the veggies, ⅓ of the cheese, and 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with ⅓ of the lasagna noodles.For the top – Spoon on the remaining bechamel and tomato sauce, then sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
- Bake: Covered tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes until bubbling at the edges. Remove foil, increase temperature to 400°F (204°C), and continue cooking until the top is golden brown.
- Rest: Allow lasagna to sit uncovered on the counter for 15 to 45 minutes before serving to help layers firm up and avoid a soupy mess.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
This has become our go-to recipe for lasagna. It is flavorful, delicious, and so easy prep work wise. We even made it for my partner’s dad for father’s day and he went back for seconds! That’s quite the compliment coming from a man who makes a lot of his own dishes by hand.
Before this recipe, I was a girl who loved ricotta in her lasagna. But now? I actually think I prefer the bechamel sauce. It’s just so yummy and every friend we’ve had over who has tried this has agreed with us. It just gives something that ricotta cannot. The one thing we did change was we did thicker layers, which resulted in us only being able to do one really good round of the layers you suggest, but all the flavors were still there and great.
As a tip to anyone who makes this, make two and freeze the second one. We prepped everything in the pan, then covered with plastic wrap and foil before popping the whole thing in a 2 gallon freezer bag. It froze and reheated super well, just be sure to add additional time since, you know, it’s frozen. Definitely beats any of those frozen meals you can buy at the store!
LOVE the idea to meal prep this! Lasagna is one of those things that are so easy to make in big batches (we always make 3 or 4 and bring to extended family). Thanks for letting us know how the freezing went!
Want to try. How ever, just a heads up, if you’re using parmesan cheese to make the white sauce it is NOT vegetarian. It contains rennet from the lining of a calves stomach….
Thanks for pointing that out, Cheril! Belgioioso has a good vegetarian parmesan you might like 😀
Does the marinara sauce recipe you linked make 3 cups of sauce?
It makes 2 cups! Thanks for pointing that out 😀
Delicious. I’ll make this for Christmas – it was so good. I left out the peppers and threw in some mushrooms because they were in the fridge and it worked well. Thank you!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear it, Carol. Enjoy! 😀
I made this for a big family dinner. It was QUITE the hit. No leftovers means everyone loved it!!
And it was fun to make.
YAY! So happy to hear it! 😀
This is a wonderful vegetarian lasagna recipe however instead of using the lasagna noodles I use egg roll wraps they don’t need to be precooked and they’re much easier to use you should try that
Such a smart idea! 😀
Actually saying Italians don’t use ricotta in lasagna is incorrect. Lasagna recipes are regional. If you order lasagna in Naples it will be made with ricotta cheese and immigrants from this part of Italy brought that style to the US. In the north of Italy is where the béchamel version is popular. I like both but prefer the Neapolitan version.
This was amazing! I’m Italian so I have high standards when it comes to lasagna. I was skeptical about the bechamel but considering the amount of water in the veggies it kind of made sense. Not disappointed and may never go back to ricotta. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so happy to hear you loved it, Kristy! Enjoy! 😀
This was the BEST vegetarian lasagna recipe I have ever had!!! My husband loved it…. I change the veggies to mushrooms, broccoli and red and green peppers but other then that, this will be my go-to recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit, Kelly! Happy eating!! 😀
Fantastic, I’m a bechamel convert! Thank you so much. The only thing I did differently was adding some seasonings to the white sauce…garlic/onion/oregano powders. Thanks!
YAY! I’m so happy to hear it. Happy eating! 😀