Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
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Roasted vegetable lasagna layers oven-caramelized vegetables, pasta and creamy cheese for a rich, satisfying baked pasta. I pack it with zucchini, eggplant, leafy greens and sweet bell peppers, along with three kinds of cheese. A tangy sweet cherry tomato sauce ties it all together.
When I was working as a personal chef, vegetable lasagna was one of my most requested meals (the other was a very cheesy baked ziti with sausage). Once it’s assembled, you can slide it into the oven whenever you’re ready for dinner — which is exactly why it works so well for both weeknights and casual entertaining.
- Why roast the vegetables first? Roasting the vegetables removes excess moisture and concentrates their flavor — which equals tasty, not-soggy lasagna.
- Why use no-boil lasagna sheets? They absorb the juices from the sauce as the lasagna bakes — this saves time and the pasta turns out perfectly al dente.
What I put in vegetable lasagna
- The veggies: Bell peppers, which means sweet red peppers, or a colorful variety including orange or yellow ones (I avoid green ones because I find them intolerably bitter). Zucchini: I always shop for the smallest green zucchini in the store because they are sweeter-tasting, with less seeds. Eggplant: Look for small purple eggplants or long Japanese ones, and make sure they feel firm. Fresh tomatoes: Roasted cherry tomatoes make a delicious sauce that tastes sweet and fresh. You can use quartered vine tomatoes, or skip the sauce-making step and substitute with 2 cups of prepared sauce (I’m partial to my 20-minute homemade marinara recipe).
- Cheese: Mozzarella, fontina, or havarti cheese cheeses are soft-textured and melt beautifully — all are good options. Ricotta cheese: To make the ricotta cheese mixture, I combine whole milk ricotta with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley. Some readers have substituted mascarpone with good results.
2. Make the sauce: Roast cherry tomatoes about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are juicy and soft. 3. Transfer the tomatoes, garlic, and pan juices to a blender or food processor. 4. Blend until the sauce is smooth.
6. Roast the vegetables: Chop them into chunks. Combine on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast alongside the tomatoes 20-25 minutes. 7. Scatter the spinach (or other leafy greens) over the roasted vegetables. 8. Stir the spinach around with tongs, until the hot veggies wilt the leaves.
Assemble the lasagna:
9. Smear some of the tomato sauce over the bottom of an 8 x 8-inch baking pan. 10. Arrange three lasagna sheets on top of the sauce, slightly overlapping.
11. Spread 1/3 of the roasted vegetables on top of the noodles. 12. Spoon 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on top of the vegetables.
13. Sprinkle 1/3 of the shredded cheese over the ricotta. 14. Spoon 1/3 cup more sauce over the cheese. Repeat the layers twice more.
15. Top the last layer of lasagna noodles with the remaining sauce and Parmesan cheese. At this point, you can bake or stick in the fridge up to a day ahead. 16. Cover the pan with foil and place on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the noodles are tender and the sauce is bubbly.
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Roasted vegetable lasagna layers oven-caramelized vegetables, pasta and creamy cheese for a rich, satisfying baked pasta. I pack it with zucchini, eggplant, leafy greens and sweet bell peppers, along with three kinds of cheese. A tangy sweet cherry tomato sauce ties it all together.
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Cherry Tomato Sauce:
- 2 pounds (900 g) whole cherry tomatoes, or vine tomatoes cut into quarters
- 2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
Lasagna:
- 1 medium eggplant, peeled if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 bell peppers, red, orange or yellow, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves, or other leafy greens
- 1 pound (450 g) whole milk ricotta
- ¾ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, or fresh basil, plus more for garnish
- ½ pound (225 g) fontina, low-moisture mozzarella or havarti cheese, coarsely grated or shredded Chef tip: to easily grate a chunk of soft-textured cheese, put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- 12 (250 g) no-boil lasagna pasta sheets
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 ( 220C) degrees, with the rack positioned in the center.
Make the sauce:
- Put 2 pounds whole cherry tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet with 2 whole garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oiland 1 teaspoon salt. Roast until the tomatoes are very soft, about 20-25 minutes.
- Transfer the tomatoes and all the pan juices to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. The sauce can be made up to one week ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
Roast the vegetables
- Toss the eggplant, bell peppers, zucchini, and red onion on a rimmed baking sheet. Add 1 ½ teaspoons salt, black pepper and the olive oil and toss everything to coat.
- Roast the vegetables alongside the tomatoes 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway through, until they're are soft and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and immediately add the spinach. Toss with tongs to mix and wilt the greens.
Assemble and bake the lasagna
- Reduce the oven temperature to 400 (200C) degrees. Lightly coat an 8×8-inch baking pan with olive oil.
- Combine the ricotta, ¼ cup of Parmesan and the parsley in a small bowl.
- Ladle ⅓-cup tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of the pan. Arrange 3 pasta sheets, slightly overlapping, over the sauce. Spread ⅓ of the vegetables, ⅓ of the ricotta mixture, ⅓ of the grated fontina and ⅓ cup sauce over the noodles. Repeat twice more, gently pressing the noodles down each time. Make the final top layer with all the remaining sauce and ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the pan with foil and place on a baking sheet to avoid spills in the oven. Bake 30 minutes. Take a peek under the foil — if the sauce is bubbling, the cheese melted and the noodles are tender, it's done. If not, cover and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and cool 30-60 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Slice into pieces and serve.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- The vegetables can be roasted the day before making the lasagna to save time. Or assemble the whole lasagna, cover and refrigerate up to a day ahead before baking.
- Make the fresh cherry tomato sauce as directed in the recipe, or feel free to use your favorite sauce or my homemade marinara sauce. You’ll need one quart of sauce (about 2 cups) to layer with the noodles.
- If you want to double this lasagna recipe for a larger crowd, a rectangular baking pan or glass/ceramic dish that’s 13 x 9 inches will work. The baking time will be the same.
- Cool the lasagna for up to an hour before serving. This helps the layers to set, making it much less messy to cut and serve. But if you just can’t wait to dig right in, shorten the cooling time to 15 minutes and enjoy the gooey slices!
- Mix up the variety of vegetables in the filling according to what you like and have on hand, just be sure you have about four cups of bite-size vegetables that are roasted or cooked until tender. Try mushrooms, leeks, butternut squash, kale, or other greens.
- Assemble the lasagna in the pan according to the steps. Wrap the pan securely with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Label and date the lasagna and freeze for 1-2 months.
- Defrost overnight in the refrigerator. Bake as directed in the recipe.
- If you’re freezing and defrosting a baked lasagna, first cool the lasagna completely — this helps prevent freezer burn from condensation. To reheat, place in a 350 degrees (covered) for about 15 minutes, until it’s heated through.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 481kcal Carbohydrates: 36g Protein: 24g Fat: 28g Sodium: 448mg Fiber: 5g Sugar: 8g
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
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Delicious! Perfect Christmas dish for vegetarians and meat lovers alike. I omitted the eggplant and doctored up the ricotta with egg, fresh chopped parsley, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Amazingly delicious!!
I’ve made this twice now. Once with jar sauce and once with the roasted tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes from our garden. In that version I also bought the best fresh ricotta available in the specialty cheese section and also I subbed a fresh mozzarella for the fontina. This recipe is the best lasagne I’ve ever made or eaten anywhere. Fresh roasted vegetables elevate the flavors. Thanks also added fresh herbs from the garden mixed in. It was perfect and my guests were in heaven and went for seconds even though they were already full!
Tonya – wow, I want to come over for leftovers!!
This lasagne is delicious! I wanted to try a lighter, meat-free version and this was everything I didn’t even know I wanted. The roasted summer vegetables give it such a unique flavour, combined with the ricotta, it makes it taste amazing. Close enough to a traditional lasagne to hit that comfort food craving but without the guilty food hangover after.
I know it’s a veggie lasagna but can you add a meat to it and have it taste as good.. I’ve made the veggie one and it was awesome but husband likes his meat
Yes, for sure. You can add some shredded cooked pork, beef or chicken. Also ham or prosciutto would be good!
This lasagna looks yummy! I was wondering if you can use regular cooked lasagne noodles. I prefer a veggie lasagna and thinking of all the different kinds of veggies you could use makes me very hungry.
Hi Susan – yes, I think you can use cooked or fresh lasagna noodles too! I hope you enjoy.
First time making lasagna. My daughter loved it! She’s in her first trimester of pregnancy.
Wonderful veggie lasagna! Since discovering this recipe, we’ve been making it often.
Any thoughts on adding mushrooms? I worry that they might be too watery. Have you tried them at all in this?
Hi Alicia – Yes, you can use mushrooms. Brown or portobellos are great! I would slice and saute or roast them separately to release their liquid before adding to the rest of the veggies.
Thank you so much! I’m making this Friday and am SO excited to try it!
This is such a great recipe! I had to modify it a little to suit what was in my fridge, but it was amazing and good and rich even though it’s vegetarian.
Absolutely love this recipe! I am here to make this again but I was having trouble viewing as the pale pink header with the socials links overtook the entire screen on phone, ipad and PC. It was only when I hit the print button that it all disappeared and I can view it. I’ve emailed it to myself just in case it doesn’t work in the future, because I just love this recipe! Thank you!
Thanks for letting me know Ebony! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the lasagna and I will look into the viewing problem.
Wow! I can not believe how amazing this lasagna was. I followed the recipe exactly and it was a huge hit at my house! My 3 young kids all asked for a second serving–my family of 5 ate the entire 9 x 11 in pan in one night. This will become a regular in our dinner rotation. THANK YOU!
Wow Melissa I’m so glad everyone loved it!!
Curious to know if you’ve ever played around with cheese substitutes in this recipe? To make it vegan?
I have not tried a vegan version yet, but it’s totally worth a try!
Why does it need to cool for an hour.
Hi Paula, great question! The lasagna is best cooled so it’s easier to slice into. When it’s hot out of the oven, the layers can be very gooey and kind of messy to slice. But if you just can’t wait, dig right in!
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! I will be making this forever! I did make my own ricotta cheese ahead of time! I can’t wait to make this for my husband! A vegetarian meal he’ll be able to agree with ?
Great!! I love that you made your own ricotta, too.
I’m about to make this recipe with homemade ricotta too (you inspired me!). I’ve only made lasagnas with bechamel OR with ricotta that has an egg mixed in. Does this keep its shape without the egg? Thanks!
Hi Maria – Love that you made homemade ricotta!! The lasagna keep its shape without an egg, but if you feel your ricotta is looser than store-bought you can drain it overnight or go ahead and mix in 1 whole egg. Hope you enjoy!
Making it right now and it smells amazing! Can you freeze it?
Hi Alexis – Yes for sure! Let it cool completely and freeze in a covered Pyrex or other freezer-safe container. Enjoy!!
Try gouda
Have you made this with gouda? That’s a great idea. A creamy havarti would be good too.
Hello…I would love to try this recipe…do you have a favorite cheese you recommend to replace the fontina? Thank you so much!!!
Hi Theresa – Yes, you can use a whole milk mozzarella (but not fresh water-packed) instead of the fontina. Hope you enjoy!
I’ve made this twice in the last week. SO. GOOD. The sauce if perfect. I subbed yellow squash for eggplant but otherwise followed it exactly. Thank you!
Yay! So glad you liked it Heather.
This is the best looking veggie lasagna i have seen! Inspiration for my Christmas dinner this year, thanks! -Mere
I want to make this right now (well, I wish I had made it yesterday so I could eat this right now!) XO Liza