Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (2024)

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Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (1)

By Robin Gagnon | Updated on

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This Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe is the perfect go-to solution for a hearty fall meatless meal. Keep all your guests happy with this vegetarian butternut squash lasagna.

This fall casserole dish a perfect choice for Thanksgiving. Many families in my area make both turkey and lasagna on the holiday anyway.

I have been up to my eyeballs in renovations around here the past couple weeks, so there is some appeal to making a light meatless recipe with many servings like this Butternut Squash Lasagna. I still have a few days of painting left in my kitchen and pantry, so being able to zap a healthy homemade meal will come in very handy. The recipe is an older (2003) one from Cooking Light, which seems appropriate since they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the magazine . Here is a link to the original recipe. I made a few adjustments to the recipe, such as sauteing in olive oil, swapping chives for parsley , baking in one large pan, and a few other minor changes, but the recipe is still quite similar to the original.

Butternut Squash Lasagna: Recipe Tricks

I used jarred sauce, and added a teaspoon of smoked olive oil rather than making the Smokey Marinara sauce for the recipe. I doubt many readers have smoked oil on hand, so I would suggest using the Smokey Marinara Sauce recipe that Cooking Light suggests. If you are really in an all fire hurry, add some leftover roasted butternut squash as a layer in my easy Ravioli Lasagna recipe.

This Butternut Squash Lasagna was rather tasty. I will make it again.
If you are looking to create a hearty vegetarian holiday spread consider making this along with my Eggplant Casserole, Beet and Dandelion Salad,Puff Pastry Pizza with Vegetables and Potato Leek soup.

Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (4)

Butternut Squash Lasagna

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Calories:

Author: Robin Gagnon, adapted from Cooking Light MARCH 2003

Ingredients

  • ½ tbs olive oil
  • 1 large sweet onion chopped
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • leaves off 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt ¼ + ¼
  • 8 oz. bag fresh baby spinach
  • ¼ lb. sharp provolone cheese shredded, or chopped deli slices
  • ¼ cup chopped chives
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 32-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 3 cups diced peeled butternut squash
  • 6 cups Smoky Marinara I used jar sauce and added smoked olive oil to it, but the sauce looks good & most people don't have smoked olive oil in their pantry
  • 12 oven-ready lasagna noodles such as Barilla
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°.

  • Place large deep pan such as a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

  • Once hot, add onion, garlic, thyme & ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt. Sauté until tender (4-5 min).

  • Add spinach, sauté until wilted. Remove from burner & set aside.

  • Combine provolone, chives, ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt, pepper, eggs, and ricotta in a large bowl and mix well.

  • Place squash in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high 5-6 minutes or until tender.

  • Coat the bottom and sides of a deep 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

  • Spread Marinara in the bottom of dish.

  • Arrange 3 noodles over sauce.

  • Spread about ½ the cheese mixture over noodles.

  • Spread the spinach-onion mix, over cheese evenly.

  • Top with a couple scoops of sauce.

  • Add a noodle layer.

  • Spread remaining cheese on noodles. (Be mindful of height, and don't use it all if the room isn't there. You still have more to add)

  • Arrange squash over cheese mixture and spread sauce over squash.

  • Add final layer of noodles and top with sauce.

  • Sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese.

  • Cover pan with foil.

  • Bake for 30 minutes.

  • Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

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Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (9)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving says

    Yum! This looks like the perfect dish for fall. I'm going to make it sans noodles 😛

    Reply

  2. Robin says

    Oh this is just awesome. I was looking yesterday for a recipe for Thanksgiving. I am hosting and not everyone coming to dinner likes turkey (imagine??), so I wanted to give them another option!

    Reply

  3. JulieD says

    I love butternut squash!! This looks fantastic, Robin!!

    Reply

  4. Nichol says

    That sounds great. I'm not a big squash fan, but can handle butternut squash!

    Reply

  5. Billie says

    I just recently tried butternut squash ravioli and it was delicious. I bet this lasagna is as well.

    Reply

  6. Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says

    Looks absolutely fantastic, and I made butternut squash in combination with some pasta a few weeks ago and loved it, so I KNOW I'll love your recipe too.

    Reply

  7. Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says

    This would be really great as a vegetarian main dish for Thanksgiving too!

    Reply

  8. Jenn @therebelchick says

    I bet my mom would LOVE this, she loves butternut squash!

    Reply

  9. Veggie Diva's Kitchen says

    I bet you could just put a few drops of Liquid Smoke in there. I think that's what I'm going to do.

    Reply

    • Robin Gagnon says

      Makes sense to me. Let me know how it turns out.

      Reply

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Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (10)

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Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (11)

Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe: Vegetarian Comfort Food (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep veggie lasagna from getting soggy? ›

For this recipe, we help reduce excess moisture by using no-boil noodles, cooking the mushrooms, onion and bell peppers before adding them to the lasagna, and squeezing the liquid out of the cooked spinach with a kitchen towel. You want your veggies as dry as possible so you are not adding more moisture than necessary.

Why is lasagna a comfort food? ›

Lasagna. This Italian classic doesn't require as much explaining as the previous entry. Lasagna hits all the comfort food pleasure points: Pasta, meaty tomato sauce, melty cheese, a crisp layer of cheese on top, all coming together in a rich mouthful that will send you right to the couch after eating.

What do Italians eat with lasagne? ›

What do Italians eat lasagna with? - Quora. A fork. And a mouth, to be precise. Lasagne (it's plural, not singular) are a primo, so you eat it on its own, but followed by at least some vegetables or, if it's a festive meal, also some proteins in the form of meat (as most lasagne are meat-based) and vegetables.

How do you make lasagna more firm? ›

One quick idea ( and maybe obvious so I'm just including it here) is to make more layers. You might be surprised as to what one layer can do. Five layers (rather than four) in a pan will make a more compact and solid lasagna.

Can you leave vegetarian lasagna out overnight? ›

As emphasized in this guide, you mustn't leave your lasagna at room temperature for over 2 hours. The critical point occurs when the lasagna sits between 40-140°F for more than 2 hours.

Why is my lasagne always sloppy? ›

It's important that you don't add too much liquid to the sauce – lasagne shouldn't be a sloppy dish. Our recipe balances the quantities to deliver well-defined pasta layers while avoiding dryness. Using the right ingredients can also make all the difference in this comforting classic.

What makes something a comfort food? ›

Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone and may be characterized by its high caloric nature associated with childhood or home cooking. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a specific culture.

Why put toothpick in lasagna? ›

Pro Tip: There's nothing worse than having the top portion of cheese stuck to the foil. To prevent this, I poke 8-10 toothpicks evenly around the top of the lasagna, pushing them in halfway to keep the foil from touching the cheese. Just be sure to count and remove every toothpick prior to serving.

What not to do when making lasagna? ›

Too much between one layer and another will keep you from ever getting a perfect slice. Too little and all you'll taste is pasta. Do not put large pieces of vegetables or meat in lasagna for the same reason as above. To get a perfect lasagna, the filling should be finely sliced or even creamy.

How many layers should a lasagna have? ›

Then repeat the layers. Top the last layer of your lasagna with sauce and cheese. You can also alternate layers of sauce and ricotta cheese. Most lasagna recipes have two to three layers.

Why does lasagna taste better the next day? ›

Have you noticed if you cut your lasagne as soon as it comes out of the oven, it can be sloppy, falls apart easily and the sauce runs to the bottom of the dish? When you have it the next day, the sauce has had time to firm up and create an even richer tomato taste,” she says.

What vegetables go well with lasagna? ›

Vegetable Side Dishes to Serve with Lasagna
  1. 1 / 20. Green Beans Almondine. ...
  2. 2 / 20. Parmesan Crusted Carrots. ...
  3. 3 / 20. Easy 10-Minute Garlic Broccolini. ...
  4. 4 / 20. Easy Sautéed Spinach. ...
  5. 5 / 20. Roasted Broccoli. ...
  6. 6 / 20. Roasted Parmesan Asparagus. ...
  7. 7 / 20. Cacio e Pepe Brussels Sprouts. ...
  8. 8 / 20. Garlic Green Beans.

Do Italians eat vegetable lasagne? ›

It is traditional to serve a meatless meal for Christmas Eve. Lasagne da Fornel is a meat and dairy-free specialty from the Dolomite area of northern Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia region traditionally served as a first course on Christmas Eve.

Do Italians eat bread with lasagna? ›

Do Italians eat bread and pasta at the same meal? Yes. They have, actually, a custom called scarpetta, which consists in soaking bread in the remaining sauce after eating pasta (or any other thing they ate).

How do you make lasagna less wet? ›

If you still find the end product runny, reduce the amount of condiment in the lasagna. If the sauce is to wet. I add some dry fine ground cheese to absorb the extra water in the sauce. Cheaper sauces seem to be more water.

How do you make lasagne not sloppy? ›

If the meat sauce looks a little bit too sloppy when I am making lasagne, I add a little flour to thicken it up a little, which helps, I find.

How do you add moisture to lasagna? ›

To keep it from tasting dry, add some extra liquid as you reheat it! A splash of water usually does the trick, and you'll want to cover the lasagna with foil, plastic wrap or a paper towel to trap all that liquid inside as it reheats.

How do you keep lasagne moist? ›

The key to preventing lasagne from drying while baking is to use enough sauce. The sauce should be spread evenly over the layers of noodles and cheese, ensuring that all ingredients are well-coated. This will help keep the lasagne moist and flavorful throughout the baking process.

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