If you’re looking for a lasagna that is lighter than most– and one that will use up some of your garden vegetables, then this Garden Vegetable Lasagna is for you.
All of that cheesy goodness in this lasagna is what I really love about it. It’s made a little bit healthier, but there is still plenty of cheese… because how can you go light on cheese? You can’t! That makes this vegetable lasagna a desirable one even though it’s not packed with a rich and decadent meat sauce.
This Garden Vegetable Lasagna is made of up layers of plenty of sautéed vegetables (onions, carrots, zucchini, broccoli and yellow squash), cheeses and a very simple creamy spinach sauce.
It’s not too late to grab all of the summery garden veggies to make this meal (or my Garden Vegetable Quiche!) I promise you won’t miss the meat in this vegetable lasagna recipe. The vegetables are hearty enough to hold their own in the layers of the lasagna, and they help pack a punch of fresh flavor too. I love that you can enjoy this decadent pasta dish, but it’s so much lighter than traditional pasta dishes so it’s practically guilt-free!
If you happen to be following a lighter style of eating, then this is a good pasta recipe for you to enjoy. The lasagna is divided into twelve servings. If you’re following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you will find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Here are a few more lasagna recipes you might like to try:
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna
- Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)
- Easy Skillet Lasagna
- Instant Pot Lasagna
- Classic Light Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Lasagna Recipe
- Easy Seafood Lasagna
- Super Fast Spinach, Pesto and Cheese Lasagna
Garden Vegetable Lasagna
Recipe Details
Ingredients
THE VEGGIES:
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cups chopped zucchini
- 2 cups chopped yellow squash
- 2 cups thinly sliced carrot
- 2 cups chopped broccoli
- ½ teaspoon salt
THE SAUCE:
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 3½ cups 1% low fat milk
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- dash of nutmeg
- One 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
THE REST:
- 1½ cups 1% low fat cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
- 9 pre-cooked lasagna noodles, divided
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
PREPARE THE VEGGIES:
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add the onion to the pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the garlic; sauté 1 minute. Spoon the onion mixture into a large bowl.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and yellow squash; sauté 4 minutes or until tender and just beginning to brown. Add to the onion mixture.
- Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced carrot; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add the chopped broccoli; sauté 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add to the onion mixture. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt; toss well to combine.
PREPARE THE SAUCE:
- Place the flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add the Parmesan, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; stir until smooth. Stir in the spinach.
ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA:
- Combine the cottage cheese and 1½ cups mozzarella; stir well. Spread ½ cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce mixture in the dish; top with half of the cottage cheese mixture, then half of vegetable mixture, and about 1 cup of the sauce mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread the remaining sauce mixture on top of the noodles; sprinkle with ½ cup Parmesan and remaining ½ cup mozzarella.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Oh this was good! Made the recipe as written and it was amazing. Will definitely make again. I didn’t hate the cottage cheese at all. The rainbow of veggies was beautiful and so delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I love this veggie recipe!
Can I use ricotta cheese i stead of cottage cheese?
yes!
I
Switched the cottage cheese for ricotta and assembled it differently. Also because I cook I sautéed all the vegetables together, then the onion and garlic, I also did not use nut Meg I used allspice….. I will be back to tell you how it came out
Can this recipe be prepared a day ahead, put in the refrigerator overnight and baked the next day?
Probably, but I have not tried it.
It took me a very long time to make! The steps are a bit confusing and it ended up being way too watery and mushy. I won’t make this again..
I did love but the flavor is lacking. Needs more seasoning and red pepper. Cottage cheese & mozzarella did not hold lasagna together. I would make again with ricott, egg and more seasoning.
Can you cook the veggies and sauce and assemble it and then put it in the fridge overnight to bake the next day?
Probably
Recipe was pretty close. I’d say more salt is necessary in the sauce for sure (maybe just say “salt to taste”. I’d also suggest cooking all veggies in one pan (as i did) to save on dishes… im experienced so I know how to cook all my veg together, red pepper flakes were a nice addition to this recipe as it needed some heat to play off of the sweetness of the vegetables. And lastly, the flour and milk mixture was a bit off putting. I’d highly recommend using a bechamel (starting with a roux) for this recipe. Would certainly lend to more flavor and a silkier sauce,
Can I use no boil lasagna noodles?
I don’t use those, so I’m not sure…
I have used no boil noodles before with this recipe and it has been successful. I do recommend checking in a few places by gently poking it with a knife to see if any extra time is needed after the 40 minutes. Of course it varies by oven and if you use convection or conventional baking.
Yummy. But don’t quite understand the process. I read the reviews before attempting the recipe and read the few complaints about the time it took to cook all the vegetables separately. I just did it in reverse. I started sautéing the carrots for a few minutes. Threw in the onions and sautéed them for a few more minutes., then the broccoli, then the squash and garlic. O only had fresh baby spinach so I threw that in at the end just to wilt it a bit. This added to the flavor and cut the cooking time way back. Not quite understanding why the directions had you cooking everything separately. Just time it.
Been making this recipe for years. I do however use ricotta, oven ready noodles, whole milk and locatelli. Everyone loves it. Not necessarily lowfat, however. Have used fresh spinach in place of frozen and fight its less watery that way.
This recipe is fabulous!!! The only things I changed were slightly more garlic (I love garlic) and oven ready lasagna noodles. I doubled the recipe and made 2 pans. It took a long time to make, doubling the recipe aside. But I will definitely make it again! It’s completely worth it!!
I made this tonight. I did use the oven ready noodles and it turned out perfect as for taste it was very tasty. I did add more garlic than called for but I love garlic.
My family loved the lasagne but requested I add back the ricatta cheese .
Can no boil lasagna noodles be used in place of the pre-cooked noodles in this Garden Vegetable Lasagna recipe?
Thank you
Thank you
You can certainly try them. I haven’t tried.
White sauce with no butter, cottage cheese instead of ricotta, 1% milk instead of whole milk. This is why is has no richness. It’s very bland and not very flavorful. I knew the above ingredients were going to change the taste from delicious to boring, but tried it by the recipe anyway. The first bite made me regret spending 3 hrs. on my bad hip. Going back to the copycat of Stouffer’s Vegie Lasagna.
This is not a decadent lasagna– it’s one that has been made much lighter by Cooking Light magazine.
Can this be frozen before baking?
Haven’t tried, but probably!
i think i would like to try roasting all the veggies first to cut down on hands on time and oil. It may also dry out the watery veggies a bit and add a depth of flavor.
I did not like this. The sauce is too watery. I was hoping that it would be good because if all the veggies. Will not make this again
Sorry you did not care for it!
Wondering how can I adapt this yummy recipe to a crock pot?
I’m not sure!
I used my homemade goats milk ricotta and mozzarella in this. Delicious!
Made this last night and it was amazing, I will never buy a frozen stouffers veg lasana again. Can’t wait to eat it again for lunch. I used oat milk and made a white sauce with butter
This recipe was amazing! I even used cashew milk and it was still so good. I took someone else’s advice and used a bell pepper and it made it all the better! Thank you for sharing (:
Made this last night, absolutely delicious!!
Can this be made ahead of time and frozen?
Probably! I haven’t tried it though…
I really liked this recipe. I tried it out because I am trying to consume more veggies and less meat. I did some slight changes; such as using full fat cottage cheese, instead of 2 cups of onions I did one cup of onions and one cup of orange bell peppers, and I was heavy handed with the nutmeg and fresh black pepper. This recipe was a hit.
I loved this! I personally have IBS, so I had to tweak it bit by using lactose free milk, and removing the onions and garlic (I replaced these with roasted butternut squash) and it was just delicious.
Absolutely delicious … I didn’t use onions or broccoli but nevertheless it’s easy to make and filling. I used oven ready noodles as always.
It’s good, but it needs more salt and some herbs. It’s lacks depth without herbs.
Add whatever you’d like to this one 🙂
My family loved it!
Can you use oven ready lasagna noodles instead of traditional ones?
I don’t use those type of noodles, but I’ll bet it will turn out the same!
I don’t usually comment on recipes but this one was so delicious, thank you so much!
This was not a win a for me , but to be fair, I used whole milk since that’s what I had- and I just couldn’t get the sauce to thicken properly. The result was a highly labor intensive, milky, vegetable stew. Lesson learned..time to do the dishes :(.
Can I make this ahead of time and freeze it?
I have not tried making this one ahead, but in general that usually works for a lasagna recipe.
Have you tried this with non-daily milk alternatives? I would like to make this with soy milk, but haven’t cooked much with anything like that and wasn’t sure how it would taste!
I haven’t experimented with non-dairy ingredients, so I’m not sure!
First of, this is a lot of work, but the end product was delicious. Creamy with a little crunch from the carrots and filling. Great recipe!
Do you think I could use no bake lasagna noodles in this recipe?
I haven’t tried them!
This recipe is very yummy! I gave it a 4 because of the prep time. It takes longer than 45 minutes because of all the vegetable chopping, cooking each vegetable individually due to different cooking times and then making the sauce ( milk takes time to boil) and stirring constantly.
I’m a meat eater & this dish is GOOD. I just finished my my bowl. Flavorful & I didn’t miss the meat.
My first time making this recipe I halved it as I was unsure how my family would like it. Well, I am making it today and making a 13×9 inch pan! They absolutely loved it and asked for more this time so we can freeze the leftovers for lunches. My 14 year old clapped and said goodie when I told her what was for dinner. Thank you so much for this recipe. It is so delicious.
Made this lasagna and followed this recipe exactly except I used 2% milk instead of 1 % because that’s what I had on hand and it was delicious. I made it for a ladies group meeting and I got loads of compliments and several people asked for the recipe. It took me longer than 45 minutes to prepare but it was well worth it. The vegetable flavors blended perfectly and the layers of cheese and sauce made it rich and creamy. I love this lasagna and will definitely make it again and again. Add a small salad and some nice crusty Italian bread and you have the perfect meal. This one is a keeper.
Made this with tomato sauce Instead and only spinach and carrot for veggies. Ricotta and cottage cheese too. Two thumbs up from my veggie daughter!
I’ve made this twice. This lasagna is not only wonderful tasting but guilt free (as far as i’m concerned)! Make it just like it reads and you will not disappoint yourself or you family. Really delicious and satisfying. Great job Lori! I make it the night before we eat it for dinner because I love to get home from work and realize this lasagna is ready for the oven!!
Happy to hear you enjoy it!
I forgot the ricotta cheese going to try this with some greek yogurt – Fingers crossed 🙂
I would like to make a double recipe and freeze a pan. Has anyone tried this?
I haven’t tried.
Made this for some friends yesterday and we all loved it and were quite surprised just HOW nice it tasted!! Instead of the zucchini I used mushroom (button mushrooms) and it worked so well. All the water in the mushrooms were soaked up very nicely by the lasagna sheet. Next time I am gonna do it I will add fresh chili… Amazing recipe.
This was so good. I forgot the broccoli (I was certain I already had some) and I got Pepper Jack cheese and no mozzarella so I used that instead…oops! My husband and I loved it. I did not use the nutmeg called for, I don’t like nutmeg in savory things. I will make it again, thank you for sharing this with us. Have a good day 🙂
This was absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to have some more today as leftovers.
This was absolutely delicious!!
Thanks for sharing…
Lara
I just made this recipe so I could have something yummy and healthy for lunch, but it smelled so good coming out of the oven I had to have a 2nd mini dinner. This recipe is DELICIOUS! So cheesy and a bit sweet from the carrots. I added some corn that I had left over and used eggplant instead of the squash because thats what I had on hand. This seems like an easy recipe to ad lib and really make your own. Definitely a keeper!
Delicious! It was fun to make too. My husband and 2 year old also LOVED it. The variety of veggies blended so well and had lots of flavor. I was so impressed with how rich the sauce was with no butter or cream added, just low-fat milk! YUMMY! (And so nice with the WW points since we’re on that program.) Thanks!