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.
Garden Vegetable Lasagna
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
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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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!