Vegetarian Lasagna

This easy vegetarian lasagna combines a rich and satisfying lentil ragù with creamy white sauce and tender layers of lasagna sheets.

The recipe is ready in about an hour and is designed for those who don’t want to spend the whole day in the kitchen but still want an authentic homecooked lasagna dish.

This recipe is excellent for Sunday lunches, holidays, and special dinners with friends and family.

Vegetarian lasagna is the closest thing to authentic Italian lasagna you can get without using meat.

While our vegetable lasagna used seasonal veggies as filling, this vegetarian lasagna used our well-tested lentil bolognese to remind us of the original Italian dish.

Lentil bolognese, combined with a quick, creamy white sauce and a sprinkling of grated parmesan, makes the absolute best lasagna filling.

You’ll love its rich, umami-packed flavor and earthy, almost meaty punch!

To make this recipe as simple as possible, we recommend using no-boil lasagna noodles or fresh ones, which you can bake immediately without boiling.

Like our lasagna soup, cannelloni, pumpkin pasta bake, and baked ziti, this recipe is a crowd-pleaser and one of the best meals you can do for your friends and family.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

1. Gather your ingredients

LENTIL BOLOGNESE: Extra virgin olive oil, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, tomato paste, rosemary, bay leaves, mushrooms, vegetable stock, tomato puree (passata), dried brown or green lentils, salt, black pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

WHITE SAUCE: Butter or vegan butter, all-purpose flour, milk or unsweetened non-dairy milk, salt, black pepper, and grated nutmeg.

NOODLES: There are three types of lasagna noodles:

1. No-boil ready-to-bake dry lasagna noodles: recommended for hassle-free lasagna and beginner cooks. Find them in the dry pasta section of most supermarkets.
2. Fresh lasagna noodles: Not all supermarkets keep them, but they are an excellent choice if they do. Read instructions on how to use them; sometimes, they need to be pre-boiled. Find them in the refrigerated section of larger supermarkets or Italian delis.
3. Dry lasagna noodles: Like regular pasta, they must be boiled in plenty of salted water before you can use them to make lasagna. This can get tricky if you are not an advanced cook and requires longer preparation than no-boil or fresh noodles.

OTHER INGREDIENTS: Grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil to serve.

2. Make the lentil bolognese

Here’s our in-depth lentil bolognese recipe.

In short:

• Sauté chopped onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in the extra virgin olive oil for 3 minutes.
• Add tomato paste, grated mushrooms, rosemary, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add rinsed dried lentils, vegetable broth, and tomato puree and simmer for about 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked.
• Fish out the herbs, stir in balsamic vinegar, then blend most of the sauce with an immersion blender. Taste and adjust for salt.

3. Make the white sauce

• Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and add sifted flour. Whisk until combined.
• Whisk on medium heat for 2 minutes, then pour the milk while stirring.
• Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Aim for a creamy and pourable white sauce.
• Remove from heat and season with salt, black pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste.

4. Assemble the lasagna

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Spread a thin layer of white sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inches / 20 x 30 cm casserole dish. Top with some lentil bolognese.

Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles. Top the noodles with white sauce, lentil bolognese, and a handful of grated parmesan.

Repeat until you have 5 layers of pasta.

The top layer should have more sauce and cheese. Keep this in mind as you build the lasagna.

5. Bake

Bake the vegetarian lasagna for 30 minutes on a rack in the center of a preheated oven at 350°F or 180°C.

Let it cool down for 10 minutes before slicing and serving it with plenty of fresh basil.

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