It may be meatless, but it’s still lasagna so you know it will be delicious!
Mama Mia! If I have to pick my favorite Italian dish (do I really have to?), it’s going to be lasagna. That tangy tomato sauce. Those tender noodles. That creamy gooey cheese. I’m just not sure there’s a better combination of tastes and textures anywhere. And it’s funny: when I think about why I love lasagna, I never say “Oh, I love the ground beef”–in fact, I never really think about the ground beef. And that is why this Meatless Lasagna satisfies all of my lasagna cravings.
I’m sure by now you’ve heard of “Meatless Mondays,” the campaign that encourages people to eat less meat (and help the planet) by having plant-based or meatless meals on Mondays. It’s easy to do Meatless Mondays, or meatless any days, really, because there are so many wonderful recipes that focus on vegetables. But when I want comfort food, something warm and bubbling with cheese that is easy to make, I turn to Meatless Lasagna.
It’s fun to assemble the layers–tomato sauce, noodles, the rich cheese mixture…and repeat!–and then I try to find something to take my mind off how I can’t wait for it to be done while it bakes, its irresistible smell filling my kitchen. What I usually do is flip through my recipes to see what I want to serve with it, while getting distracted by how much time is left before I can pull it out of the oven. There’s just something so satisfying about this dish, paired with a simple salad or even Grilled Green Beans, that makes me really, really happy.
Meatless “Meats”
But let’s say you don’t eat meat but really want that meat-esque flavor and texture in your lasagna. You’re in luck because there are lots of plant-based products that resemble ground meat (Impossible brand ground plant-based crumbles, Beyond Beef Ground Beefy Crumbles, and more) that you can brown and either mix with the tomato sauce or just use as its own layer in Meatless Lasagna. In today’s cooking world, there is a solution for nearly every taste and need.
Ingredients
- 1 (48 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 30 oz of whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp of dried parsley or 2 tbsp of fresh parsley finely chopped
- 3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 12 traditional lasagna noodles
- Non-stick cooking spray or olive oil for greasing
How to Make Meatless Lasagna
Step 1: Preheat and Prep: Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F. While it’s warming up, take a 13×9 inch baking dish and give it a light coating with non-stick cooking spray or a drizzle of olive oil to ensure nothing sticks.
Step 2: Cheese Mixture: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. This blend will give our lasagna those lovely creamy layers.
Step 3: Layering the Lasagna: Spread about 1 and 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your greased baking dish. Arrange four lasagna noodles over the sauce, breaking one to fit if necessary. Dollop about 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the noodles and gently spread it out. Layer on another 1 cup of sauce. Repeat the layers of noodles, cheese mixture, and sauce two more times, finishing with a layer of sauce.
Step 4: Final Touches: Sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of mozzarella cheese over the top for that irresistible golden, bubbly finish we all love.
Step 5: Bake the Lasagna: Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Then, remove the foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes to get that cheese perfectly melted and slightly browned.
Step 6: Rest and Serve: Once out of the oven, let the lasagna stand for about 10 minutes. This rest time is crucial—it helps the layers set, making it easier to cut into neat squares.
FAQs & Tips
The assembled but unbaked lasagna can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months; in both cases, cover the top of the lasagna with parchment paper before sealing it with aluminum foil. When you’re ready, bake as directed (thaw the frozen one first, overnight in the refrigerator). Leftover cooked Meatless Lasagna can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
No matter how delicious it smells (and it will smell very delicious), let your lasagna rest for 10 minutes after you’ve taken it out of the oven; this step ensures that it will slice beautifully
Adding veggies is a great idea! Here’s a tip: sautee your veggies (zucchini and mushrooms and spinach are a good combo here) and then drain any excess liquid before adding them to the lasagna so the dish doesn’t get soggy.
They will…it’s a good idea, though, to soak them first for about 10 minutes in room temperature water.
Of course: why should people who can’t eat gluten miss out on lasagna? There are lots of varieties of gluten free lasagna noodles, which makes the substitution very easy. But you can also cut long strips of zucchini and use them in place of any noodles.
Serving Suggestions
I’m not ashamed to admit that when this meatless lasagna is done, I can take a spoon and just eat it out of the pan. But that doesn’t fly when I make it for my family or take it to a party, so…trust me when I say that Meatless Lasagna is perfect (served on a plate, please!) with some Spiced Tomatoes and Chickpeas on Homemade Flatbread, or along with Tomato, Basil and Blue Cheese Salad, and certainly as a main to this family favorite, Broccoli Rabe.
But I have also used Meatless Lasagna as a side dish because it is the perfect complement to things like Bone-in Pork Chops, Delicious and Moist Meatloaf and, when I want to keep the whole meal meatless (Monday or not), The Best Ratatouille (the combination of veggies in this ratatouille go amazingly well with the cheesy, tomatoey lasagna). The thing is Meatless Lasagna can be your meatless dinner or it can be a pal to your meat-centric dinners or it can be a side to your veggie mains…however you serve it, you will love it.
Meatless Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (48 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 30 oz of whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp of dried parsley or 2 tbsp of fresh parsley finely chopped
- 3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 12 traditional lasagna noodles
- Non-stick cooking spray or olive oil for greasing
Instructions
- Preheat and Prep: Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F. While it’s warming up, take a 13×9 inch baking dish and give it a light coating with non-stick cooking spray or a drizzle of olive oil to ensure nothing sticks.
- Cheese Mixture: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. This blend will give our lasagna those lovely creamy layers.
- Layering the Lasagna: Spread about 1 and 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your greased baking dish. Arrange four lasagna noodles over the sauce, breaking one to fit if necessary. Dollop about 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the noodles and gently spread it out. Layer on another 1 cup of sauce. Repeat the layers of noodles, cheese mixture, and sauce two more times, finishing with a layer of sauce.
- Final Touches: Sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of mozzarella cheese over the top for that irresistible golden, bubbly finish we all love.
- Bake the Lasagna: Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Then, remove the foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes to get that cheese perfectly melted and slightly browned.
- Rest and Serve: Once out of the oven, let the lasagna stand for about 10 minutes. This rest time is crucial—it helps the layers set, making it easier to cut into neat squares.
Nutrition
