The Best Vegetable Lasagna

The ingredients may seem a little intimidating since the list is long, but I promise if you buy some already shredded cheeses and just take it one step at a time, you’ll find out it’s a breeze to put together!

 Ingredients for Vegetable Lasagna

• Lasagna noodles – You’ll want to use standard lasagna noodles. I do not recommend using oven-ready noodles. They tend to have a completely different texture and result in a rubbery, chewy lasagna.
• Carrots – I like to start with matchstick carrots and then chop them up finely. By starting with matchstick, it saves some times and guarantees a small dice.
• Baby spinach – I recommend sticking with baby spinach vs. regular spinach because it has a sweeter, more tender flavor than mature spinach.
• Broccoli – The key with the broccoli in this recipe is to make sure you chop it finely. You want to give it the opportunity to soften in the lasagna while it’s baking. You also don’t want to get any large chunks in the final dish.
• Onion – I like to use a yellow onion finely chopped. You can use a vegetable chopper to make this easier.
• Butter – Both salted and unsalted butter work well in this recipe.
• All purpose flour – This will help you make the roux that will thicken the sauce
• Garlic – Fresh garlic works best for the ultimate flavor. By mincing the garlic, it will release the best flavor.
• Onion powder – It seems redundant, but the onion powder adds a different flavor than the whole, fresh onion.
• Vegetable broth – You can used vegetable broth or vegetable stock here. If you aren’t strictly looking for a vegetarian dish, you could also replace it with chicken broth.
• Milk – I like to use 2%, but you could use whole milk as well.
• Heavy cream – The heavy cream shouldn’t be replaced with anything else because it is needed for the correct texture and taste. It helps it have a smooth, creamy sauce.
• Ricotta – I prefer part skim ricotta, but full fat works great as well.
• Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, and Mozzarella cheese – Freshly grated cheese works best here if you can. Pre-shredded cheese has an anti-caking agent that doesn’t allow it to melt as well.
• Ritz crackers – The buttery, rich crackers make the perfect crispy, crunchy topping.
• All purpose seasoning – Any all purpose seasoning works here, just be mindful of the salt content because it will be added to the ritz crackers that are already salty.
• Salt & pepper to taste – I always recommend coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to make Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce

1. Start by preheating the oven to 375°F.
2. Cook the lasagna noodles to al dente according to the package instructions. Don’t go past al dente, they will continue to cook in the oven.
3. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.
4. Add the chopped yellow onion and saute until it is softened and translucent.
5. Once the onion has softened, add the garlic and onion powder. Stir quickly to combine. Saute for about 1 minute, just until garlic is fragrant, but be careful not to burn it.
6. Add the flour and whisk constantly until it is completely combined and smooth. It will take about 2-3 minutes.
7. Slowly add in the vegetable stock and continue to whisk.
8. Continue by adding the milk and cream one at a time while continuing to whisk allowing the sauce to thicken.
9. Reduce the heat and continue to whisk slowly until the sauce is about the consistency of gravy.
10. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the carrots, spinach, and broccoli to the sauce mixture.
11. In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, romano, asiago, and mozzarella and mix to combine.
12. In a separate bowl, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Add in the ritz crackers, all-purpose seasoning, and about 3 tablespoons of the shredded cheese mixture to the melted butter.
13. Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with nonstick spray.
14. Place 3 noodles on the bottom of the dish.
15. Add ⅓ of the vegetable sauce mixture and spread across the top of the noodles.
16. Cover the vegetable mix with ½ of the shredded cheese mixture.
17. Cover with 3 more lasagna noodles, followed by ⅓ of the vegetable mixture, and the remaining ½ of the shredded cheese mixture.
18. Lay the final 3 lasagna noodles across the top with the remaining vegetable mixture.
19. Sprinkle the top of the lasagna with the ritz cracker topping.
20. Bake for 25 minutes.
21. Allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. You’ll want it to cool so that the pieces don’t fall apart.

Serving Veggie Lasagna

To serve veggie white lasagna, you’ll want to be sure that it cools for about 10-15 minutes before you slice into it. This allows it to stay together when you remove it from the baking dish.

Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce goes really well with:

• Parmesan Garlic Breadsticks
• Rainbow Chopped Salad