Last Updated on 13/09/2023 by Adina
This is the best recipe for vegetable lasagna with white sauce. Lots of vegetables, a creamy bechamel sauce, and cheese - a vegetable lasagna recipe can hardly get any better.
I have been making this easy vegetable lasagna in white sauce for over ten years now; it's really a family favorite. I`ve never felt the need to change anything – it is that good! It’s comforting, aromatic, creamy, and cheesy– anything you could wish for in a lasagna.
Layers of lasagna noodles, perfectly cooked vegetables, smooth and velvety bechamel sauce, and plenty of cheese make this vegetarian lasagna with white sauce a true delight.
Check out more lasagna recipes: Butternut Squash and Lentil Lasagna, Greek Yogurt Lasagna or Thermomix Lasagna.
Featured comment:
Sandra: This was absolutely amazing! Allot of chopping but worth the effort. Chock full of flavor and nutrition. Will make again and send to my family!!!
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Recipe ingredients
No-boil lasagna sheets: I use 9 sheets of regular-size no-boil lasagna noodles; they are tasty and practical. Use enough to have three layers of pasta. If you have noodles that need boiling, cook them according to the package instructions before assembling the dish.
Vegetables: You should have roughly 1.5 lb/ 750 g of vegetables like bell peppers, zucchini, peas, carrots, and broccoli, as well as frozen peas, mushrooms, shallots or onions, and garlic. You will also need 2 cans of chopped tomatoes.
Ingredients for the white sauce (bechamel sauce): Butter (salted or unsalted), all-purpose flour, whole milk, spices like salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Cheese: Two balls of full-fat mozzarella cheese for stretchiness. Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese for the flavor:
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
Feel free to swap the vegetables. How about cauliflower, eggplants, canned corn or white beans, fennel, green beans, pumpkin, butternut or yellow squash, parsnips, celeriac, or fresh spinach? Try this Roast Veggie Lasagna with Ricotta, too.
How to make vegetable lasagna with white sauce?
Vegetable sauce
- If using mushrooms, cook them for about 5 minutes or until golden. Remove them from the skillet.
- Step #1: Cook shallots until golden; add the garlic and cook it briefly. Add the prepared vegetables and cook them on medium heat until they are softer, about 8 minutes.
- Step #2: Add tomatoes and herbs to the vegetable mixture, stir well, and cook the sauce for about 10 minutes.
White sauce
- Step #3: Melt butter in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the flour into the melted butter and stir for 1 or 2 minutes or until golden.
- Step #4: Slowly add the milk while whisking all the time to avoid the formation of clumps; let the creamy sauce bubble gently for a few minutes until it’s thick and creamy. Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Assemble the lasagna
- Step #5: Place a few tablespoons of white sauce into a buttered casserole dish and spread the sauce all over the dish.
- Step #6: Add a layer of lasagna noodles (I always need three sheets per layer).
- Step #7: Cover the noodles with ⅓ of the vegetable sauce.
- Step #8: Scatter ½ of the chopped mozzarella and ⅓ of the grated cheese onto the vegetable layer.
- Steps #9, 10: Continue this way: white sauce + noodles + vegetable sauce + cheese (rest mozzarella and ⅓ of the hard cheese) and another layer of white sauce + noodles + vegetable sauce + white sauce + cheese (only hard cheese).
Bake lasagna
- Step #11: Bake the vegetable lasagna in white sauce in the preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the cheese is golden, the pasta is cooked through, and the sauce is bubbling.
- Step #12: Rest the white vegetable lasagna for 10-15 minutes, allowing the layers to settle nicely.
Good to know!
Cheese: Always use freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheese contains preservatives that prevent it from clumping in the bag and from melting nicely.
Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian; please use vegetarian hard cheese to make vegetarian lasagna with white sauce.
No soggy lasagna: It is crucial to cook all the vegetables, including the mushrooms, before adding them to the dish. If they are not cooked, they will release water during baking.
This recipe was only tested with no-boil pasta sheets; the other sort doesn’t exist where I live.
Freezing instructions
Freeze uncooked lasagna: Assemble in a freezer-safe dish and wrap it (the whole baking dish or foil lasagna pan) with plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost in the fridge overnight. Then, remove the wrap and bake as instructed.
If baking from frozen, add 20-30 minutes to the baking time.
Freeze the cooked lasagna: Let it come to room temperature. Wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze them for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
Unwrap and reheat in the oven ((375°F/ 180°C) in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes or in the microwave for 2 minutes or until heated through.
Store and reheat
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Reheat individual slices in the preheated oven (375°F/ 180°C) in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes.
Microwave: 2 minutes, then check if it’s heated through.
Reheat the whole vegetable lasagna with white sauce, covered with foil, for about 30 minutes or until heated through.
Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce
Equipment
- Rectangular casserole dish of about 12x 8 inches/ 30x20 cm
Ingredients
- 9 no-boil lasagna sheets Note 1
Vegetables:
- 3 shallots or 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 carrots Notes 2, 3
- 2 red or yellow bell peppers
- 1 medium zucchini
- ½ broccoli Note 4
- 7 oz mushrooms 200 g, Note 5
- 1 cup peas defrosted, 200 g/ 7 oz
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes 400 g/ 14 oz each
- ½ cup water 125 ml
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
White sauce:
- ¼ cup butter 60 g/ 2 oz + 1 teaspoon for the baking dish
- ½ cup all-purpose flour 60 g/ 2 oz
- 3 cups whole milk 750 ml
- a few gratings of nutmeg
- fine sea salt and black pepper to taste
Cheese:
- 2 balls mozzarella 125 g/ 4.4 oz each
- 3.5 oz vegetarian hard cheese or Parmesan, freshly grated 100 g, Note 6
Instructions
Cook vegetables:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/ 180°C.
- Prepare vegetables: Peel and finely chop the shallots (or onion) and the garlic. Keep them separated. Cut the peeled carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini into small cubes. Set them aside in a bowl. Divide the broccoli into small florets and chop the broccoli stem into small cubes. Add to the rest of the vegetables. Defrost the peas.3 shallots + 2 garlic cloves + 3 carrots + 2 red or yellow bell peppers + 1 medium zucchini + ½ broccoli + 1 cup peas / 200 g
- Cook mushrooms: Wipe them clean with a paper towel and slice them thinly. Set aside in a different bowl. Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan and fry the mushrooms until golden and all the released juices are evaporated. Remove them from the pan.7 oz mushrooms / 200 g
- Saute shallots and garlic: Heat the remaining 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan and cook the shallots until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the sugar and stir for another minute or until slightly caramelized. ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- Add the chopped vegetables (except the mushrooms) and cook for about 8 minutes or until softer. Stir well a few times in between.
- Simmer vegetable sauce: Add the chopped tomatoes, water, dried herbs, and lemon juice. Stir well, bring to a boil, and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the cooked mushrooms and adjust with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a bit of extra sugar if necessary. 2 cans chopped tomatoes + ½ cup water / 125 ml + ½ teaspoon dried thyme + ½ teaspoon dried oregano + ½ teaspoon dried rosemary + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
White sauce:
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the flour on top and stir for 1 or 2 minutes until lightly golden. Slowly start adding the milk while whisking all the time to avoid the formation of clumps. ¼ cup butter / 60 g + ½ cup all-purpose flour / 60 g + 3 cups whole milk / 750 ml
- Simmer the bechamel sauce for 2 or 3 minutes while whisking or stirring continuously. Adjust the taste with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.a few gratings of nutmeg + fine sea salt and black pepper
Assemble the vegetable lasagna:
- You should have 3 layers of noodles and finish with a layer of Parmesan.
- Butter the baking dish with about 1 teaspoon of butter.
- Cheese: Chop the mozzarella into cubes and grate the Parmesan. Set them aside in different bowls. 2 balls mozzarella + 3.5 oz vegetarian hard cheese/ 100 g
- First layer: Cover the bottom of the buttered dish with a few tablespoons of white sauce. Add a layer of lasagna sheets (they should not overlap). Cover with ⅓ of vegetable sauce. Add ½ of mozzarella and ⅓ of hard cheese. Cover with ⅓ of white sauce.
- Second layer: Lasagna sheets + ⅓ of the vegetable sauce + ½ of the mozzarella + ⅓ of the hard cheese + ⅓ of the white sauce.
- Third layer: Lasagna sheets + remaining veggie sauce + remaining white sauce + remaining hard cheese.
Bake vegetable lasagna:
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Check if the noodles are cooked through by inserting a fork into the lasagna.
- Rest for 10-15 minutes, cut into 12 squares, and serve.
Notes
- Lasagna sheets: I needed 9 sheets of no-boil lasagna sheets. Use more or less according to the size of the lasagna sheets; you should have 3 layers of noodles. If using lasagna sheets that need to be cooked before baking, boil them according to the package instructions. However, I have never tested this recipe with this type of lasagna sheet; they don’t exist where I live.
- Vegetables: About 1.5 lb/ 750 g vegetables, not including canned tomatoes.
- You can vary the vegetables according to what you have or like. For instance: eggplants, cauliflower, green beans, small fennel, parsnips, pumpkin or butternut squash, some celeriac, etc.
- Or use only broccoli stems.
- Cremini or white mushrooms. You can replace them with more of the other vegetables if you wish.
- Parmesan is not vegetarian. To keep the dish vegetarian, please use vegetarian hard cheese.
Nutrition
Rae says
Where do the cooked mushrooms go?
Adina says
Sorry Rae, you add them to the vegetable sauce once the sauce is cooked.
Carol says
What goes on top of the third layer of noodles?
Adina says
Cover the third layer of noodles exactly as you did before, and add the remaining grated Parmesan on top. So the last layer would be: lasagna + vegetables and mozzarella cubes + grated cheese + white sauce + finishing layer of grated cheese. See pictures as well.
susan gordon says
Can I make this lasagne ahead of time and refrigerate?
Adina says
Hi Susan. You can assemble everything, but don't bake the lasagna. Refrigerate it and bake it before serving.
Joan says
Can this be frozen? Should it be defrosted before reheating?
Adina says
I never did, but lasagna is suitable for freezing. It's better to defrost it before reheating. Or leave it for about 30 minutes on the counter while you preheat the oven.
Sandra cubit says
This was absolutely amazing! Allot of chopping but worth the effort. Chock full of flavor and nutrition. Will make again and send to my family!!!???
Adina says
Hi Sandra. I am happy to hear you liked it! Thank you for the feedback!
SYLVIA J STUDT says
@Adina, What are your favorite canned tomatoes for authentic Italian flavor?
Adina says
Hi Sylvia. It's difficult to give advice, I live in Germany, I guess the brands are different different.
Cheryl says
Can you use ricotta in place of mozzarella?
angiesrecipes says
Looks so good with that creamy and cheesy sauce!