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golden and sliced lasagna in a baking dish topped with basil.
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4.42 from 108 votes

Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce

The best recipe for vegetable lasagna with white sauce! It’s full of veggies and baked in a cheesy and creamy bechamel sauce - a vegetable lasagna can hardly get any better.
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Pasta and Rice
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 630kcal
Author: Adina

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 Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, freshly grated 100 g, Note 6

Instructions

Cook vegetables:

  • Peel and finely chop the shallots (or onion) and the garlic. Keep them separated.
    3 shallots + 2 garlic cloves
  • Prepare vegetables: 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.
    2 carrots + 2 bell peppers + 1 medium zucchini + ½ broccoli (or just the whole stem)
  • Mushrooms: Wipe them clean with a paper towel and slice them thinly. Set aside in a different bowl.
    7 oz/ 200 g mushrooms
  • Defrost the peas.
    7 oz/ 200 g frozen peas
  • Preheat the oven to 375°F/ 180°C.
  • Cook mushrooms: 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.
  • Saute shallots and garlic: Heat the remaining 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.
    2 tablespoon olive oil + ½ teaspoon 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.
    2 cans chopped tomatoes 14 oz/ 400 g each + ½ cup/ 125 ml water + ½ teaspoon oregano + ½ teaspoon rosemary + ½ teaspoon thyme + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a bit of extra sugar if necessary.
    1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar to taste

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/ 60 g butter + ½ cup/ 60 g flour + 3 cups/ 750 ml milk
  • Simmer the bechamel sauce for 2 or 3 minutes while whisking or stirring continuously. Adjust the taste with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.

Assemble the vegetable lasagna:

  • 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 mozzarella balls + 3.5 oz/ 100 g Parmesan
  • You should have 3 layers of noodles and finish with a layer of Parmesan.
  • 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 the vegetable sauce. Add ½ of the mozzarella and ⅓ of the Parmesan. Cover with ⅓ of the white sauce.
  • Second layer: Lasagna sheets + ⅓ of the vegetable sauce + ½ of the mozzarella + ⅓ of the Parmesan + ⅓ of the white sauce.
  • Third layer: Lasagna sheets + remaining veggie sauce + remaining white sauce +remaining Parmesan.

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.

Video

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. Vegetables: About 1.5 lb/ 750 g vegetables, not including canned tomatoes.
  3. 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.
  4. Or use only broccoli stems.
  5. Cremini or white mushrooms. You can replace them with more of the other vegetables if you wish.
  6. Parmesan is not vegetarian. To keep the dish vegetarian, please use vegetarian hard cheese.

Nutrition

Serving: 2squares | Calories: 630kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 700mg | Potassium: 941mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 9827IU | Vitamin C: 109mg | Calcium: 623mg | Iron: 2mg