This Butternut Squash Lasagna is layers upon layers of delicious homemade roasted butternut squash sauce with roasted garlic and a cheesy spinach mixture, all baked until golden with crispy edges and topped with fresh sage. Perfect for any dinner table, especially on holidays or serving a crowd!
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Ingredients
This delicious butternut squash and spinach lasagna skips the classic red sauce and instead uses a seasonal creamy butternut squash sauce that is so good when paired with spinach and ricotta layers.
- Lasagna noodles: Regular lasagna noodles. I like the ones with the curly edges. They get cooked to al-dente before being layered together and baked which finishes them off
- Butternut squash: The star of the show - it's a relatively sweet squash but paired in this recipe gets a balance of savory. It's cubed and roasted which gives it a stronger butternut squash flavor that is so good.
- Spices: A mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg give the butternut squash sauce such a fabulous depth of flavor.
- Heavy cream: Smooth out and help serve as the base of the butternut squash sauce.
- Garlic: A full head of garlic gets roasted and added into the sauce. It’s a game changer.
- Spinach: Frozen chopped spinach is the easiest route here.
- Onion: Yellow onion is sautéd and added into the spinach mixture for more flavor.
- Cheeses: A combination of four cheeses – ricotta, mozzarella, gruyere, parmesan – all blended for the perfect gooeyness and cheesy flavor.
- Egg: Acts as the binder to the spinach mixture so it doesn’t melt all over the place.
Ingredient substitutions
- Lasagna noodles: can substitute no boil noodles, just add some vegetable broth to the butternut squash sauce to add extra moisture to help the noodles cook.
- You can also use whole wheat noodles or gluten-free noodles if you’d like.
- Butternut squash: you can use pumpkin instead. You can also use frozen butternut squash, just defrost it slightly then roast.
- Spices: pumpkin pie spice is a good sub, but if you use it, use that as the only spice as it includes both cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Heavy cream: use full fat coconut milk
- Frozen spinach: use fresh spinach instead, add it to the onions when they’re just about done and sauté until wilted.
Step by step instructions
Lasagnas are a bit of a labor of love with a bunch of different components, but it’s definitely worth it! This is really a great vegetarian main dish that the whole family will truly love. Fall comfort food at its finest.
1. Roast the butternut squash and garlic. Toss the butternut squash cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Spread them in an even layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Separately, cut the top ¼ off a head of garlic and drizzle it with olive oil then wrap it in aluminum foil. Add it to the baking sheet with the butternut squash. Roast at 425F for about 30-40 minutes until tender.
2. Make the sauce. To a high powered blender or food processor, add the roasted butternut squash, heavy cream, and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb. Blend until smooth. In a medium bowl add the butternut squash puree and mix in the ricotta cheese.
3. Sauté the onions. Warm a sauté pan over medium heat. Add a little olive oil and the onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent - about 5-8 minutes.
4. Make the spinach ricotta mixture. In large bowl, add the thawed chopped spinach, sautéed onions, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, ½ of the mozzarella cheese, gruyere cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.
5. Par-cook the noodles. Boil a large pot of water. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until al dente – a few minutes less than the box directions. Drain and set aside in an even layer to prevent sticking.
6. Assemble. Use a 9x13 or 10x7 baking dish / casserole dish. There's going to be 3 layers of noodles. First, put ¼ cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Then layer 3 noodles side by side. Next add ⅓ of the remaining sauce and spread to an even layer. Follow with ½ of the cheese mixture and spread to an even layer. Then repeat – noodles, ⅓ sauce, rest of the cheese. For the final layer, add noodles, remaining sauce, and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on the top of the lasagna.
7. Bake. Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake at 375F for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 until lightly browned. Option to broil for a few minutes if desired. Top with fresh sage leaves if desired.
Tips and tricks
- If you’re using a blender that doesn’t have a vent, let the butternut squash cool a little before you blend it in the sauce. You don’t want the blender getting too hot.
- Buy pre-cubed butternut squash if you want a bit of a shortcut.
- To cut butternut squash, cut the top and bottom off. Then cut it in half to separate the "neck" from the "bulb". Then stand each piece up, slicing off the skin with downward cuts. Then cut into cubes! For the bulb, make sure you remove the seeds first.
- To pick a ripe butternut squash, look for one that has a solid beige color.
- Make sure you’re using full fat ricotta cheese, it helps make the lasagna nice and rich, and is a bit thicker. Lower fat content will be a bit more runny.
- Let the lasagna sit for at least 10-15 minutes before you slice into it to help it set – no runny lasagna here!
- If you don't want this to be a meatless lasagna, you can ad some ground or shredded turkey or chicken, or ground beef even. It can be put between the sauce and cheese layers or over the cheese layer (it’s a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers!).
What to serve with lasagna
Lasagna is a pretty heavy dish, so you’ll want to even it out with lighter accompaniments.
- Green salad! Something simple like arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, and shreds of parmesan would be great.
- Veggies! Roast some broccoli, green beans, or brussels sprouts alongside the lasagna as it bakes.
- Soup! A broth-based soup would be best so it’s not so heavy.
Storage and reheating
Storage: store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Reheating: microwave is the easiest method, but you can reheat in the oven covered at 350 for 15ish minutes until warmed through.
FAQs
It is not, but you can swap the cheeses and heavy cream for vegan alternatives.
Yes! It originated in Naples. This version is a bit more American-ized though.
Yes! You can assemble the lasagna up to 2 days in advance. Then just remove from the oven 1 hour before baking to get rid of its chill, and bake according to instructions.
Yes. Assemble according to instructions and then cover tightly and freeze up to 1 month. To bake, follow instructions but add an additional 20 minutes if baking straight from frozen. Also, if you assembled in a ceramic or glass dish, make sure you thaw it before baking as your dish will likely break.
It's low in calories but high in nutrients - read about the specifics here.
More vegetarian pasta recipes
Recipe
Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna
INGREDIENTS
- 9 lasagna noodles
Butternut Squash Sauce
- 6 cups butternut squash cubed 1 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon kosher
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 bulb garlic
Spinach and Cheese Mixture
- 1 cup frozen chopped spinach thawed
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 3 cups ricotta cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the butternut squash sauce
- Preheat your oven to 425℉.
- Toss the cubed butternut squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Spread them in an even layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Cut the top ¼ off the bulb of garlic and drizzle it with olive oil then wrap it in aluminum foil. Add it to the baking sheet with the butternut squash.
- Roast the garlic and squash for about 30-40 minutes until tender.
- To a high powered blender or food processor, add the roasted butternut squash, heavy cream, and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb. Blend until smooth.
- In a medium bowl add the butternut squash puree and mix in the ricotta cheese.
Make the spinach and cheese mixture
- Warm a sauté pan over medium heat. Add a little olive oil and the onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent - about 5-8 minutes.
- In large bowl, add the thawed chopped spinach, sautéed onions, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, ½ of the mozzarella cheese, gruyere cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.
- Boil a large pot of water. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until al dente – a few minutes less than the box directions. Drain and set aside in an even layer to prevent sticking.
Assemble & bake
- Lower the oven to 375℉.
- Use a 9x13 or 10x7 baking dish / casserole dish. There's going to be 3 layers of noodles. First, put ¼ cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Then layer 3 noodles side by side.
- Add ⅓ of the remaining sauce and spread to an even layer. Follow with ½ of the cheese mixture and spread to an even layer.
- Then repeat – noodles, sauce, rest of the cheese.
- For the final layer, add noodles, remaining sauce, and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on the top of the lasagna.
- Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 until lightly browned. Option to broil for a few minutes if desired. Top with fresh sage leaves if desired.
Laura
Could you add ground turkey or beef to this? My husband would never go for a vegetarian dinner. I want to make it though, it looks delicious!
Haley
For sure! Cook the ground meat on the stovetop first, then drain the fat and add it to the lasagna on top of each cheese layer before baking.