You know I’m not one for superlatives. I do thoroughly enjoy exaggeration for comedy’s sake, but I very rarely fluff about calling food anything other than what it is (and if it’s my food it’s usually pretty standard weeknight average, I’ll own that!) – so when I say this is the best vegetarian lasagne I’ve ever made, you can rest assured it most definitely is the best vegetarian lasagne I’ve ever made. For real.
If you’d like to compare and contrast for yourself, feel free:
- Roasted vegetable lasagna
- Super-easy Mexican lasagna (ok this one is pretty good but it’s Mexican-style so I don’t include it)
- Four-cheese spinach artichoke lasagna
- Mixed mushroom lasagna
- Roasted pumpkin and fennel lasagne
- Pumpkin and spinach lasagne
- “Meaty” vegetarian lasagne
I’ll wait here.
With this best vegetarian lasagne. With this epically rich sauce, lovingly simmered for hours until it’s thick and sweet and herby.
With this smooth, silky, creamy bechamel.
With this soft pasta.
With this golden, bubbling cheese.
The best vegetarian lasagne
I’m fond of putting the ingredients for the tomato sauce into the crock pot, once I’ve sweated down the onion, garlic and mushroom. You can also put whatever other veg in you desire, but I like the simplicity of the sauce with the pasta and bechamel, which is more like a traditional lasagna. Sometimes I just want a bowl of rich sauce and pasta, with no carrot or whatnot to spoil the fun. If I want veg I’ll have a side salad.
So yeah, the crock pot is good, as is putting it all into a hefty oven-safe casserole like a Le Creuset or similar and letting it reduce that way. I’d cover it for the first hour or so and then just let it do its thing uncovered. Of course it’s also cool to simmer on the stove.
I’m also going to recommend you serve it with this garlic bread, and you can find that recipe here.
Yeah.
Bon appetit!
PrintThe best vegetarian lasagne. For real.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
You’ve had the rest, now have the best: The best vegetarian lasagne. For real. With a rich, thick sauce (with lentils subbing for beef) and creamy bechamel.
Ingredients
- 10 Small mushrooms, diced fine
- 2 Large onions, diced fine
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 cups water
- 2 cubes beef-style stock (I use Massell)
- 2 cups puy lentils (or any other green/brown lentils)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tins tomatoes, 440g each
- 140g tomato paste
- 3 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper, ground
- 1/2 cup red wine (or you know… to taste!)
Bechamel
- 100g butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 cups milk
- 1 Large bay leaf
- 4 Large peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch grated nutmeg
Lasagna
- 1 packet dried or fresh lasagna sheets (whatever you have in your pantry, but egg pasta is best)
- 2 cups cheese, grated
Instructions
Sauce
- For the tomato sauce, saute the onion, garlic and mushroom over medium heat in butter and oil for 20 minutes until cooked. The mushrooms should have released their juice, it should have evaporated, and everything should be a lovely golden brown.
- In a large pot or crock pot, combine the mushroom mix with the rest of the tomato sauce ingredients: water, lentils, stock cubes, tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, rosemary, brown sugar, pepper, salt, and red wine.
- Simmer at least an hour on the stovetop, or in the oven – more if you have the time. 2-3 hours is nice. I like to leave it overnight in the crock pot or slow cooker to really reduce it to a rich, thick sauce. Remember puy lentils will probably need a bit longer, and feel free to add more water if they’re particularly thirsty.
Bechamel
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and saute the flour for at least one minute.
- Add the milk, bay leaf, nutmeg and salt and simmer over medium heat, stirring regularly, until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat.
Lasagne
- In a large baking dish, spread a little of the tomato sauce and put a layer of lasagna sheets over the top
- Ladle half of the tomato sauce over, top with a third of the bechamel, and sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese.
- Add another layer of pasta, the rest of the tomato sauce, a third of the bechamel, and 1/2 cup cheese.
- Add a final layer of lasagna, and top with the remaining bechamel and sprinkle 1 cup cheese over.
- Bake 45min – 1 hour (depending on how hungry you are!) until lasagna sheets are soft, all is heated through, and the cheese is golden and bubbling.
- Understand why I call it the best!
Keywords: best vegetarian lasagne, easy vegetarian lasagne, vegetarian lasagne with lentils, meatless vegetarian lasagne, veggie lasagne
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid says
This looks sooooo good! Forget the side salad, I’ll have a side of that garlic bread!
Stacey says
aha that garlic bread is epic! and salad is for losers
kit@lifethroughthehaze says
Don’t eat salad eat cake instead!
Reannon says
So I totally bastardised your recipe by adding meat instead of lentils & not adding wine ( because I had mine) & served as spag Bol but stuck to the rest of it and my family said BEST SPAG BOL EVER!! And I agree, it was soooo tasty! I hope that’s ok, changing things around to what I had in my kitchen, but I really wanted to try it because my sauce has been a little lacklustre of late. I’ll never go back, slow cook sauce for life!
I also made your garlic bread, totally stuck to that recipe, & again, everyone loved it!
Thanks lady, for making me love what has been my favourite meal since I was a little kid all over again xx
Stacey says
EEEEWWWWW I hate spaghetti bolognaise! Well I used to as a kid, I rarely eat it any more but I’d probably not hate it as much as I did. It’s such a good sauce, isn’t it! I actually don’t mind it in the saucepan, i think it’s the ingredients that make it awesome, not necessarily the slow cooker, but I do like being able to cook it for so long. super stoked you loved it though! and that your fussies liked it! (ps totally ok to change the recipe, YOU DO YOU, GIRLFRAAAND) xo
Loren says
I made this lasagne last night and you’re right – it is the best vegetarian lasagne ever! I added a layer of sliced butternut pumpkin for some extra veges and it was awesome. Thanks for sharing – I have a vegetarian daughter and I battle to find great vegetarian recipes that the whole family can enjoy.
Stacey says
Ah this is great! I’m so glad you liked it! It must be hard to please everyone, that would make things super difficult at dinner time. At least now there’s one less dish for you to worry about 🙂 Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, it’s awesome to hear!
Maxabella says
Trying this!!
Stacey says
I hope you like it. Kind of like my balsamic lentil pappardelle of years ago, but in lasagna form! Because bechamel.
Shirrelle says
What temperature do you bake it at? Sounds delicious. I am making it for dinner tonight. Love the idea of adding some butternut pumpkin. What other veggies do you think would work?
Stacey says
Very good question! I usually bake everything at 180C, depending on when I need it by. I like to stick to mediterranean type veggies in these sorts of things – eggplant, zucchini, that sort of thing. It would be great with squash, grated carrot, sliced mushrooms, the pumpkin, leeks, any kind of greens (I’ve made it well with both spinach and kale), roasted capsicum, artichokes… I’m getting hungry now!
Shirrelle says
Thank you! I’ve had the sauce on now for about 2 and a half hours and it smells AMAZING! I can’t stop sneaking spoonfuls out of the pot! Can’t wait for dinner.
Stacey says
Oh my goodness now you’re making me hungry! So glad you like it, the sauce is epic. I think it’s what makes the whole lasagna so good. Let me know how you go with it – hope the rest of your crew like it too!
Nancy | Plus Ate Six says
The love and care that goes into that slow simmered tomato sauce makes this lasagna something special. I’m all over the garlic bread to mop up the sauce 🙂
Stacey says
Gotta have that garlic bread!
kit@lifethroughthehaze says
Yum this sounds devine! I reckon I could make it and the carnivores I live with wouldn’t even notice it was vegetarian!
Stacey says
I think you’d be right!
Vicki @ Boiled Eggs & Soldiers says
If you say it’s the best I believe you and will be trying it and that garlic bread!! Yum thanks for linking it to YWF too.
Stacey says
IT IS SO THE BEST!
jayne says
What a beautiful and rich sauce – love the mushies and lentil it sounds (and looks) wonderful
Stacey says
Yes while lentils don’t usually get people excited they do give the sauce a bit of body! The whole thing is so good I could put my face in a giant bowl of it right now…
Maria says
I made this last night and it really is the best veg lasagne ever!! OMG it is so good! I made the cheese a mix of mature cheddar and parmesan and I added some spinach to the sauce but otherwise all was as per the recipe. Thanks so much for sharing. This one is a keeper 🙂
Elizabeth says
I have some tinned brown lentils in the cupboard, could I replace with 2 cups tinned lentils and omit the 2 cups of water? Would this work ?
Thea says
Can confirm. THIS WAS AMAZING! Thank you for such a delicious delicious meal 🙂
★★★★★
Katy Nesbitt says
We’ve made this a few times & both the veggos & carnivores of the household get super excited when it makes an appearance in the dinner rotation.
Something I’ve been meaning to ask is whether it’s supposed to have oregano. Oregano isn’t listed in the ingredients list but it is mentioned as a sauce ingredient in the recipe itself. I haven’t put it in to date & it’s been fab, but if it is supposed to be in there, what’s the quantity?
★★★★★
Mon says
This is my go to lasagna recipe and it never disappoints!
★★★★★