This spinach and mushroom lasagna is one of the best things we have eaten lately. It’s a delicious meatless main course brimming with fresh spinach, mushrooms, a light tomato sauce, and cheese. It’s also easily made vegetarian. Just make sure the cheeses you use are vegetarian-friendly, and you’re good to go! For more veggie pasta, I love this vegetable lasagna, which packs more veggies like zucchini and roasted red peppers. Or, for a simple spaghetti, try our veggie spaghetti made with a from-scratch sauce loaded with fresh vegetables.
Key Ingredients
Spinach: I love fresh spinach leaves for this lasagna recipe, but frozen spinach works just fine. If you are using frozen spinach, thaw it first, then squeeze out some excess moisture before using it in our recipe below. You can also substitute with other greens like kale. Mushrooms: I use brown cremini mushrooms for some extra flavor and like to chop them small before cooking them with onions and garlic. Feel free to substitute your favorite mushroom! Ricotta and Eggs: These combine to make our creamy cheese filling. The eggs help firm up the ricotta so the lasagna filling stays put when serving. You can leave them out if you do not eat eggs (just keep in mind that your lasagna will be a bit looser in the middle). Cottage cheese is also an excellent substitute for the ricotta. Pasta Sauce: Your favorite store-bought jarred pasta sauce works in this recipe, making it quick and easy. If you have homemade sauce on hand, use it. Two of my favorite homemade sauces are this red pasta sauce and this basil marinara. Cheese: I use mozzarella and parmesan cheese in this lasagna. The parmesan cheese is not vegetarian, so if you want to make this vegetarian-friendly, substitute another sharp and flavorful cheese or use nutritional yeast. Lasagna Noodles: I use no-boil lasagna noodles for this spinach and mushroom lasagna. They shorten the prep time, and I love how thin they are, which makes our lasagna a bit lighter. You can use traditional noodles, but I recommend boiling them first.
How to Make Spinach Mushroom Lasagna
This lasagna is super simple. First, you’ll make the spinach and mushroom filling. I cook onions and chopped mushrooms in olive oil until the onions are soft and smell sweet. Then, I pile in fresh spinach and garlic and allow the spinach leaves to wilt down from the heat of the pan. When they do, you can assemble the lasagna. I use no-boil noodles, so it’s super quick. I layer sauce, noodles, the filling, and a mixture of ricotta and eggs. Then, repeat before baking in the oven until bubbly. Easy! 1 medium onion, finely diced 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped, 2 ½ cups chopped 1 garlic clove, finely grated or minced 1 pound (450g) fresh spinach leaves, about 10 cups 15 ounces (425g) ricotta cheese, about 2 cups 2 large eggs, beaten 1 (24oz) jar pasta sauce or 3 cups homemade marinara sauce 12 no-boil oven-ready lasagna sheets or use cooked traditional lasagna noodles 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (1 ½ ounces) 1 ¼ cups grated mozzarella cheese (5 ounces) 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent, about 10 minutes. 3Add the garlic, spinach leaves, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring as needed, until the spinach is bright green and wilted. (Don’t worry about the amount of spinach; it may look like a lot now, but as it cooks, it wilts down considerably. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may want to add the spinach in batches.) 4In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until well blended. 5Spread 1 cup of pasta sauce over the bottom of the baking pan. Arrange three noodles lengthwise and side-by-side to cover the bottom. 6Spread half of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle with a third of the parmesan cheese and a third of the mozzarella cheese. Add half of the spinach mixture and dollop a 1/2 cup of marinara sauce over the spinach. 7Add a second layer of noodles, then repeat with the remaining cheese, spinach, and another 1/2 cup of sauce. Finish with a third layer of noodles and top with the remaining sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese. 8Loosely cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and browned around the edges. For a cheesy golden brown top, slide the lasagna uncovered under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes.
