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–+ servings

Lasagna With Butternut Squash Noodles And Spinach

5 from 3 votes
A baking sheet of lasagna with butternut squash noodles and spinach next to a serving on a plate.
This butternut squash lasagna with spinach is a vegetable-focused lasagna yet tastes indulgent. It's gluten-free and dairy-free but is enjoyed by all eaters.
Author: Lindsey Jenkins
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Serving Size 8

Ingredients
 

  • 1 large butternut squash
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced about 1 cup
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound ground beef or substitute, see notes below
  • 5 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 25.5 oz jar pasta sauce set aside 1 cup
  • 1 cup almond ricotta divided
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
  • Peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler, then cut just above the bulb. Slice that long piece into four pieces.
  • Place each of the four pieces of butternut squash with the flat side down and safely run them through a mandoline slicer until you're left with a pile of thin butternut squash noodles. Side note: Mandolines are very sharp, so either use a safety guard or safety gloves to ensure you keep all your fingertips.
  • Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add the meat and cook until browned, then add in the fresh spinach. It'll look like a lot at first, but it'll drastically reduce in size once cooked. Remove from the heat, and add the tomato sauce (minus the 1 reserved cup).
  • Layer the lasagna by adding a little bit of the reserved sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, followed by a layer of butternut squash noodles. Add a few spoonfuls of the meat and spinach mixture on top of the butternut squash, followed by ricotta dollops (or spread them out) to only one of the meat and spinach layers, reserving the rest of the ricotta for the top. Repeat this process with the noodles and meat sauce until you use them up.
  • Spread the reserved tomato sauce and the remainder of the ricotta cheese over the top layer of the butternut squash sheets.
  • Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Allow to cool to room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

Notes

See the blog post for helpful tips about layering the lasagna and getting thin, even butternut squash slices.

Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations

No yellow onion? - use white or sweet onion instead.
No ground beef? - Ground chicken or ground turkey also works well in this recipe.
Make it vegetarian - use brown or green lentils. You'll need about 2 to 2 ½ cups of cooked lentils. Add them when you add the meat in the recipe.
Make it nut-free - You can use garlic hummus instead of dairy-free ricotta, but only add it to the filling and not on top as well.
Add-ins - Italian seasoning.
Not dairy-free? - use dairy ricotta in the layers and parmesan cheese or grated mozzarella cheese on top (but you'll want to cook it covered with aluminum foil and then uncovered for the last 5 minutes to encourage browning).