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Creamy vegetarian pumpkin spinach lasagna that is the perfect weekday healthy dinner. Bright creamy pumpkin and ricotta filling mixed with hearty green spinach, layered between tender lasagna noodles nestled between layers of creamy cheese. A meatless main dish everyone will love!
My husband loves lasagna of any kind and this pumpkin spinach lasagna was no exception. The combination of the creamy pumpkin filling mixed with the ricotta cheese and spinach is everything.
We also love this Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna that we make all the time in the fall for our weekly Sunday family dinners.
Why you will simply love this Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna
- Fun and easy to make with only a few ingredients like spinach, cheese, and pumpkin.
- A great healthy fall family meal everyone will love!
- Meat-free and easily made vegan.
- Hearty spinach, creamy cheese and pumpkin, a perfect combo of great flavors
- Kid-friendly and husband approved!
Ingredients needed to make this recipe
How to make pumpkin spinach lasagna
- Sauté’ the spinach: heat up a pan with some olive oil, add the onions and cook until translucent. Then add in the garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add in the spinach and turn it in the pan to mix it in with the onions and garlic until wilted. Let cool.
- While the spinach is cooking, you can prepare the pumpkin filling. Add the pumpkin puree to a medium-size bowl. Pour in the plant-based milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.
3. Mix up the ricotta cheese filling: Add the ricotta cheese, egg, parmesan, mozzarella, oregano, salt, and pepper to a medium-size bowl and mix.
4. Add the cooked, cool spinach mixture to the ricotta cheese filling and fold it in. So good!
5. Now it’s time to build the layers. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and spray a 9×13 pan or lasagna pan with cooking spray. To layer: Spread 1/3 cup of the pumpkin filling in the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Place 4-5 lasagna noodles into the bottom of the pan to cover the pumpkin filling. Top the noodles with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture, 1/2 of the mozzarella, and more of the pumpkin filling. Sprinkle some of the parmesan cheese over the pumpkin filling and repeat: Noodles + Cheese filing+mozzarella+Pumpkin Filing+plus remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
6. Cover with foil and bake covered for 25 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake until golden brown – about another 15-20 minutes.
7. Remove. let cool and top with fresh herbs like basil and parsley.
It’s so creamy good! The flavors in this pumpkin spinach lasagna are everything I love about fall! Warm spices, comforting pumpkin, and heart-healthy spinach all in one delicious lasagna.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- For the greens you can use spinach or kale, both work. You can use frozen spinach but you will have to thaw it, ring out the excess liquid, and then sauté it.
- To make this recipe vegan, use dairy-free ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. There are a lot of vegan lasagna noodles that are pretty good. My fav is lentil lasagna noodles but you would need to cook them per the package instructions before layering the lasagna.
- You can use any lasagna noodles in this recipe. I opted for no-boil lasagna noodles, which you can also buy gluten-free, which I love! If you use whole wheat noodles then you will need to boil them per the package instructions before layering the lasagna.
- Mashed or canned sweet potato or even butternut squash are all alternatives to the pumpkin in this recipe but I think the pumpkin is the best!
- You can leave this recipe vegetarian or add in some crumbled, cooked sausage or ground turkey and add it as a layer or mix it in with the ricotta cheese filling.
- You can store this lasagna covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. It just gets better as it sits. Great for meal prep!
I hope you try this recipe! If you do, then please leave a rating and comment below.
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Vegetarian Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Creamy vegetarian pumpkin spinach lasagna that is the perfect weekday healthy dinner. Bright creamy pumpkin and ricotta filling mixed with hearty green spinach, layered between tender lasagna noodles nestled between layers of creamy cheese. A meatless main dish everyone will love!
Ingredients
For the cooked spinach
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 6 ounces fresh spinach
- Salt and pepper
For the Pumpkin Filling
- 2 (15oz) cans of pumpkin puree – not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup plain unsweetened milk of choice – I used almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Ricotta Cheese Filling
- 15 ounces of reduced-fat, part-skim ricotta cheese or any kind of creamy ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoon shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano or dried basil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Additional ingredients for layering
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh chopped basil or parsley for garnish
Instructions
To cook the spinach
- Heat up a skillet or non-stick pan to medium heat on the stovetop and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.
- Once hot, add in the chopped onion, season with salt and pepper, toss and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add in the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
- Add in the fresh spinach, it will seem like a lot in the pan but it will wilt down a lot. Try to toss the spinach with the cooked onions and garlic to get it nice and coated with all of that flavor. Taste and add in more salt and pepper if needed.
- Once the spinach has cooked and wilted down (about 3-4 minutes), set it aside to cool.
Make the pumpkin filling
- While the spinach is cooking, you can prepare the pumpkin filling. Add all ingredients to a medium size mixing bowl and stir into a nice creamy pumpkin sauce.
Make the creamy ricotta filling
- Add the ricotta cheese, egg, mozzarella, parmesan, oregano, salt, and pepper to a medium-size mixing bowl and stir to combine. Fold in the cooked spinach. If you are adding in cooked sausage or ground turkey this is where you would add it in.
Layer and bake the lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking dish or lasagna pan with cooking spray.
- Assemble: Place 1/2 cup of the pumpkin filling into the bottom of your prepared pan. Layer in 5 of the lasagna noodles. Top the noodles with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese filling, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese then more pumpkin filling and 1/2 of the shredded parmesan cheese. The repeat: Noodles, cheese filling, pumpkin filling, mozzarella, parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake in the center rack of the preheated oven for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake covered for another 15-20 minutes.
- Remove let cool for at least 25 minutes and top with freshly chopped herbs.
Notes
- For the greens you can use spinach or kale, both work. You can use frozen spinach but you will have to thaw it, ring out the excess liquid, and then sauté it.
- To make this recipe vegan, use dairy-free ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. There are a lot of vegan lasagna noodles that are pretty good. My fav is lentil lasagna noodles but you would need to cook them per the package instructions before layering the lasagna.
- You can use any lasagna noodles in this recipe. I opted for no-boil lasagna noodles, which you can also buy gluten-free, which I love! If you use whole wheat noodles then you will need to boil them per the package instructions before layering the lasagna. Make sure to rinse the noodles after cooking and lay them onto a sprayed baking sheet to cool for a few minutes before you use them.
- Mashed or canned sweet potato or even butternut squash are all alternatives to the pumpkin in this recipe but I think the pumpkin is the best!
- You can leave this recipe vegetarian or add in some crumbled, cooked sausage or ground turkey and add it as a layer or mix it in with the ricotta cheese filling.
- You can store this lasagna covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. It just gets better as it sits. Great for meal prep!
- Prep Time: 15minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: healthy dinner ideas
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Itallian
Keywords: lasagna, healthy vegetarian lasagna recipe, pumpkin recipes, healthy dinner ideas
Hi!
Can you freeze left overs?
Hi Angela, I have not tried freezing this lasagna but it would likely work fine if you keep it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Then defrost it in the refrigerator overnight and reheat it in the microwave.
You forgot to mention when to layer the spinach in the lasagna!
★★★★
Hi Roe, the spinach is folded into the ricotta filling.