No-Noodle Vegetable Lasagna {A Meatless Monday Recipe

This lasagna recipe I’m about to share with you has no noodles. Yes, you read that correctly. This is a no-noodle vegetable lasagna that is a healthy, gluten-free and low-carb take on traditional lasagna that is ONLY 204 CALORIES A SERVING!

This lasagna recipe is designed to give you an Italian fix without all the fat and calories. Instead of noodles, the lasagna is layered with fresh summer squash, zucchini and eggplant slices, gooey mozzarella cheese and creamy homemade ricotta cheese smothered in a hearty mushroom marinara sauce.

This is a recipe I created a long time ago for Meatless Monday. I wanted to create a vegetable lasagna that substituted vegetables in place of noodles. The vegetable slices are what divide the layers of cheese and marinara sauce. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was actually creating a gluten-free and diabetic-friendly recipe.

When making this recipe, I highly recommend that you make your own ricotta cheese and sauce. It may take longer to make everything from scratch, but it will be so worth the effort. Fresh and homemade is ALWAYS better than substituting with store-bought ingredients. The fact that this is a freezer-friendly recipe makes all the effort even more worthwhile.

Let me walk you through the steps to make this delicious vegetarian meal!

How To Make No-Noodle Vegetable Lasagna

Prepare the homemade ricotta cheese and tomato sauce ahead of time and have it ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the Vegetables:

Slice off the ends of the squash, zucchini, and eggplant. Then slice off the outer skin so that it squares off the vegetables, making them easier to lay flat on the cutting board. Discard the slices of the outer skin.

Next, slice the vegetables lengthwise into thin strips (about ⅛-inch thick) using a sharp knife or a mandolin.

Salting (Optional):

The raw squash, zucchini, and eggplant have a lot of water in them. Salting the vegetables will draw out some of the excess moisture, which can make the lasagna less watery. However, I have made this lasagna with and without salting the vegetable slices. I honestly couldn’t tell where it made that big of a difference in the outcome. So, I’ll leave this decision up to you.

To salt the vegetable slices, lightly salt the slices and allow them to drain for about 10 minutes inside a colander. After 10 minutes, blot off the excess moisture with a paper towel.

Assemble the Lasagna:

Add enough sauce to cover the bottom of a 9 x 12-inch casserole dish.

Place the slices of squash and zucchini, alternating and overlapping slightly over the sauce in the bottom of the dish. You may need to cut some to fit the space.

Dot the vegetable slices with the ricotta cheese and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Top with a thin layer of sauce.

Add a layer of the eggplant slices in the opposite direction from the zucchini on top of the sauce. Placing the vegetable slices inside the casserole dish in opposite directions will make the lasagna more stable with sliced.

Dot the eggplant slices with more of the ricotta and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Top the cheese with sauce.

Repeat alternating between zucchini and eggplant. Don’t forget to alternate the direction of the veggies; to make the layers stronger.

Finish with the sauce and a layer of ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Top the lasagna with the parmesan cheese and garnish with oregano.

Bake, uncovered, until lasagna bubbles and cheese browns; about 60 to 90 minutes.

Let the lasagna stand for at least 10 to 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

Freezing the No-Noodle Vegetable Lasagna:

I knew we wouldn’t eat the whole lasagna and I planned it that way.

To freeze, divide the lasagna into individual servings. Place each portion on a piece of wax paper and wrap them for the freezer. Place the individual portions inside a labeled zip-top freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 to 6 months.

How To Reheat Frozen and Refrigerated Lasagna

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Unwrap the lasagna and place it inside a microwavable and oven-safe dish. Defrost the lasagna in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Then remove it from the microwave, and bake inside the preheated oven until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees F with an instant-read thermometer.

Although you can find zucchini, squash, and eggplant at the grocery store year-round, this recipe is perfect for summer when all of these great vegetables are plentiful from your garden or local farmers’ market. So, make sure you save this recipe!

I hope this recipe will appeal to any Mountain Kitchen readers that are allergic to gluten or watch carbs due to diabetes.