Vegetables Lasagna (Guaranteed Not Watery)

Great vegetable lasagna is flavorful, cheesy, well-cooked and NOT watery. Learn the secret ingredient that culinary school students use to perfect this classic dish.

The BEST Veggie Lasagna Recipe

We’ve all had bad banquet food. In my experience, it involves a choice of overcooked chicken or bad vegetable lasagna. The lasagna is mushy and overcooked. And unlike it’s meatier cousins like Greek lasagna, it’s usually runny and watery.

One of the few banquets I’ve been to that has had great food? My culinary school graduation, of course. My instructors knew what they were doing when it came to banquets. Not only did they offer up lamb lollipops and the best vegetarian quiche, but they knew that vegetable lasagna can be great if it’s made well.

And it turns out that making it well involves a secret ingredient. An ordinary item you can find at any grocery store, but it has a magical purpose when it comes to veggie lasagna.

Read on to find out what this item is, and why it guarantees that you’ll soon be enjoying the most flavorful, cheesiest, well cooked, NOT WATERY vegetable lasagna you’ve ever had.

The secret ingredient in this vegetable lasagna recipe is couscous.

It’s a known fact that vegetables give off a lot of moisture as they cook. After all, a zucchini IS 95% water! But too much moisture is the enemy of any great pasta dish, especially a veggie lasagna where you just don’t want to see moisture pooling at the bottom of your baking dish as you’re cutting slices.

It wasn’t until I took a class from a vegan chef instructor that I learned how simple this problem is to solve.

The cheap, quick, painless solution? Couscous. Ordinary, dry, uncooked couscous (more on buying the right type below). As you are assembling a vegetable lasagna, sprinkle a spoonful of dry couscous on top of each layer of vegetables.

Why couscous works so well.

As the meatless lasagna cooks, the vegetables will begin to give off a bit of moisture (even if you’ve sauteed or roasted them first, they still will). No worries, because the raw couscous will absorb all that moisture as it cooks alongside the rest of the ingredients.

The great thing about this trick is that the couscous is virtually undetectable in the finished dish. You won’t be able to recognize its subtle flavor amongst all of the other tasty morsels in your lasagna, and unless you know it’s there and you’re looking really carefully, you probably won’t see it, either.

Stock your pantry with a bit of couscous and say goodbye to watery veggie lasagna forever!

Pay attention to the TYPE of couscous for your veggie lasagna.

There might be several different types of couscous at your grocery store, so take care when purchasing. Most stores have two main types:

1. Moroccan couscous – often labeled as “golden couscous,” “Moroccan-style pasta” or simply “couscous.” This couscous has the smallest grain size and THIS IS THE ONE YOU WANT. You can buy golden/original or tri-color – it really doesn’t matter. If the only Moroccan couscous you can find is in a box with a flavor packet, just buy that and discard the flavor packet.
2. Israeli couscous – often labeled “pearl couscous” or “toasted Israeli-style pasta.” I love this as a side dish for almond crusted chicken, but this NOT what you want for this veggie lasagna recipe. This couscous has a larger grain size pretty similar to a peppercorn, and very much resembles pepe pasta. Israeli couscous would take too long to cook and be too noticeable while you’re eating your vegetable lasagna. Don’t buy this one!

What vegetables are best for Vegetables Lasagna?

I went with white onion, red bell pepper, zucchini, button mushrooms and baby spinach for my veggie lasagna, but this is SO adaptable to what you like best or what you happen to have on hand.

Yellow onion or red onion work great here. Or, omit the onion and double up on bell peppers. And any color of bell pepper!

Yellow squash or eggplant can sub in for the zucchini, and ANY variety of mushroom is perfect here.

If the spinach at your store is looking a little past its prime, grab some kale or swiss chard instead.

Cottage cheese filling in this Vegetable Lasagna Recipe

I grew up eating my family’s lasagna recipe with cottage cheese (albeit with meat and not vegetables). The recipe has been in my Midwestern family for generations. So yes, this is a vegetable lasagna with cottage cheese, too!

If you prefer very traditional Italian cuisine, you might be clutching your pearls right now, and that’s OK.

Feel free to use ricotta instead, or a combination of half ricotta and half cottage cheese. If using a combo, stir them together before assembling the veggie lasagna.

If using cottage cheese, I recommend using small curd cottage cheese (instead of large curd), so that the curds disappear into the cheese mixture more easily and mimic the smoothness of ricotta a little more closely.

How to make Vegetable Lasagna

1. START SAUTEEING. Cook the garlic, onion, red bell pepper and zucchini in a bit of olive oil until they are just beginning to get tender, then transfer them to a bowl.

2. ADD MUSHROOMS. Add a bit more oil to the same skillet, then saute the mushrooms until they are deep golden brown.

3. ADD SPINACH. Add the spinach, salt and red pepper flakes to the mushroom mixture in the skillet and cook until the spinach is just wilted.

4. ADD MARINARA: Add the marinara sauce and all of the reserved cooked vegetables together and cook this mixture about 10 minutes or until it gets thick and chunky.

5. MAKE CHEESE FILLING: While the marinara and vegetables are simmering, stir together the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs and seasonings.

6. COOK NOODLES: Boil the lasagna noodles according to their package directions.

7. START ASSEMBLY: Layer 1/4 of the noodles and 1/4 of the cheese filling into the bottom of your lasagna dish.

8. ADD VEGGIE MIXTURE. Spread 1/4 of the vegetable mixture over the cheese filling layer.

9. COUSCOUS. Sprinkle 1/4 of couscous over vegetable mixture layer.

10. MOZZARELLA, THEN REPEAT. Arrange 1/4 of mozzarella cheese slices over couscous (you can rip the cheese slices into halves or thirds to arrange them easier). Continue building the lasagna by repeating these layers 3 more times.

11. BAKE: Transfer to oven and bake about 45 to 60 minutes or until the edges get bubbly.

Do I cover Veggie Lasagna with foil for baking?

No, you do NOT need to cover veggie lasagna with foil while baking. Honestly, I love when the corners and edges get some crispy bits.

However, if your vegetable lasagna starts to get too brown for your liking while it is baking, feel free to loosely tent it with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.

Can you layer veggie lasagna the night before?

Yes! This vegetable lasagna recipe can be assembled, covered and refrigerated up to 3 days before baking. Bring to room temperature on the counter 1 hour before baking.

What to serve with this Veggie Lasagna Recipe

While the veggie lasagna is baking, make a fresh salad to go along with it. My best Thanksgiving salad is great all fall and winter, not just the holiday. Same story with my Easter salad. These salads are the perfect accompaniment to something rich like lasagna.

But, if you’re thinking that you already have enough vegetables IN the meatless lasagna, and you’d rather have fruit, my fall fruit salad or Easter fruit salad are great choices.

How to store Vegetable Lasagna

Yes, just like my Asian sloppy joes and sweet potato breakfast casserole, this veggie lasagna recipe freezes well! What I usually do is prepare and bake the full lasagna as written below, and then refrigerate the whole thing (or the leftovers after I’ve served it for dinner once) in the pan overnight.

Trust me, it’s MUCH easier to portion and wrap the pieces when the vegetable lasagna is chilled than when it is warm.

The next day, I remove the chilled pieces of lasagna from the pan and wrap them individually in plastic wrap, then foil. I freeze the wrapped pieces in freezer bags.

To reheat, I unwrap as many pieces as I need and place them in a small casserole dish with a little bit of water in the bottom. I cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees F until they are heated through.

If you love freezer recipes, try fettuccine bolognese sauce for another dinner, or my vanilla creme brulee for dessert!

Side note – I think meatless lasagna actually tastes better as leftovers! Just like my melomakarona recipe (Greek cookies), something about it just tastes better after it sits for a bit.

Best Veggie Lasagna Recipe FAQs