I’ve been making this easy vegetarian lasagna for years! It’s layered with a smooth butternut squash puree, shiitake mushrooms, a creamy white sauce, and melty cheese to make an irresistible fall lasagna you’ll love digging into.
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“[This] butternut squash lasagna recipe is amazing! My husband love[d] it.” -Angie, FoodieCrush reader
This recipe is brought to you by DeLallo Foods
No One Will Miss the Meat in This Veggie-Packed Lasagna!
It’s not even Christmas yet and I’ve already been looking toward the new year and listing out a few of the goals I plan to hit next year.
One of the biggies in my new year goal making sessions is to eat more meatless meals. It’s easy for me to do for breakfast and lunch, but where I tend to run into a road block is when I make vegetarian dinners because that’s not exactly my husband’s idea of a meal. But I’ve found it’s a whole lot easier to convince the family to join me on my veggie train when I’m serving dishes like this vegetable-loaded butternut squash lasagna where nobody ever misses the meat.
I used to make this lasagna every single year when I hosted the volunteer holiday party for my fave animal rescue, where everything had to be served vegetarian. We were an animal rescue, not an animal eatery.
So did anyone (aka my husband) miss the meat? Not a chance! Why not? Because this recipe is completely delicious! That, and the layers of cheese don’t hurt to convince any doubting Thomas too.
Heidi’s Tip: Choosing the Best Noodles for Lasagna
Noodles made with semolina flour make the best lasagna because they hold their shape and have the best texture. Semolina flour is a protein-rich flour made from hearty durum wheat and the wheat DeLallo uses for almost all its pastas.
And even better, Delallo makes a no-boil, oven-ready lasagna noodle that’s guaranteed to cook up to an al denté texture that holds up well to layering for lasagna. Their noodles also come in a regular lasagna noodle and a gluten-free lasagna noodle.
The Key Ingredients You’ll Need
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Butternut squash — This is how I cook my butternut squash in the Instant Pot, but I’ve also shared how to cook it on the stove top below too.
- Shiitake mushrooms — Shiitake mushrooms have a meatier texture and a delicious, almost smokey flavor. They’re a great complement to the smooth butternut squash puree and are the secret to making this veggie lasagna more appealing to the meat lover (my husband).
- White sauce (aka béchamel sauce) — Like classic lasagnas, a simple white sauce of butter, flour, and whole milk softens the no-boil noodles as they cook, but with an added fresh flavor thanks to the blended addition of fresh basil.
- Cheese — I’ve upped the gooey factor by adding dollops of ricotta cheese plus shredded mozzarella and a bit of Parmesan cheese for the ultimate cheese pull.
- Amaretti cookies — The secret flavor buzz to this lasagna is blitzed almond amaretti cookies or DeLallo’s almond biscotti processed into the butternut squash purée to lend a balanced sweetness to the squash.
An Overview of How the Butternut Squash Lasagna Is Made
- Cook the squash. You can either steam it in a skillet or cook it in an Instant Pot. Once it’s fork tender, blitz it in a food processor with some amaretti cookies for a little extra sweetness.
- Sauté the mushrooms. Feel free to reuse the same skillet you cooked the squash in. Shiitake mushrooms need to cook for 8ish minutes to become nice and soft.
- Make the white sauce. The béchamel sauce comes together quickly, and the trick is to whisk the flour into the melted butter for a full minute to really cook out its raw flour flavor. If you just dump the flour into the skillet with the remaining ingredients, your white sauce will taste gluey.
- Layer up. Always spoon some of the sauce into the bottom of your baking dish so your lasagna noodles don’t stick. Then, add some of the butternut squash puree, mushrooms, and cheese. You’ll repeat this layering process three times.
- Bake. Pop the lasagna into the oven covered with foil so the trapped steam can cook the no-boil lasagna noodles. Uncover the lasagna in the final 20 or so minutes so the cheese on top can turn golden brown.
Heidi’s Tip: I like to spray the aluminum foil with non-stick spray so it doesn’t cling to the melted cheese and rip off the top layer of the lasagna.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Vegetarian Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pounds butternut squash , cut into 1-inch cubes
- ½ cup water
- 4 amaretti cookies or almond flavored biscotti , crumbled
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms , sliced
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 13 ounces DeLallo no-boil lasagna noodles
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Make the squash puree. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and season with salt and pepper and then pour the water into the skillet. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. (You could also cook it in the Instant Pot.) Transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the amaretti or biscotti cookies and blend until smooth.
- Sauté the mushrooms. Wipe out your skillet and add the other tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and sauté for 8-10 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan, wipe out the pan, and set aside.
- Make the white sauce. Heat the pan over medium heat and melt the butter then add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly about 5 minutes. Add the nutmeg and another ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper. Cool slightly.
- Transfer half of the sauce to a blender and add the basil. Mixture will be hot so place a towel or cloth over top of blender so the mixture doesn’t explode. Blend until smooth then return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Assemble. Lightly butter a 13 X 9 X 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread ¾ cup of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread ⅓ of the squash puree over the noodles then ⅓ of the mushrooms. Sprinkle with ½ cup of mozzarella cheese and ⅓ cup ricotta cheese. Drizzle ½ cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times, ending with a layer of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Bake. Cover the baking dish with foil sprayed with cooking spray and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for about 15 more minutes or until the top is golden. Remove from oven and let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Side Dishes to Make This a Meal
Want to Freeze This For Later? Here’s How
Assemble the lasagna as instructed but do not bake it. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and then with foil to prevent freezer burn, then freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to cook, bake from frozen (do not thaw first) for 60-70 minutes.
A few things to note: you need to remove the layer of plastic wrap before baking or else it will melt. I also suggest freezing the lasagna in an oven- and freezer-safe baking dish (like a foil pan) for ease.
More Lasagna Recipes You’ll Want to Make Too
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This post is sponsored by DeLallo Foods. As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There are affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
Laurie
Can you freeze this? I like to prep meals (full time unpredictable hours job and kids).
I usually freeze lasagna-like dishes just before baking. Then when ready to use I thaw it and bake per instructions. I just wanted to see if anyone knew if that would work with this one as well.
Yes Laurie, you can definitely freeze. When ready to cook, bake the lasagna from frozen for 60-70 minutes. Or, microwave until heated through.
Lesa Cote
I am really happy to find this blog. As HR assignment help, I am really excited.
J
My partner and I made the butternut squash lasagna for Thanksgiving. We replaced the basil with sage, and replaced the biscotti with bread crumbs. Before pureeing the squash, I sauteed some garlic and sage in olive oil briefly and added it to the squash. We also added garlic and shallots to the sauce, sauteeing them in the butter before adding the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. We used half and half instead of whole milk to make the sauce a little richer too. Added garlic to the mushrooms too. Overall, I think our changes made the dish a little more savory. It was delicious!
Angie
The butternut squash lasagna recipe is amazing! My husband love it. But like one reader said there is no instructions of when to put the shiitake mushrooms in the recipe. Can you please edit that. Good thing I am obsessed with mushrooms I did for get. LoL
Carole
I came across your recipe and awesome photo, of the Butternut Squash & Shiitake Mushroom Lasagna earlier this week while I was sitting in a all-day meeting, fooling around on my computer while the trainer was blah blah blahing. I have been talking about this recipe for three days now, and have made it my mission to make it this Sunday. It looks fabulous and I am sooooo excited to make your lasagna. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Yeah for surfing the web, boo for meetings. So glad you found the recipe and can’t wait to hear if you like it. Which you will ;)