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–+ servings

Butternut Squash Lasagna (Vegan, GF Optional)

Creamy butternut squash sauce meets pasta, kale, and mushrooms in a delicious twist on classic lasagna. Bursting with fall flavor and just 10 ingredients required!
Author Minimalist Baker
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Slice of butternut squash lasagna topped with vegan parmesan and fresh basil
4.90 from 166 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 6 (Slices)
Course Dinner, Entrée
Cuisine Gluten-Free (optional), Greek-Inspired, Italian-Inspired, Vegan
Freezer Friendly 1 month
Does it keep? 3-4 Days

Ingredients

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SAUCE

  • 1 small butternut squash (1 small squash yields ~2 cups or 480 g purée)
  • 10-12 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
  • 1 ¼ cup raw cashews
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)
  • 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 1 ½ cups water (plus more as needed to blend)

NOODLES

  • 10 ounces dry lasagna noodles (gluten-free as needed // we used Tinkyada)
  • 1 Tbsp salt (for salting pasta water)
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil

FILLING

  • 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced (1 onion yields ~3 cups chopped)
  • 6 cups roughly chopped cremini mushrooms
  • 8 cups finely chopped kale (1 bundle yields ~8 cups)
  • 1/2 tsp each sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried thyme (optional)

FOR SERVING optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425 F (218 C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice your squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds, but leave the skin on. Rub squash flesh with a bit of oil. Place garlic cloves on the prepared baking sheet and top with squash cut side down (the scooped-out squash should cover the garlic so it doesn’t burn). Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the skin is blistered and golden brown and a knife inserted into the squash comes out very easily.
  • While the squash is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the lasagna noodles in the salted water according to package instructions or until al dente. Then drain, set aside, and gently toss with a little olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
  • Heat a large rimmed skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the olive oil and onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until softened, then add the mushrooms and sauté another 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Then add kale, salt, pepper, and thyme (optional) and sauté for another 5-7 minutes or until tender.
  • Once the squash is tender and cool enough to handle, scoop 2 cups (~480 g) roasted squash (adjust amount if altering number of servings) into a high-speed blender. Add roasted garlic cloves, cashews, lemon juice, salt, nutritional yeast (optional), and water and blend until smooth, adding more water and scraping down the sides of the blender as needed. It should be thick, creamy, and scoopable. Taste and adjust as needed, adding more salt for overall flavor, lemon for brightness, garlic for savory flavor, or nutritional yeast for cheesiness.
  • Reduce oven temperature to 350 F (177 C).
  • Assemble the lasagna in a 9 x 13 (or similar size) glass or ceramic baking dish. Add 1/2 cup (120 ml) sauce to the bottom of the pan and spread it evenly. Then add a layer of noodles followed by 1/3 of the filling. Repeat with two more layers of sauce, noodles, and filling. Then finish with a layer of noodles and the remaining sauce as the top layer (it should be a thicker layer fully coating the noodles).
  • Bake lasagna at 350 F (177 C) for 30 minutes or until the top layer is slightly dry and a little darker in color.
  • Carefully remove from the oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving. Then slice, serve, and enjoy. We recommend garnishing with freshly chopped basil and vegan parmesan cheese. See notes below for freezing instructions.

Video

Notes

*To make this recipe freezer friendly, prepare as instructed. Once assembled, cover well and freeze up to 1 month. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C), cover with foil, and bake for 25 minutes (if thawed) or up to 45 minutes – 1 hour (if frozen). Then remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and hot.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with 1/4 tsp of the salt in the pasta water (since the full tablespoon isn’t absorbed into the pasta) and without optional ingredients.

Nutrition (1 of 6 servings)

Serving: 1 serving Calories: 436 Carbohydrates: 61.9 g Protein: 13 g Fat: 18 g Saturated Fat: 3 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.4 g Monounsaturated Fat: 9.7 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 519 mg Potassium: 878 mg Fiber: 8.6 g Sugar: 6.7 g Vitamin A: 10530 IU Vitamin C: 51 mg Calcium: 147 mg Iron: 4.1 mg