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Butternut Squash Lasagna with Mushrooms and Sage- a cozy vegetarian (or vegan) main dish, perfect for your holiday feast! This can be made with no-boil noodles and can be made ahead! Or make it stages- see notes.
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
Thorton Wilder
Here’s a delicious vegetarian or vegan main dish, worthy of your holiday table – Butternut Squash Lasagna with Mushrooms and Sage. So comforting and homey.
What I love about this recipe is the butternut lasagna can be made ahead (or in stages) and stored in the fridge until ready to bake. When it comes out of the oven, beautifully golden and bubbly, your house is sure to smell amazing!
Butternut squash Lasagna | 60-sec Video
A delicious cozy recipe, for Butternut Lasagna – full of fall flavors. And it’s easily made vegan! Butternut squash is roasted in the oven and becomes the silky sauce that infuses the lasagna with such goodness. I know you will love it! Perfect for vegan thanksgiving.
Butternut squash Lasagna Ingredients
- Small butternut squash
- onion and garlic
- olive oil
- mushrooms (cremini, button, shiitake, portobello, or wild mushrooms, etc.)
- spinach – fresh or frozen
- sage- fresh is best
- ricotta cheese (or sub vegan tofu ricotta)
- egg (optional)
- mozzarella cheese or sub vegan “meltable” cheese
- Romano or parmesan
- no-boil lasagna noodles (uncooked)
- salt, pepper and nutmeg
How to make Butternut squash Lasagna
Butternut Lasagna starts with a roasted butternut puree, which becomes the “sauce”.
You could roast this off the night before and cool in the fridge until ready to assemble. Or cook the butternut whole in an instant pot for 22 minutes.
I use no-boil lasagna noodles to save time- such a godsend!
Layer with ricotta and mushrooms, shallots and sage…..or substitute this vegan tofu ricotta!
For extra luxuriousness, drizzle with a little optional, but tasty, truffle oil.
You’ll repeat the layers a couple of times and then bake!
Top the butternut squash lasagna with cheese for added richness if you like, keeping in mind all the amazing “meltable” vegan cheese out there these days.
Expert tip#1
Sometimes, instead of adding a final layer of grated cheese, I’ll make a light, quick béchamel sauce…. purely because I prefer the look of it (from my catering days) compared to the grated cheese “look”. See recipe notes for more info. 🙂
When the Butternut lasagna comes out of the oven it will smell heavenly. Beautifully golden and fragrant!
Expert Tip #2
For a special dinner, an added touch is to make crispy sage leaves as a garnish over the butternut lasagna. You could also drizzle with your favorite pesto, for a little color. Both optional. I love this with Arugula Pesto!
So hearty and delicious! Serve the butternut squash lasagna with a tasty fall salad and you have a yummy meal!
Hope your Thanksgiving is beautiful….. and you enjoy this Butternut Squash Lasagna! I know for sure, you will love the leftovers.
Cheers friends!
xoxo
More recipes you may like!
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- Roasted Eggplant Lasagna with Arugula Pesto
- Broccoli Manicotti with Burrata
- Butternut Squash Gratin with Leeks, Sage and Walnuts
- Roasted Butternut Enchiladas with Mole Sauce
- Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Butternut Squash Lasagna with Mushrooms and Sage
- Prep Time: 60 mins
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: vegetarian, main,
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: northwest
Description
Butternut Lasagna with Wild Mushrooms and Sage, – a delicious vegetarian or vegan main dish, perfect for your holiday table! This can be made ahead, and baked right before serving! Try using Smoked Mushroms!
Ingredients
- Small butternut squash ( 2.5lbs – 3lbs) (you’ll need about 4 cups, roasted)
- 1/2 a sweet onion, sliced into big wedges
- olive oil for drizzling
Mushroom Filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced (cremini, button, shiitake, portobello, wild mushrooms, etc.)
- 1 fat shallot or 1/2 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- optional – feel free to add a couple of handfuls baby spinach or greens and wilt them.
Ricotta Mixture:
- 1 lb ricotta cheese (or sub vegan tofu ricotta) If using the tofu ricotta, no need to add more salt or egg. Just nutmeg 🙂
- one egg (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Butternut Puree:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3–6 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1 /2 cups grated mozzarella cheese ( about 3–4 ounces) or sub vegan “meltable” cheese
- 1/2 cup romano or parmesan ( about 1 ounce) or sub vegan
- no-boil lasagna noodles (uncooked)
- Garnish with 9 crispy sage leaves (optional, see notes) or Arugula Pesto
Optional Quick Béchamel Sauce:
Instructions
- Roast the Butternut Squash. Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place open side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place sliced onion next to it and drizzle it with a little olive oil. Roast until fork-tender, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool. You could do this a day before or cook whole in an instant pot for 22 minutes.
- Lower oven to 375F
- Make the mushroom filling. In a large skillet, heat the oil or butter. Add mushrooms and shallots and salt, and saute over medium heat, until the mushrooms release their liquid and begin to brown. Add the garlic, sage and pepper. Cook until garlic is fragrant, about 2-3 more minutes, turn the heat off. You could toss in some spinach at the end and wilt for extra nutrients. Taste and make sure the filling has enough salt and pepper. You could also add a little truffle oil. You could make this 1-3 days ahead and refrigerate.
- Ricotta: Using a fork, mix the ricotta cheese with the egg, nutmeg and salt. ( You really don’t have to add the egg, but it adds a nice richness.)
- Make the BUTTERNUT SAUCE: When the butternut is cool enough to handle, scoop all the flesh out into a food processor. You should have about 4 cups. Add the roasted onion, olive oil, water, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Puree until very smooth. You will need at least 3 1/2 cups pureed and you want it to be almost saucy, like a marinara sauce (so add water if need be!). This will act as the “sauce”.
- Assemble the lasagna. In a greased 9 x13 inch baking dish, add 1 cup of the butternut puree and spread out into a thin layer. Top with lasagna noodles. Add half of the ricotta mixture and spread out evenly. Top with half of the cook mushrooms. Sprinkle with ½ cup grated mozzarella and a couple tablespoons romano cheese. Add more lasagna noodles. Spread out the rest of the ricotta mixture as evenly as possible. Spoon half of the remaining butternut puree, erring on the side of less than half, so you have enough to cover the top (save at least 1 ¼ cups for the top.) Add the remaining mushrooms and all the good bits (onions and sage) and sprinkle with another ½ cup shredded mozzarella and couple tablespoons romano cheese. Place the final noodles over the top. Lather with the remaining butternut puree and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese (or make the creamy béchamel sauce.- See notes. ) You could assemble this 1-2 days before baking.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake in 375 F oven for 40 minutes. (If the foil touches the lasagna, place a layer of parchment between the foil and lasagna). Uncover and continue baking 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbly. Cut into 9 servings.
- Garnish with optional crispy sage leaves.
Notes
Optional Béchamel: So instead of sprinkling the remaining cheese on top (which is totally fine, especially if pressed for time) I’ll make a quick light béchamel sauce to pour over the final layer of butternut puree using the remaining cheese. This just gives it a creamier look and feel (compared to the look of melted, grated cheese). This is just a personal preference, that makes it look more appealing (from my catering days). Totally up to you. 😉
To make the bechemel: heat the oil or butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add the flour, and toast it for 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, whisking out any clumps and browned bits. Stir in salt, pepper and cheese, stirring until melted and incoporated.
A great way to conquer this is to make the compenents in stages. Make the butternut puree one day, the filling the next (storing in the fridge) assembling the next day, baking the next etc. OR Feel free to make this all ahead (refrigerate) and bake before serving, remembering to pull it out of the fridge for at least one hour before baking to let it come to room temp, for even baking.
This can also be baked and frozen.
To make the crispy sage leaves, generously coat the bottom of a small skillet with olive oil over medium heat. Place each leave ( leaving a little stem is cute) into the hot oil and fry each side, around 30 seconds, or until crisp. Place on a paper towel to blot. Do one tester first, to get the timing right. You want them crisp, but still green, not too brown.)
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 304
- Sugar: 4.4 g
- Sodium: 669.8 mg
- Fat: 11.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Fiber: 4.6 g
- Protein: 16.5 g
- Cholesterol: 47.6 mg
Keywords: Butternut lasagna, Butternut lasagna recipe, vegetarian lasagna, vegan main dish, vegan thanksgiving recipes, vegan christmas recipes, vegan thanksgiving, vegetarian lasagna recipes, butternut recipes, mushroom lasagna, mushroom lasagna recipes
The Grossman family lives this recipe. We’re making it for the second time. We do everything ahead. Works beautifully. Doesn’t seem like a chore at all. Can’t wait for tomorrow night when we can eat this delicious meal.
Great to hear!
Delicious!
It was worth all effort.
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed Miluska!
Have made several times, plant based and with dairy, and its always a crowd pleaser.
★★★★★
Great to hear!
I may have missed something but where does it say how many for?
In the top of the recipe card 8-10 🙂
Your site is my go-to for just about everything! It looks like a fantastic recipe. One question – how many noodles for 1X recipe? (I’m assuming a 9×13 pan.) Thanks!
Hey Lorraine- it really depends on the size of noodles you are using.
We grew a ton of butternut squash this year and I was looking for different recipes and found your site! This dish was a total hit with my friends! Different but familiar and really delicious!!
★★★★★
Great to hear!
I’ve made this recipe a few times and it always comes out amazing. It tastes delicious and my two young daughters love it.
★★★★★
Great to hear!
Silvia, how should I adjust the recipe to make with regular lasagna noodles. Should my puree be thicker? I am going make to bring to my daughter’s this Christmas.
You could par boil them- and cook partially. 🙂
I will let you know how it goes. I neither want crunchy noodles or a watery lasagna. Par boiling sounds like it might be the ticket! I didn’t consider that being a Follow the Rules kinda gal ( for each type of pasta). THNX!@
i love all your recipes so I’m sure we will enjoy this one too…I made it, baked it and now I am freezing it for later. When I use should I defrost it first or put it directly in the oven frozen. Thanks Sylvia. Not sure what I would do without your recipes.
Thanks Beth. Defrost completely before reheating.
Wow! This was a great vegetarian lasagna. Everyone loved it! and it really wasn’t hard to make. The mushrooms were an excellent touch to this. and loved how you decided to puree the butternut squash.
★★★★★
Thanks Lauren, glad you enjoyed!
My husband and I absolutely adore this recipe! Tomatoes exacerbate my husband’s heart burn, so we steer clear, and we’re so excited to find a delicious lasagna substitute! It’s a cold weather staple, and well worth the effort!
★★★★★
Awesome Sarah! Glad you both liked it!
Butternut squash is not listed in the recipe. It is obvious because of the directions. But for new cooks, it will be helpful to add it to the list of ingredients. Especially if people take the recipe to the grocery store and only buy from the ingredients list. Thank you for such a great meal.
Hi Fifi, they are first on the ingredient list?
I’ve made this for vegetarians and carnivores, and the feedback has been the same: extremely good lasagna! One of my favorite fall recipes.
★★★★★
Yay Danielle! So happy everyone is enjoying. It’s a pretty cozy meal, no one seems to really miss the meat here. 🙂
I loved this recipe. Made it in stages and used mozzarella cheese instead of the bechemel sauce. Even our kids enjoyed it. Great leftovers too.
Thank you for this weekend dinner inspiration!!
Awesome Becky- making in stages really helps-especially the first time!
This recipe was time consuming and the next time I make it I will prepare some of the steps ahead of time. There definitely will be a next time. This dish was delicious! I added a little more salt than was called for and found I really didn’t need to. I think next time I will substitute the mozzarella for some gruyere.
★★★★★
Thanks Catherine! Yes making this in stages helps tremendously – and it goes faster the second time, for sure.
Second time making this one. I love it – so tasty!! This second time I used a bit of the truffle oil with the mushrooms, and will do so again next time. Thanks for all your amazing recipes. 🙂
★★★★★
Yum Ingrid! Love truffle oil!
Truly enjoyed the taste of this delicious recipe. Great texture. Excellent way to use squash from the garden.
I added spinach. I also.put it in the fridge for 2 days before cooking.
Another keeper!!💥
★★★★★
Nice to hear Charlotte!
Wow, so good! What a creative way to make lasagna! I made the butternut squash sauce in the morning, then the rest in the evening. I subbed in cottage cheese for the ricotta. I used sage from my garden! Was worth all the steps. Thank you!!
★★★★★
Perfect Angeli!
The no bake noodles were crunchy, so I will go traditional next time, and it was a little too sweet for my family. We would enjoy spicing it with a little taco seasoning and garam masala!
★★★★
Hey Autumn- do you mean no-boil noodles? which brand did you use?
Another delicious recipe! I’ve made several of your recipes and have loved every one, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and creativity 🥰
Thanks Doreen, appreciate this!