This deliciously creamy and comforting Vegan Butternut Squash Lasagna layers almond ricotta, a roasted butternut squash sauce, and kale between lasagna noodles. It’s a must-make for Thanksgiving and fall dinners!
If you’re looking for more vegan butternut squash recipes, then you’ll also love my Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce, this Vegan Butternut Squash Soup, and this Butternut Squash Curry with Chickpeas.
Whether or not you’re a fan of butternut squash, you are going to LOVE this Butternut Squash Lasagna. It’s as creamy and comforting as my Classic Vegan Lasagna but uses seasonal fall ingredients for a delicious twist. Plus, you can make it ahead of time!
Why you’ll love this vegan squash lasagna
- A fall favorite – This cozy meal has wonderful fall flavors, making it an instant hit for Thanksgiving, fall dinners, or meal prep.
- Puts a twist on a classic – Unlike classic vegan lasagna, this squash lasagna swaps the red sauce for a creamy butternut squash sauce for an ultra-creamy twist.
- Simple is better – This dish is deceptively simple! From the butternut squash sauce to the dairy-free almond ricotta, every layer is really easy to put together.
How to make a vegan butternut squash lasagna
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Start by roasting the squash cubes in the oven until they’re tender and golden. Once they’re done and slightly cool, transfer them to a food processor or blender with the non-dairy milk, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Blend until you have a smooth and creamy sauce.
Instead of peeling and cubing the squash yourself, you can make this recipe even easier by purchasing pre-peeled and chopped butternut squash.
While the squash is roasting, make a batch of my Vegan Ricotta Cheese.
Next, steam the chopped kale (either on the stove, in the Instant Pot, or in a microwave) until it’s wilted and tender. Season it with a little salt.
Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions. Drain, then rinse under cold water.
To assemble the lasagna, spread a layer of the squash sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. Add a layer of noodles, then dollop half of the ricotta cheese on top. Finish with a layer of kale and another drizzle of the squash sauce.
Repeat this process and finish by topping the lasagna with a layer of noodles and the rest of the sauce.
For a cheesy butternut squash lasagna, sprinkle shredded non-dairy mozzarella cheese over the top layer.
Cover the lasagna with foil, bake until it’s hot and bubbly, and serve. Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Feel free to layer in roasted or sauteed bell peppers, mushrooms, leeks, garlic, and/or onions with the kale. Or, add sliced vegan Italian sausages to make it heartier.
To customize the lasagna further, you can combine the cubed squash with roasted pumpkin, sweet potatoes, or another winter squash for double the fall flavors. You can also combine the ricotta with extra vegan mozzarella to make the lasagna extra cheesy throughout.
Yes! The frozen squash works just as well as fresh and doesn’t need to be thawed before roasting.
Not if you don’t want to. I personally love the warm, nutty, and subtly sweet flavors of butternut squash, but if you don’t, you’re free to use acorn squash, kabocha squash, or a small sugar pumpkin instead.
Absolutely. You can fully assemble the lasagna right up until the point of baking, then wrap the dish in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 1 day. Bake it as normal when you’re ready to eat.
Any leftover lasagna will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge. It might freeze okay, but the noodles will likely get quite soggy after thawing.
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Ingredients
Butternut Squash Sauce
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 6 cups cubed)
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk*
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- few shakes of black pepper
The Rest
- 1 Recipe Vegan Ricotta
- 4 cups packed chopped kale, stems removed (1 bunch)
- 12 lasagna noodles, gluten free if needed
- 1 bag (2 cups) vegan mozzarella cheese, optional
- parsley, optional
Instructions
Make the butternut squash sauce
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly oil a baking sheet. Peel and chop the butternut squash, then add to the pan and drizzle with a little olive oil. Toss to coat the squash, then sprinkle with salt and bake for 25-30 minutes, until tender and golden. Remove from oven. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
- Transfer cooked squash to a food processor, along with the non-dairy milk, salt, nutmeg and pepper and blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside (you will need the food processor for the ricotta as well).
Prepare the vegan ricotta
- While the squash is roasting in the oven, prepare the Vegan Ricotta.
Cook the kale
- Steam the chopped kale in a large pot with a steamer basket (about 2 cups of water on the bottom) for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat, or until tender. Season with a little salt and set aside. I often cook it in my Instant Pot instead.
Cook the noodles
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then cook the lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Drain, then rinse in cold water. I like to lay the rinsed noodles on a baking sheet so they don't all stick together.
Assemble
- In a 9×13 inch baking dish, place about 3/4 cup of the squash mixture over the bottom.
- Place a layer of noodles (3 or 4 noodles), then add 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, in spoonfuls. Layer 1/2 of the kale, then about a cup of the butternut squash sauce. See the photos in the post above for reference.
- Repeat with another layer of noodles, then the rest of the ricotta, the rest of the kale, another cup of butternut sauce. Finish with a layer of noodles and the rest of the butternut sauce.
- If desired, add a bag of non-dairy mozzarella to the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes (at 375 degrees). Sprinkle lasagna with chopped parsley, if desired and serve. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- To make this easier, you can purchase pre-peeled and chopped butternut squash.
- You may use another kind of non-dairy milk if desired, just make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored.
- Gluten free: Use gluten free lasagna noodles.
- Nut free: If you need this lasagna to be nut free, use tofu instead of nuts for the ricotta recipe. I include instructions how to do this on that recipe page.
- You may sub baby spinach for the kale if desired, there is really no need to pre-cook baby spinach, you could just layer it in raw, it will wilt when in the oven.
I did two things to simplify this great recipe.
One, I simply massaged chopped/bite sized pieces of kale along with a bit of oil, salt and 2t italian seasoning (or just thyme). It will taste very strong, abnd be just fine when in lasagne.
Two, and thanks to person who commented that they successfully used blanched almond flour! It makes the “ricotta” recipe SO much easier/faster, and, it is delicious! All my omnivores liked it on a spoon and in my squash/kale lasagne. I think it helps to more honestly label it for setting expectations so I simply called it Almond Cream. The second time I made it, I didn’t even use a blender at all! Here’s exactly what I simply stirred together with a fork in a bowl:
1 c blanched almond flour 145g
1 g lemon zest 2-2.5g
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 32g
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt 5g
1c oatmilk 255g
The almond cream was so good I feel emboldened to try it in a more conventional, red sauce lasagne using a walnut/taco mixture for “meat”.
About how many cups of ricotta? I’m using store bought….also, how long would you bake using the no boil noodles?
About 2 1/2 cups, but a little more or less is fine. You would probably need to bake it for more like 45 minutes to an hour using no boil noodles.
I’m looking forward to making this — all your recipes are divine! I’m curious which vegan mozz you used on top that melted and presented so well? Thanks!
That was Follow Your Heart Mozzarella. It’s one of my favorites because it typically melts really well. Another trick I use is this: if the vegan cheese is not melting well on top of lasagna, or pizza, etc, I spray the cheese on the dish with just a little oil. That usually helps it melt perfectly. I hope you enjoy the lasagna, thank you!
Oohh, thanks for the cool trick!
Wow. Nora never misses. This was beyond delicious. I added shredded mozz inside the layers as well. 100/10. Also used collard greens instead of kale and was excellent.
Hi Sabrina. Thank you for your incredible support and stellar review! I am so glad that you love that lasagna! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Hello, I’ve made this in the past with great success! My question is can it be made and then frozen like traditional lasagnas and then baked from frozen?
Yes, it can. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it before; this is one of my favorite fall dinner recipes.
Hi! I made this, wish I would bought precut squash, was a little bit of work cutting and peeling, but it was worth it. I used spinach and Kite ricotta cheese. The Barilla no baked noodles were perfect. I ended up baking longer than suggested, my cheese took forever to melt (I used Diaya although not my first choice-all I could find in the store). After it finally melted I broiled until cheese browned. Added some fresh parsley and I am proud to say this is the first lasagna that actually didn’t fall apart (all 3 layers) when serving it. My non vegan family said it was pretty tasty.
Hi Tracey. I’m glad you persevered through the squash preparation and that you loved the end result! Your lasagna sounds delicious! Thank you for taking time to share your recipe experience, and your fantastic review! Wishing you happy cooking!
Can you use oven ready lasagna noodles?
I’m sure you could, yes.
This was so good! Fun to try a different lasagna without red sauce. I didn’t have nutmeg so used pumpkin pie spice, and topped with the vegan mozzarella. 10 / 10 – would recommend. Thanks, Nora!
You are welcome, Stephanie! I’m so glad you loved the lasagna! I appreciate your awesome review and feedback! Happy cooking!
Nora, you are one of my top go-to vegan recipe creators. Especially when I am feeding non-vegans. I made this exactly as written for a Friendsgiving I hosted last night. Here are my takeaways: The lasagna was not pretty coming out of the oven. It looked dry and sort of cracked. Perhaps covering it for most of the baking time would have been a good idea. I did not use the optional vegan mozzarella on top. I think putting an additional layer of whichever greens you use on the very top would be good and I would have liked more greens all together. I used a spinach, at least five cups, but it still seemed to disappear. I did make the almond ricotta but I might have preferred tofu ricotta. It was very well received, people selected it when fixing their to-go plates at the end of the evening. The butternut squash sauce was delicious and would be lovely any way you ate it. I have plenty of roasted and cubed butternut leftover, I’ll try it again. Thank you for the recipe!
This is an excellent recipe! Followed the recipe for the most part, but added about 5 cloves of garlic to roast with the butternut squash. I sauteed baby spinach and kale together in EVOO and a little crushed red pepper. Also caramelized shallots to sprinkle over the top layer of Violife mozzarella shreds and drizzed that with some Trader Joe’s heavy whipping cream. Thinking a bechamel sauce over the top instead of the cheese would be awesome also. All my non-vegan friends have loved it too! Thanks again for another top notch recipe!