Ultra rich and creamy vegan butternut squash lasagna roll ups will hit the spot like nothing else! The perfect rich flavor rolled into a veggie filled meal.
This recipe was originally published on 10/20/14
We love a good lasagna over here so creating different versions of our favorite keeps things exciting. And this comfort food filled treat hits the spot so well on those days you just want to shovel all the food into your mouth.
Vegan Butternut Squash Lasagna
I love the idea of individual rolls of lasagna noodles, other than being just adorable, it makes lasagna super easy to serve.
These butternut squash lasagna roll-ups came out so creamy, comforting and flavorful that I had to share. The sauce is similar to the one I use in my butternut squash pasta (roasted butternut squash is so easy and delicious to make). My kids loved the sweet undertones and my husband loved that I mixed it up by adding the sun dried tomato in the ricotta.
While optional, I highly recommend topping this with my absolute favorite grateable vegan Parmesan.
Can you prep lasagna roll ups ahead of time?
Because lasagna dishes are a lot of work, I try and find ways to make it easier by prepping everything ahead of time. Then the day of, all you have to do is build the lasagna roll ups. Which sound fancy but are really easy and only took me about 5 minutes.
You can even break up the parts into days, each part will stay good in the fridge for 5-7 days. You can even freeze them to use later if you want. Here is what I do to prep ahead in the order that they stay fresh best:
- Make the parmesan.
- Make the ricotta filling.
- Saute the veggies and mix with the ricotta.
- Make the creamy butternut squash sauce.
How do you store butternut squash lasagna?
If you don't finish the entire pan in one sitting, which would be so weird, you should store this covered in the fridge. You can cover with plastic wrap or foil, or transfer to an airtight container.
How do you reheat butternut squash lasagna?
When you are ready to eat the leftover lasagna roll ups, you can easily reheat it in the microwave or in the oven.
If you are using the oven, you want to make sure you don't dry them out or burn them. I suggest putting them in a baking dish and adding a little broth to it before reheating and covering them with foil. You also can reheat it at a lower temperature so that it slowly heats up.
What do you serve with butternut squash lasagna?
This vegan lasagna roll ups recipe is an all in one meal, filled with protein, grains and veggies. So you really don't need anything else with it. However if you want to add more to the meal, here are some of my favorite ideas:
- toasted garlic bread
- simple green salad
- Peas with Dill and Scallions
- Vegan Caesar Salad
- Avocado Kale Salad
- Maple Roasted Carrots
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
How to Make Vegan Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll Ups
These lasagna roll ups have a lot of parts and takes some time to put together, but it's not difficult. Use my prep ahead tips above to make it go faster if you don't want to do it all in one day:
- Make the ricotta.
- Make the butternut sauce.
- Saute the veggies and mix it with the ricotta.
- Add butternut sauce to the bottom of a baking pan.
- Roll the lasagna noodles.
- Add them to the pan.
- Top with more sauce.
- Bake.
- Serve and devour!
Vegan Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-Ups
Ingredients
- 12 lasagna noodles , gluten-free if needed
Creamy butternut squash sauce:
- 1 ½ pounds butternut squash , chopped into cubes (a little over 2 cups chopped)
- drizzle of your favorite oil for roasting , or veggie broth if not using oil
- 1 cup raw cashews (see note)
- 2 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½-1 teaspoon sea salt , taste and add more if needed
Sun dried tomato ricotta:
- ½ cup sundried tomatoes , not in oil
- 1 cup raw cashews (see note)
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon sea salt , optional (may not need depending on the sundried tomatoes you use)
Veggie filling:
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- ½ cup chopped shallots
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- drizzle of your favorite oil for sautéing , or veggie broth if not using oil
Toppings (optional):
- Grateable Vegan Parmesan , use as much or as little as you want
- Fresh basil , sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F/ 230°C.
- Make sure to deseed the butternut squash when chopping it. You will be blending it so size doesn’t matter too much. However make them uniform to help even cooking.
- Brush with oil or broth and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 35 minutes, or until soft but not too brown. When done remove from oven and allow to cool.
- While butternut squash is baking, soak sundried tomatoes in some warm water to soften them a bit.
- Cook shallots, sage, rosemary and garlic in a pan over medium heat with drizzle of oil or broth until soft. About 2-3 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and salt and cook until most of the released liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes, then mix in spinach.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Put all ingredients for the ricotta into the food processor or blender. Pulse until you achieve a chunky ricotta like consistency. You do not want this silky smooth. Use a blender for less clean up but be aware that the mixture won't move around as well in a blender and it will be harder to get the right consistency. You will need to stop and mix more often that if you're using a food processor.
- Add the ricotta to the veggie mixture and mix until combined. Set aside.
- Once butternut squash is cooled, add it to a blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until you achieve a silky smooth consistency.
- Cook lasagna noodles. Make sure to only cook them half the time than the directions say on the box since you will be baking them, this will avoid mushy noodles. To prevent sticking, leave them in some cool water.
- Pour about 2 cups butternut squash sauce on the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish. Enough to coat it well.
To make lasagna roll ups:
- Lay a lasagna noodle flat on your workspace
- Spread a few spoonfuls of the ricotta/veggie mix over the top of it
- Starting at one end, roll it up
- Place in the baking dish
- Repeat with all lasagna noodles
- Once all lasagna noodles are rolled up pour the rest of the creamy butternut squash sauce over the roll ups. Sprinkle with parmesan if using. Top with the basil if using.
- Bake covered with foil for 15 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool a bit and enjoy!
Notes
- If you are not using a high speed blender, you can soak the cashews overnight, boil them for 30 minutes or grind the dry cashews into a fine powder using a coffee grinder (do not boil them for this method). For the ricotta, it's best to soak or boil to get the right texture.
- You can also adjust the seasonings for this and use thyme or other flavors you prefer.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Beth
I made with brown rice lasagne noodles and these came out like glue - I think it was the noodles and not the recipe. I will try again with with whole wheat noodles - I am on a whole foods plant based diet. I also might leave the squash mixture a little chunkier next time. Flavor was good.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Beth! It sounds like you didn't rinse the noodles off or leave them in the cool water. This helps remove the starch, which can happen with regular noodles as well. Also, different noodle brands produce different results. The ones I use work fabulous when left in the cool water like the directions say. If you try again, make sure to leave them in cool water no matter what noodles you use.
Michelle
So delicious! I layered it into a lasagna and used gluten free lasagna pasta. Very unique flavors. We really enjoyed it. Thank you!,
veggiesdontbite
I am so happy you liked it Michelle!
tina
what can I use instead of mushrooms for the filling...my husband can't have mushrooms
veggiesdontbite
Hi Tina! You can sub any veggie you prefer. The texture will change a bit as mushrooms give that meaty texture but it will still be good! You can try zucchini, carrots or eggplant if you want some ideas. But if there is something you like in flavor just do that!
Shannon Skinner
Oh wow this looks delicious! Can't wait to try the recipe x
Shannon | https://shannonmichelle1.blogspot.com
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Shannon!!
Esther
Can you give us an idea on how many cups or lbs of squash is a "small" one? I'm totally psyched to make this today.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Esther! I would say about 3 cups give or take! It's an old recipe and on my list to fine tune soon. But I just did another recipe and a small squash gave me 3 cups. Let me know how it turns out!
Emily Kemp
Omg...this looks incredible and just the kind of food I love. Sorry Summer I'm ready for Autumn now so I can munch on this ha!
Tee Bone
OMG!! This is so amazing! It looks a little overwhelming at first look, but really it was quite easy. I layered mine instead of rolling up...just divided the veggie ricotta into thirds, the sauce into fourths & went to layering because of the kind of noodle I ended up with. But honestly I almost stopped after making the sauce because it is crazy good & can be eaten by itself as a soup - hot or cold...YUM!! THANKS for sharing...I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this dish.
veggiesdontbite
Thank you SO very much! You totally made my night. Layered is great too! Your belly doesn't know the difference, LOL! I'm so glad you liked it!
Amy
Made this for dinner last night and it was a hit! All the parts came together nicely. Thanks for providing!
veggiesdontbite
I'm so happy to hear Amy! Thank you so much for the feedback and for following!
breakfastdramaqueen
Looks amazing! I'm so interested by your pumpkin seed Parmesan!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you!! Yes, I love the pumpkin parm! I have been into creating other types of "parmesan" ever since I started blogging and saw the use of almond parmesan on a ton of other blogs. I have a hemp seed parmesan on my blog as well. But the pumpkin goes so well with this pasta! Let me know if you try it out!
Dina
I tried it and it is delicious!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you! I thought you'd like this one.
Nan
This looks ands sounds so good! How do you think it would turn out if I used all cashews? Unfortunately, my daughter is allergic to walnuts :(,
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much! I think it would work just fine! I use walnuts in my creamy dishes because I don't like the sweetness of all cashews. But the cashews would work. You could also use almond and get a good result. Let me know how you like it!
Lp
Where does it say walnuts in the recipe?
Sophia DeSantis
Hi LP! This is a newer version of an older recipe so the comment you are seeing is from the older version. I am always trying to make things better so update old posts all the time. You can ignore the walnut part of the comments!
MJ and Tim (@mjandhungryman)
I LOVE making lasagna roll ups too! So much easier than the layer technique. As always, I'm so intrigued by the use of nuts here in place of dairy. You seriously make vegan recipes looks so easy, approachable, and delicious! Pinning and I look forward to try this!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much!! Lasagna in general is quite a process that takes time but it's so worth it every once in a while! Yes, I use nuts to replace most of my dairy. For creamy flavors it really works well! I'm still on the fence about all the "cheddar type cheese" sauces out there because I really haven't found one I've loved but it's on my list to create. There are a lot of options other than nuts as well, white beans, cauliflower, potato...I like the nuts the best for real creamy flavor and texture but also because I know we are getting that protein in. And we aren't worried about being low fat, in fact we need to make sure we are getting enough fat. But for people wanting low fat, other options are great! If you want to experiment, go to my Cashew Walnut Cream Sauce recipe on the blog, put all the ingredients into your vitamix and use the "soup" setting if you have it or blend on high as you would to make soup. Out will come this amazing smooth creamy sauce you'd never know was vegan! Try that and let me know what you think! Id love to get your opinion!