No-boil lasagna noodles layered with a mix of cheeses, spinach and store-bought marinara make this vegetarian spinach lasagna recipe one of the easiest dinners you’ll prepare all week.
This post is in partnership with Kroger
Creating This Spinach Lasagna Recipe
I’m having some serious memories of being a kid and our annual Christmas Eve lasagna dinner with my parents and sister, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins at my Aunt Jill’s house. It was always a rambunctious night, running back and forth between watching the 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Storywith my cousins, and stealingcheese-filled celery sticks and black olives from the appetizer tray.
My Aunt Jill has never been a fan of meat, so the fact that she included sausage in her original version is a testament to her love of her family and a house of 4 sons who each grew to over 6’5″ plusa husband whovery much loved meat. Luckily, the stakes have evened out for her now that she has a gaggle of gorgeousdaughters-in-laws to continue keeping those boys in check.
I still have a copy of Jill’s original recipe that includes my surprise ingredient of cottage cheese, but I’ve switched it up a bit to add even MORE cheese to make up for my skipping the meat in my version. I think 8 types of cheese definitely does the trick.
Because 30 years later, I think my Aunt Jill deserves to have a slice of meatless lasagna her way, am I right?
What’s in This Cheesy Spinach Lasagna?
One trickto lessening the lasagna-making load is to use no-boil lasagna noodles and a really good quality jarredsauce, which I’ve found in both Kroger’s Private Selection marinara saucesand DeLallo’s brand of jarred marinara. Feel free to use the flat or the ribboned style of lasagna noodles, you’ll need one box for this recipe of either/or.
I’m really picky about my ricotta cheese, which can too often taste chalky and plastic like. So I am THRILLED to have discovered that the Krogerbrand of ricotta is totally not that. It’s creamy, rich and doesn’t get watery when cooked. It’s not onlygreat in Italian food, it’s also so good on toast with a little jam. Just sayin’.
While I was at it, I loaded up on Kroger’s mozzarella, sliced provolone from the deli counter, grated Parmesan cheese and the Private Selection 3 cheese blend of Asiago, Parmesan and Romano. The provolone cheese is what creates the coveted, stringy cheese pull so if you’re thinking of skipping one of the cheeses in this dish, don’t skip the provolone!
And since this is a spinach lasagna recipe, I added a bag of frozen spinach to my cart, plus eggs to bind everything together and fresh basil to add a pop of flavor.
How to Make Spinach Lasagna
Believe it or not, this vegetarian lasagna with cottage cheese is incredibly easy to make. Because it’s a no boil lasagna recipe, all you have to do is stir together the cheese and spinach filling and then you’re ready to begin assembling your lasagna!
To layer lasagna, you first want to spoon some marinara sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish to prevent the pasta from sticking to it. Next, layer a few sheets of no-boil lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread half the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles, then layer sliced Provolone cheese and shredded mozzarella over that. Top the first layer with more marinara sauce.
Repeat this process two more times, ending with a thin layer of marinara topped with shredded cheese.
Cover the lasagna with foil and bake until golden and bubbly.
How Long to Cook Lasagna?
This cheese and spinach lasagna needs to bake for an hour with the foil on, and an additional 10 minutes without the foil to allow the edges to crisp up a bit.
Can I Use Regular Lasagna Noodles Instead of No-Boil Ones?
Most likely, yes. However, I’ve only made the recipe below as written so I can’t guarantee whether using regular lasagna noodles will work here.
Can I Freeze Lasagna?
Assembling this dinner is so easy, and that translates to a perfect dinner for a crowd and for the holidays. If you want to make this and freeze ahead, definitely do so. Simply bake the lasagna straight from the freezerfor about 1 ½ hours, with the foil on, and another 10-20 minutes once you’ve removed the foil.
Tips for Making Cheese and Spinach Lasagna
To keepthe cheese from sticking to the foil covering the casserole and ruining thecheesy topper, I spray the foil with baking spray and also tent it loosely over the dish so it doesn’t sit on the cheese.
Be sure to wring all of the water out of the thawed spinach to avoid a watery sauce.
I’ve found this dish is even better the 2nd day.Leftovers are certainly encouraged here.
More Lasagna Recipes You’ll Love
- Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups
- Sausage and Ricotta Lasagna
- Turkey Bolognese Lasagna Toss
- Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup
- Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushrooms
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo andtag me on Instagramwith #foodiecrusheats.
5 from 17 votes
The Cheesiest Spinach Lasagna
Layers of no-boil noodles topped with 8 different cheeses, spinach and store-bought marinara make this lasagna one of the easiest, but most decadent dinners you'll make all week and through the busy holiday season.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword lasagna
Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Cooling Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 411kcal
Ingredients
- 1 16- ounce container ricotta cheese
- 1 8- ounce container small curd cottage cheese
- 1 5- ounce container 3-cheese blend grated cheese
- 1 12- ounce bag frozen spinach , thawed and with all of the moisture squeezed dry
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 25 - ounce jars marinara sauce
- 1 9- ounce package no-boil lasagna noodles
- 12 slices provolone cheese
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese , shredded
- Basil leaves
- Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the ricotta, cottage cheese, 3-cheese blend and spinach with the eggs, ground black pepper and kosher salt until well mixed.
Spread half of a jar of the marinara sauce over the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking pan. Layer 5 sheets of the lasagna sheet so they're slightly overlapping. Dollop half of the ricotta mixture onto the lasagna sheets and evenly spread on top. Layer 4 slices of provolone over the ricotta and sprinkle with ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Pour another half of the jar of marinara evenly over the cheese.
Layer 5 more sheets of lasagna and repeat by dolloping the rest of the ricotta mixture over the lasagna sheets and spread evenly, top with 4 more slices of provolone cheese, ½ cup mozzarella cheese, and then pour half of the sauce from the remaining jar of sauce over the cheese. Top with 5 more layers of the lasagna sheets and pour the remaining half of the marinara sauce over the noodles and top with the remaining slices of provolone cheese and mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with more parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes or until bubbly. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minute or until the cheese is lightly browned.
Let the lasagna rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with basil leaves and fresh grated parmesan.
Notes
To keepthe cheese from sticking to the foil covering the casserole and ruining thecheesy topper, I spray the foil with baking spray and also tent it loosely over the dish so it doesn't sit on the cheese.
Nutrition
Calories: 411kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 998mg | Potassium: 508mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 4609IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 542mg | Iron: 2mg
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This post is sponsored by Kroger.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 may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
