Vegetable Lasagna With Sourdough White Sauce
You’ll love vegetable lasagna with sourdough white sauce (aka béchamel sauce). This easy vegetable lasagna recipe has layers of noodles filled with a vegetable mixture of broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, and spinach held together with a creamy sourdough bechamel sauce.
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Learning how to make lasagna is a simple process with endless combinations. Each step can seem like a labor of love, but in the end, it’s worth it. The classic Bolognese lasagna is made with a rich, meaty tomato sauce and layers of creamy bechamel sauce. It’s a classic for a reason because it’s full of flavor and always delicious.
As with anything, making lasagna leaves room for exploring and discovering new flavors, as well as tweaking ingredients for personal diets. For example, zucchini lasagna replaces the sheets of pasta with zucchini for those who need a gluten-free option. Even better yet, this meatless lasagna is full of fresh vegetables for a nutritious and tasty dinner.
It’s always nice to have some go-to dinner recipes that feed a crowd. Lasagna is one of my favorite cozy dinners to enjoy during the winter months. It’s so cozy, warm, and leaves you feeling satisfied. This meatless lasagna is packed with fresh vegetables for a nutritious and tasty dinner that you can enjoy beyond the cooler months and make use of fresh summer produce.
Why You’ll Love Vegetable Lasagna Recipe with White Sauce
- Nutritious – Each bite of this veggie-packed lasagna is full of nutrient-dense ingredients for a flavorful dinner that you can feel good feeding your family.
- Sourdough goodness – A great way to use your sourdough discard. The internet is filled with plenty of creamy béchamel sauce recipes, but everyone has their favorite. Perfect bechamel sauce is nothing more than a basic white sauce made of flour, butter, and milk. My bechamel sauce substitutes sourdough discard in place of all-purpose flour for an easy way to use up sourdough discard, letting nothing go to waste.
- Same day – Great lasagna is typically better eaten the day after it’s baked to give the pasta and sauce a chance to set up a bit so it doesn’t fall apart as you serve it. However, because this vegetable lasagna cooks the vegetables ahead of time to remove the extra moisture, the layers hold fast minutes after removing from the oven.
- Meatless meal- Having a vegetarian lasagna recipe is the best way to enjoy a meatless meal.
- Make ahead of time – Veggie lasagna is the perfect dish to make ahead of time for an easy meal for busy weeknights. Plus, save a few steps with no boil noodles. Simply layer them with the layers of white sauce and vegetable mixture and it’s ready for the oven.
Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce Recipe Ingredients
Sourdough White Sauce
- Butter – Use unsalted butter to control the level of salt since each brand of butter varies.
- Sourdough discard – Since sourdough discard is a mixture of flour and water, use it in place of the flour as a thickener in the white sauce.
- Garlic powder – Adds flavor to the white sauce.
- Salt and black pepper – Seasons the white sauce and can be adjusted to personal preference.
- Milk – Using whole milk will give the creamy white sauce the most flavor.
Vegetable Lasagna
- Oil – I like to use lard because it’s a neutral oil and we always have plenty of it. However, use whatever neutral oil you have on hand. I recommend avocado oil or tallow.
- Spinach – I like to use frozen spinach instead of fresh spinach because it keeps so well in the freezer so I can make this dinner anytime. The other benefit is that frozen spinach releases the excess water content as it thaws.
- Onion – Mince a yellow or white onion.
- Garlic – I like to use fresh garlic cloves in the vegetable mixture.
- Carrots – Shredded carrots add a sweetness and pop of color to the vegetable mixture.
- Mushrooms – I love umami flavor that mushrooms add to the lasagna. Use white button mushrooms or baby Bella mushrooms.
- Broccoli – Adds texture and color in the veggie layer.
- Cheese – A blend of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese
- Lasagna noodles – No boil lasagna noodles make this dinner come together with minimal effort. Regular lasagna noodles often call for boiling the pasta first before layering.
How to Make Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce
Preheat the oven to 375°F/ °C.
Prepare the White Sauce
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm butter, garlic powder, salt, black pepper until the butter melts. Whisk in the sourdough discard and continue to cook over low heat until the sauce thickens, 2-4 minutes.
Next, add half of the milk and whisk to incorporate to break up the thick paste. Add the remaining milk and continue to whisk until the sauce is silky smooth and coats the back of a spoon.
Prepare the Cheese Blend
Combine 2 cups of shredded mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese in a bowl and set aside.
Prepare the Veggies
Thaw and drain frozen spinach. Squeeze excess moisture out of the spinach, set aside.
In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Once shimmering, add the garlic and yellow onion and saute for 5 minutes, until the edges start to caramelize. Next, add the carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and salt. Cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until the veggies are golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes. Stir in the drained spinach.
How to Layer Vegetable Lasagna
- Spread 1 cup sourdough white sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9″ X 13″ baking dish.
Then add:
- Top the sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles. (snap the noodles to fit the pan, overlapping the edges as needed).
- Then, add the Vegetable Layer (instructions below)
- Add another layer of lasagna noodles
- Repeat the vegetable layer.
- Top with a final layer of noodles, a layer of white sauce, and the cheese blend.
For the Vegetable Layer
- Spread 1 cup of bechamel sauce over the noodles.
- Layer 1/2 of the cooked vegetables over the creamy sauce.
- Then, sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Spread 1 cup of bechamel sauce over the cheese
Wrap a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil lid and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese turns golden brown.
Remove from oven and let the lasagna cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
How To Store Healthy Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce
Allow the lasagna to cool to room temperature. Then, cover the top of the baking dish with plastic wrap or place the leftover vegetable lasagna in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to five days.
What To Serve With Homemade Lasagna
- Salad – Serve with caprese salad, Caesar salad, or a simple salad with vinaigrette dressing.
- Bread – Add sourdough pull apart cheese and garlic bread, seeded multigrain bread or sourdough bread with butter
- Roasted vegetables – Herb roasted parmesan acorn squash, roasted asparagus, or green beans.
Vegetable Lasagna With Sourdough White Sauce
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Ingredients
Sourdough White Sauce
- 85 g unsalted butter 6 tbsp
- 250 g sourdough discard 1 cup
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 976 g whole milk 4 cups
Lasagna
- 10 oz frozen spinach thaw and squeeze excess moisture
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 large onion dice
- 3 cloves garlic mince
- ¾ cup carrots shred
- 8 oz baby Bella mushrooms slice
- 1 cup broccoli
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- ½ cup shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/ °C.
Prepare the White Sauce
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm 85 g (6 tbsp)butter, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, and ½ tsp black pepper until the butter melts. Whisk in 250 g (1 cup) sourdough discard and continue to cook over low heat until the sauce thickens, 2-4 minutes.
- Next, add (488 g/ 2 cups) half of the milk and whisk to incorporate to break up the thick paste. Add the remaining (488 g/ 2 cups) milk and continue to whisk until the sauce is silky smooth and coats the back of a spoon.
Prepare the Cheese Blend
- Combine 2 cups of shredded mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese in a bowl and set aside.
Prepare the Veggies
- Thaw and drain frozen spinach. Squeeze excess moisture out of the spinach, set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Once shimmering, add the garlic and yellow onion and saute for 5 minutes, until the edges start to caramelize. Next, add the carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and salt. Cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until the veggies are golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes. Stir in the drained spinach.
How to Layer Vegetable Lasagna
- Spread 1 cup sourdough white sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9″ X 13″ baking dish.
- Then add: Top the sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles. (snap the noodles to fit the pan, overlapping the edges as needed).
- Then, add the Vegetable Layer (instructions below)
- Add another layer of lasagna noodles
- Repeat the vegetable layer.
- Top with a final layer of noodles, a layer of white sauce, and the cheese blend.
The Vegetable Layer
- Spread 1 cup of bechamel sauce over the noodles.
- Layer 1/2 of the cooked vegetables over the creamy sauce.
- Then, sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Spread 1 cup of bechamel sauce over the cheese.
Bake
- Wrap a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the lasagna and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil lid and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese turns golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let the lasagna cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
