My freezer is lookin’ a little bare these days, so it’s time to start making some stuff that I can freeze portions of for nights when I just want to pop something in the microwave. These Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups are the perfect “homemade microwave dinner.” I can freeze two roll-ups in individual containers and have a super hearty and delicious meal ready after only a couple minutes in the microwave (AND I can pair it with some Freezer Garlic Bread!).
What’s in Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups?
This recipe is a spin-off of my old (and wildly popular) Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups. This time, though, I packed it full of more vegetables and nixed the egg. Why did I do away with the egg? Because once the egg is removed, there are no more “raw” ingredients that need to be cooked for safety.
This means I can just roll the filling up in the lasagna noodles, pour sauce over top, and pop them in the freezer. No need to bake first. Of course, I did bake these Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups as if I was serving the whole pan for dinner so I could photograph them for the blog, but you wouldn’t have to if you didn’t want to. And to my delight, the filling was plenty firm after cooking, even without the egg.
How to Freeze Lasagna Roll Ups
I like to divide mine into single portions of two roll ups each before freezing. That way I can take out one serving at a time to reheat whenever I want. You can freeze the entire casserole whole, if you prefer, but that can make reheating a bit more complicated. To reheat a previously frozen whole dish of lasagna roll ups, let it thaw in the refrigerator over night first, then bake as directed in the recipe below.
Anyway, are you ready to see how to make these tasty little roll ups?
Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups
Servings 6 (2 roll ups each)Ingredients
- 1 lb. lasagna noodles ($2.15)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.70)
- 8 oz. button mushrooms ($1.78)
- 1 zucchini ($0.84)
- 2 carrots ($0.22)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- Salt and Pepper to taste ($0.10)
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese ($1.94)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.33)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.36)
- 1 24oz. jar pasta sauce ($1.98)
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water. Once the water is boiling, add the lasagna noodles and boil just until tender. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.
- While the lasagna noodles are boiling, prepare the vegetable mix. Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Add the cooking oil to a large skillet, along with the garlic and onion, and sauté over medium heat until the onions are transparent.
- While the onions are cooking, rinse and thinly slice the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and continue to sauté. While the mushrooms are cooking, grate the zucchini and carrots on a large holed cheese grater. Add the zucchini and carrots to the skillet, along with the oregano, about 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Continue to sauté until most of the moisture has evaporated (juice should no longer pool on the bottom of the skillet). Remove the skillet from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
- Next, prepare the cheese mix. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir until they are evenly combined. Add the slightly cooled sautéed vegetables and stir to combine again. Taste and adjust the salt or pepper if needed.
- Carefully lay out a few lasagna noodles at a time on a flat surface. Add approximately 1/3 cup of the vegetable and cheese mixture to each noodle, then spread the mixture from end to end, leaving about a 1/2 inch bare at each end of the noodle. Once covered in the filling, roll the noodles up. You should get approximately finished 12 roll ups (you may have extra noodles).
- To bake the roll ups, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9×9 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread about 1/4 of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish, then arrange the roll ups on top. Pour the remaining sauce over top. Bake for 40 minutes, or until heated through.
- To freeze the roll ups, Place two roll ups each in a freezer and microwave safe container, then pour sauce over top. Freeze for up to three months. Reheat in the microwave when ready to eat.
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Nutrition
How to Make Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups – Step by Step Photos
First, boil one pound of lasagna noodles according to the package directions. I didn’t use the entire pound of pasta, but it’s nice to have some extra because a few will undoubtably tear. Be careful while stirring them in the pot to help prevent tearing. Only boil until they are just tender. Over boiling will make them delicate and more likely to tear.
While the pasta is boiling, prepare the vegetable mix. I used 2 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 8oz. mushrooms, 1 zucchini, and two carrots. You can use different vegetables if you’d like.
Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Add both to a large skillet with 1 Tbsp canola oil and sauté over medium heat. While the onion and garlic are sautéing, rinse the mushrooms then slice them thinly. Add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet and continue to sauté until they are limp.
While the mushrooms are sautéing, grate the zucchini using a large holed cheese grater. Peel the carrots, then grate them in the same manner.
Add the zucchini and carrot to the skillet, along with 1 tsp dried oregano, about 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Continue to sauté until most of the moisture has evaporated away (about five minutes). There should no longer be juice pooling on the bottom of the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and allow it to cool a little (you don’t want it so hot that it melts the cheese).
To a large bowl add 15oz. ricotta, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, and another 1/4 tsp salt. Stir until evenly combined.
When the vegetables have cooled a little, add them to the cheese mixture.
Stir the vegetables and cheese together, then taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper. This is another advantage of not having the egg! You can safely taste the mixture to see if the seasoning is adequate before cooking it. Woot.
Carefully lay out a few of the cooked and drained lasagna noodles on a flat surface. Place about 1/3 cup of the vegetable and cheese mixture onto each noodle, then spread it from end to end (I like to leave about a 1/2 inch bare at each end). Then just roll ’em on up!
Once you have them all rolled up, you can either bake it like a casserole, or freeze individual portions. If you want to freeze them, just pop a couple of the Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups into a freezer and microwave safe container, pour sauce over top, and they’re ready to freeze.
To bake the Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups as a casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9×9 inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Add about 1/4 of the pasta sauce to the bottom of the dish, then arrange the roll ups on top.
Pour the remaining sauce over top.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until it’s heated through. I like my noodles a little crispy on the edges and I like it when the sauce gets nice and thick, so I did not cover the casserole dish. If you want the noodles to stay soft and moist from edge to edge, you can cover the dish with foil.
These little Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups are a lot more filling than they appear! Super good and gives me that pasta fix while sneaking in the vegetables.
Just made this for dinner tonight. It was AMAZING! I made it per your instructions without any adjustments. The mushrooms make it so deliciously meaty. This is going to be a new household staple! :D
Hey Beth! Love your blog and all the recipes. You have changed the way my family grocery shops and eats.
We made these tonight (using about twice the zucchini cause we had a huge one from our garden) and they were absolutely wonderful! Even my almost 1 year old son loved them!! We ended up freezing about half of them for later dinners. Thank you again!
I’ve had a particularly carb-heavy week, so I tried a variation of this with sliced eggplant (salted/drained/microwaved for a few minutes to soften) in place of the lasagna noodles. It was delicious! I can’t wait to make again with the noodles and play around with different veggies.
Thanks for another great recipe!
I have had good luck with substituting mashed tofu for the ricotta cheese and save a lot of money and improve the nutritional value, with no noticeable change in texture or flavor. When I serve it to people (including my family), they have no idea unless I tell them. I still use the mozzerella and parmesan as called for. I also sometimes replace part or all of the ricotta with peeled, finely grated zucchini without my kids noticing (I can’t get zucchini in them as easily otherwise).
What firmness of tofu do you use? I never make lasagna because the amount of cheese is just too much for me; would be great to be able to cut down.
How long would you estimate is boiling the noodles until “just tender”?
It will probably vary a little bit from brand to brand and depending on the size of your pot. They’ll take slightly longer than regular pasta because the pieces are so big. Mine took somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 minutes, but just keep an eye on them. Wait for them to get floppy, but not so soft that they break apart. You can also check the box for an estimated cooking time.
Do you think I could cook this in a small aluminum pan on the bbq? Pretty warm here, hate to turn on the oven.
I’ve never tried to cook anything like this on a grill before. But, since you’re really just heating the dish through when baking it, you can probably achieve the same thing in a BBQ. On the top rack, probably, and I’d cover the dish with foil.
Oh wow, thank you, these look great.
I just went vegetarian/vegan recently, so if I’m on one of my vegetarian days I can still eat this. And it looks fabulous. Will definitely be trying it, as I love anything that’s pasta :)
Made these last night, and they are absolutely wonderful! I am stocking the freezer now with them for future quick lunches or dinners! Thank you!! :)
Hi Beth! First, I have yet to find a recipe of yours that hasn’t worked: they’re all so delicious.
Second, I saw in your info that you’re a microbiologist! I’m a fellow science-nerd who’s studying medicine in college now. Have you ever considered doing a blog post on the science behind cooking? That may be too “out there” and atypical, but I know of at least one reader who’d love it! :)
Thanks for all the awesome recipes!!
Although I love the science behind cooking, explaining it might be out of my league! I think I’ll leave that to Alton Brown (that’s why I love him!). :)
These look amazing! How long do you think they can stay good in the freezer?
A few months, probably. They will slowly dry out or get freezer burn over time, so it’s not like there is a hard date for good vs. bad.
These look wonderful, I added it to my meal plan for next week. Thanks for the inspiration!!
This will be excellent converted to vegan by adding 1 lb extra firm tofu, drained and pressed, 5 oz garlic hummus (heaping ½ cup), ¼ cup nutritional yeast for the dairy mixture!
Yet another fabulous, easy dish! I am so excited to make it!
This looks like it would be a great summer time dinner – filling but not too heavy.
First and foremost thank you for always doing such a wonderful job on your blog posts. I always look forward to them and my wallet thanks you :). Unfortunately, I am not such a mushroom fan (texture thing). What do you suggest I replace them with. What would be another good veggie to sub in?
There are so many possibilities here. I almost did broccoli (chopped in very small pieces). You could also do red bell pepper, frozen spinach, or yellow squash.