I love lasagna in all its forms, especially these cute little Lasagna Roll Ups that are perfectly portioned for meal prep. Stash a few portions of these in your freezer for a rainy day and you will THANK yourself later. Promise. Lasagna roll ups are flexible and you can fill them with whatever you like, sausage, beef, or even make them vegetarian as I have here with a light spinach-ricotta filling. No matter the flavor, they’re delicious and fun to eat!
What Are Lasagna Roll Ups?
Lasagna roll ups have all the same components of lasagna, but they are combined in different form. Instead of layering the ingredients into a casserole dish, the filling is spread onto each lasagna noodle and then rolled into a perfect little portion. Sauce is poured over the top and then they’re baked to perfection!
Ingredients for Lasagna Roll Ups
As with traditional lasagna, the filling for these lasagna roll ups is quite flexible. Here is what you’ll need to make the vegetarian spinach and ricotta-filled version below:
- Lasagna Noodles: Each lasagna noodle makes one bundle. I like to get the flutter edge noodles instead of flat noodles because they make the prettiest roll ups.
- Cheese: We use a mix of ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese to create the most flavorful filling for the roll ups.
- Egg: Egg helps bind the cheese filling and keeps the filling moist and rich. I have, on occasion, forgotten the egg and the lasagna roll ups still turned out quite delicious, just not as moist.
- Frozen Spinach: I chose to make a vegetarian version of lasagna roll ups to save on money, using an inexpensive block of frozen cut spinach, but you can swap for Italian sausage or ground beef if you want a meat version. Sautéed mushrooms also work well.
- Pasta Sauce: To make this recipe extra easy, I used a simple jar of pasta sauce to drench the lasagna roll ups. If you prefer to make your own, you can use our Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce, or our quick Weeknight Pasta Sauce and have meat in addition to the spinach.
What to Serve with Lasagna Roll Ups
Some homemade garlic bread and a nice side salad would be perfect to pair with this meal and will add some color and freshness to the plate. But the roll ups are pretty filling on their own, so you won’t need to add much to make it a meal!
Meal Prep It!
These lasagna roll ups will stay good in the refrigerator for about five days, so make sure to portion them out into air-tight containers after cooking for quick grab-and-reheat meals for the rest of the week. After the portions are chilled in the refrigerator you can transfer some to the freezer for longer storage (up to three months).
To reheat the frozen lasagna roll ups, either let them thaw in the refrigerator over night before reheating in the microwave, or go straight from the freezer to the microwave, making sure to use the defrost function first.
Lasagna Roll Ups
Servings 8 (2 rolls each)Ingredients
- 12 oz. lasagna noodles ($2.19)
- 15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese ($3.39)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided ($2.33)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.38)
- 1 large egg ($0.09)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed ($1.20)
- 1 24oz. jar pasta sauce ($1.99)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add 1 tsp salt to season the water, then add the lasagna noodles. Boil the noodles just until al dente (they become too delicate to roll if they are too soft). Drain the noodles in a colander.
- While the noodles are boiling, drain the thawed spinach, squeezing out as much of the excess water as possible. Add the spinach to a bowl with the ricotta, 1 cup of the mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Once the lasagna noodles have cooled enough to touch with your hands, lay a few noodles out onto a clean surface. Spread about ¼ cup of the spinach and cheese filling onto each noodle, spreading it from edge to edge. It's okay if the filling is thin or doesn't create a solid layer. Roll the noodles up, then place in a large casserole dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles until you've used all of the filling. You should get about 16 roll ups and you may have a few noodles left over (those will be back up in case any tear).
- Once all of the noodles are filled, rolled, and placed in the casserole dish, pour the jar of pasta sauce over top. Top the lasagna roll ups with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake the lasagna roll ups for 30 minutes in the preheated 400ºF oven. Serve hot and enjoy!
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Nutrition
How to Make Lasagna Roll Ups – Step by Step Photos
Thaw one 10oz. package of frozen chopped spinach (either use the defrost function on a microwave or transfer it to the refrigerator the day before to thaw). Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Once the spinach is fully thawed, squeeze out as much water as possible from the spinach. You should have about one cup tightly packed spinach after squeezing.
Add the spinach to a large bowl with one large egg, 15oz. ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir everything together until evenly combined.
Boil 12oz. lasagna noodles until al dente, then drain in a colander. Do not let the noodles overcook or they’ll be too delicate to work with. You’ll only need 12 noodles, but you’ll likely have a few more if you boil an entire 12oz. box. It’s always good to have a few back up in case they tear as you’re filling and rolling.
Lay a few of the lasagna noodles out onto a clean surface and spread a thin layer of the cheese filling onto each noodle from edge to edge. The filling does not need to be thick or in a solid layer because it adds up when the noodles are rolled. I used heaping ¼ cup of filling per noodle.
As you fill and roll the noodles, place them in a large casserole dish. Pour one 24oz. jar of marinara sauce over the lasagna roll ups.
Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella over the lasagna roll ups.
Cover the baking dish and bake the roll ups for about 30 minutes in the preheated 400ºF oven, or until the sauce and cheese are bubbling up around the edges.
Serve and enjoy! (Garnish with parsley for a little extra color, if desired.)
I didn’t use eggs as suggested. Just added Mexican mixed cheeses, mozzarella. Parmesan and frozen spinach plus ricotta cheese.
Used marinara sauce with sriracha, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of sugar..
Cover the rolled up lasagna with foil and baked for 30 min at 400..
Tastes fantastic.
This was delicious and simple. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Beth! I wonder where your spinach and artichoke lasagna recipe went? It’s been my go-to lasagna recipe for years and I’ve been searching your site high and low and can’t Seem to find it. This recipe seems like it’s the closest as far as for the cheesy layer. I almost have it memorized, but would love to review the actual recipe once more before I make it tonight.
I can email it to you (the email address you used to register this comment)! :)
Hi Beth…….Oh me too please…..would love the spinach and artichoke lasagna recipe
Just sent. :)
Hi Denise, I tried emailing it to the address you used to register this comment, but it bounced back as undeliverable. If you email us at support@budgetbytes.com we can replay with the recipe for you. :)
If I use fresh spinach, how do I know how much to use to equal the 10oz of frozen?
Unfortunately, I’m not sure. This recipe is so old that I didn’t measure the volume of the spinach after it was thawed and squeezed of the excess moisture. In the photos it looks like maybe one cup packed. So if you’re using fresh, you’ll want to sauté it down until the spinach is very wilted and all the excess moisture evaporates away, then you’ll probably need about 1 cup at that stage.
I’ve used fresh spinach too! I just wilt it with a splash of olive oil. I used a 10oz bag and it turned out beautifully!
I love anything pasta, and especially lasagna! This recipe sounds so delicious! I cannot wait to try it.
Hmm yummy… thanks for the recipe
Delicious! Had raw spinach instead of frozen, just sautéed it wit a lil oil & came out amazing! Highly recommend this recipe. Also added garlic which just made it that much more amazing
Can these be frozen?
Yes :)
I’ve been making a similar recipe for years. If you remember the now defunct Bennigans Restaurant chain, they had similar roll-up dish on their menu in the 1980’s… Their recipe had a twist… Super thin shaved PASTRAMI!!! I would HIGHLY recommend adding a layer of shaved pastrami to the roll-ups! ( will cost a bit more but WORTH IT! )
Thank you for reminding me Beth… People have been asking me to make pastrami roll-ups for awhile now.. It’s on the To-Do list!
I loved this recipe but I have a question. Your final picture does not show the marinara covering all the shells. Its a prettier way to display the roll ups for sure. Do you recommend baking them plain and then adding the marinara separately, as was done in the picture?
I would cover them at least most of the way because that keeps the pasta from drying out. A few crispy edges on the pasta arent’ bad, but if you don’t use any sauce to cover them they’ll definitely dry out.
i really like the way u mentioned everything in detailed 😇
Can these be made the day prior and reheated the day of? I’ve see. I’ve also seen some recipes that call for the sauce to be a dipping sauce instead. Is that a possibility?
Yes, these reheat very well. :) The only issue you might run into with just using the sauce for dipping is that the noodles will probably dry out and get tough if baked “naked” without the sauce to keep them moist.
No temperature listed to bake
The temperature is listed in step 3 where it instructs you to preheat to 400ºF, but I went ahead and added it in the last step as well so it wouldn’t be missed. :)
The lasagna rolls look mouth-watering. can you suggest me something else instead of egg?
Have you tried this with zucchini instead of lasagna noodles? Would any of the requirements change?
That sounds delicious! We haven’t tried that yet but I think it would be great! You won’t have to bake as long I would imagine. But just keep your eye on it.