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!
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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
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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.)
Oh My, I have to make these! Something new and different to tantalize the palate with!
I took the picture before cooking just so it would be easier to see all of the ingredients :P You can try baking them in in foil packs and then pouring the sauce on later. Just tear off a large piece of foil, place two roll-ups on the foil, bring the sides up and fold it into an envelope to completely seal the foil packet. Bake as directed then pour warm sauce over top after baking.
How do you make these as they are presented in the last photo? Your directions tell us to put the marinara sauce on before baking to ensure softness and hydration, but I want to know how to make them look as pretty as you have in your final photo.
How would you keep the noodle soft and hydrated and fully cooked without putting the marinara sauce on it until right before it’s served?
Made these same night as fritters as per suggestion. These were wonderful and fairly easy to make just takes time. Like that they are so easily changed with different stuff. Loved that it was a meat free meal all around!
I made these tonight, but had more spinach in it and substituted marscapone for the ricotta, based on what I had on hand. It was delicious none the less! I’m going to try it with other fillings to see what combinations taste as good :)
Thanks much
This is my favourite out of your January recipes. Because a) I had something similar a couple of weeks ago and b) because it looks and tastes absolutely wonderful.
I made this yesterdays! I added chopped mushrooms and it turned out great! Unfortunately the tomato sauce I used on top wasn’t too awesome so it sort of ruined it .I will make it again though!
Lindsay – you can bake the whole thing then divide it up into individual containers (like ziplock or gladware), refrigerate until completely cooled then just toss it into the freezer. TThen just microwave to thaw/reheat. That’s what I did… OR, you can divide it up before baking, pour sauce over each in the containers and then freeze. Reheating from frozen will completely cook it so there is no need to bake them first if you’re just going to freeze the whole lot. Hope that helps :D
Can you give any tips on how to freeze this recipe. It’s just my husband and me, so I’d like to freeze some of the leftovers. Thanks! I’m loving this site!
This was so good! I doubled the filling and added kalamata and black olives, halved. I will be making it again~think I will add eggplant next time. Oh~I also made the marinara sauce. Quick and easy. I just added a little salt and it was perfect. I also used some primo balsalmic vinegar. Made a difference.
Sam – I was thinking about adding garlic powder in the cheese mix, that would definitely punch up the flavor. Also, you could add feta which is really strong and would really ramp it up. Plus, feta and spinach are just made for each other! Making sure you have a really good, flavorful sauce will also help.
any ideas for making it more flavorful? I think it’s because I used store-bought cheese and whole-wheat noodles, but mine was kind of bland. I added some oregano and basil. Maybe I should roast some garlic and add it to the filling?
Ideas are appreciated!
sam that sounds good i will try it thanks for that idea
Made it today for game day… it was delicious! Thanks for sharing with us.
made it : http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrvjtod/5382564262/in/photostream/
just popped it in the oven to bake
OMG i cannot actually wait to try this.
this looks delicious! and at such a cheap price too :D