Butternut Squash Lasagna

Forget pumpkin. During fall, we're all about cooking with butternut squash. Here the creamy autumn vegetable essentially replaces the marinara or bolognese. Instead, the lasagna layers are filled butternut squash, spinach, bechamel, and cheese. The combination is ridiculously cozy and comforting. 

Want to make it ahead? You can assemble and bake the entire thing in advance, just let it cool to room temperature before wrapping it tightly and freezing it. Reheat it in a 350° oven, covered, until warmed through. 

How do you make sheets out of butternut squash
Although this recipe doesn’t require butternut squash sheets you could try this method another time. And, it’s not as tricky one would think. There are a few ways to do this such as using a sharp wide vegetable peeler to create sheets. Technology has also made it pretty easy to create butternut squash sheets. Just as you can attach a pasta roller to your mixer you can also do this with vegetable peelers. Pretty cool, right?

How to prevent runny lasagna

 If using a tomato sauce make sure to cook the tomato sauce (if homemade) until it’s on the thicker side. You don’t want a runny tomato sauce. Also, make sure you’re not overloading on sauce. Should be a good balance of sauce to noodles to cheese. If using a fresh cheese such as ricotta or cottage cheese it helps to drain excess liquid. This goes for fresh mozzarella versus the dryer kind found shredded or in a block.Vegetables like squash can drum up moisture. It’s always a good idea to pre-cook vegetables before layering them into lasagna. That will evaporate some moisture. Also could aid in building flavor!

How long should I store this for?

Although this lasagna doesn’t contain any meat or seafood it’s best kept in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container. You could also portion out the pieces and freeze in zip bags or pieces of foil. Once frozen you could reheat right from the freezer over the month- which is great for lazy nights.

Made this recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

Editor’s Note: This recipe was updated on August 1, 2022.