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These easy lasagna roll ups are stuffed with spinach and three different types of cheese for a hearty and satisfying vegetarian dinner. The cozy, flavorful dish is a fun twist on traditional lasagna, and is a tasty meatless entrée to serve with salad and garlic bread.
Lasagna roll ups are a delicious cross between a classic lasagna casserole and a pan of stuffed shells. There’s no actual layering necessary for this dish, and they’re great for portion control! Instead, the cooked lasagna noodles wrap around a cheesy spinach filling, creating a simple and flavorful stuffed pasta dish that’s totally kid-approved.
What else can you do with lasagne sheets?
While lasagna noodles are most commonly used for the traditional layered lasagna casserole, you can use this shape of pasta for other dishes, too. Not only is it perfect for these vegetarian lasagna roll ups, but we also love to use it for lasagna soup. Looking for even more ideas? Check out this helpful article, which includes 39 ways to take advantage of the big, flat sheets of pasta.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for a pan of cheesy lasagna roll ups. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Lasagna noodles: for this recipe, you’ll need traditional lasagna noodles, not the “oven-ready” or “no boil” variety.
- Frozen chopped spinach: thawed and squeezed really dry in a dish towel so that you don’t end up with a watery lasagna filling. See my notes below if you’d like to use fresh spinach.
- Ricotta cheese: forms the base of the thick, creamy, cheesy filling. You can substitute with small curd cottage cheese for a lighter option.
- Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese: these additional cheeses add flavor to the roll-ups. The more cheese the better, right?!
- Egg: helps bind the ricotta filling so that it doesn’t ooze out of the pasta.
- Fresh basil, salt, garlic powder, and ground nutmeg: classic Italian herbs and spices that give this lasagna roll ups even more flavor.
- Marinara sauce: pick a high-quality store-bought jar or make your own at home with this easy recipe. You’ll need a total of about 2 ½ cups.
Lasagna Roll Ups with Fresh Spinach
If you prefer, you can use fresh spinach for this recipe in lieu of the frozen chopped spinach — but you will need a lot of fresh spinach! The beauty of frozen chopped spinach is that it’s already condensed, so you get a large amount of spinach at a very inexpensive price — and you don’t need to cook it before adding it to the ricotta mixture.
If you’d like to substitute with fresh spinach, a 10 oz package of frozen spinach is the equivalent of about a 1 pound bunch of fresh spinach. So, for this recipe, you’ll need about 2 lbs. of fresh spinach. If you’re buying fresh spinach, it’s wise to buy more than you think you’ll need because some bunches will need the stalks trimmed off and that will decrease the weight before cooking. You’ll also need to cook the fresh spinach, drain it, and squeeze out the excess liquid before adding it to the cheese mixture.
How to Make Lasagna Roll Ups
While they might look fancy, I assure you — if you can boil pasta, you can make these easy lasagna roll-ups! Plus, they’re a great prep-ahead, freezer-friendly option for weeknight meals. Stash them in your fridge or keep them in your freezer, and you’ll be glad that dinner’s waiting for you when you’re ready to bake them. Classic comfort foods!
- Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water according to the package directions for al dente. Drain the noodles, and then pat them dry. I like to arrange them on towel-lined baking sheets so that they dry off and don’t stick together.
- Pour half of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a greased 13 x 9-inch casserole dish.
- Stir together the spinach and cheese filling.
- Spread the ricotta mixture in a thin layer on each of 12 lasagna noodles. Roll up the noodles, and place them seam side down in the baking dish.
- Pour or spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the top. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
- Cover the pan with foil.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, removing the cover during the final 5-10 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or basil, and an extra sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese or crushed red pepper flakes.
What to Serve with Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups
These cheesy lasagna roll ups are delicious alongside any of the following sides:
- Garlic Bread or Breadsticks
- 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits, Flaky Biscuits, Cheese Biscuits, or Drop Biscuits
- Crusty French Baguette, Cheddar Chive Beer Bread, Soft Dinner Rolls, or Homemade Crescent Rolls
- 3-Ingredient Sour Cream Muffins, Pumpkin Muffins, or Pumpkin Bread
- Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, Mixed Greens with Dijon Vinaigrette, Wedge Salad with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, Caesar Salad, or our favorite House Salad with Candied Pecans
- Southern Fried Apples or Baked Apple Slices
- Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
- Roasted Broccoli or Broccoli and Cheese
- Roasted Asparagus or Sauteed Asparagus
- Amish Green Beans with Brown Butter, Arkansas Green Beans with Bacon, or Southern-Style Green Beans
- Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
- Sauteed Zucchini or Roasted Yellow Squash
- Fennel salad with apples and creamy cider dressing
- Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables
Make Ahead
Assemble the spinach lasagna roll ups in advance, but do not bake. Wrap tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours before baking, or freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, allow the refrigerated roll-ups to sit on the counter and come to room temperature for at least 30-60 minutes before baking. If you’re baking them directly from the freezer, bake the dish covered in a 350°F oven for 1 hour. Then remove the cover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until heated through.
Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
How to Reheat
Cover the pan with foil and heat in a 350°F oven until warmed through, about 15-20 minutes. You can also reheat individual servings in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds.
Recipe Variations
- I prefer ricotta cheese because it has a thicker, smoother, creamier texture than cottage cheese. For a lighter choice, you can substitute with small curd or whipped cottage cheese. If the cottage cheese looks like it has a lot of liquid, strain it before combining it with the rest of the ingredients.
- Add ground beef, ground turkey, chicken, or Italian sausage to the marinara sauce if you’re not concerned with preparing a vegetarian dish.
- White Vegetarian Lasagna Roll-Ups: substitute Alfredo sauce for the marinara sauce.
- Cooking for Two? Divide the full recipe between two smaller 8-inch square baking dishes. That way you get two meals with the same amount of effort, and you can freeze one for a later date. Alternatively, you can cut all of the ingredients in half and prepare the roll-ups in an 8-inch square dish. The baking instructions remain the same.
Tips for the Best Vegetarian Lasagna Roll Ups Recipe
- The egg is an important component of the ricotta mixture because it helps the cheese layer “set” so that it doesn’t ooze out of the pasta.
- Use whole milk ricotta cheese for the richest, creamiest, smoothest texture.
- To bulk up the dish and include even more nutritious veggies in the casserole, saute sliced mushrooms, chopped bell peppers, diced onion, garlic, zucchini, or other vegetables of choice and stir them into the marinara sauce.
- Garnish each serving with chopped fresh herbs, additional grated Parmesan cheese, or crushed red pepper flakes (for a little bit of spice)!
More Lasagna Recipes to Try
- Spinach Lasagna
- Lasagna Soup {Slow Cooker or Stovetop}
- Homemade Lasagna
- Vegetable Lasagna
- Skillet Lasagna
- Chicken Lasagna
- Mexican Lasagna
- Ravioli Lasagna with Spinach and Ricotta
- Turkey and Pesto Slow Cooker Lasagna
- Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups
Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
- 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- ÂĽ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried basil)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 (24 ounce) jar marinara sauce (about 2 ½ cups total)
Instructions
- Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain well and pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 13 x 9-inch dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour half of the marinara sauce into the bottom of the dish. Save the rest of the sauce for later.
- Squeeze all of the liquid out of the spinach. I like to use a dish towel for this, and just keep squeezing until you wring out as much water as possible. Place spinach in a large bowl.
- Add ricotta, 1 ½ cups of the mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil, salt, and garlic powder to the bowl with the spinach. Stir really well with a fork to combine. Add a pinch of optional nutmeg, if desired.
- Spread the ricotta mixture in a thin layer on each of 12 lasagna noodles. Roll up the noodles and arrange them seam-side down in the prepared baking dish.
- Pour or spoon the remaining half of the marinara sauce over top. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella.
- Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, or until heated through. Remove the foil cover during the final 5-10 minutes to allow the cheese to get a little bit crispy on top.
Notes
- The egg is an important component of the ricotta mixture because it helps the cheese layer “set” so that it doesn’t ooze out of the pasta.
- Use whole milk ricotta cheese for the richest, creamiest, smoothest texture.
- To bulk up the dish and include even more nutritious veggies in the casserole, saute sliced mushrooms, chopped bell peppers, diced onion, garlic, zucchini, or other vegetables of choice and stir them into the marinara sauce.
- Garnish each serving with chopped fresh herbs, additional grated Parmesan cheese, or crushed red pepper flakes (for a little bit of spice)!