Easy Eggplant Lasagna with No Boil Noodles
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This Eggplant Lasagna recipe is a warm and cozy vegetarian meal with layers of eggplant, tomato, savory spinach, creamy ricotta, and no-boil noodles. Easy to make, perfect for making ahead, it’s a meal that will delight your guests and family!
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Eggplant Lasagna Prep
This easy eggplant lasagna is perfect for entertaining and meal prep. I love to prep the eggplant a day ahead and assemble the lasagna on the morning I’m serving the dish. Refrigerate until ready to bake.
Eggplant Lasagna Ingredients
- Eggplant: Roasted eggplant is one of the most delicious parts of this meal. If you’re wondering if you can skip this step, I would advise against it. Roasted eggplant helps prevent excess moisture in the dish. If you use raw eggplant, the lasagna will be watery.
- Tomatoes: I love adding layers of paper-thin sliced heirloom tomatoes to the eggplant lasagna for a variety of flavor and texture.
- Spinach: A scattering of spinach between the layers brings a delicious, nutrient-rich ingredient to the meal.
- Marinara Sauce: This is the base that flavors the meal. You can make your own or use ready-made, store-bought marinara (which I’m doing in this recipe!).
- Mozzarella Cheese: This helps add a layer of melty creaminess that beautifully compliments the lasagna.
- Parmesan Cheese: This grated aged cheese brings a delicious, familiar flavor and helps create a golden crust when baked.
- Ricotta Cheese: This creamy cheese provides a pleasant, slightly tangy flavor. You can substitute tofu ricotta as well.
- Herbs: Fresh basil or fresh parsley.
- Seasonings: garlic cloves, pinch of ground cinnamon, and dried chili peppers for the savory ricotta spread.
- No Boil Lasagna: These noodle sheets speed up the assembly of this dish, making it ready for the oven in no time.
How to Make Eggplant Lasagna
Here are the easy steps to make this delicious lasagna. Step-by-step instructions are also in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Roasted Eggplant
This step can easily be completed up to a day before baking the lasagna. Or the eggplant can be roasted just before assembling the dish.
Preheat the oven to 450℉ and line a baking sheet with foil brushed with olive oil. Slice the eggplant 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss with olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons). Add to baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly colored on the bottom and soft. Remove from the oven, carefully draw the foil into a loose packet, and let the eggplant cool and steam in the foil for 10 to 15 minutes.
Creamy Ricotta
Combine ricotta cheese, garlic, egg, Italian parsley, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Assemble the Eggplant Lasagna
I like to assemble the lasagna, cover, and refrigerate it on the morning I’m baking the dish although you can assemble and bake without making it ahead as well.
- Preheat oven to 375° and coat a rectangular baking dish (9 x 13-inch) with nonstick cooking spray and reserve 3/4 cup of marinara sauce for the top of the lasagna; set aside.
- Assemble the layers: Ladle 1/2-3/4 cup of marinara sauce into the prepared baking dish to cover the bottom lightly. Then, place three no-boil lasagne pasta sheets over the sauce. Spoon a layer of marinara sauce over the noodles, and top with 1/3 of the thin layers of tomato and eggplant slices, ricotta cheese mixture, spinach, and a layer of mozzarella. Repeat this layer two more times for a total of 3 layers—top with reserved marinara and remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the lasagna is golden and bubbling. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Eggplant Lasagna FAQs and Tips
Absolutely! Substitute no-boil gluten-free lasagna noodles.
It’s one of the things I love about this dish. Assemble the lasagna up to 3 days ahead (although my preference is the morning before baking), cover with foil so it’s ready for the oven, and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake. Or, you can roast the eggplant, mix together the creamy ricotta, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the dish.
It does! You can freeze the entire unbaked lasagna in a freezer-safe casserole dish or cut baked lasagna into serving pieces and freeze them individually. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat at 350 degrees F, or until internal temp reaches 145 degrees F.
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Easy Eggplant Lasagna with No Boil Noodles
Ingredients
Roasted Eggplant
- 1 large eggplant sliced paper-thin and roasted (about 1 1/4 pounds)
- olive oil for drizzling
Creamy Ricotta
- 15 ounce part-skim ricotta cheese (1 container)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chili peppers
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- tiny pinch of ground cinnamon
Lasagna
- 24 ounce jarred marinara sauce or 3 cups homemade
- 9 no boil lasagna noodle sheets
- 2 large Heirloom tomatoes thinly sliced (combine golden yellow and brilliant red varieties)
- 1 bunch spinach leaves veins removed
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese or to taste
- 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
Roasted Eggplant
- Preheat the oven to 450℉ and line a baking sheet with foil brushed with olive oil. Slice the eggplant 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss with olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons). Add to baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly colored on the bottom and soft. Remove from the oven, carefully draw the foil into a loose packet, and let the eggplant cool and steam in the foil for 10 to 15 minutes.
- This step can be done a day in advance. Refrigerate the eggplant until you're ready to assemble the eggplant lasagna, or proceed with the recipe.
Creamy Ricotta
- Combine ricotta cheese, garlic, egg, Italian parsley, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Assemble the Eggplant Lasagna
- Preheat oven to 375° and coat a rectangular baking dish (9 x 13-inch) with nonstick cooking spray.
- Reserve 3/4 cup of marinara sauce for the top of the lasagna and set aside.
- Ladle 1/2-3/4 cup of marinara sauce into the prepared baking dish to lightly cover the bottom. Then, place 3 no-boil lasagne pasta sheets over the sauce. Spoon a layer of marinara sauce over the noodles, and top with 1/3 of the thin layers of tomato and eggplant slices, ricotta cheese mixture, spinach, and a layer of mozzarella. Repeat this layer two more times for a total of 3 layers—top with reserved marinara, and remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the lasagna is golden and bubbling. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.