A spicy, cheesy vegetarian lasagna made with onions, speckled with cumin seeds, and loaded with a variety of veggies and cheese. This Indian-style vegetable lasagna is easy to make, layered with spices and flavor, and the ultimate fusion comfort food.
This lasagna is perfect for holidays, casual gatherings, or even to prep ahead of a busy week (the leftovers are delicious and only get better as the week goes on!).
Indian Style Vegetable Lasagna
This is obviously not a traditional Indian dish, it’s an Italian one but with Indian flair. It’s well-spiced, loaded with flavor, and has been a hit with everyone who’s tried it – including my Indian parents! My mom loved it so much that she recently made it for a kitty party and all of my parent’s friends loved it too.
I have been thinking about this dish for an embarrassingly long time. I first tried an Indian-inspired lasagna a very long time ago – when I was in my late teens. My friend’s boyfriend’s roommate’s mother (can you even follow that trail? lol) made the lasagna and it was the most amazing lasagna I’d ever eaten. Spicy. Indian. Cheesy. Delicious.
I regret not getting the recipe back then, but I was a college kid that had no clue I’d end up as a food blogger. I was deciding between majors at the time – journalism, business, and pre-med (hahaha – I could never). Anyway, in the years since, I’ve made many attempts at recreating a similar lasagna. I even shared an Indian Vegetable Lasagna on the blog four years ago, made with my Onion Masala.
And while that recipe was “good enough”… good enough isn’t actually good enough. So over the past four years, I’ve been perfecting my Indian lasagna recipe, and now, I can confidently say – this recipe is “first-class” (if you know, you know, lol). You will love this.
Indian Vegetarian Lasagna Ingredients
- Oil: I like avocado oil
- Cumin Seeds
- Onions
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Indian green chilli
- Vegetables: finely chopped vegetables of choice (I like: ½ cup each: zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper, frozen corn, frozen green peas)
- Spices: garam masala, salt, black pepper, cayenne
- Marinara Sauce: I love Rao’s Marinara! It is the best.
- Ricotta Cheese: I suggest using full-fat, whole milk ricotta for the best flavor.
- Cilantro
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- Shredded Mozarella Cheese: I suggest using full-fat, whole milk cheese for the best flavor.
- Lasagna Noodles: I suggest using no-boil/oven ready lasagna noodles. Gluten-free lasagna noodles work too!
How to Make Indian Lasagna
Heat cumin seeds in oil, then caramelize onions and add ginger, garlic, chili peppers, veggies, spices, and cook.
Allow the veggies to cool down completely (you can even make it a day before and store it in the fridge). Then combine the veggies with ricotta and cilantro and mix well.
Pour some marinara sauce at the bottom of a casserole dish and add noodles on top. Then add the veg/ricotta mixture, marinara sauce, and cheese. Continue the layers until the pan is full. For the final top layer, you can add the lasagna noodles, sauce, and cheese. (I can normally fit 3 layers with a final 4th layer of sauce and cheese). The layers don’t have to be perfect, just have fun assembling.
Cover the lasagna pan with foil – make sure to spray or grease the foil with oil to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil. Bake in a preheated oven set to 350F for 50 minutes. Uncover the pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden brown and the edges are bubbling.
Can I Make and Freeze the Lasagna?
Absolutely! I love making and freezing lasagna – it cooks perfectly from frozen and saves you time on a busy day!
- How to Freeze Lasagna: prepare the lasagna as instructed below, but rather than baking it, cover the pan with plastic wrap, then cover that with aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- How to Bake a Frozen Lasagna: Before baking, remove the plastic wrap, then cover with foil and bake for around 1.5 hours. Then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- How to Freeze/Reheat Lasagna After Baking: Bake the lasagna according to directions below, then once it cools down, keep it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then remove it, wrap in plastic wrap and foil, and put it in the freezer. To reheat a frozen cooked lasagna, remove any plastic wrap, cover with foil, and bake at 350F until heated through. Remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes, then serve.
I hope you love this lasagna – leave me a comment to let me know what you think!
More Meatless Main Dish Ideas:
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons oil I like avocado oil
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 onions diced
- 5 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 Indian green chilli minced
- 2 ½ cups finely chopped vegetables of choice I like: ½ cup each: zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper, frozen corn, frozen green peas
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- 28 ounce jar Raos marinara sauce
- 1 ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese add more if needed
- 3 ½ to 4 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese add more if needed
- 12-16 Sheets of no-boil/oven ready flat regular or gluten-free lasagna noodles
- Cilantro garnish
Instructions
- Add oil to a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat and once hot, add the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds turn brown, add the onions and cook until caramelized (approx 5-7 minutes).
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, ginger, Indian chili peppers and mix well, then add the veggies and spices and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes – you want the mixture to be dry – not wet.
- Allow this to cool down completely (you can even make it a day before and store in the fridge). Then put it in a bowl and mix it with the ricotta and cilantro.
- Combine the mozzarella and parmesan together in a bowl and set aside for now.
- To Assemble: put a few spoonfuls of marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish, add as many noodles as will fit in the bottom (about 4 noodles – they will overlap). Then add the veg/ricotta mixture, marinara sauce, and cheese. Continue the layers until the pan is full. For the final top layer, you can add the lasagna noodles, sauce, and cheese. (I can normally fit 3 layers with a final 4th layer of sauce and cheese)
- Cover the lasagna pan with foil – make sure to spray the foil with oil to prevent cheese from sticking to the foil. Bake in a preheated oven set to 350F for 50 minutes. Uncover the pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden brown and the edges are bubbling.
- Allow the lasagna to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting into it – this will help get you cleaner slices.
Pari says
Can you confirm if the unbaked frozen lasagna should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator first or should we pop it into the oven straight out of the freezer.
Kaitlyn says
Added to my regular rotation!
Peter says
Was surprised how well these flavors make a different and tasty twist on a lasagna.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks Peter 🙂 Glad to hear you like it!
Elyse says
After my brain got past this looking like Italian food but tasting like Indian food, WOW!! This is SO good, and definitely getting added to my family’s list of favorite dishes. Even better 2 days later.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Haha! I’m glad you and your family liked this!
RAggs says
Hi Ashley,
Look forward to trying this recipe soon. How many cups onions would be good for this recipe? Is there a general rule of thumb for when your recipes call for entire onions vs cups? Thanks in advance!
Jiggy says
Thank you Ashley for publishing this recipe. My husband is an italian food snob, and never allow mixing of italian with indian flavors. Now that we are in era of fusion, and indians exploring other choices in life, i fully embrace this.
At my house, my hubby makes lasagna and he makes fabulous ones but there always is left over pasta strips. I will try this with that.
It will be a lasagna throw down at my house. Lol.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Jiggy, I can’t wait to hear what you and your hubby think of this! Let me know how it goes, lol!
Manjeet says
I made this and added ground meat to it and everyone loved it.😋😋
After sautéing vegetables I took vegetables out of the pot and added 1 pound ground meat, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp crushed red peppers. It took about 5 minutes for meat to brown on medium heat and I added to the Marinara sauce.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
That’s great to hear! I’m so glad you made and liked it 🙂
Maneesha says
oh yeahhhhh heck yesss can’t wait to try this!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Yesss!! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Ravi B says
Hi Ashley, In past I never enjoyed lasagna that’s why I ignored this recipe when I saw it, since yours recipes are so good I changed my mind and decided to try it. You are always right , this lasagna was so delicious I couldn’t believe it. Thanks for working so hard and giving us the best.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Happy to hear you gave it a try! 🙂 Thank you for letting me know how much you liked it!
Ravii B says
Hi Ashley, in past I never enjoyed Lasagna. When I saw this recipe, first I just ignored it but then I said ok let me try it, it might be good like your other recipes. Believe me it was delicious and the leftover for the next day was greaaattt