I’ve been wanting to share this Gluten Free Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna Recipe with you all for so long so I’m so glad I was finally able to take photos & put this together. This recipe is one of my favorite fall recipes to make…and my husband loves it too! The best thing about this lasagna recipe is that it’s totally comfort food & so yummy, but it’s also healthy. If any of you struggle {like me} to get your hubby or children to eat their veggies, this is the recipe you need!
Fun fact about me, I really don’t usually follow recipes…I know, comical since I’m posting this recipe for you all lol. I usually just kind of use them for guidance and add my own little spin on the dish. So I encourage you to change up anything in this recipe that you don’t love!
There are so many ways this recipe could be modified and still be delicious. For example:
- Make it vegetarian and skip the meat
- Use ground turkey or chicken instead
- Add rosemary or more Italian type spices
- Use regular {non-gluten-free} lasagna noodles
- Swap the Italian cheese blend for another type of cheese such as a rich Gruyere or other favorite of yours
- Swap the spinach for another green or other veggies
Can you think of any others? Leave them in the comments below, I’d love to try your ideas too!
Butternut Squash Puree
First things first, you will need butternut squash puree. I made my own for this recipe, but you can of course buy it premade as well and save yourself these steps!
If you’re making your own, it’s pretty simple:
- Halve your butternut squash lengthwise & scoop out the seeds
- Lightly oil a baking sheet with your choice of oil
- Place the two halves of the squash face down on the baking sheet {you will see some recipes say to do it face up, but I have found that face down cooks if faster and also leaves it more moist which you want for this recipe}
- Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes
- Remove from the oven & let it cool enough for you to handle it
- Peel off the skin {it should be pretty easy to do with either a knife or peeler…if it’s not, cook it a little bit longer}
- Cut the squash into 1-1.5 inch cubes
- Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree your squash
Tada! Easy right?
Now you are ready to get your other ingredients cooking. Follow the full recipe below and enjoy this healthy, delicious, fall favorite of mine!
Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for 2 cups of butternut squash puree which is equivalent to about one half of a butternut squash. If you are making your own, I recommend making the whole squash and freezing or refrigerating the remainder to make this recipe again or another yummy fall recipe that calls for butternut squash.
- Make the pasta noodles last to avoid them sticking together and being very difficult to work with {I’ve made this mistake!}
- I used this brand of gluten free noodles this time, but I have also used this kind in the past and they have worked well.
- I used this baking dish which is 10.5″ X 7.5″ because it fits the lasagna noodles well in 2 rows across, but if you are entertaining a larger group or just want more leftovers {I don’t blame you!} you can use a normal casserole dish that is 11″ X 8.5″ and just make thinner layers of the fillings or less layers.
Gluten-Free Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 375°
- In a medium bowl, combine butternut squash puree, 1 cup ricotta cheese, almond milk, nutmeg, cloves & sage.
- Pour mixture into a food processor or use an immersion blender to puree together until it reaches your desired texture {I personally prefer it to be a little chunkier versus smooth}.
- Sauté olive oil, garlic and spinach in covered sauté pan until wilted.
- In a medium bowl, combine sautéed spinach, 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1 cup Italian cheese blend, salt & pepper.
- Cook ground meat in a sauté pan using a spatula to break up the meat until no more red is visible.
- Lightly grease your casserole dish with olive oil spray.
- Spread one third of the butternut squash filling in an even layer in the bottom of the dish. Make sure this layer is fairly thick since it is your base layer so use a little extra if you need to.
- Top the butternut squash layer with 2-3 lasagna noodles depending on the size of your dish. Trim to fit if needed.
- Spread half of the spinach filling in an even layer on top of the noodles.
- Top the spinach layer with half of the ground beef.
- Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the shredded Italian blend cheese on top of the ground beef.
- Top with another layer of 2-3 lasagna noodles across.
- Spread one third of the butternut squash filling in an even layer on top of the noodles.
- Top with another layer of 2-3 lasagna noodles across.
- Spread the remaining half of the spinach filling in an even layer on top of the noodles.
- Top the spinach layer with the remaining half of the ground beef.
- Top with another layer of 2-3 lasagna noodles across.
- Spread the last third of the butternut squash filling in an even layer on top of the noodles.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and convection bake for another 8-10 minutes until the top starts to brown.
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