Spinach Artichoke Lasagna
This healthy vegetarian lasagna includes lots of fresh spinach, jarred artichokes, and the simplest homemade tomato sauce.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on November 19, 2024
Ever tried artichoke in lasagna? If not, you’ve been missing out. This vegetarian recipe is freshly flavored, hearty and cheesy, but not too heavy. It’s a marvelous option for date night at home or a special Sunday dinner.
This spinach and artichoke lasagna recipe has been one of my personal favorites for nearly a decade, and it has raving reviews. Today, I’m sharing it again with new photos and a step-by-step video. You’ll also find plenty of serving suggestions below to round out your meal.
I originally created this recipe for our friend Scott. He came to the blog looking for a lasagna recipe to cook for his wife, Sara, and I had nothing to offer! This recipe formed the backbone for my Best Vegetable Lasagna and Vegan Lasagna, so if you have enjoyed those, you’ll certainly love this one.
This recipe taught me the beauty of no-boil lasagna noodles, which are so much easier and quicker to work with. It also features a simple, no-cook, diced tomato sauce with basil and garlic that tastes so fresh. Try it, and you’ll see!
Spinach Artichoke Lasagna Notes & Tips
You’ll find the full recipe below. Here are a few tips and options to be aware of before you get started.
- This recipe is designed for no-boil lasagna noodles, which saves a few steps and makes for easier layering.
- I used cottage cheese in this recipe instead of the classic ricotta. It’s a little trick I learned from America’s Test Kitchen (they are full of tricks!). Cottage cheese has a better flavor and texture than ricotta when it comes to lasagna. I am not a fan of cottage cheese on its own, but it’s perfect in this recipe!
- If you are in a pinch for time, you could substitute store-bought sauce for the homemade sauce below.
- You could also get by with frozen spinach instead of fresh, but the fresh spinach flavor really plays nicely with the fresh-tasting tomato sauce.
- If you don’t love artichokes or can’t find any, you can skip them altogether for a classic spinach lasagna recipe.
- The recipe below makes heavy use of a food processor, but if you don’t have one, you can use a blender.
- If you don’t have a food processor or blender, buy crushed tomatoes instead of diced, skip the blended cottage cheese step and chop the spinach mixture after it’s done cooking.
Watch How to Make Spinach Artichoke Lasagna
Spinach Artichoke Lasagna Serving Suggestions
While this lasagna already offers a serving of hearty greens, it’s great with a side salad. The most simple side salad options include this Lemony Kale Salad or Super Simple Arugula Salad. Or, improvise your own with my Italian Dressing or Lemon Vinaigrette.
Other side dish options include green beans—try these Best Ever Green Beans, Perfect Roasted Green Beans, or Green Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds and Feta (I think the Mediterranean flavors would complement the spinach and artichoke).
For date night at home, you could end the meal with a special dessert. I love Betty’s Pots de Crème for the small portion and rich flavor. Foolproof Basque Cheesecake tastes amazing, and it’s best made in advance. For just two people, try these chocolatey Mini Lava Cakes for Two!
More Hearty Italian Recipes to Try
Here’s a short collection of cheesy baked Italian dishes. Browse more Italian recipes here.
- Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables
- Best Vegetable Lasagna
- Lentil Baked Ziti
- Spinach Stuffed Shells
- Italian Eggplant Parmesan
Please let me know how your lasagna turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Spinach Artichoke Lasagna
This healthy vegetarian lasagna includes lots of fresh spinach, jarred artichokes and the simplest homemade tomato sauce. This lasagna tastes even better the next day! Recipe yields one 9-inch square lasagna, which is enough for 8 to 9 servings.
Ingredients
Tomato sauce (or substitute 2 cups prepared marinara sauce)
- 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Spinach artichoke mixture
- 2 cups (16 ounces) low fat cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion (about 1 smallish red onion)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 cup jarred or defrosted frozen artichokes, drained, quartered if necessary
- 12 ounces baby spinach, preferably organic
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Remaining lasagna ingredients
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 2 cups (5 ounces) shredded fontina cheese or low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella
- Garnish: sprinkling of additional chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. To prepare the tomato sauce, first pour the tomatoes into a mesh sieve or fine colander and let them drain off excess juice for a minute. Transfer drained tomatoes to the bowl of a food processor. Add the basil, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper flakes. Pulse the mixture about 10 times, until the tomatoes have broken down to an easily spreadable consistency. Pour the mixture into a bowl for later (you should have about 2 cups sauce).
- Rinse out the food processor and return it to the machine. Pour half of the cottage cheese (1 cup) into the processor and blend it until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to large mixing bowl. No need to rinse out the bowl of the food processor this time; just put it back onto the machine because you’ll need it later.
- Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the artichoke to the skillet, then add a few large handfuls of spinach. Cook, stirring and tossing frequently, until the spinach has wilted. Repeat with remaining spinach. Continue cooking for about 12 minutes, stirring frequently, until the spinach has dramatically reduced in volume and very little moisture remains in the bottom of the pan.
- Transfer the spinach artichoke mixture to the bowl of the food processor and pulse until the contents are finely chopped (but not puréed!), about 12 to 15 times. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of whipped cottage cheese. Top with remaining cottage cheese and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Now it’s lasagna assembly time!
- Spread ½ cup tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch square baker. Layer three lasagna noodles on top, overlapping their edges as necessary. Spread half of the spinach mixture evenly over the noodles. Top with ½ cup tomato sauce, then sprinkle ½ cup shredded cheese on top.
- Top with three more noodles, followed by the remaining spinach mixture. Sprinkle ½ cup shredded cheese on top. (We’re skipping the tomato sauce in this layer.) Top with three more noodles, then spread the remaining tomato sauce over the top so the noodles are evenly covered. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup shredded cheese.
- Wrap the lasagna with a layer of parchment paper over the top (or cover tightly with aluminum foil, but don’t let the foil touch the cheese). Bake, covered, for 18 minutes, then remove the cover, rotate the pan by 180 degrees and continue cooking for about 12 more minutes, until the top is turning spotty brown. Remove from oven and let the lasagna cool for 15 minutes before sprinkling with chopped basil and slicing.
Notes
Recipe roughly adapted from several lasagnas in The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, with reference to Serious Eats and Gimme Some Oven.
Make it gluten free: Substitute gluten-free no-bake lasagna noodles, such as Jovial brand.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I made this tonight, it was fantastic!! I made a few substitutions/additions – used yellow onion instead of red, used ricotta instead of cottage cheese, and added about 1/4 cup of Parmesan to the mixture. Hubby and I loved it! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be adding it to my repertoire!
Thanks, Andrea! Happy to hear it!
This was delicious! Made it last night and it’s definitely a winner. I substituted GF lasagna noodles but they desenigrated while they boiled :(. It was my first time using GF lasagna noodles so I’ll continue to look for a better brand. Any suggestions? I wound up just using the super small noodles pieces on each lasagna layer but my stomach certainly didn’t care! Great recipe! Looking forward to leftovers today.
Hi Cindy! I’ve never used GF lasagna noodles. Are you sure they needed to be boiled in the first place? I used no-boil lasagna noodles and they worked great in this recipe.
I just made this and followed the recipe to a T. It was delicious. I had never used no-boil noodles before and they are a revelation. The cottage cheese-artichoke-fresh spinach mixture was tasty and smelled great. The no-cook sauce was perfect for the recipe–just the right moisture. I was also glad to see a lasagna for a small pan–just enough for my husband and me for dinner, lunch, lunch. I am learning new techniques after many years of cooking. So pleased. Thanks for this recipe! I will be making it again. I will try roasted red peppers with the cottage cheese mix next time.
Thank you very much, Julie! Glad your lasagna turned out great. Roasted red peppers sound like a great addition!
think i’ve puréed my spinach/artichoke mixture to hell! This is my second attempt, using different artichokes this time ‘cus the first one tasted rather salty. Is that the artichokes? I determined to get this right. Trying to go vegetarian/organic. Any ideas what I might be able to substitute the artichokes with if I can get this to work out?
Sorry you were having trouble, Lucy! The end result might not taste too salty, even if that component does. I’d say just carry on with the recipe as written!
It’s just my poor cooking skills! I’ll keep practising. The transition to vegetarian (and one day vegan) is a steep learning curve. Your recipes are fantastic though!
Thanks, Lucy! I try to always include visual cues in my recipe instructions, so follow those and your recipes should turn out great!
Very good!
Thanks, Janette!
How would you adapt this to use a 9-13 pan instead?
Hey Allie, that’s a good question. A 9×13″ dish is about 30% larger than a 9×9, so you’ll need about 30% (or a third) more of each ingredient. You might also need to bake it longer.
Does anyone know roughly how many cups or ml 12 oz of spinach would be? Google is giving me a wide variety of answers. Gracias!
I’m sorry for the slow response, Gwen! It’s hard to offer spinach in cups because the number of cups will depend on how much you pack it in. I’d guess around 10 cups, lightly packed.
I made this tonight and have just polished off my second piece! It was utterly delectable! I consider myself an amateur cook, and am still in shock at how well it turned out. I didn’t use a food processor at all, just chopped up and mixed the ingredients. Also, I used regular lasagna sheets, and cooked it for a total of 45 minutes. Perfection. Thank you! Now a solid part of my repertoire!
Thank you, Becca! So glad the lasagna turned out great for you!
Thanks for the recipe! I made it last night for a group dinner with 6 girlfriends, and it was a big hit. I love the fresh and healthy flavours. It will definitely become a regular!
Hooray! Delighted to hear that this lasagna went over well at girls night, Mimi. Thank you for letting me know!
Hi Kate,
I’ve made this now three times, but I use mushrooms (I KNOW you said not to but I really hate artichokes :) )and each time it’s delish! Just made it this evening to bring to a friend who just had twins. Thanks for the great recipes! I’ve tried a few others and they are always very tasty.
Gah I meant to give this 5 stars! Trying again…
My husband made this for dinner yesterday, following the recipe with the exception of using brown rice lasagna noodles, and adding portobello mushrooms. We both enjoyed it for both last night’s & tonight’s dinners. Thank you!
Hooray, I’m so glad you two are enjoying the lasagna. Thank you, Penny!
This is SO VERY MUCH my favorite website for new recipes!!! I just wanted to let you know I made this last night with DeBoles Gluten Free Rice Lasagna Noodles (no boil) and it was DELICIOUS! We all had seconds (and thirds) :)
I want to make this for Christmas, can I make in advance? Prepare in advance and then bake Christmas day? Prepare and freeze (baked or unbaked)?? Thanks!
Denise, I’m so sorry that I didn’t see your comment in time. I haven’t tried either of those options so I’m really not sure how they would work. I hope you had a very merry Christmas!
Hi Kate
I’m planning on making this for my Boxing Day Family gathering. I won’t be home on Christmas Day so was wondering how the lasagna would go being pre made on Christmas Eve and refrigerated until boxing day? Should I half bake it before, or leave it completely uncooked before refrigerating?
Thanks!
Great recipe! All of the flavors came together nicely. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks and Happy New Year!
Thank you, Ana!
Delicious! I was cautious with this one because my 10 year old claims to HATE spinach, so I thought it was going to be another pizza night for her, but…she loved it. So much that she and I had left overs the next day for lunch, at her request. Sooo excited that she is eating healthier food now. She (actually all of us) has loved everything I have made of yours. Cannot thank you enough.
Tammy, your comment just made my day! I’m so glad your daughter changed her mind about spinach. Happy New Year to you all!
Hi Kate, sorry—I missed your response about the GF lasagna noodles. The box does call for them to be cooked ahead of time.
This recipe definitely inspired me! Last night I made spaghetti and made this sauce to go with! I had spinach that was 2 days past it’s due date that I really wanted to use. I also had Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes on hand. I keep artichokes in my pantry..and voila! I made the sauce with all the ingredients from this recipe (except ricotta). Stirred it in the nodes and it was delicious! My husband wanted to eat my dinner instead of his (meat lasagna) ;)
Thanks, Kate!!
Hi Cindy, I’m so glad your spin-off turned out great! It sounds delicious.
Added a little nutmeg yo the spinach artichoke mixture.
This. Was. Fantastic. The noises made around the table as we ate it were almost obscene.
Haha, love it! Thank you, Emily!
I made this again for a second time. This time I used ricotta instead of the blended cottage cheese. Both were good, but I liked the flavor better this time around. Thank you for another good recipe that I will make often!
I just made this today. My son is GF so I boiled the GF lasagna noodles first. It is absolutely delicious. I made the sauce as well. So much better than jarred sauce. Thank you. This will be a regular in the dinner rotation. I bet it will be even better tomorrow (:
Delicious and easy vegetarian lasagna. Have already shared with friends and already made one for the freezer a couple of times now.
Amazing.
What great flavors! I have been overdosing on pasta so I baked two spaghetti squash instead of using the noodles and used cauliflower instead of artichokes and turned this into a casserole topped with homemade breadcrumbs. Loved the cottage cheese idea!
Hi Kate
Best lazzie ever! Thanks. I’m not super fond of artichokes so I did use mushrooms instead, but still totally yum
I made this yesterday and it was AMAZING! I followed the spinach artichoke mixture as outlined in the receipe, but I did use my own homemade spaghetti sauce. Even my husband liked it who prefers meat with every meal. I will definitely make it again!
This is a wickedly good vegetable lasagna recipe. Rich and flavorful. I used a Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus instead of a food processor with no compromised flavor. Thank you for yet another delicious recipe. Last week I tried the black bean, avocado, kale burrito bowl. Also a hit.
Love this lasagna recipe! I made it along with a meat option for a big family gathering. The veggie option was the hit of the two, with the meat eaters opting for second servings of the artichoke and spinach lasagna instead!
Pretty easy to make – doubled the recipe and froze a second batch for a later date. As with all C&K recipes … it’s amazing!
Hi Kate,
I have a question about the Spinach Artichoke Lasagna. Do you think I could make this dish the day before up to the point of baking?
Thank you!
This is seriously the best. I make with marinated artichokes and my 3rd time making is in the oven right now. I doubled for a crowd a couple months ago and had several women ask for the recipe!!
I made this the other night and my husband and I both loved it!! Even the leftovers were good! I made it with jar sauce instead of making my own because I’m lazy and I was running out of time, but we loved it! This is going on the list of recipes to make more frequently!
Thanks for letting me know, Tiffany! I’m so glad.
LOVED this lasagna, it tastes so much better with cottage cheese than ricotta! I also used gluten free noodles, and added zucchini and sauteed tempeh in between layers and it came out great!
I made this for my girlfriend and I this weekend and oh my goodness it is so fantastic!
Using cottage cheese instead of ricotta is genius. Not only is it cheaper, but I far prefer the tangy flavour the cottage cheese adds to this dish. The artichokes and spinach are a winner. And the tomato sauce with the fresh basil is so simple and easy,but so fresh and delicious.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I make your recipes all the time, since you are one of the few vegan/ vegetarian cooking blogs that doesn’t require really inaccessible or expensive ingredients in every dish. I’m a student and I really appreciate that.
This is the best lasagna I’ve ever had.
The past two weeks I have been on a binge cookie and Kate cook off, and have done about 8-9 of your recipes in a row. For the most part they have been fantastic. This lasagna is probably my least favorite. My husband helped me with prep work, which is lucky because it was very time consuming. The lasagna itself is very hearty and he loved it. However, I felt it was a little bland after all of our hard work and probably not a repeat recipe. That said, I did eat my whole serving of it. This is just a dull moment in your recipe genius!
Hi Jenny! I’m psyched to hear about your C+K cook off, and bummed to hear that you didn’t love this one. It’s one of my absolute favorites! The leftovers are even better, so I hope you enjoyed those. In recipe testing for the cookbook, I’ve realized that recipes can vary a TON depending on the actual ingredients used, so I wonder if you had a bum ingredient or two, or if the sauce needed more salt. Regardless, I’m sorry you didn’t love it and hope you love the next one!
I am so happy to find your site. We love artichokes and spinach, so I’m going to make this for sure. However, I have a large container of ricotta that I didn’t use for something else. Just wondering if you think it will work OK instead of the cottage cheese?
Thanks,
Marty
Hi Marty, I’m so glad you found my site, too! I’m sorry I didn’t answer sooner. Yes, ricotta will work fine.
I made this tonight and it was a big hit with the whole family. I made the sauce as written, however, I did not drain the tomatoes first as I was using regular lasagne noodles. The sauce is very fresh and goes very well with the dish. I also really liked the use of cottage cheese in the dish as a replacement for ricotta. My only change was to use regular noodles and I do not precook them. I baked the lasagne covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for another 20 minutes. Turned out perfectly!! Thank you!! I will definitely be making this again.
Thank you, Jessica! Glad to hear you made this one work with regular noodles. Yay!
Hi Kate! I tried this last night with some homemade bread and it was a huge hit! Thank you so much for this great recipe – we loved it!
Awesome, I’m so glad!
The Spinach Artichoke Lasagna recipe is the BEST I’ve ever had, hands down!!! A friend of mine told me about your website and I’ve been hooked ever since. All of your recipes are amazing! Can’t wait until your cookbook comes out. Thanks for sharing your awesome talents!
My God, Kate! This is the best lasagna I’ve ever had in my life! I’m Italian and I’m so impressed! Well done!
I couldn’t find no-boil noodles at my local store, but the regular kind worked OK with a little tweaking. This was so tasty that I happily ate leftovers for four days after the initial meal without getting sick of it!
This is hands-down my favorite lasagna recipe – meat or no meat! The ingredients work beautifully together to create such a fresh, delicious flavor. I’ve actually made MANY of your recipes and haven’t found one yet that I (or my children) didn’t love. Thank you for what you do! I do have a question, though: I want to make this lasagna for my extended family this weekend. I think a 13×9 pan will do the trick – should I double your recipe or would you suggest a different ratio? Thanks!
This turned out a bit watery for me. But I suspect that was my error. However, the flavors are spot on. I made this for a very skeptical, veggie hating friend, he not only enjoyed it but had seconds AND asked if I’d leave him the left overs! Thanks Kate!
Thanks for sharing. I used this recipe as a starter for my vegan lasagna. I used 1c of Fage 0% yogurt and 2 tbls of skim ricotta instead of cottage cheese. I also added baby bella mushrooms and firm tofu. Let’s just say people who never thought of liking tofu licked the plate clean.
Ooh! You’re right this does taste better the next morning.
I couldn’t find artichokes where I live (I can’t find anything really that isn’t used in Asian cooking…=3=;;) so I just made the spinach version but I haven’t had lasagna in about a year and I eat it so much in the states this made me so happy! Thank you very much for the recipe!
I’m obsessed with this recipe! It’s soooo good. Second time around, I made the sauce a week or so ago and froze it (I happened to have basil on hand and didn’t want it to go bad). Worked out just fine! I also added a bunch of sliced white mushrooms to the veggie sauté. My house smells amazing and it’s perfect for a cold, cold night (heading down to 6 degrees tonight!) Thanks for a great lasagna recipe! Seriously..THANKS! :)
You’re welcome! And yes, these winters call for some warming meals – KC got down to -20 a couple weeks ago. Thanks for commenting!
OMG, the best vegetarian lasagna I’ve ever made. I made this last night and it was life-changing! I love blending the cottage cheese to a ricotta texture and the use of artichokes (blended as well), was AMAZING!
Right? The texture makes all the difference. I’m happy you enjoyed it, Heather!
Hi Kate……the lasagna recipe was outstanding the best lasagna
I have ever made. I did take a shortcut and used prepared
merinera sauce which saved some time and cleanup. Most lasagnas
Are loaded with a lot of cheese but your recipe was a very tasty lighter version. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Awesome, Pat! I’m glad your version tasted delicious.
Hi Kate/Cookie, we completely vegan-ized the recipe. Oil-free. Extra Cheesed it with dairy-free Mozzarella [may or may not be a “guy” thing]. Believe it or not, I had not made lasagna since the late ’80s. And even then I had not heard of Oven-ready L. noodles. We used Brown Rice Lasagna (which I prefer) but it was all the store had. All I can say is we are looking forward to tomorrows left overs! Thank you very much!
***forgot to mention replacing cottage cheese with tofu cottage cheese. ;)
Happy this worked for you, Mark! And I think cheese love defies genders…I’m sure you’re not the only one to add some more!
Made this last night, subbing a zucchini for the artichoke, and the family LOVED it! Thanks for the great blog. :)
You’re welcome, Ashley!
This is soooo good! I made it vegan by using drained tofu instead of cottage cheese, and added it to the food processor with the spinach mixture. The flavor of this was amazing!
*Great* tip for our vegan readers, Brittani! So happy it retained the comforting flavor.