Kale and Mushroom Lasagna
Who knew that a meatless mushroom lasagna made with kale and cremini mushrooms could be this good?
We don’t follow a strict meatless Monday rule in our house, but we do eat meatless meals most nights both for food budget and health reasons. On the nights when our meals are based around vegetables and proteins such as beans, eggs, or cheese (yes, cheese counts as a protein in my book!), we never miss the meat. Take this lasagna for example. I’ve been wanting to make a kale lasagna for a while, and I decided to add baby bella, or cremini, mushrooms to it because mushrooms tend to add some heartiness to a dish. Between the whole wheat lasagna noodles, cheeses, sauce, and vegetables, this dish was plenty satisfying.
I served the lasagna with roasted carrots and homemade garlic knots. As an aside, the garlic knots were seriously so good, and I hope you try them or my dinner rolls soon. After eating the lasagna for dinner two nights in a row, I brought some for lunch at work on the third day. It was still every bit as good as the first night, and probably even better as tends to be the case with leftover casseroles. You know how sometimes when you eat leftovers a third time, you feel totally done with eating that meal for a while? Well, that was not the case at all with this lasagna. I could have eaten more. I think that speaks for how much we loved this dish.
More Lasagna Recipes:
- Classic Lasagna Recipe
- Slow Cooker Lasagna
- Instant Pot Lasagna
- Spinach Lasagna
- Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna
- Lasagna Soup
Kale and Mushroom Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 1 onion, medium
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms, baby bella, portabella
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 bunch kale, large
- 42 oz marinara sauce, approximate ounces based on 2 large jars
- 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
- 12 oz mozzarella cheese, grated, about 2 1/2 cups
- chopped parsley, for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add lasagna noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with ¼ tsp. kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add garlic and Italian seasoning; cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add kale and cook, stirring, until wilted, 2-3 minutes. Stir in marinara sauce; cook at a low simmer for 10 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and ½ cup grated Parmesan.
- To assemble the lasagna, spread 1 cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. On top of the noodles, spread ¼ of the remaining sauce, then dollop on 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and sprinkle with ¼ of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat noodles, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella layers 2 times more. For the top layer, use noodles, sauce, and mozzarella, but no ricotta. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup Parmesan on top.
- Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and cover lasagna tightly. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 10-15 minutes more, until sauce is bubbly and cheese is golden brown. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.
I have had a recent obsession with meatless lasagnas and they’ve gotten a little out of hand! I’ll have to try this one next! Oh, and cheese totally counts as a protein in my book!
I just checked out your whole-wheat vegetable lasagna and it looks great. I love how you used lots of ricotta cheese- I think that’s the key to a great vegetable lasagna!
Ricotta is not optional in my book! I broke into the world of “light” ricotta in the spaghetti squash lasagna and I was surprised that I didn’t miss the full fat version.
Kristine, this looks so delicious! I love meatless lasagnas especially with lots of cheese like yours has! I can’t wait to make your recipe for my family, I know they will love it! Pinned 🙂
Thank you!! I hope your family loves this as much as we did. Thanks for the pin!
Hello!
I’d like to try the recipe, but a” large bunch” of kale isn’t specific enough for me. Could you give me a weight or number of cups of kale leaves I would need?
Many thanks,
Laura
Hi Laura, I think the main thing is to adjust the amount to your liking. A large bunch of kale can have up to 6 cups of kale, but you should use more or less kale in this recipe depending on your tastes. It’s been a while since I made this and I didn’t measure at the time, so I’m not sure how much I used.