Delicious and comforting lazy lasagna casserole packed with hidden veggies and nutrients! It’s a kid-friendly and toddler-friendly recipe that the whole family will love. You can easily make it gluten free, and it’s great for freezer meal prep!
What Makes This Recipe Great
While a classic lasagna is delicious and wonderful, a lazy lasagna casserole is perfect for when you want to cut down on time and effort but enjoy the same comforting flavors. This hidden veggie lasagna casserole is packed with ground beef, cheese, and pasta noodles, with cauliflower, carrots, and mushrooms in the meat and ricotta mixture. Baked in the oven until hot and bubbly, you can’t detect the vegetables at all in this cheesy pasta casserole!
This recipe make a big batch, but it’s a freezer-friendly meal and the leftovers keep really well. Best of all, I just love how kid-friendly and toddler-friendly it is. Your little ones won’t be able to see or taste the vegetables at all. My 3-year-old goes nuts for this recipe every time.
If you are looking for more hidden veggie recipes, check out: Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese, Hidden Veggie Chicken Nuggets, and Sweet Potato & Avocado Chocolate Pudding.
Watch a Short Video of This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
penne pasta: I personally prefer penne pasta for making lasagna casserole, but you can use any short pasta of your choice. This recipe will also be gluten free if you used gluten free pasta like I did!
veggies: cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, and onion.
milk: Use any type of milk you have on hand. Dairy free milk like almond milk or oat milk will also work.
ricotta cheese: Traditional lasagna uses ricotta cheese, but cottage cheese will also work if you want to boost your protein intake.
shredded mozzarella
shredded parmesan
egg
ground beef: Ground turkey will also work.
marinara sauce: I love this marinara sauce.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions and set aside.
Cauliflower Ricotta Mixture
- Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, and add 1½ cups water. Add cauliflower florets to the basket. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer then cook for 8-10 minutes until fork tender.
- Combine steamed cauliflower in a blender with milk and ricotta cheese, and blend until smooth.
- Stir in mozzarella, parmesan, and an egg. Set aside
Meat & Veggie Pasta Sauce
- Chop up mushrooms, carrots, and onion finely, or shred them using a food processor.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat.
- Add the chopped vegetables, ground beef, salt, and pepper, and cook stirring until the meat is browned – about 4-5 minutes.
- Drain the grease, then return to heat. Pour in marinara sauce then stir. Heat until it starts simmering, then turn off heat.
- Stir in pasta. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lasagna Casserole
- Add half of the pasta sauce mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Spoon the cauliflower ricotta mixture on top, using the back of a spoon to spread into an even layer.
- Add the rest of the pasta mixture on top.
- Cover with foil, and bake for 40 minutes.
- Uncover, and top with mozzarella and parmesan. Bake uncovered, for 10-15 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.
- Rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Substitutions
- If you don’t want to use ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken will all work well in this recipe.
- You can use any type of milk you have on hand. I used coconut milk for the cauliflower ricotta mixture.
- Switch out the vegetables with whatever you have on hand to mix in with the ground beef. Bell peppers, spinach, and zucchini are all great choices.
Storage Tips
- Any leftovers of this healthy lasagna casserole will last for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- You can freeze cooked lasagna for up to 3 months. It’s best to cut into portions and wrap into aluminum foil or plastic wrap before freezing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! All you have to do is replace the pasta with gluten free pasta. I’m personally gluten free so I used these pasta noodles and they worked wonderfully.
You can substitute ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken.
To freeze this casserole before baking, add the top pasta mixture then cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Freeze. To cook, thaw overnight in the fridge then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. Top with the cheese layer before the final bake.
Try These Yummy Pasta Recipes
Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup
Green Goddess Pasta Salad with Chicken
One Pot Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Hidden Veggie Lasagna Casserole (Kid-Friendly, Gluten Free-Option)
Ingredients
- 10-12 oz penne pasta or any short pasta – can be gluten free
Cauliflower Ricotta Mixture
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1/3 cup milk of your choice
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- 1 egg
Meat & Veggie Pasta Sauce
- 4 oz mushrooms
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 25 oz marinara sauce
Cheese Topping
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions and set aside.
Cauliflower Ricotta Mixture
- Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, and add 1½ cups water. Add cauliflower florets to the basket. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer then cook for 8-10 minutes until fork tender.
- Combine steamed cauliflower in a blender with milk and ricotta cheese, and blend until smooth.
- Stir in mozzarella, parmesan, and an egg. Set aside.
Meat & Veggie Pasta Sauce
- Chop up mushrooms, carrots, and onion finely, or shred them using a food processor.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat.
- Add the chopped vegetables, ground beef, salt, and pepper, and cook stirring until the meat is browned – about 4-5 minutes.
- Drain the grease, then return to heat. Pour in marinara sauce then stir. Heat until it starts simmering, then turn off heat.
- Stir in pasta. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lasagna Casserole
- Add half of the pasta sauce mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Spoon the cauliflower ricotta mixture on top, using the back of a spoon to spread into an even layer.
- Add the rest of the pasta mixture on top.
- Cover with foil, and bake for 40 minutes.
- Uncover, and top with mozzarella and parmesan. Bake uncovered, for 10-15 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.
- Rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
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- If you don’t want to use ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken will all work well in this recipe.
- You can use any type of milk you have on hand. I used coconut milk for the cauliflower ricotta mixture.
- Switch out the vegetables with whatever you have on hand to mix in with the ground beef. Bell peppers, spinach, and zucchini are all great choices.
Storage Tips
- Any leftovers of this healthy lasagna casserole will last for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- You can freeze cooked lasagna for up to 3 months. It’s best to cut into portions and wrap into aluminum foil or plastic wrap before freezing.
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Not only kid friendly, but hubby friendly too. He requested it again for our meal prep. I appreciate that it’s easily adaptable using whatever veggies we had on hand!
Love this! Thank you so much. 🙂
My 2yr old loved this