Butternut Squash Lasagna (No Pasta)

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This simple no pasta butternut squash lasagna has everything to make it the perfect cozy comfort food. Oozing with cheese, filled with meat, and butternut squash replaces the noodles. It’s a nourishing meal that comes together in a few minutes time and only requires a few basic ingredients. This recipe is always a hit with our whole family and one we love to serve when having company over.

There are a lot of noodle substitutes going around the inter-webs these days but we’ve found replacing pasta for butternut squash to be our favorite. The squash holds up well amongst the meat and cheese and gets less soggy than zucchini. It has the hearty and comforting taste of traditional lasagna with more nutrients and less calories.

Growing Winter Squash

Any type of winter squash would work in this recipe. But we have found a lot of success growing butternut squash specifically. We love their creamy, bright orange texture, and their long necks make them very conducive for this no pasta butternut squash lasagna.

We grew a lot of butternut squash this past summer, over 150! The beauty of butternut squash is that they store well for months. We’ve even had them store a full year until we were harvesting squash for the following year. 

Butternut squashes are so versatile too. We use them in baking, soups, pancakes, roasted, mashed, and are always finding new creative ways to use them up. 

Why substitute squash for pasta?

You get more bang for your buck so to speak. From a nutrition standpoint, butternut squash is rich in vitamin A, Vitamin C, and fiber for a relatively small number of calories and a low glycemic index. When you compare it with lasagna noodles, there are a greater number of overall calories, almost exclusively coming from carbohydrates, with less nutrients.

No pasta butternut squash lasagna has all the comfort food goodness of traditional lasagna but it’s much more likely to leave you feeling full and satisfied without spiking blood sugar like pasta can. And this recipe is gluten free and grain free for those with allergies or intolerances to gluten.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Butternut Squash – You can substitute other winter squash here but the long neck of butternuts are perfect to act as a substitute for lasagna noodles in this recipe.

Olive Oil or fat of choice

Onion

Garlic – Fresh garlic is always are preference but jarred or dried garlic can be used as a substitute. Always remember to mince garlic 10 minutes before sautéing to get the maximum nutritional benefits. 

Ground Beef – Can substitute ground pork or sausage or use a mixture of the two.

Tomato Sauce

Italian Seasonings – We like to buy organic Italian seasoning in bulk from Azure Standard.

Sea Salt

Shredded Cheese – Our go-to is a combination of mozzarella and shredded farmhouse cheddar but you can use whatever meltable cheeses you prefer.

How to Make Butternut Squash Lasagna with No Pasta

Begin by peeling and seeding the butternut squash. Then slice it into 1/8” slices. A mandolin slicer would work well for this or we just use a sharp knife. Set the squash aside and make the meat sauce.

Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil or cooking fat over medium to high heat. Once aromatic and beginning to soften, add ground beef and mix until browned.

Then add the tomato sauce, salt and seasonings to the meat mixture. Stir until everything is mixed thoroughly together. Remove from heat.

Now it’s time to assemble the lasagna.

Begin by ladling a thin layer of sauce mixture just to cover the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish.

Then, add a layer of sliced butternut squash over the sauce. The butternut squash should completely cover the pan but try not to overlap the slices.

Next, add 1/3 of the meat sauce mixture over the butternut squash slices. Then add 1 cup of shredded cheese over the top of the sauce.

Repeat the layers two more times (squash, sauce, cheese—squash, sauce, cheese).

For the last cheese layer on top, I like to save a little extra to make sure the top is completely covered.

Bake at 350°F for one hour, keeping the lasagna covered for the first 30-40 minutes. Then uncover for the last 20 minutes for the cheese to get melty and slightly browned.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving to let set.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes:

• The meat sauce mixture is very flexible. You can add more veggies to your meat filling or adjust the amount of ground meat you use in the recipe.
  
• This is a great recipe to make in advance and heat up before serving.
  
• There may be some excess juice that seeps out from the squash and filling as the lasagna cooks but we have not found this liquid impeding the taste or texture.
  
• Extra cheese never hurts!

Butternut Squash Lasagna (No Pasta) Recipe

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

– 1 Medium Butternut squash lasagna, cut into 1/8” slices*
– 1-2 tbsp olive oil or cooking fat of choice
– 1 onion, diced
– 4 cloves garlic, minced
– 1.5 lbs. ground beef
– 3 cups tomato sauce
– 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
– 1 tsp sea salt
– 3-4 cups shredded cheese

Directions:

1. In a large pan heat your olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté onions and garlic.

2. Once soft, add ground beef and stir until the meat is browned.

3. Add tomato sauce and spices to your ground beef mixture.

4. Once everything is thoroughly incorporated, set aside.

5. Preheat oven to 350°F.

6. Ladle a thin layer of your sauce mixture to the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

7. Add your first layer of butternut squash over the sauce. You want the pan covered but try not to stack the squash on top of each other.

8. Put 1/3 of the remaining sauce mixture over squash.

9. Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese on top of sauce.

10. Repeat layer of squash, sauce, cheese.

11. Last layer (third layer) of squash, meat, and cheese. I like to reserve a little extra cheese for the top layer.

12. Cook covered for 40 minutes. Uncover and cook and additional 20 minutes until squash is tender, sauce is bubbling, and cheese is melted and starting to brown.

13. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving to set.

*Uniform butternut squash slices are ideal. You can easily do this with a food processor, mandolin slicer, or my favorite, by hand.

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More butternut squash recipes we love:

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken
Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes
Butternut Squash Chili
Easy Pumpkin Blondies

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