Red Lentil Lasagne is a delicious vegetarian lasagne that the whole family are sure to enjoy.
When Finn was younger one of his favourite sources of protein was red split lentils and Rory seems to be the same.I’m presuming that it is down to the soft texture, making it easy to eat. Since Rory has started solids I have been cooking with lentils a lot again. He loves them cooked in many ways like in these sweet potato, lentil and carrot croquettes or this lentil pie. I’ve made this red lentil lasagne a few times now and it seems to be a winner! I sometimes double the lentil part of the recipe, freeze the extra and use it as a ragu.
The lentil part of the lasagne is packed with vegetables which make the lentils sweet and perfect for kids. I start by sautéing the vegetables before adding the lentils, tomato puree (paste), stock (broth) and passata. I think passata is great to use when cooking for kids. It is beautifully smooth producing less “bits” that kids often complain about.
I get a lot of messages asking me what passata is and where people can find it. Passata is pureed strained tomatoes. I have never had a problem finding it in Australia or the UK, where you can find it in all the major supermarkets. I can’t recall seeing it when I lived in the USA and Canada so it perhaps it isn’t as popular in some countries. If you can’t find it you can just replace it with canned chopped or crushed tomatoes.
The below picture shows how to assemble the lasagne. Start with half the cooked lentil mixture, add lasagne sheets then the remaining lentil mixture. The top layer of this lasagne is made by blending cottage cheese until smooth and this is then topped with grated cheddar cheese.
If your kids are funny about bits in their food then you could try blending the lentil mixture before assembling the lasagne. Alternately, you could blend the vegetables before adding the lentils, passata and stock.
I just added this photo because he is cute and he loves this lasagne! …
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Red Lentil Lasagne
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 celery stalk (finely chopped)
- 1 onion (brown, white or red) (finely chopped)
- 2 carrots (finely chopped)
- 1 red capsicum (bell) pepper (finely chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 bay leaf
- 180g (1 cup) red split lentils
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree (paste)
- 500g (2 cups) Passata *SEE NOTE 1
- 375ml (1 1/2 cups) vegetable / chicken stock (broth) *SEE NOTE 2
- 6 lasagne sheets (approx)
- 300g (1 1/3 cups) cottage cheese (pureed)
- 60g (1 cup) grated cheddar
Instructions
- Heat oil in large saucepan and sauté onions, celery, carrots and garlic on a low heat for 5 mins.
Add the capsicum (bell) pepper and continue to sauté for a further 5 mins.
Stir in lentils, tomato puree, passata, bay leaf and one cup of stock.
Reduce heat and simmer for approx. 30 mins (adding more stock when and if needed)
- Pre heat oven to 180c / 350F / Gas 4
- Spread half the lentil mixture to the bottom of a baking dish (approx. 9" x 7")
- Cover with a single layer of lasagne, snapping the sheets to fit.
- Spread the remaining lentil mixture on top and add another single layer of lasagne
- Spread the pureed cottage cheese on top and then sprinkle the cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 30-40 mins (until fully heated and crispy on top)
Recipe Notes
- If you don't have passata then you can substitute it with canned chopped/crushed tomatoes.
- Use homemade/low sodium stock if serving to baby / young children to reduce sodium levels.
Nutritional Information is a ROUGH guide only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator.
Just made this – instant hit! Thanks Amy ?
Great to hear! X
What could I use instead of cottage cheese? My little one is lactose intolerant…
Hi Emily, Thanks for your comment. I’m not sure what you could replace this with, sorry. Could you make a white sauce with soy milk?
Try puréed cauliflower
Cashew cream! I use it in place of white sauce all the time ?
What is the Purée?
Hi Bek, sorry that should say tomato puree (or tomato paste depending on where you are from )
I know that vegans will use tofu for the cottage cheese layer in lasagna such as the following: https://tasty.co/recipe/vegan-lasagna.
I have made this twice, and it is absolutely beautiful.
Fab! So glad you like it Nicky and thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂
Can you replace the cottage cheese with ricotta cheese ?
I’m always looking for highest vegetarian lasagne recipes and this one looks fab. I think my baby girl will love this one, I’ll definitely try it x #foodpornthursdays
This sounds yummy and easy. Have you ever tried making it in the crockpot? I love making lasagna in the crockpot. So yummy! Thank you for sharing this with #foodpornthursdays.
Never tried it, I’m not great with a crockpot – everything seems to come out too runny when I try. Will need to experiment more!
This sounds delicious and different from most veggie lasagnes. I’m pinning it for when I cook for my vegetarian friend.
Thanks Laura, I hope you and your friend enjoy 🙂
That looks glorious and nice to see Finn tucking in. He’s obviously enjoying it. I’ll have to try making it for Cooper. Thanks for entering it into Meat Free Mondays, it’s my first featured recipe for the week and it’s up now.
Thanks Jacqueline 🙂 and thanks so much for featuring me!
Wow that looks soooooo good! Do you have any top tips for cooking with lentils as I am rather rubbih and the 2 previous times i have tried, i have failed (IE: ended up throwing the burnt pan away and phoning a takeaway!).
Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
Thanks Becky! I just continue to check the lentils and add more water as required. Hope you have more success next time:)
That handsome young man of yours eats pretty good! 😀 Just a quick note of thanks for stopping by #TryaBiteTuesday – hope to see you back this week, pinning & sharing!
Thanks Debra!
Thank you for this recipe! Easy to follw and smells so delicious I can’t wait for it to come out the oven. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! Easy to follow and smells so delicious I can’t wait for it to come out the oven. 🙂
Thanks Megan! Hope you enjoyed it 🙂
Wow, this looks a m a z i n g. Since I have no concept of size/volume etc, around how many servings is this? Would love to make it for when my family comes over, we are usually around 5 adults and 2 kids. Thanks for the recipe (and hi from Sweden!)
Thank you! I’d say this would serve 5/6 (along side some veggie and depending on how much you like to eat). It usually serves the four of us with a little extra for the next day. Both my boys eat a lot though and my husband even more! If you are serving with a big salad / veggies I’d say to make 1.5. Hope it is a success!
This may be obvious, but what do you mean by “puree”? Pureed what? Also, is it a red bell pepper? I just want to be sure to do this correctly ( :
Hi Lili, yes it is a bell pepper. It is tomato puree, I will change that – thanks for highlighting 🙂
I’m still kind of confused:
1 tbsp puree
500g passata
I thought passata is the same thing as tomato puree? Please clarify what I’m doing here hahaha.
Hi Pamela, where are you from? I’m from the UK but think I remember tomato puree being called tomato paste when I lived in the USA. Here Passata is sieved tomatoes, tomato puree is thicker and more concentrated (like a paste). Hope this helps 🙂
Oh ok. I’m in Canada. I think that all makes sense. Ok so tomato paste would be the smaller amount. I think I’ve got this 🙂 Thanks! Looking forward to trying it tomorrow!
My first lasanga and surprisingly easy!! I added slices of pumpkin and fell in love. My non vegetarian partner also thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks.
I’m so glad it was a success! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Hi thinking of making this but I would be the only one to eat it, could it be frozen. Thank you
Hi Mandy, I’ve never actually tried the whole recipe frozen but I’m sure that it would freeze well. I have frozen the lentil mixture a lot and it freezes well. Hope you have success and enjoy the recipe 🙂
Just made this. Very yummy thanks! Big hit for the 71/2 month old. Like the cottage cheese idea. Will have to use that for mousakka too. Tip to anyone making this: Make sure you remember to rinse the lentils as forgot and had to make it all over again! Loving your website!
Hi Lucy, thanks for your feedback and so glad it was a big hit. Love your moussaka idea, I might just have to make it a future recipe! ?
I hope this isn’t a dumb comment/question but can you use the green lentils instead? I couldnt find red lentils in our grocery store this morning.
Hi Shana, not a dumb question at all. I haven’t actually tried it with green lentils. I’m sure it would work but the texture will probably be different. Green lentils tend to keep their shape when cooked whereas red split lentils form more of a thick puree. You may also need to cook the green lentils longer. Let me know if you try it and if it works. ?
Hi Amy, looking at the comments above, you appear to be in the UK and ask the ingredients are in metric, with the exception of the lentils which is in cups. How much is a cup of lentils in grams, please? My cups are ask different sizes!
Hi Damion, yes I am British. I apologise for not putting the g amount of the lentils. I use standard measuring cups. 1 cup is 250ml. I would weigh it out for you now but I have just moved to Australia and we haven’t received our shipment yet so I don’t have any scales. Sorry. I hope now you know the size of the cup that this helps.
No problems. I made an educated guess and it turned out great!
Thanks for the recipe.
what does puree mean?
Hi, sorry that was meant to say tomato puree (or tomato paste depending on where you are from.) Thanks for pointing it out, I’ve updated the recipe.
Hi Amy! Is it diced parsley on top in last photo? Cheers x
Hi Georgie, yes – freshly chopped parsley, more to add colour to the photo than anything else 😉
This recipe didn’t disappoint, my 14 month old loved it! I didn’t realise though that you needed to blend the cottage cheese so I ended up using 600g instead of 300g and twas a bit textured. The next time I’ll be sure to blend!
Hi Aoife, so glad this was a hit with your 14 month old. It is something we have often as the boys just love it. I had a look at the recipe and realised that I hadn’t make it clear that the cottage cheese should be blended smooth. I’ve added it now to the ingredient list too and so hopefully it is clearer now. Thanks so much for your feedback, it really helps me.
Hi Amy,
I baked it for 30 to 40 mins.. but my lasagne sheets were a little hard and under cooked.
Can you share some tips so that the sheets get cooked well ?
Thanks,
Rujuta
Hi Rujuta, I’ve never had this happen. Did you use lasagne sheets that you don’t have to pre boil? Some brands you need to pre cook before assembling.
Was your lentil mixture too dry? Maybe there wasn’t enough moisture to soften the sheets?
Perhaps next time you could pre boil your sheets or you could use fresh lasagne sheets.
Hope this helps.
Amy
Thanks for the advice Amy. I will this next time.
My 14 month old absolutely loved this dish. I added crumbled tofu to the cottage cheese mixture and spinach to the tomato sauce for more protein and iron since she’s vegetarian. My carnivorous husband was so curious at her reaction that he snuck a piece after dinner. This is definitely a repeat recipe for us-thank you!
Hi Cristin, Brilliant! Loving the sound of your additions too. I have never worked with tofu before and I love that you can crumble it into this dish 🙂
The filling looks fab but the cottage cheese is a disaster ! I have been making lasagnes for years and can easily make a cheesy white sauce which would have been much better – but if using cottage cheeses I would say you’d need to see if it would mix through with milk or something – away to eat it now though !
Hi Jenny, thanks for the feedback. Sorry you didn’t like the cottage cheese. Did you blend it to make it lovely and smooth? I love how simple it is but of course you can use a regular white sauce if you prefer.
I’ve just made a vegan version of this using a vegan friendly white sauce (olive oil or vegan butter, flour and soy milk), and vegan cheese (I used Violife).
I also oven roasted my pepper with an aubergine first, then blitzed them up together so they were less lumpy (but not smooth).
It was delicious and a success with everyone – 1 vegan, 1 vegetarian, 1 pescatarian and 1 omnivore. #awkwardfamily
Hi Katy, I’m so glad this was a success with your whole family and thanks for your vegan-friendly recipe suggestions. Other readers find this really useful. Thanks again for rating and leaving feedback, it helps a lot.
Do cook the noodles before the oven?
Hi Jeanne, no I don’t pre-cook them.
I switch the cottage cheese for a homemade cheese sauce but OMG this is the yummiest lasagna I’ve ever had. I make it regularly now.
Thanks so much, Kylie! This has made my morning!
Made this tonight, so yummy! ! Husband AND 10 month old daughter approved! Only extra thing I added was Italian seasoning (with no salt) 🙂
Thanks Brooke, love when recipes are husband and baby approved!
Now a firm favourite with all the family. Love this recipe the lasagna is tasty and healthy. Five*****
Thanks so much Del! Delighted you love it, thanks for taking the time to tell me 🙂
Delicious! After many attempts at getting my children to eat lentils, this is the recipe that finally convinced my 4 year old. Thanks!
Thanks, Kylie! So glad it was a success for you! Comments like this make my day!
This might be a dumb question. But do you rinse and boil the lentils first?
Hi Kelly, yes rinse the lentil before use but no need to boil. You cook the lentils with the vegetable, passata and stock (recipe instruction 2,3 & 4) . Hope that is clearer?
I made my own cheese sauce as I didn’t have any cottage cheese in the fridge, but I have to say that it was so good. Trying to introduce my children to a more varied diet, with less red meat, and this went down well! Thank you!
Thanks, Sharon, glad the kids approved! This is one of my kids’ favourites. Mainly because anything with pasta is a favourite!