Ultimate Hidden Vegetable Lasagne
A veggie-packed lasagna with a rich beef and lentil sauce, blended spinach and passata, and a creamy cauliflower cheese béchamel. Perfect for a family dinner with a few leftovers!
Servings: 6 serves
Calories: 544kcal
Ingredients
Beef and Veggie Sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ brown onion (finely diced) 85 grams
- 2 small carrot (finely diced or grated) 50 grams
- 1 small zucchini (finely diced or grated) 100 grams
- 1 clove garlic (crushed, smashed or minced)
- ½ pound ground beef 250 grams
- 3 cups Passata 750 mLs Tomato Purée
- 1 cup spinach leaves 30 grams, a very good handful or 2.
- 1 cup Mushrooms 100 grams / 3.5 oz
- ½ cup red lentils 90 grams, rinsed
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning mixed dried herbs
- ¾ cups water/stock ¾-1 ½ cups as needed
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
Cauliflower Bechamel Sauce
- ¼ head cauliflower 300 grams
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups Milk (warmed)
- 1 cup grated cheese increase depending on how rich and cheesy you want it
Other
- 8-9 oven ready lasagne sheets 9 oz, 250 grams
Instructions
Beef and Veggie Sauce
- Add oil to a large heavy based pan, heat
- Add the onion, carrot, and zucchini (grated or diced), sauté until soft.
- Add garlic, sauté for a further 2 minutes. I just smash the whole cloves of garlic with the blade of my knife, and add them pretty much whole.
- Add the ground beef, breaking up the clumps, cooking until browned. Once browned, add the grated mushrooms.
- While the mince is cooking move on to making a smoothie. Blend the tomato puree with the spinach until smooth (and the mushrooms if you prefer to blend rather than grate them).
- Add the tomato/spinach smoothie to the pan.
- Rinse the lentils, add to the pan.
- Add the dried herbs
- Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Watch the sauce, you may need to add ¾ to 1 ½ cups of water or stock to allow the lentils to soften. The lentils absorb liquid as they cook. I find it better to add the water as needed, so that you don't end up with a really sloppy mixture at the end.
- Finish off the meat sauce by seasoning with salt and pepper as desired and a dash of vinegar. The vinegar brings back the freshness.
Cauliflower Bechamel Sauce
- While the meat sauce is simmering, roughly chop the cauliflower, steam until tender then purée, I usually use a stick blender for the cauliflower.
- Now to make the bechamel sauce, start by warming the milk, you can do this in the microwave if you wish.
- In a saucepan heat the oil. Add the flour and cook for 2 mins.
- Gradually add the warm milk mixing continuously, you will end up with a smooth thick sauce, add the grated cheese. Once melted through, stir in the cauliflower purée
Assemble the Lasagna
- Start with a single layer of meat sauce, (this stops the pasta sticking to the dish). Top with pasta, then a single layer of white sauce, top with pasta again, and repeat, (Meat, pasta, white sauce, pasta). Keep going until everything is used up. You can finish on a meat sauce or white sauce layer as the top, it's up to you!
- Sprinkle the top layer with a little extra cheese
- Bake for 35 mins in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius, or 360 Fahrenheit
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before you slice and serve, it holds together a little better once it has all stopped bubbling
Notes
This Hidden Vegetable Lasagne recipe has been refreshed — but don’t worry, it hasn’t changed! The original version made a HUGE lasagne (perfect for my family of six and plenty of leftovers), but it was a bit too big for many families. The recipe below is now a half batch — ideal for a standard family meal. If you loved the big version, simply double the recipe to make one large lasagne or two smaller ones — one for now and one for later.
- Ground Beef: Can be swapped for lamb, chicken, turkey, or a plant-based mince for vegetarian.
- Red lentils: Cook quickly and break down into the sauce — you can use brown lentils, but cook them first.
- Passata (tomato purée): Smooth and perfect for blending with veggies. Crushed tomatoes also work.
- Spinach, zucchini & mushrooms: Disappear completely when blended or grated — ideal for picky eaters.
- Cauliflower: Puréed into the white sauce for extra veg. Pumpkin or sweet potato also work.
- Balsamic Vinegar: This can be substituted for red wine vinegar, it brings brightness to the final meat and veggie sauce.
- Lasagne sheets: Use gluten-free sheets if needed.
- Flour: Substitute for cornstarch (corn flour) as a gluten-free alternative.
- Milk & cheese: For dairy-free, use plant-based alternatives.
- Blend your veggies: A small blender makes super-smooth sauces that hide everything. In this recipe I have blended spinach into my canned tomatoes. You can get inventive with this, though; most soft vegetables will blend in well!
- Simmer uncovered: This keeps the sauce rich and lets the lentils soften — just add water gradually if needed.
- Layer properly: Always start with sauce at the bottom so the pasta doesn’t stick.
- Rest before serving: Letting it cool for 5–10 minutes makes slicing much easier.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serve | Calories: 544kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 241mg | Potassium: 1280mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 4293IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 307mg | Iron: 5mg