Satisfy Your Cheese Cravings: Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna

What about all my vegetarian fans out there? What can you do? Even if you’re not a vegetarian, what if you just want to skip the work of making a time-consuming, slow-cook Bolognese (sorry but I really don’t think there’s a “quick Bolognese” recipe that’ll produce as good as results as if you were to cook it slow and low!), and enjoy a simple delight that focuses on the cheese and omits the meat? Then this Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna is definitely for you!

While I loved the Lasagna alla Bolognese, I have to admit that this lasagna just turned out to be so special in its own ways. If you want the star of the show to be the cheese, then I totally recommend you make this meatless cheesy lasagna!

The components for this lasagna were inspired by Domino’s garlic-Parmesan sauce, where I recently had a pizza with this sauce for the first time and to this day I’m still really obsessed with it! I was really craving that pizza and sauce again, so I decided to incorporate that sauce in this lasagna to enhance the Bechamel Sauce! For the tomato sauce, I’ll be adding a touch of heat thanks to one of my favourite secret weapons - Calabrian chili peppers! If you’ve never incorporated these into your cooking, then I highly recommend you do! I love adding them to my Spicy Calabrian Chili Sausage and a small touch really transforms your cooking, adding so much flavor and not too much heat!

Finally, my idea for the three cheeses that will be in the lasagna layers are from the most epic pizza I’ve ever made! It’s July now and I haven’t made this since New Year’s Eve 2020, but I know I need to do it again soon! As you can see on my IGTV, after basically my entire cooking career of trying to replicate Pizza Hut’s epic pizzas at home, that was the night where I did, and that trio totally gave the best cheese pulls and gooeyness that nicely complements the sauce!

Got a cheese craving? Well, you’ll totally satisfy that with this amazing Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna! It’s kid-friendly and adult-friendly, just the perfect dish to serve a major cheese lover! Let’s get to it!

Tips for the Best Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna

• Don’t overload each layer of the lasagna with sauce. Doing so will make the lasagna too watery and will make it hard to cut and serve the lasagna later on while maintaining the several layers.
• Cook extra lasagna noodles. You’re better off having too many noodles on hand than not enough! If you’ve got extra noodles, you can save them for later and make another lasagna! To store extra cooked lasagna noodles, I would store them in a large container filled with water.
• If you really enjoy sauce like I do, serve extra sauce on the side during lunch/dinner. You could even scoop some up with your extra lasagna noodles if you have any!
• Start the assembly of the lasagna with a layer of sauce at the bottom. This will help ensure the bottom layer stays moist.
• Criss-cross the various layers of the lasagna as you go. This makes it easier to serve the lasagna later on since the layers won’t slide over each other as easily.
• If you prefer a cheesy crust without any brown spots, cover the top of the casserole with a lid or foil.

Ingredients for Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna

For all measurements and the full instructions, make sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD!

For the Calabrian-Pepper Tomato Sauce

• Tomatoes: I use a combination of San Marzano tomatoes which are lightly pulsed for texture and passata.
• Calabrian Chili Pepper: Sweet as well as spicy, use lots of it to add depth to the sauce
• Garlic: Essential, that’s all.
• Olive oil: Marinara needs olive oil!
• Salt: To taste.

For the Garlic Parmesan Bechamel Sauce

• Butter: Used to cook the milk and flour.
• Garlic: Our catalyst to make this béchamel sauce extra special
• All purpose flour: This is used to make the rue of the sauce. The flour will be cooked out with the butter and milk.
• Milk: Cold milk is best to avoid lumps in your sauce.
• Ground nutmeg: Optional, but I highly recommend it! It’ll add such a lovely aroma to your sauce.
• Parmesan cheese: It wouldn’t be a garlic-Parmesan sauce without the garlic!
• Salt and pepper: To taste.

For the Lasagna

• Lasagna noodles: I use regular lasagna noodles, not the oven-ready no-boil ones. I find these are “safer” to use!
• Cheeses: Shredded mozzarella, sliced provolone, and sliced Swiss cheese are used in the layers of the lasagna!

How to Make Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna

Make the Marinara Sauce

1. Place the tomatoes in a food processor with the Calabrian chili peppers and garlic. Pulse for a few seconds to break down the tomatoes.
2. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a saucepan. Add pulsed tomatoes to the pan and add passata.
3. Stir well and season with salt.
4. Bring sauce to a simmer. Lower heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until your sauce reduces and has a thick consistency.

Garlic Parmesan Sauce

1. Heat a pan on medium heat and add butter and garlic.
2. Once the butter melts and the garlic is fragrant, mix in the flour and whisk for 2-3 mins until the rawness of the flour is cooked out. The roux will begin to smell nutty, which is a good indicator.
3. Pour in your milk, little bit at a time while whisking to work out any lumps. Once all your milk is mixed in, wait until your sauce starts to come up to a simmer.
4. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
5. As soon as the sauce comes to a simmer, it will begin to thicken. Once the béchamel is thick enough to evenly coat the back of a spoon, turn the heat off and add freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Assembling the Lasagna - Layering It Properly

1. Bring the water in a large pot to a rolling boil and season with salt. Cook the lasagna sheets in batches, 5-6 sheets at a time.
2. As lasagna cooks, transfer to a cold bowl of water and finish cooking the rest of the sheets.
3. Dry the pasta with paper towel before starting the assembly.
4. Start with a thin layer of the tomato sauce at the bottom. Then layer the lasagne noodles, overlapping as you fill the surface area of the casserole. Trim any excess from the corner (anything that doesn’t fit).
5. Then add another layer of marinara sauce, followed by the garlic Parmesan béchamel sauce, mozzarella, provolone and Swiss cheese. Based on your casserole size, use just enough to fill the surface area of the dish.
6. Repeat step 2 until you have at least 3 layers.
7. Finish the top layer with marinara, béchamel, extra mozzarella, Swiss, provolone and optionally a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

How Long to Bake the Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna For

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Place the casserole on the middle rack and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the top layer is lightly browned.
3. Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.
4. Slice and serve your slice!

Storing Cooked Lasagna

If you are going to save lasagna that was already cooked, then let the casserole cool completely and then you can store the lasagna in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.

Reheating Vegetarian Four Cheese Lasagna

The quickest and best way to reheat frozen or chilled lasagna would be in an air fryer. Simply preheat the air fryer to 375 F and air fry until the lasagna is warmed through. Cover the lasagna with foil which is lightly greased to ensure the cheese doesn’t get too brown. To check if it is hot enough, insert a knife to reach the center of the lasagna and touch the knife to feel the temperature. Check every 4-5 minutes.

To reheat the lasagne in an oven, preheat the oven at 350 F. Cover the casserole with foil, ensure it doesn’t touch the cheese and heat for 30-35 minutes or until warmed through. You can use a toaster oven as well. To check if the lasagna is hot enough, insert a knife to reach the center of the lasagna and touch the knife to feel the temperature.