Gluten Free Lasagna with Polenta and Vegetables
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.Polenta replaces traditional lasagna noodles in this hearty, satisfying, gluten free lasagna! Packed with fresh vegetables, Italian spices and cheese, it’s a vegetarian friendly dish that the whole family will love.
We love lasagna in our house! Lasagna, when done correctly, can take 90 minutes-2 hours to make. Usually, I don’t have that kind of time, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up making lasagna! This Gluten Free Lasagna with Polenta and Vegetables is the perfect, quick and easy recipe – ready in under 45 minutes and just as satisfying as the traditional version!
I love this twist on the traditional version of lasagna. Fresh, sliced polenta replaces the noodles, a mix of shredded cheeses make it rich but not too heavy, and seasonal veggies cooked with Italian spices add texture and flavor to this recipe. I was originally inspired by this recipe from EatingWell, but modified it significantly to make it even more flavorful and healthy — to appeal to meat-eaters, picky-eaters, vegetarians and gluten-free diets alike! It’s a healthy vegetarian Italian recipe!
This recipe makes 8 HUGE servings, and it’s a wonderful balanced meal with the fiber and healthy goodness from the veggies, the protein from the cheese, and the whole grains from the polenta.
It also makes for amazing leftovers, and will last in the fridge for up to 4 days!
Tools and Equipment You’ll Need
How To Make This Gluten Free Lasagna – Step By Step
Step 1: Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper, zucchini, garlic, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
Step 2: Add spinach; cook until wilted, stirring once, about 3 minutes. Stir marinara sauce into the vegetables and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 3: Slice polenta, and place half of the polenta slices in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, trimming to fit if necessary.
Step 4: Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese.
Step 5: Top with the zucchini/spinach mixture and sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese.
Step 6: Repeat: one more layer of polenta, one layer of veggies, and the remaining cheese on top.
Step 7: Bake until bubbling and the cheese has just melted, 12 to 15 minutes.
Step 8: Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Is Polenta Healthy For You?
The short answer is, yes! Polenta is made from cornmeal – so if you’re using organic polenta it is a great gluten-free alternative in many recipes. Other than being gluten-free, polenta has a number of health benefits including:
- High in fiber
- A good source of complex carbs, making it low glycemic. This means it’s broken down more slowly and takes longer to digest, keeping your blood sugar levels steady.
- Rich in Vitamin A and C, and a good source of carotenoids
Is this polenta and garden vegetable lasagna kid-friendly?
You might be surprised, but yes it is! The combination of the cheese, creamy polenta and fragrant spices makes this a dish that the whole family (picky kids included) will love. If you have an especially picky eater who can’t stand looking at a vegetable, I recommend chopping up the veggies in this dish super super small so that they blend into the sauce and aren’t very noticeable. You can even use a food processor to finely chop the veggies to make it easier to “hide” them in the dish 🙂
What does Polenta taste like?
Polenta is made from ground yellow corn and is super mild in flavor. I’d say that polenta tastes like a coarser version of grits. One of the great things about polenta is that it tends to take on the flavor of anything it’s mixed with – which makes it the perfect gluten-free substitute for lasagna noodles in this dish!
How do you use cooked polenta?
While you can make polenta from scratch at home, there are wonderful pre-cooked varieties (that come in the shape of a tube) available in the grocery store. This “tubed” version is what I used in this dish – and it’s a great option for any kind of layering dish.
You can use cooked polenta as a substitute for gluten-free pasta noodles (like I did here), as part of a Mexican casserole for some corn flavor, fried up like mini pancakes as part of a breakfast, grilled alongside other ingredients, or even cut up into fries and baked!
Top Tips For This Gluten Free Lasagna
- Use a pasta sauce that is all natural with no added sugar.
- You can use any kind of shredded cheese you like in this recipe. I opted for sharper parmesan, but mozzarella or goat cheese would taste fabulous as well!
- This is a great “clean out your fridge” recipe. If you don’t have the veggies I used, you can use just about any vegetable in this recipe and it will work great!
- If you need to make this ahead of time, assemble everything the day before and refrigerate — unbaked and covered — for up to 24 hours.
- Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Check Out These Other Delicious Meatless Italian Dishes!
- Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Feta
- Vegetable Polenta
- Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
- Vegan Minestrone Soup
- Low Carb Gluten Free Zucchini Lasagna
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Gluten Free Lasagna with Polenta and Vegetables
Polenta replaces traditional lasagna noodles in this hearty, gluten-free, satisfying casserole! Packed with fresh vegetables, Italian spices and cheese, it's a vegetarian friendly dish that the whole family will love.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 215kcal
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 3 yellow/orange or red peppers diced
- 7 cloves garlic minced
- 4 zucchini finely diced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ½ tbsp dried Italian seasoning or more to taste
- Pinch crushed red pepper
- 8-10 ounces baby spinach chopped
- 1 jar of spaghetti sauce make sure to get one that’s all-natural, with no sugar added – I like Muir Glen Organic Garden Vegetable sauce
- 32 ounces prepared organic polenta (about two 16oz "rolls" of polenta) sliced lengthwise into thin slices
- 1½ cups shredded parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper, zucchini, garlic, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Add spinach; cook until wilted, stirring once, about 3 minutes.
- Stir marinara sauce into the vegetables and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Slice polenta, and place polenta slices in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, trimming to fit if necessary.
- Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese, top with the zucchini/spinach mixture and sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Then repeat: one more layer of polenta, one layer of veggies, and the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake until bubbling and the cheese has just melted, 12 to 15 minutes. Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Top Tips For This Gluten Free Lasagna
- Use a pasta sauce that is all natural with no added sugar.
- You can use any kind of shredded cheese you like in this recipe. I opted for sharper parmesan, but mozzarella or goat cheese would taste fabulous as well!
- This is a great “clean out your fridge” recipe. If you don’t have the veggies I used, you can use just about any vegetable in this recipe and it will work great!
- If you need to make this ahead of time, assemble everything the day before and refrigerate — unbaked and covered — for up to 24 hours.
- Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 26.3g | Protein: 10.4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 880mg | Potassium: 547mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g
Made this for dinner. It’s only my husband and me, so I cut it down and made in a 9X9 baking pan. However, the roll or polenta was barely enough for the smaller pan. I had to slice them super thin so there was enough. How did you make it work in a 9X13 pan? I also used less zucchini and added broccoli.
Delicious!!
Hi Bonnie! Thanks so much – I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and I love the addition of broccoli! Also, I didn’t realize this but the recipe had a typo! You actually need two rolls of polenta to fit in the 9×13 pan – I just updated the recipe card to indicate that! So next time, use two rolls of polenta and you should be all set! 🙂