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
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.
I can’t wait to try this recipe, I love how easy it sounds!
It really is super easy Kara!
I have never made polenta before, I can’t wait to try your recipe.
This is a really fun way to use polenta and it has the added benefit of being gluten free!
This looks so good!!!! Can’t wait to try it!
It’s one of our favorite dishes to make!
I’ve actually never used polenta in any cooking before (nor did I know what it was until now). This looks delicious!
Thank you so much Amy! I hope you love it!
I like that it doesn’t take so long to make. This is a great version of a classic favorite.
Thank you so much! Enjoy!
I love lasagna! I haven’t made it in a while thought. I think that this is something that I’m going to have to try soon
Lasagna is one of my favs too! I think you’ll love this quicker substitute as much as we do! 🙂
What a delicious healthy recipe! I love the combination of ingredients, colors and flavors. I can hardly wait to make this casserole next week!
Thank you so much!! It’s super satisfying and so easy to make – I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you!
This looks healthy and tasty. I would love to try to make this one night next week.
Woohoo! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you!
This recipe deserves to have a 5 stars. It’s beautiful, so healthy and looks really delicious! I can’t wait to make this at home.
Aw thank you so much Gervin! I’m sure you will love it when you make it!
This lasagna looks absolutely scrumptious! I would love to make this for my family – especially since there is an abundant amount of veggies in every bite.
Thanks Lisa!! That’s one of the reasons I love this recipe too — it has TONS of veggies, but actually still tastes pretty decadent! 🙂
This looks really good. I love that it’s full of color too. I try to go for foods that are full of color. They always seem to be the best.
Thank you Kathy! And yes I totally agree — having lots of colors (of foods) on your plate is the easiest way to eat healthy!
Yumm! I have never cooked with polenta before and I think this recipe just gave me a reason to! This sounds fantastic and I love all the veggies 🙂
Cooking with polenta is actually pretty easy! I recommend buying the pre-made tubes – makes this recipe go so much faster! 🙂
I have picky eaters in my house! I think they may like this. I know my husband and I would for sure! My mom made us homemade sauce and I am putting this on the menu next week!
Awesome!! You’ll definitely have to let me know what your picky eaters say about this recipe Shelley! 🙂
My health conscious friends are going to love this. It is healthy and delish! I like this a lot!
Thank you so much Ruth!
We are always looking for good gluten-free recipes and we eat a lot of polenta. I can’t wait to try this!
Yay! I’m sure you will love this recipe Pam!
This looks like such a delicious option to bake. I love the idea of getting more veggies into our daily dishes, thankful to see this polenta and garden vegetables bake recipe so I can give it a try!
Thank you so much!! It’s a really way to sneak in extra veggies for sure!