Lasagna Roll Ups with Spinach & Garlic Herb Ricotta

JUMP TO RECIPE

Creamy, cheesy, luscious Lasagna Roll Ups with Spinach & Garlic Herb Ricotta is a meal prep dream! Perfect for a make-ahead, freezer-friendly, easy weeknight family dinner!

These simple Lasagna Roll Ups are one of those recipes that came about because I really suck at making regular lasagna! LOL. It always ends up too sloppy and saucy, so I stick to what I know: Rolling them bitches up and calling it a DAY! I had boxes of lasagna in the pantry and spinach in the fridge, so BOOM – the best Lasagna Spinach Roll Ups recipe!

I filled the lasagna sheets with sautéed spinach and a spicy, herby ricotta mixture (the same as in my Spicy Baked Eggplant Parm) and It. Is. So. Good. The key is to season everything from the sauce to the filling to create layers of incredible flavor! In addition to the pasta, spinach and ricotta, this beautiful vegetarian dish features jarred pasta sauce, scallions, fresh basil, cilantro, garlic and green chiles, as well as pantry staple seasonings.

Few Important Tips!

Lasagna Rolls ups are vegetarian, but feel free to use your favorite meat sauce
This amazing chopper from Amazon will definitely make this recipe go quicker.
The spicy ricotta mixture can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.
I prefer to use Rao’s Arrabiatta Sauce because it tastes so fresh, and has garlic and spices but any jarred or homemade pasta sauce will work well here!
Fresh spinach is best, but frozen will work if you thaw it completely and squeeze all the liquid out of it (then pat it dry with a paper towel).
You can substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta, but we like the creaminess of ricotta!
Don’t skip the “dry off your cooked lasagna noodles” step or the ricotta mixture will slide right off!

Hope you all enjoy this recipe and if you make it, be sure to tag me on @thechutneylife so I can see all of your hard work !

How Do You Make Lasagna Roll Ups?

Boil the water and cook the lasagna sheets. Once cooked, drain and toss back into the pot with a bit of oil and water so they don’t stick together.
Chop and prep the spinach and ricotta mixtures. Set these two aside. This amazing chopper from Amazon will definitely make things go quicker.
Dry the lasagna sheets with a paper towel then layer in the ingredients: Lasagna, ricotta mix, mozzarella, spinach, sauce, more mozzarella. Keep the layers very thin and leave about 1” at the end for rolling up!
Roll up each pasta sheet and place in the baking pan (with a layer of sauce on the bottom). Place the seam side down.
Once all the sheets have all been rolled up, pour the remaining sauce over the rolls, top with more mozzarella cheese, and bake covered at 350 for about 10 minutes.
Happy eating!

Can I Use No Boil Noodles to Make Lasagna Roll Ups?

You CAN use oven-ready, no-boil pasta sheets, but I don’t recommend them for this recipe. While they work great for casserole-style dishes or soups, they tend to fall apart when baked, so the individual servings may be floppy and broken.

Lasagna Roll Ups

PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE

SERVES: 4 Servings

PREP TIME: 20 mins

COOK TIME: 20 mins

TIME: 40 mins

Ingredients

1 lb. box lasagna (Do not use the easy cook)

32 oz Jarred Pasta Sauce ( I love Rao's Arrabiatta Sauce)

Ricotta Mixture:

16 oz Ricotta cheese

4 green chilis; roughly chopped (use serrano or thai green chilis for more heat)

4 cloves garlic

1 cup cilantro; tightly packed

1 bunch scallions; roughly chopped

Handful of Basil leaves (optional)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

Filling:

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp garlic; minced

1 onion; diced

1 bell pepper; diced

1 10 oz bag spinach

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp crushed red chili flakes

salt and pepper to taste

16 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

In a large pot, boil about 12-15 lasagna sheets according to directions on box. Drain, and place back in the pot with additional water to keep the lasagna sheets from sticking to each other.

Make The Ricotta Mix:

In a food processor mix together ricotta cheese, chilis, garlic, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, and onion powder until all blended together. Once mixture is made, set aside.

Make the Spinach Filling:

In a pot, heat 2 tbsp oil, once hot add in garlic, and saute until fragrant but not brown.
Add in onions, bell peppers and let cook for 6-7 minutes until they onions and peppers have softened
Mix in the bag of spinach in handfuls, mixing and letting the spinach wilt down with every addition. Add the the Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper and sauté until spinach is completely wilted and soft. If there is too much liquid, keep simmering until the liquid evaporates.

Sauce:

Empty your choice of jarred pasta sauce into a large bowl and add one heaping spoon of the ricotta mixture to the sauce and stir well. If you like things spicy, add crushed red chili flakes to the sauce as well.

Assembly:

Lay out all of the lasagna sheets and let them dry or pat them dry so the mixture doesn't slide off during assembly. Ladle a few big spoonfuls of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking tray and set aside.
Start by spread about two spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture on each lasagna sheet (leaving about an inch of space on the end and then sprinkle with a handful of mozzarella cheese. Next, using your hands or a spoon spread about two spoonfuls of the spinach mixture on top, then topped by a spoonful of the tomato sauce (evenly spread all over) and finally with a generous sprinkle of mozzarella cheese (mozzarella helps keep the roll together). Starting at the bottom, roll the lasagna sheet up and place in a baking sheet with the flap side facing down. Repeat until you've used up all of the ingredients.
Once all the sheets have been rolled up, pour the sauce all over the rolls, top with few handfuls of mozzarella cheese, and bake covered at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Lasagna Roll Ups with Spinach & Garlic Herb Ricotta

Few Important Tips!

How Do You Make Lasagna Roll Ups?

Can I Use No Boil Noodles to Make Lasagna Roll Ups?

Lasagna Roll Ups