Air Fryer Vegetarian Lasagna (Spinach and Ricotta)
, Updated Oct 11, 2023
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Make delicious veggie Ricotta and Spinach Lasagna in your Air Fryer! Picture fresh lasagna sheets layered with white sauce, mozzarella and ricotta spinach filling… Absolutely yummy – another winning air fryer dinner 🙂
You may also like my Easy Air Fryer Lasagna, which uses a traditional rich meat sauce and creamy Parmesan white sauce.
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Guys. Did you know you can make Air Fryer Lasagna that’s every bit as awesome as the oven version? Seriously, I was majorly impressed with just how yummy and quick this vegetarian lasagna is.
The only element that is NOT cooked in the air fryer is the béchamel sauce and if you are in a real hurry you can use store-bought lasagna sauce. I won’t tell if you don’t!
This spinach and ricotta lasagne contains no tomato sauce – I prefer it that way – but you can add marinara sauce if you like.
Serve with salad and you have a lovely vegetarian meal that’s easy enough for weekday yet fancy enough for entertaining.
Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna Ingredients
- White sauce: butter, flour, milk, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and lemon zest
- Fresh lasagna sheets or no boil lasagna noodles
- Fresh spinach
- Ricotta cheese
- Garlic and herb cream cheese (Philadelphia or Boursin)
- Large Eggs
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Garlic Powder
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
How To Make Air Fryer Lasagna
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
PREPARE THE SPINACH RICOTTA FILLING
Finely chop the spinach and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and leave to stand so that the salt draws out the moisture. Place wilted spinach in a clean linen towel and wring out the spinach to remove the liquid.
Place the spinach in a bowl and stir in the ricotta, garlic and herb cream cheese, grated Parmesan, garlic powder and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
PREPARE THE WHITE SAUCE (Béchamel)
Melt the butter in a large saucepan until it is foaming. Whisk in the flour to make a paste (roux) and cook for a couple minutes, stirring all the while.
Gradually add the milk, whisking it in, until it is incorporated into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Stir in the zest, freshly grated nutmeg and grated Parmesan. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Cover the sauce with plastic wrap (directly on the surface) unless you are using it straight away.
ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA
Mist 7 inch square loose bottom baking pan with cooking spray (or use an air fryer cake barrel or anything of similar size that fits). Cover the base with foil or plastic wrap to avoid any leaks.
Add a ladleful of white sauce in the prepared pan and spread it out. Cover with lasagna sheets, cutting them to fit as needed. Add some white sauce where sheets overlap each other.
Spread a layer of the filling over the pasta and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Add some white sauce and top with more lasagna sheets. Repeat until you have used up all of the filling.
Top with a final layer of lasagna noodles and spoon over the remaining white sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and grated Parmesan and season with pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
Pierce with a skewer or knife in a few places to allow steam to escape and avoid the noodles “buckling”.
COOK LASAGNA IN AIR FRYER
Preheat your air fryer to 350°F/ 180°C for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to 275°F /135°C the lasagna in the air fryer basket and cook for 30 minutes.
Increase the heat setting to 320°F / 160°C and cook for a further 15-20 minutes or until the lasagna is golden on top, easily pierced with a knife and registers 165°F / 75°C on an instant read thermometer.
Let stand at least 10 minutes. If you have used a loose bottomed pan you can carefully remove the lasagna to show off the pretty layering before slicing and serving with a salad and garlic dough balls.
How To Store and Reheat Air Fryer Lasagna
Store any leftovers, once cooled, in the refrigerator in a suitable container for up to three days.
Leftover lasagna is best reheated in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Make sure it is hot all the way through before serving.
To freeze the whole lasagna, assemble and cool but don’t air fry. Cover with a lid and freeze for up to a month. Cook from frozen in the air fryer following the same method, adding an extra time as needed.
You can also cook frozen lasagna in the oven at 350°F /180°C for 50 minutes to an hour.
Have you made my Air Fryer lasagna recipe? Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes. I can’t wait to see your take on it!
Air Fryer Lasagna (Spinach and Ricotta)
Video
Ingredients
FOR THE FILLING
- 2 tsp sea salt , for the spinach
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (250g) ricotta cheese]
- 5.2 oz (150g) garlic and herb cream cheese (Boursin)
- 10 ½ oz (300g) fresh spinach
- 4 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 lemon , zest only
WHITE SAUCE
- ⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (65g) flour , plain / all purpose
- 3 cups (720ml) semi-skimmed milk
- 1 lemon , zest only (optional)
- 6 tbsp grated Parmesan
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- freshly ground black pepper a few turns of the mill
- salt to taste
FOR THE LASAGNA
- 9-12 fresh lasagna sheets (or no boil noodles) , as needed
- 1 ½ cups (185g) shredded mozzarella
- 1 tbsp grated Parmesan
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- pinch ground pepper
Instructions
PREPARE THE SPINACH RICOTTA FILLING
- Finely chop the spinach and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and leave to stand so that the salt draws out the moisture. Place in a clean linen towel and wring out the spinach to remove the liquid.
- Place the spinach in a bowl and stir in the ricotta, garlic and herb cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
PREPARE THE WHITE SAUCE (Béchamel)
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan until it is foaming. Whisk in the flour to make a paste (roux) and cook for a couple minutes, stirring all the while.
- Gradually add the milk, whisking it in, until it is incorporated into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Stir in the zest, freshly grated nutmeg and Parmesan. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA
- Mist 7 inch square loose bottom baking pan with cooking spray (or use an air fryer cake barrel or anything of similar size that fits into your air fryer model). Cover the base with foil or plastic wrap to avoid any leaks.
- Add a little white sauce in the prepared pan and spread it out. Cover with lasagna sheets, cutting them to fit as needed.
- Spread a layer of the filling over the pasta and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Add some white sauce and top with more lasagna sheets. Repeat until you have used up all of the filling.
- Top with a final layer of lasagna noodles and spoon over the remaining white sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and grated Parmesan and season with pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Pierce with a skewer or knife in a few places to allow steam to escape and avoid the noodles “buckling”.
COOK LASAGNA IN AIR FRYER
- Preheat your air fryer to 350°F/ 180°C for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to 275°F /135°C the lasagna in the air fryer basket and cook for 30 minutes.
- Increase the heat setting to 320°F / 160°C and cook for a further 15-20 minutes or until the lasagna is golden on top, easily pierced with a knife and registers 165°F / 75°C on an instant read thermometer.
- Let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving with a salad and some garlic dough balls.
Notes
- If you have cooked the lasagna in a loose bottomed pan you can remove it before serving to reveal the layers.
- Store any leftover lasagna, once it has cooled down, in the refrigerator in a suitable container for up to three days.
- Leftover lasagna is best reheated in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Make sure the lasagna is hot all the way through before serving.
- To freeze the whole lasagna, assemble and cool but don’t air fry. Cover with a lid and freeze for up to a month. Cook from frozen in the air fryer follow the same method, adding an extra time as needed.
- You can also cook frozen lasagna in the oven at 350°F /180°C for 50 minutes to an hour.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
I don’t know what to do differently but the top burned LONG before the internal temp even reached 100F. I covered with tinfoil (best I can with all that air blowing around) but even after 45 min the internal temp isn’t anywhere near 165F :<
Hi Jeliza – if you have something heavier than tin foil to cover it would be best as the foil can be sucked up to the heating element. Air fryers can vary quite a bit so I will make a note in the recipe to cover