Lasagna Roll Ups are perfectly portioned, so cheesy, and full of veggies- a great crowd pleasing dinner! Do yourself a favor and make a double batch of lasagna rolls because they freeze perfectly and are amazing for meal prep, too.This post contains affiliate links for products I’m obsessed with.
*This post was originally published 2/1/16 and is being republished with updated photos and additional FAQ’s.*
I remember the first time I made lasagna roll ups. This was back when I was dating my now husband. His brother and father were coming over for dinner and I planned to make a real lasagna.
And then, like many of my days before kids, I procrastinated a little too long was SO busy, I lost track of time.
Does anyone else wonder what the heck you did with your minutes, hours, days before kids?
Anyway, thanks to Rachel Ray, I decided to give lasagna roll ups a try and they were a huge hit! And so easy and quick.
These FIX approved roll ups with spinach and turkey sausage were also a huge hit in my house and the perfect make ahead meal for a winter night.
You could go nuts with sauteed veggies and fill them however you want. I used frozen spinach and they were so YUMMY. Just make sure you use a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out all the extra liquid!
I love that these are perfectly portion controlled so you can indulge while keeping your containers in check. I made 8 roll ups, which was perfect for 4 servings.
What Do I need to make Lasagna Roll Ups?
- Lasagna noodles– whole wheat or Gluten Free will both work great. Just cook them according to the package directions.
- Olive oil spray- I love my EVO sprayer
- Ground sweet Italian chicken or turkey sausage – You can make your own or use store bought sausage. You can always sub ground beef or turkey too!
- Spinach- You can use fresh or frozen, depending on what you have on hand. Just make sure the frozen is thawed and completely drained- use a clean kitchen towel to squeeze out all the liquid!
- Part skim ricotta or cottage cheese – see below for my thoughts on cottage cheese… spoiler: you won’t taste it!
- Grated Parmesan cheese – to give it a little saltiness and great flavor.
- Egg – use your favorite!
- Crushed red pepper – This is optional and gives the lasagna a little kick
- Tomato sauce – Make some Homemade Tomato Sauce or Fresh Tomato Sauce [Instant Pot] or use a store-bought, no sugar added version, like Rao’s.
- Mozzarella cheese – You can shred your own in the food processor (my preference) or buy pre shredded at the store to save time!
This is a lasagna recipe with cottage cheese. But… I don’t like cottage cheese. Will I taste it?
You can easily use part skim ricotta for lasagna roll ups. But I promise you can’t taste the cottage cheese. Find a small curd one (or whipped- I love Friendship brand) and you will be good to go!
Are Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups Gluten Free?
They totally can be. If you use gluten free lasagna noodles, these are a yummy gluten free option! Just cook your noodles according to the package.
Can I freeze these Lasagna Rolls?
YES! The recipe is very easily doubled and there is not much extra effort involved. They are perfect to bring to a new mom, your neighbor, your BFF, or make for a meal train.
- For best results, prep the lasagna roll ups and place directly in the container you will freeze them in, but do not bake. I love to use a disposable foil tin if I know I will be putting some right in the freezer. Then, cover with foil, label, and place in the freezer.
- When you are ready, you can thaw the roll ups in the fridge overnight and then bake as directed. You may need to to add 10-15 minutes to the cook time, depending on how well they defrosted first.
- You can also freeze lasagna roll ups after baking, if you have leftovers. But the noodles tend to get a little bit crispy when reheating. Adding a little bit more sauce during reheating will help with the dryness.
Are Lasagna Rolls good for meal prep or as a make ahead dinner?
YES! I love to make these on a Sunday during meal prep, cover and store in the fridge, and then just bake on Monday for an easy dinner. In fact, in my weekly meal plans I usually suggest prepping this way. It starts the week off right!
Besides 21 Day Fix and WW, Lasagna Roll Ups also make a great 2B Mindset lunch when paired with a side salad.
Looking for more lasagna recipes? There are so many options!
Low Carb Lasagna Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Instant Pot Zucchini Lasagna [CrispLid | Ninja Foodi Options]
Healthy Instant Pot Lasagna Soup | 21 Day Fix Lasagna Soup [Gluten-free | Slow Cooker Option]
21 Day Fix Lazy Butternut Squash Lasagna {Gluten-free, One Skillet}
21 Day Fix One Skillet Lazy Zucchini Lasagna
21 Day Fix Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
Looking for more freezer friendly ideas?
So many ideas here: Healthy Freezer Meals [Instant Pot | Slow Cooker | Oven]
Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
- 8 whole wheat or GF lasagna noodles
- Olive oil spray
- 1 pound ground sweet Italian chicken sausage don't like? Use lean ground beef or turkey
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach thawed and completely drained or 2 cups of of fresh spinach, chopped small
- 8 oz part skim ricotta or cottage cheese I used cottage cheese and it was GREAT!
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- Salt and fresh pepper
- Sprinkle crushed red pepper optional
- 2 cups homemade or 1 jar of no sugar added, tomato pasta sauce (I like Rao's)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Cook lasagna noodles al-dente
- While noodles are cooking, spray pan with olive oil spray and cook sausage until browned and no pink remains. Remove from heat, drain, and let cool slightly.
- Preheat oven to 350
- Combine cooked sausage, spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, HALF of the mozzarella, egg, salt, black and red pepper (if using) in a medium bowl.
- Place a piece of wax or parchment paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. If necessary, pat noodles dry with paper toweling.
- Add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish
- Take about 1/3 cup of sausage mixture and spread evenly over one noodle. Repeat until all noodles are covered. Roll each noodle carefully and place seam side down into the baking dish.
- Ladle 1-2 T of sauce over top the roll ups in the baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese over noodles.
- Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese melts. Uncover for the last few minutes if desired.
Paige says
This is SO good. Could I freeze them in servings after I have baked them?
Nancylynn says
Absolutely! I highly recommend this!
Nancylynn says
Yes! We do this all the time!
Andrea says
Could you tell me what size jar and brand of sauce you use?
Nancylynn says
You need about 2 cups so a 16-24 oz jar will work perfectly! If not using homemade sauce, I like Rao’s brand marinara!
Carrie Dunning says
This is my go-to recipe when we have dinner guests over, or when I bring a meal to a family in need. It’s just the best! Everything is perfect and I get tons of compliments! I double the batch to make sure we have plenty of leftovers- I love them for days afterward. Make. These. Now!
Justin says
These things are just so DARN GOOD!
Ive made this enough times now that I’ve been getting creative using what Ive got at home. Put some mushrooms in the food processor and then good those into the meat has just taken this to another level!
I love that Im able to prepare these ahead and then just pop them in the oven when its time for dinner. Perfect for busy nights when I won’t have time to be in the kitchen. Get home, pop them in the oven, take a quick shower and BAM they’re done.
If you have a hall of fame for recipes, this one has earned the right to be there!
Nancylynn says
Ahhhh Justin, thank you!! I’m not sure which part of the comment is my favorite – maybe the hall of fame part 🙂 totally agree!!
LauraD says
This was fantastic! I made it with cottage cheese and Italian sausage. I will definitely make this again, even when not doing the 21 day fix. I can’t wait to eat my leftovers!
Nancylynn says
Ahhh! Thank you so much! Enjoy those leftovers!
Julie says
My store only had oven ready lasagna noodles so it doesn’t tell me how to boil them. Will they still work? Should I just boil for a few minutes?
Nancylynn says
I have never used these this way, so I am not 100%, but I think it could work! Let me know if you try!
Tiina Allen says
Finally made these tonight and holy smokes were they yummy! My non-fix fam want them added to the regular rotation-thanks!
Nancylynn says
Yay! This made my day!
Danielle says
Hi there!
I love this recipe and I use it often. If I was going to freeze, do I do that before the baking step?
And what temperature and cooking time would you recommend from heating from frozen? I’ve never made meals to freeze, so this will be a first for me.
Thank you 🙂
Danielle
Nancylynn says
Hi! I would freeze before baking, yes! And I would follow the same heating temp as the recipe, but you will need to heat it longer!
Kelly Wilson says
I have a box of large shells at home rather than lasagna noodles. Any idea what would be the serving size using shells? 3 shells?
Nancylynn says
Do you have the calorie breakdown? I would say 2-3 most likely!
Kelly Heelon says
Can I leave the egg out? My son is allergic to eggs.
Nancylynn says
Yes!
Casey says
I’m enjoying your blog Nancylynn! I remember you from Clio although I think you may have been an alumni by the time I pledged (2001). I made these last night for my husband and I could tell he liked them because he took some leftovers to work today, which is rare. Having the individual portions was a fun presentation and helped me split up the recipe between his and mine — I made some meat-free for me and then added pork sausage to make his. I made 12 rolls instead of 8, doubled the egg and cheese, and added some dried Italian seasoning mix as well as some fresh herbs I had on hand. Also added some onions when I cooked the sausage. Next time I will add fresh garlic to the mix — I used garlic powder this time because I was feeling to lazy to peel the cloves but I don’t think it really did much flavor-wise. I like how flexible this recipe is and I look forward to experimenting with it again. Thanks for the great recipes and inspiration!
Nancylynn says
Hi Casey!! Yes – I graduated in 2000…I’m so old, lol!! But I am super happy you found the blog and that it’s helping! So nice to find recipes that you can make work for everyone! Happy New Year to you guys. love-in-clio 🙂
Sarah says
Could you make these ahead and make them the next day or would the cottage cheese get too runy?
Nancylynn says
Not at all!! I LOVE prepping these ahead of time!! They even freeze great!!
Katie Nuest says
How many rolls is considered a serving?
Nancylynn says
2 🙂
Tina says
I seemed to have almost 1.5 cups of filling left over. Why? I followed the recipe exactly as listed but if you only put 1/3 cup filling on 8 noodles you will be left with the same amount as I did. Was there a typo in the amounts??
Nancylynn says
I’m not sure…I’ve made this a bunch of times and never had anything leftover? You can make more rolls then!
Katrina says
I made these last night, and I had a bunch of leftover filling as well! I used 1 lb of ground beef and fresh spinach chopped up, then measured the rest. I used 1 cup of cottage cheese.
They were delicious (I used 8 whole wheat noodles) but I put the rest of the filling in the fridge, not sure what to do with it. I might just boil some penne and mix with the leftover filing and leftover pasta sauce I had in the jar!
Katie Nuest says
How many rolls per serving?
Becky says
Just put in the oven. Excited to try
Nancylynn says
Yay! I hope you love them!
Nikki S. says
This was amazing! I have made lasagna rolls before and they were always missing something. Figured out last night that it was the Italian sausage! So yummy! My husband loved it, too. Will be adding it to my “cook again” list!
Nancylynn says
This made my day! Thanks for the great comment – and I totally agree…Italian sausage adds so much flavor while keeping it light! Thanks again!
Freddie Bonaire says
get rid of that Yellow and use Zucchini lasagna noodles.. slice Zucchini lengthwise into thin strips and then use them to roll the goodies in 🙂
Nancylynn says
I like the way you think, Freddie! Pour the wine!
Roseann W. says
Sounds yummy…shouldn’t a yellow container be counted?
Nancylynn says
OMG! YES 🙂