Over the last few days, I have had the pleasure of eating this vegan vegetable lasagna filled with mushrooms, carrots, zucchini and spinach-cashew ricotta cheese. Even the leftovers have been amazing!
Lasagnas are the perfect warm and cozy fall meal and I’m thrilled to have this recipe added to the collection. It really is, The Ultimate Vegan Lasagna. At least I see it that way, it’s plant-based perfection for this lasagna loving girl!
This veggie lasagna recipe is a bit different from the, Simple Vegan Lasagna with Asparagus, I did and is a bit more involved, but not by much. You can trust when I say it will be worth every minute of your time to create this cozy, comforting meal. I know you’re going to love it too!
Let’s get on with the recipe!
How To Make The Ultimate Vegan Lasagna
Lots of simple, fresh vegetables will make up the bulk of the filling.
- The vegetables I have chosen are considered more of a ‘summer’ variety, but they are widely available in California year around. I hope wherever you are, you too can find these ingredients easily or use something similar in its place.
- I’ve also used a packaged frozen spinach which I don’t have shown here but will be added to the cashew ricotta (as shown below). If using fresh spinach, use 10 oz. or so, steam until wilted and chop.
Cook your vegetables until al dente. Mix cashew ricotta and spinach – so delicious just like this!
Vegan Lasagna Cashew Ricotta Cheese
The cashew ricotta is an amazing replacement for dairy ricotta. It does such a great job and I know once you try cashew ricotta you’ll never go back to the dairy version. It’s wonderfully creamy, delicious and so easy to make!
Those who are skeptical of a cashew ricotta cheese because of the fat content should consider that once broken down into servings you’re only getting 9 grams of fat from the cashews (and not much more from everything else). That is less fat than a serving of regular potato chips.
How to Layer Vegan Lasagna
Using a large rectangular baking dish (9 x 12) place about 1/3 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish spreading to coat, add a layer of pasta, top with 1/2 ricotta cheese and 1/2 vegetables. Add another layer of pasta, 1/2 of the remaining sauce, then the rest of the ricotta, then vegetables. Add one more layer of pasta and top with the remaining sauce. Cover and bake.
After it has rested, give the final touch with a sprinkle of almond parmesan and basil. It’s much better!
Slice and serve this delicious, dairy free lasagna. I bet you’ll never know the ricotta is made from cashews! 💛
THE ULTIMATE VEGAN LASAGNA
Filled with tons of simple veggies and the best ever cashew ricotta cheese. Cashew ricotta is so easy to make, you’ll never know its dairy free!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 50 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
- Category: Entree, Pasta
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or 1/4 cup water (for water saute)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 yellow squash, diced
- 8 oz. mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, thyme, basil or marjoram, optional
- 1 package (10 – 12 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 jar (25 – 28 oz.) marinara/pasta sauce
- 12 lasagna noodles (approx.), regular or no-boil
- 2 cups cashew ricotta cheese
- salt & fresh cracked pepper
- almond parmesan, for garnish
- fresh basil leaves, julienned, for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Noodles: Cook noodles according to package directions, set aside. If using no boil lasagna noodles like I did there is no need to cook first.
Saute Veggies: In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, add onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add carrots and cook another 3 minutes. Add zucchini, squash, mushrooms, herbs/seasonings and good pinch of salt, continue to saute for another 2 minutes. We don’t need to saute the zucchini, squash and mushrooms too much, we want their juices to fully release while baking. Remove from heat.
Spinach Ricotta: Mix together the cashew ricotta and spinach, mix well.
Assemble & Layer: Using a large rectangular baking dish (9 x 12) place about 1/3 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish spreading to coat, add a layer of pasta, top with 1/2 ricotta cheese and 1/2 vegetables. Add another layer of pasta, 1/2 of the remaining sauce, then the rest of the ricotta, then vegetables. Add one more layer of pasta and top with the remaining sauce. Cover with lid, small silpat or foil.
Bake: Place on the center rack and bake for 40 minutes. Let rest covered for 5 minutes, remove cover and let cool 10 minutes.
To Serve: Add a sprinkle of Almond Parmesan and a bit of freshly chopped basil overtop.
Serves 8
NOTES:
To make this well-balanced or if you feel you want extra protein, add a can of white beans (drained and rinsed) or a package of fresh or thawed frozen peas in between the ricotta and vegetables.
If you don’t care for mushrooms, sub in a diced, large red bell pepper.
Edit: Always check your box of noodles before purchasing to make sure they’re vegan. I made this originally with non-vegan noodles on accident. Since then I have sourced a few vegan no boil lasagna noodle options, they are out there and will make your meal come to together even faster without the extra step of boiling. One brand is DeLallo, they have an organic wheat no boil noodle you can try. If using them you may prefer to lay your noodles lengthwise so they have room to stretch when cooking. I placed mine widthwise here and you can see that the noodles scrunched and wrinkled up without much room to stretch. Laying them lengthwise they can stretch with plenty of room and lay flat. But it was still fantastic, wrinkled and all, possibly even better! :)
Jessica Lauren DeBry says
I LOVE lasagna but rarely make it because it’s always a big project with a million ingredients……and somehow, you make it seem so simple. :) Thank you, this looks delicious, will be making it soon!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Thank you Jessica! It really is pretty simple. I’m looking forward to more of these in the future! Cheers :)
Nina says
Hi Greetings from the UK. The lasagna looks amazing. I’ve just moved house so only reading recipes until sorted out! This is on my list to make eventually! Quick question would fresh baby spinach leaves work? If so how much do you think you would need & should I steam and squeeze dry and then add. Thank you for your fab recipes.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Congrats on your move, I hope you get settled in soon! Yes, fresh baby spinach would be great here. I would suggest using about 10 oz., just steam it down to completely wilted and chop, drain off any excess water (doesn’t have to be super dry some juices are good) and mix with cashew ricotta as directed. If you rather, you can mix it in with the other veggies or spread it over top in between the layer of ricotta and vegetables. Enjoy!
Nina says
Thanks Julie for taking the time out to answer my question. I look forward to trying your recipe out when I have done with unpacking ;-)
Chrissy says
I think no-bake Lasagna noodles are not generally vegan… I made the mistake once myself recently on my first time making lasagna. Just bought the regular lasagna noodles for my next attempt. Love all the veggies in your version!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Oh my, I think you’re right. I thought I looked at the package but I must’ve missed it. (face palm) I suppose it’s regular noodles from now on! Thank you so much for pointing that out…I should’ve known better. :)
Louise says
I made this for dinner and my omni husband said it was good and had seconds. I didn’t use carrots and only had fresh spinach so that’s what I used. I think many combos of veggies would do — the key ingredient is the cashew ricotta. Yummy! Thank you for the inventive recipes!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Yay, I’m so glad it was a success! I agree… many combos of veggies would work here. I just made this again today and added some fresh peas I had on hand and it was delicious. Cheers to good eats and cashew ricotta! :)
lea says
Wondering what yuppy think if adding temphe or tofu worth the spinach for the ricotta? Just think cashew idea is fatfattening.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
This really isn’t too fattening once broken down into the 8 servings. You figure in 1/4 cup of cashews there are 160 calories, 12 grams of fat and 5 grams of protein. That measures out to 120 calories, 9 grams of fat and 3.75 grams of protein per serving. Not too bad at all! You could easily eat 2 servings and be ok. One serving has less fat than a serving of potato chips. If you’re very concerned just limit the fats from everything else you’ll eat that day. Don’t be afraid of cashews, they are delicious in this recipe! But if your still not sold, do a quick google search and I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. Cheers :)
Nicole says
I normally get irritated with people who comment without first trying the recipe…. but I’m just excited you posted this, because I’d been meaning to experiment with a lasagna with cashew “ricotta’ since having enjoyed your mac n cheese cashew cheese so much. And now you’ve done the hard work of testing. Thank you! I will make soon.
Alys says
I just made this tonight, I’ve never made lasagne before. It’s really good! A really tasty, clean dinner. It was more work than I usually put forth, but I’m planning to freeze some of it. The cashew ricotta is SO GOOD! I think it might even fool non vegans, but I haven’t had dairy in so long I’m probably not a good judge. I’m seeing manicotti in my future! I used brown rice pastaand it worked really well. Love your blog, thanks!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Thank you Alys! I love this lasagne too and it will definitely please your non-vegan friends. Cheers :)
Deborah says
It looks great! FYI you do not need to precook regular lasagna noodles either. Also, kale can just be layered raw between the layers. I remove the stems first.
Ris says
I can’t wait to try this today! I became vegan not too long ago and transforming from eating meat to no animal products at all is hard. But now I don’t think i’ll ever run out of ideas, big thanks to this blog. You are awesome!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Thank you so much! That is what I’m striving for, a good well-rounded vegan resource! I know you’re going to absolutely love this!! Cheers :)
Joe says
We tried this recipe (I am gluten-free dairy-free for now) and loved it! We used to do a traditional (although vegetarian) version of lasagna, and I must say we all preferred this one. Really we couldn’t tell it was cashew cheese in it, but I guess it’s better to keep the portions on the smaller side and serve it with a fresh green salad (it was near impossible not to take a second serving…) Also very glad to have a vegetarian recipe without tofu/soy.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
It’s amazing that it you can’t tell the cheese is made from cashews. A fresh salad is a perfect side to this. So glad you loved it! Cheers
Alycia says
We absolutely LOVE this recipe as ‘sometimes vegans’ : ) Question for you – I want to make this ahead on a Friday to throw in the oven on Sunday night – think it’s ok to put together with no bake noodles and sit in the fridge for two days? Also – what is your suggestion for freezing for later, bake and then freeze, or assemble and freeze before baking? Thank you!!
Beth says
Ooh good questions Alycia. I was wondering that too, if it’s better to freeze before or after baking? Julie what do you think?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Absolutely, it work fine freezing before or after. Enjoy! :)
Beth says
Thank you!! I made this the other night and as usual we have little to no leftovers. I will have to make a double batch next time so I can freeze it for a quick dinner later. Thank you for all of your recipes!!
Karen M. Chapman says
Oh my, this looks delicious! i usually make my vegan lasagna with tofu ricotta, but I’m ready to give almond ricotta a try.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Its delicious, I think you’ll love it!
Helene says
Hi! Do you think I could make it then cook it a day later?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
I haven’t tried making it that way. I would think it would be ok, but I can’t for say 100% for sure. That’s a great question and will be on my to do list!
Betsy Bowen says
Delighted to have found this excellent recipe. What we found especially amazing about the rich, delicious cashew ricotta cheese, is despite its high fat content, we never felt the familiar sensations that come with ingesting rich dairy ingredients – stuffed and groggy – and which, now having a basis for comparison, we understand is our culture’s distorted perception of “satisfying.”
Thank you!
★★★★★
Sue says
I made this tonight, very tasty – the cashew ricotta was amazing!
Two things I would definitely change next time:
– make double the marinara, it was very dry and would benefit from the extra sauce,
– sauté the veg for longer than 2 minutes once the zucchini, squasht and mushrooms are added. It had an extra hour in the oven as the veg was raw after 40 minutes.
★★★★
Antoinette Grant says
My family absolutely loved this recipe. For as long as I have been making lasagna, this is the first time a large pan was eaten completely within. 2 days. This recipe has become a “yes we will keep it” meal.
★★★★★
Martha Donohue says
Hi, I loved this recipe. It was very good. I’m wondering though how long can I keep leftovers in the fridge? Primarily I’m wondering how long the cashew mixture stays fresh. Thanks!
★★★★★
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
So glad you liked it! It will stay fresh for up to 5 days in the fridge.