This Lasagna is a delicious oil-free, healthy alternative to the classic:)
“The Best Vegan Lasagna” is a bold title but I feel confident in the claim:) This is an exceptionally delicious, hearty, and comforting dish. It constantly amazes me how cooking without oil, refined sugar, or salt can be 100% deeply satisfying. Layered with a luscious cashew sauce and packed with a variety of vegetables this lasagne is a highly nutritious delight that tastes rich and “creamy.” It’s very straightforward to make but please make your life easier and use PRE-COOKED LASAGNE SHEETS!
What’s in the Best Vegan Lasagna?
- In place of a meat sauce, we have a rich vegetable sauce using onions, celery, carrots, garlic, mushrooms, spinach or kale, tomatoes, and herbs, enhanced with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- a creamy cashew sauce made with raw cashews, lemon zest and juice, nutritional yeast, white wine vinegar, black pepper, dried herbs, and filtered water.
- lasagna sheets
What can I substitute?
- Use the vegetables you LOVE. If you’re not a mushroom fan please leave them out. Try zucchini, eggplant, or frozen peas.
- Allergic to nuts? Use a Tofu Ricotta instead, this one from the Simple Vegan Blog is excellent!
- Don’t like the look of the baked top? Spread some tomato sauce over the top before baking, when you remove it from the oven drizzle a little cashew sauce over the top and sprinkle with fresh herbs:)
How do I make the Best Vegan Lasagna?
There are a few steps but they’re all very straightforward.
- Make the vegetable sauce by combining and simmering the veggie ingredients.
2. Whip up the cashew cream sauce which is as simple as putting the ingredients in the blender and pressing the button to ON!
3. To assemble the lasagna, spoon a layer of vegetable sauce into an oven-proof dish, top with the lasagna noodles, then a layer of cashew cream sauce. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up.
4. Feel free to top the lasagna with more tomato sauce, either the sauce you’ve just made or plain chopped tomatoes straight from the can/box.
5. Cover, bake in a preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until noodles are soft. Remove the foil then bake for a further 5 – 10 minutes until the topping is crisp.
Can I make it in advance and does it FREEZE?
You absolutely can. Assemble the lasagna, cover, and place in the fridge overnight before baking OR a baked lasagna will keep in the fridge for 3 days. You can also FREEZE your lasagna after baking. Allow it to cool, then cut into squares, wrap and freeze for a delicious mid-week easy meal.
What equipment do I need to make The Best Vegan Lasagna?
A high-speed blender for the cashew cream sauce is really helpful!
Looking for other healthy comfort food dishes? Try these!
I do hope this lasagna works out for you! It’s lovely to have a healthy, hearty comforting dish for the cooler days! Happy plant-based cooking!
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PrintThe Best Vegan Lasagna
A delicious, oil-free, healthy alternative to the classic.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Cuisine: Whole Food Plant Based
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
For the filling:
1/4 – 1 cup vegetable broth (add in stages)
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
2 sticks celery, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried savory herbs (I used Herbes de Provence)
1, 8oz packet sliced mushrooms, cremini, button, shitake – your choice
2 cups roughly chopped baby spinach or baby kale
1, 26 oz box/can chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
For the cashew sauce:
1 1/3 cups raw cashews
1/2 – 3/4 cup filtered water
1 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Zest and juice of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon dried savory herbs
Pinch of fresh ground black pepper
1 packet pre-cooked Lasagna sheets
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Heat 1/4 cup vegetable stock in a large pan. Add the diced onions and allow to cook for approximately 5-7 minutes or until soft and translucent. If the pan becomes dry add a little more stock.
- Add the celery, carrots, and garlic. Sprinkle over the black pepper, and dried savory herbs. Stir to combine and add more stock if necessary. Cook for another 3-5 minutes to soften.
- Place the sliced mushrooms and roughly chopped spinach/kale in the pan, then pour in the chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste, any remaining vegetable stock, and the balsamic vinegar. Combine.
- Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then turn down to a simmer while you make the cashew sauce, partially cover the pan.
- To make the cashew sauce place all the ingredients (using only 1/2 cup filtered water, to begin with) in a high-speed blender and blitz until smooth. You want the sauce to be a thick creamy consistency, add the remainder of the water if necessary.
- To assemble the lasagna use an 8 x 11-inch oven-proof dish. Spoon a layer of the vegetable sauce over the bottom of the dish, place a layer of the pre-cooked lasagne sheets on top then spoon over some cashew sauce.
- Repeat until you have used up all the ingredients.
- YOUR CHOICE AS TO WHETHER YOU TOP WITH TOMATO SAUCE OR NOT!
- Cover the lasagna with foil or parchment paper, place the dish on a baking sheet, and put in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Remove the lasagna from the oven, take off the foil. Test with a knife to see if the noodles are soft. Return to the oven for 5 – 10 minutes to crisp up the top.
- Serve immediately or allow to cool and refrigerate.
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