I’m so excited! My vegan lasagna recipe is the culmination of dozens of trials and taste tests and I’m thrilled to share it. Made with three sumptuous layers of classic and spinach basil almond ricotta, homemade tomato sauce, and cashew mozzarella, this dairy-free lasagna is enjoyed by everyone!
I’ve pretty much been working on this recipe since back in 2013 when I shared a kale version. That recipe is great – but this time around I wanted to share a classic, gourmet vegan lasagna without any “twists”, just focusing on perfecting the layers of vegan deliciousness that you see here.
Homemade cheese substitutes in vegan lasagna are an imperative for me. Seeing a picture of lasagna covered in individual strands of Daiya makes me kind of sad. But on the other hand, layers of tomato sauce and veggies with noodles might as well be pasta with less effort! So I tend to go the fancy route with my lasagna and in my opinion it’s totally worthwhile to do so. More time-consuming but still quite easy!
In the past I made my vegan lasagnas with tofu ricotta, and that’s still a great substitute if you want. But almond ricotta has a more satisfying buttery richness that is worth adding if you have the time, so these days I go the no tofu route. And lasagna is the perfect vehicle for delicious gooey stretchy cashew mozzarella so I implore you to give it a try!
A word about variations: I’ve made this into a zucchini lasagna before and it was pretty good! I’ve heard about people using eggplant noodles for lasagna too, haven’t tried that myself yet so I’m not sure. Of course, you can add any vegetable of choice to the filling itself. I recommend chopping vegetables finely, sauteing them and mixing them with the tomato sauce for best results.
For gluten-free vegan lasagna, use your favorite GF lasagna noodles, or make a deconstructed casserole with gluten-free pasta and dollops of the ricottas and sauce.
I have two fresh tomato sauce recipes on my website: 30-minute fresh tomato marinara; and bursted cherry tomato sauce. I’ve made this vegan lasagna multiple times with both of those sauces, and with store-bought sauce too. One of my favorite affordable sauces is Classico Tomato Basil. I buy it at Costco! Or if you’re splurging and don’t care about the price, Rao’s is the beeeest.
Go forth and enjoy this vegan lasagna, homemade from scratch, beloved by the many omnivores and vegans I have fed it to and sure to become a favorite for you too!
Ultimate Vegan Lasagna
Made with decadent layers of homemade spinach and basil almond ricotta, marinara sauce, and gooey cashew mozzarella, this is truly the ultimate vegan lasagna.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe almond ricotta (can be prepared in advance)
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 3 and 1/2 cups marinara sauce (or other sauce of choice) (can be prepared in advance)
- 1 recipe cashew mozzarella (can be prepared in advance)
- 12 oz dry lasagna noodles (or use oven-ready noodles)
- hemp parmesan (optional, for serving)
Instructions
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Prepare the almond ricotta according to recipe instructions in the food processor. Add the chickpea flour to the food processor and blend it in well. Remove half of the mixture from the food processor and set aside. To the remaining half, add the fresh spinach and basil leaves, and pulse until the leaves are broken into small pieces and the mixture is light green. Remove and set aside.
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With a few drops of olive oil added to the water, par-boil the lasagna noodles for 4 minutes to prepare them for using in the lasagna. For best results, do this right before assembling the lasagna; drain the noodles but do not rinse them. Set them somewhere in a single layer if possible.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 1/2 cup tomato sauce to the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and spread it out evenly. Layer 4 of the lasagna noodles on top. To this layer, add the white ricotta mixture and spread it into an even layer. On top of the white ricotta add 1 cup of tomato sauce and spread it out evenly.
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Repeat by adding 1 more layer of noodles, the green ricotta mixture, and another 1 cup of sauce. Add one last layer of noodles, and on top of the last noodles add the final 1 cup of sauce, and then all of the cashew mozzarella, dolloping it as evenly as you can. Optional: for better browning, spray the top of the lasagna lightly with oil.
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Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the dish and return to the oven. Turn the oven temperature up to 400 and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the top is starting to lightly brown.
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Remove from the oven. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving, sprinkled with hemp seed parmesan if desired.
Recipe Notes
SAUCE: For other sauce options, use cherry tomato sauce or store-bought sauce.
MAKE AHEAD: The almond ricotta mixture(s) can be made up to a day or two in advance (longer than that, and the fresh basil will start to degrade). The cashew mozzarella can be made in advance, just warm it up a little before using so that it's easier to dollop onto the vegan lasagna. The sauce can be made in advance. Noodles can't be par-boiled in advance but you can use oven-ready noodles and skip that step. If using, the hemp parmesan can also be made in advance.
LEFTOVERS: This lasagna reheats well from both the refrigerator and freezer. Reheat with a little bit of extra sauce if needed to keep it from drying out.
NUTRITION FACTS: Excludes garnishes and uses whole wheat lasagna noodles.
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Traci A Burke says
Can I freeze this before baking for future use?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I haven’t tried pre-freezing it, so I can’t say for sure what would happen. I’m not sure what the cashew mozzarella does after freezing. I would guess it would probably work though! Maybe next time you are making it, you could freeze a small portion to test it out?
Lisa Davenport says
Just spent all day making this and it was soooo worth it!! I am so happy that every single recipe used to make the lasagna turned out delicious. I can’t wait to try making the stuffed shell version! Thank you thank you thank you! (My omnivore boyfriend devoured it as well!)
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
So glad you enjoyed it, Lisa! It’s one of my favorites 🙂 🙂
Ida Moser says
Phenomenal recipe! It’s flavorful, luscious and easy to prepare.
Gaybreal Babiak says
Could one use zucchini for noodles?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’ve tried before and it doesn’t exactly taste like noodles but it works. You need to pre cook the noodles and pat them dry very well before layering the lasagna, otherwise the whole thing will get watery.
Karen M. Chapman says
Even the non-vegans loved this recipe at my night-before-Earth-Day Green Dinner! Thank you so much!
Diane McConnell says
Hi I made your lasagna last night and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!! it was delicious with all the right textures and wonderful tastes. I was pleasnatly surprized at how delicious the cheeses are. I used brown rice flour instead of chick pea flour. and a soy based non dairy yogurt. I cooked for 3 friends and have already been asked for the recipe. Thank you so much for doing all the hard work creating this amazing recipe. Diane Toronto Canada.
Bruce says
Fabulous recipe! Thanks so much. Everyone loved it (including the non-vegans).
Teresa says
I made this last night for a dinner party. It was great. I used two layers with GF Jovial brand Lasagna noodles and two layers of zucchini “noodles” I also added mushrooms, grated carrots and black olives. I used kite hill ricotta instead of homemade but I did make your cashew Mozzarella. It was wonderful. Everyone raved about it and I enjoyed leftovers for lunch today.
Kris says
Hi!
I am making this tonight and am hoping the kids will like it. To make it easier, I think while foods sells both, the almond ricotta and a type of nut based mozzarella. If I were to use those, first do you think it would still taste as good as yours. And second, how much of each would I use? Cannot wait to try this, and thank you!
Kris
Kris says
Sorry — WHOLE Foods. 😉
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Kris – approx 3 cups of almond ricotta goes into this, plus the chickpea flour/spinach/basil. As for the mozzarella, it’s a bit hard to measure volumetrically because of the texture. I think it’s ok to err on the side of less. You just want enough to get a good coverage on the top of your dish. It doesn’t have to completely cover, as you can see from my photos.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Whoops and I missed your first question! Okay, so it really depends. I’m not much of a fan of store bought vegan cheese which is why I make these homemade for the lasagna in the first place. If you have Miyoko’s mozz and Kite Hill ricotta, those are probably my two favorites that would work for this dish. I do think it tastes much better homemade. But I also think that most people are not as picky as I am about vegan cheeses having a slight aftertaste. Hope this helps.
Briana says
Hi Shannon! Can’t wait to try this! What brand of lasagna sheets did you use? I want to make this for Christmas dinner, but all the noodles I’m finding have egg in them. Thanks!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hey Briana, are you looking at fresh or dried lasagna noodles? At least where I live, dried pasta is almost always egg-free so I’m not quite sure how to proceed! Some brands I use are DeLallo, Barilla, San Giorgio….
Lindsay says
I dont know what I did wrong but my Cashew Mozzarella was the consistency of a thick gravy or alfredo sauce.
Do you know what I could have done wrong?
Flavors were wonderful!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Lindsay! I’m sorry the cashew mozz gave you trouble. I’m glad that you still enjoyed eating the lasagna!
It sounds like maybe the mixture didn’t quite thicken or get stretchy enough. What sort of thing happened while you were cooking it in the pan? Did you notice it start to get lumpy and then stretchy, or did that never happen? One possibility is if you did not start with hot water when blending up the cashews, the tapioca starch may not have cooked fully. If the starches from the cashews cook before the starches from the tapioca then it doesn’t get as much of the “stretchy” texture. Sorry I can’t be of more help, it’s not always easy to diagnose these things when I am not there watching, especially with a recipe like this! I’m hoping to make a video soon 🙂
Emily says
This recipe is absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to make it for my omni friends and family. It was also extremely easy, even including making the cheeses. Then again, I am used to making just about everything from scratch, so I can see how some people would find it time consuming. Love the option to make the cheeses in advance.
Kudos to you for creating this recipe. I have been looking for a good vegan lasagna recipe that didn’t have any weird twists. No butternut squash, no zoodles, no tofu, none of that weird stuff. I wanted traditional. This totally nailed it. Thank you!
Meggan says
Holy crap. I am coming to you for my comfort food recipes from now on. (I made this one and the baked farro both the other day for meal prep.) This lasagna had a lot of steps and took me a while, especially since I made the sauce too, but I feel like once I make it more frequently and get into a groove, it’ll become easier, since a lot of it was just having to check the instructions often.
Anyway, I was blown away by the rich cheesey gooey texture and delicious flavors made from REAL ingredients! I especially loved the spinach ricotta in there. So good. Thanks so much for all of your awesome recipes!
Anna says
Made with whole wheat lasagna noodles, with 365 brand sauce. Do you think it would work without the chickpea flour next time? I can’t tell what it actually did. The lasagna tastes amazing though. I can’t wait for my leftovers!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hey Anna! The chickpea flour helps the ricotta layers bake up a little firm instead of spilling out everywhere when you cut into it. A lot of non-vegan ricotta lasagna layers use an egg mixed in with the ricotta for this same effect. As a bonus, the garbanzo flour adds extra protein/fiber, so I was pretty happy with how it worked out! I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
jenn says
shannon,
would an egg replacer work instead of the chickpea flour? or would regular flour work?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I don’t think commercial egg replacer would help much (the chickpea flour is more for firming than for binding). Regular flour would be a better sub. You can also omit it with only slight negative impact.