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This vegan lasagna recipe gets its creamy layers from my secret ingredient and has become a reader and family favorite! No tofu, no vegan cheese, just a delicious pan everyone fights over.
Are you a lasagna lover? Us too. Lately I wondered: is cheese essential to that classic Italian baked pasta? After lots of testing, it turns out, no! Vegan lasagna is a thing, and it’s extremely tasty. In fact, this is one of Alex and my favorite lasagna recipes, period.
You can make this huge pan on a budget, so it’s a healthy dinner recipe that’s affordable to all! It pleases everyone, even meat eaters, and is great for entertaining or a casual family dinner. Ready to get started?
5 Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “TASTE BUD EXPLOSION! This is the best recipe I’ve ever tried! The dish is so flavorful, it feels like I’m out at an upscale Italian restaurant and the best part is that it’s healthy! I made it ahead of time and have been reheating it each night–it holds up beautifully! I’ve tried many of your recipes and have really liked them all, but this is by far my favorite!” -Kate
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I have been making this lasagna for years now and it is just so incredible. This is truly my #1 go to dish and has been such a positive introduction to plant based eating for so many people in my life.” -Alex
Ingredients For The Best Vegan Lasagna Recipe
No matter how you eat, this vegan lasagna will be a hit. I promise! I had a few friends over for dinner to try it, and here’s what they had to say: “Wow! This is so good. I can’t stop eating it. I need another piece!” Somehow I stumbled upon a truly delicious way to make a dairy free lasagna. Even better, it’s easy to make and made with all whole foods, no cheese substitutes. Here’s what makes this vegan lasagna recipe special:
- Really good pasta sauce: I used an organic tomato basil pasta sauce that has a great, robust flavor.
- No boil noodles: These are key for the liquid ratio.
- Mushroom, cashews, and spinach: For a meaty filling, chop mushrooms and cashews, and sauté with spinach.
- Hummus: My secret ingredient is hummus! It stands in for the typical creamy ricotta cheese filling and infuses huge flavor.
- “Parmesan:” Cashews blended with garlic powder make for a Parmesan-like topping.
No Boil Noodles Are Required
This vegan lasagna is made with no boil lasagna noodles. No boil noodles are required here: no substitutions please! No boil noodles are different from standard noodles: they’re made especially so you don’t have to cook them before baking lasagna. This makes prep time shorter. Even better, some people even argue that no boil noodles have the superior texture for a lasagna. So wins all around!
More liquid is required in a lasagna when making it with no boil noodles. This recipe is specially formulated to cook the no boil noodles while baking. Bottom line: Don’t try this vegan recipe with standard noodles or it could end up too watery.
How to Layer Vegan Lasagna
Another noodle note! If you have a large 9 x 13” aluminum pan with square sides, you’ll need 13 ounces noodles. A 9 x 13” glass baking dish with rounded sides only needs 10 ounces of pasta noodles! Because baking dish shapes and noodle shapes can vary, make sure you have enough pasta based on the baking dish you plan to use.
- Step 1: First, add the sauce and no boil noodles to the pan.
- Step 2: Next, add the hummus using a spatula.
- Step 3: Then, add the mushroom spinach topping.
- Step 4: Then top with the tomato sauce.
Use a High Quality Pasta Sauce
The only other “must” for this recipe: find a high-quality pasta sauce. I made this vegan lasagna recipe especially to use pasta sauce because: let’s face it! Lasagna takes a while to make, and a jarred sauce truly speeds up prep time.
There are lots of high-quality pasta sauces these days, even organic. Find your favorite and use it for this lasagna. You could of course substitute your favorite homemade marinara sauce, too!
Time Saving Tips
Lasagna is notoriously time-intensive. I’ve optimized this vegan lasagna recipe so that it’s as easy to make as possible. If you’re looking for ways to save time when baking it the day of, here are a few options:
- Use a food processor (optional). A food processor is not required for this recipe! We used ours because it makes chopping the mushrooms and making the “Parmesan” topping very fast. If you don’t have one, you can use a regular large knife for chopping.
- Make the mushroom filling and Parmesan in advance. The main prep steps here are the mushroom filling and the dairy free “Parmesan” topping. You can make and cook the filling in advance: just store it refrigerated until making the lasagna. Make and store the Parmesan topping at room temperature.
Make Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
Make ahead notes: You can assemble the pan, cover it, and refrigerate for up to 1 day. When baking, add about 10 minutes to the cook time since you’re cooking from cold.
Leftovers: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days. Some readers say it reheats better than most lasagnas.
Freezing: I have not tried it, but in theory you can wrap the baked and cooled lasagna tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil, then freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge then bake covered at 350°F until warmed through.
Sides To Serve With Vegan Lasagna
In my opinion, the best side to serve with lasagna is a green salad! Here are a few sides I’d recommend:
- Apple Salad: Easy to whip up, with tangy apples covered in a zingy balsamic vinaigrette. Make it while the lasagna bakes!
- My Best Kale Salad: Features a tangy lemon vinaigrette that makes kale taste like a dream. (Omit the Parmesan cheese.)
- Favorite Chopped Salad or Perfect Italian Salad: These pair crisp veggies and tangy Italian dressing. (Omit the Parmesan cheese.)
- Sauteed Spinach or Sauteed Broccoli: These sides add a splash of green.
- Easy Garlic Toast: It’s garlicky, crunchy and vegan.
Dietary Notes
This vegan lasagna recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant based, and dairy free. For gluten free, use gluten free no boil lasagna noodles.
Easy Vegan Lasagna (No Weird Ingredients!)
This vegan lasagna recipe will become your new favorite: guaranteed. It’s full of flavor and a winner with everyone!
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
- 1 cup roasted cashews, divided
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice + 1 teaspoon lemon zest (1/2 lemon)
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 25-ounce jars tomato basil pasta sauce or marinara sauce
- 2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
- 10 to 13 ounces no boil lasagna noodles* (see note!)
- 8-ounce container hummus (or garlic hummus)
- Dried oregano, for sprinkling
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Make the spinach mushroom filling: Pull out the stems of mushrooms with your fingers. In a food processor or with a large knife, roughly chop the mushrooms, ½ cup of the cashews and the rosemary. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a skillet and bring to medium heat. Sauté mushrooms and cashews for 3 minutes until soft but still hold their shape. Add the spinach (saving out a few leaves for the garnish) and sauté until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in ¼ teaspoon of the kosher salt, a few grinds of pepper, and the lemon juice. Let stand until assembling.
- Make the dairy free Parmesan topping: in a food processor or blender, blend ½ cup cashews with the garlic powder and lemon zest until it’s ground into about the texture of a shaker can of grated Parmesan. (Alternatively, chop as finely as possible with a knife.)
- Mix the sauce: In a large bowl, mix together the pasta sauce and tomato sauce.
- Layer the lasagna: In a 9 x 13” baking dish, spread tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Then top with 1 layer of noodles (our pan held 3 noodles longwise and ¾ noodle widthwise), breaking noodles as necessary**. Spread with half of the hummus, half of the mushrooms and a tomato sauce layer. Repeat again: 1 layer of noodles, half of the hummus, half of the greens and tomato sauce. Finally, top with noodles, then tomato sauce again. Sprinkle the entire top with the “Parmesan” and dried oregano.
- Bake: Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, then 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving (this allows the lasagna to set). If you’d like, finely chop spinach leaves to use as a garnish (for looks only!). Cut into pieces and enjoy.
Notes
*Important: You must use no-boil lasagna noodles for this recipe! Do not substitute standard noodles. The amount of sauce is formulated for no boil noodles, which need more liquid than standard lasagna noodles.
**If you have a large 9 x 13” aluminum pan with square sides, you’ll need 13 ounces noodles. A 9 x 13” glass baking dish with rounded sides only needs 10 ounces of pasta noodles! Baking dish shapes and noodle shapes can vary, so make sure you have enough pasta based on your baking dish.
I made this for Christmas Eve lunch and it was a success. I made another one today because there were barely any leftover for me to try! I’ve made many vegan lasagna recipes and so far this one is the quickest to make and the tastiest. Thanks so much for this recipe, it will be my go to from now on.
TASTE BUD EXPLOSION! This is the best recipe I’ve ever tried! The dish is so flavorful, it feels like I’m out at an upscale Italian restaurant and the best part is that it’s healthy! I made it ahead of time and have been reheating it each night–it holds up beautifully! I’ve tried many of your recipes and have really liked them all, but this is by far my favorite! Thank you for such thoughtful, healthy recipes that are not overly complicated to make.
Awww. Love this!
I have been making this lasagna for years now and it is just so incredible. I make for it the holidays every year and I have yet to find someone who doesn’t like it in my entire omnivorous family. A few tweaks I’ve made over the years include: add nooch to the topping 2. Increase the hummus to 10oz and make sure you use a garlic one 3. Add in a block of tofu “ground sausage” if wanting to up the protein
Thank you so much, this is truly my #1 go to dish and has been such a positive introduction to plant based eating for so many people in my life.
I love to hear that! Thank you for making it and for the comment!
Do you have any brand names for the no boil noodles -organic please since nonorganic grains all contain glyphosate thanks to the use of round up to desiccate the crops just prior to harvest. Surprised to see you mention aluminum pan – especially with the acidic tomato sauce. Maybe look for videos with Dr Chris Exley formerly with Keel University who did decades of research on aluminum and how bio active it is. We knew in the early 70’s that it caused dementia and his research showed that it was aluminum, not plaques that cause it. They did not call him Mr Aluminum without good reason.
I’m sorry, I don’t have a specific recommendation for you.
I thought someone made a comment that this made good leftovers..
Could I make and bake ahead of time and reheat next day for a dinner party? I’m anxious about how it will turn out that way. Anyone try that?
We had guests visit for dinner, one of whom is a vegan, so I thought I would try your lasagna recipe. Everyone liked it so much more than the usual meat-filled version. Why consume all that that cholesterol, when you can make a delicious healthy lasagna like this without it? Going forward, this will be my go-to lasagna recipe. And since I need to eat gluten-free, I made one modification, which was to use the Barilla Gluten-Free Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles. They GF noodles worked great with this recipe. No one knew the difference!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was a seriously good recipe. I loved how all the flavors combined and I forgot it was vegan! The only thing is my noodles came out kind of gummy, but I think I may not be used to the texture because I usually use boil noodles. Overall delicious though, and made me happy to be fasting!
Can this be assembled the day before being baked and served?