When I take this vegan lasagna to a potluck, it is the first dish to disappear, even when there are non-vegan dishes on the table. It's meatless and dairy-free, but it has so many layers of flavor from a creamy, tofu-free ricotta cheese, homemade vegan parmesan, vegan mozzarella shreds, and a tasty, meaty marinara sauce.
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Best vegan lasagna
Who doesn't love lasagna? With my vegan lasagna recipe you can enjoy this classic Italian pasta dish exactly as it was meant to be with zero compromises on flavor. In fact, I've had friends tell me they prefer it to their regular lasagna made with beef and cheese.
There is a lot to love here: layers of tender pasta, creamy cashew ricotta cheese and a savory marinara sauce (a heartier version of my everyday marinara) that unites all those amazing flavor. I pack in flavor at every step with herbs and veggies to ensure this lasagna tastes amazing, but I also pack in lots of nutrition. Every hearty slice has 21 grams of protein and seven grams of fiber.
If you like you can use whole wheat lasagna noodles to make it even healthier. The ricotta is tofu-free and you can make this recipe soy-free and gluten-free - see FAQs below for more on this.
This recipe is quite simple and I like breaking down the process down into five straightforward steps:
- Blending the vegan ricotta cheese (no cooking needed).
- Making the vegan parmesan cheese (also no-cook).
- Cooking the vegan meat marinara.
- Boiling the lasagna noodles until al dente.
- Layering and baking the vegan lasagna.
Each of these goes by quickly. You can also make the ricotta, parmesan and sauce up to three days in advance, then assemble and bake the lasagna the day you plan to eat it.
Enjoy the recipe!
Five-Star Reader Review
This is a bit of a challenging dish to make vegan due to the cheesy factor, but my dear, you knocked it outta the park!! Rave reviews from our family! In my opinion, there is no need to look further for a vegan lasagna recipe!
- Heather
Recipe card
Vegan lasagna recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for meaty vegan marinara sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 7 cloves garlic (crushed and minced)
- 1 large onion
- 28 oz vegan ground beef (I used a combination of Beyond Sausage and Impossible Beef this time. I've used other brands, like Gimme Lean and Field Roast in the past with good results. Crumble the sausage into smaller bits.)
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 28 oz canned whole plum tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil (optional)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Ingredients for cashew ricotta
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews (soaked 30 minutes, then drained)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¼ cup parsley (chopped)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup water
Other ingredients
- 16 oz lasagna noodles (16 noodles)
- 16 oz vegan mozzarella shreds
- 1 cup vegan parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoon parsley (chopped, for garnish. Optional)
Instructions
Make the vegan meaty marinara
- Heat oil in a large skillet with garlic. Add the onions. Sauté until the onions soften, about five minutes.
- Add the meatless meat - ground vegan beef and ground vegan sausage - and sauté for a couple of minutes to brown.
- Place the plum tomatoes in a bowl and squish them to break with your fingers. Add to the skillet along with tomato paste and two cups of vegetable stock.
- Add the oregano, basil if using, red pepper flakes, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cook the sauce without covering for about 15 minutes or until it turns a bright orange-red. Turn off heat and check seasoning. Set aside.
Make the vegan ricotta cheese
- Place cashews in a food processor with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, oregano, parsley, salt and ground black pepper to taste, and water.
- Process for a couple of minutes until smooth. Set aside.
Cook lasagna noodles
- Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions until al dente but not mushy. You can skip this step if using no-boil noodles.
Assemble and bake lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius.
- Spray a 12 X 9 inch lasagna pan or baking dish with cooking spray or oil. Ladle out a cup of marinara sauce into the pan and spread evenly. Layer on four sheets of the noodles into the bottom of the pan.
- Layer on one-fourth of the meat sauce over the lasagna noodles followed by one-fourth of the cashew parmesan.
- Follow this by a layer of one-fourth of the vegan mozzarella, then one-fourth of the vegan ricotta.
- Repeat the layers until you have built up three layers of the noodles, marinara and the cheeses. Over the fourth and final layer of lasagna noodles, layer the remaining marinara, parmesan, ricotta and mozzarella.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil, place the lasagna pan on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake the lasagna another 30 minutes until bubbly and hot. Let the lasagna stand at least 15 minutes to firm up, then cut and serve.
Notes
- If using no-boil noodles, see FAQs above.
- Some lasagna boxes have 18 noodles, others have just 14 or 15. You need 16 noodles for this recipe, but if you fall short of one or two noodles, no need to open another box. Just use fewer noodles for the middle layers and no one will know!
- If you want more veggies in the lasagna, cut down the meatless meat by half and add a roasted, diced eggplant or finely diced noodles to the marinara sauce.
- Use lentils instead of the meatless meat. Add 28 oz, or roughly two cans, of brown lentils to the marinara instead of the meat.
Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
Recipe FAQs
Use gluten-free lasagna noodles. Cook according to package directions before layering.
If you are low-carb, try my vegan zucchini lasagna recipe.
To make the recipe nut-free, replace the cashews with an equal quantity of pumpkin seeds. Or make a tofu ricotta by replacing the nuts with a 14-oz package of silken tofu (drained).
Instead of using cashews in the vegan parmesan, use a cup of breadcrumbs. Process with remaining seasonings and proceed with recipe.
If using no-boil noodles, add an extra cup of water to the marinara. No-boil noodles are shorter so you will need more of them - 24 instead of 16. Layer them horizontally in the baking dish, using five or six noodles for each layer.
This is not necessary, but it enhances the texture of the meatless marinara sauce. I used a combination of Beyond sausage and Impossible Beef this time, but any combination of meatless meats or meatless crumbles will work.
Brown the vegan meat in 1 teaspoon olive oil, then stir in two 24-oz jars of marinara sauce. Heat together for five minutes.
Lasagna is a full meal on its own, but for even more yum serve it with vegan garlic pull-apart bread and a fresh salad like vegan Caesar salad.
Freeze the lasagna, baked or unbaked, for up to three months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator, then bake or reheat before serving.
You can refrigerate the baked or unbaked lasagna or leftovers for up to four days.
Una says
Hi, please could you put grams and ml instead cups. I’d really appreciate it.
Vaishali says
Hi Una, I've added the metric conversions - click on "metric" in the recipe card to see the quantities in grams and mls.
Una says
Thank you for doing that, it’s so helpful. Can’t wait to try your recipe
Linda says
I love you that there are alternatives for eggs that I was totally unaware of. I really like the format where I can scroll down and look at the recipes to decide if that is what I want. Lot of beautiful pictures of food and very organized recipes. I did my rating on recipes and photography. I will be cooking some of these recipes soon and will comment again later Thank you
Vaishali says
Awesome! Thanks for the kind words and hope you find the recipes useful.
Christina says
Thank you for this great recipe and suggested alternatives. It is delicious. I have never tried it with the vegan cheese shreds because we don’t like them. Delicious without them and cooks faster.
Vaishali says
That's great to hear! Thanks for sharing.
Sinead says
Hi I want to make this lasagna for my sister in law and she’s allergic to soy so I just want to make sure there is no soy in the recipe?
Also this sounds amazing.
Vaishali says
Hi there isn’t any soy in the version I made but you do need to check labels of the brands you boy, including the vegan meat, cheeses and noodles, to make sure there isn’t any soy in them, because that can differ widely among brands. Since you are making this for someone with allergies read all labels carefully.
Zane Tamane says
Are you sure it is 28oz uncooked soy? That's like 700g, almost a kilo of dry soy??
Vaishali says
I don't understand the question? Where did you read uncooked soy?
Heather Landale says
Hello Vaishali!
I have made a few vegan lasagnas over the past few years, and they've been okay...but I just made yours for my sweet mum's memorial service this past weekend, and WOW!! I was the only vegan attending in a room full of guests, but the pan was emptied in no time, with many people commenting on how yummm it was! This is a bit of a challenging dish to make vegan due to the cheesy factor, but my dear, you knocked it outta the park!! Rave reviews from our family! In my opinion, there is no need to look further for a vegan lasagna recipe!
Thank you so very much, Heather
Vaishali says
Hi Heather, thanks for letting me know! So happy you and your guests loved the lasagna. It's definitely one of the recipes that gets made at gatherings in our home. 🙂
Friederike says
I am planning to make this, but I am wondering how to include the sausage. Do you need to cut it up before cooking? Does it break up during cooking?
Vaishali says
Crumble the sausage before adding to the pan!
Lindsey says
This really is the best vegan lasagna! It was my first time ever making lasagna and I followed your recipe almost exactly. Just didn't use the parm. It came out amazing and I feel so capable of doing another one. Thank you Vaishali!!!
Vaishali says
Yay!! So happy the recipe worked for you Lindsey!
Pat Anders says
This IS the BEST lasagna recipe! Even my nonvegan family members loved it. Had great success with Chickapea lasagna noodles used uncooked. They are 10 1/2" long, come 12 in the box and are delicious.
Vaishali says
So happy you loved the lasagna, Pat! It's definitely our favorite dinner. ❤️
Coco says
My daughter is vegan and try everything I can that sounds good. I found your website and she loves everything I have made. Making the
lasagna this weekend. Thank you!
Vaishali says
Aw, thanks for that sweet comment, Coco. I hope you and your daughter love the vegan lasagna as much as we do!
Theresa LaSalle says
Making the lasagna too...this weekend. Vaishali you woman are the best....just love your recipes....love the set up: Ingredients, directions, photos...everything....such great ideas....again love you! and your love of good food!
Theresa
Vaishali says
Awww, Theresa, thanks for the kind words.❤️ I hope you love the lasagna as much as we do.
Mette says
I am no chef by any means and this recipe was super easy to follow. The best lasagna I have ever had!!!
Vaishali says
So happy to hear, Mette!
Krista says
I’m excited to try this! Not easy to find a vegan spin on a classic lasagna which is exactly what I’m looking for. No tofu, mushrooms, spinach, etc. Thank you fur posting this! Question, how would it be with only the ricotta and mozzarella? I’m not a big Parmesan fan and want to cut down on some prep as I’m pregnant with our 5th.
Vaishali says
You can leave it out absolutely. Bread crumbs mixed with some oregano, black pepper and salt are a fine sub for parm, in case you can do that, but if you can't I think the lasagna will work quite well without it.
Congrats on the baby! ❤️
Jackie says
Excellent!!! I love this recipe!
Vaishali says
Awesome!
Susan says
Can this lasagna be frozen after being cooked?
Vaishali says
Yes absolutely. Thaw and reheat before serving.
Marcy Hall says
I made this last night for my family with dairy and glutton allergies. Three adjustments I made: 1) I used Palmini lasagna noodles (2 cans) made from heart of palm 2) I added vegetable broth to the cashews to get a really creamy consistancy 3) I used crushed tomatoes instead of whole plum tomatoes. The whole family LOVED it (ages 3, 6 & 9) and appreciated dairy free lasagna. I ordered all the ingredients online for pick up at Sprouts. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will be making it again soon.
Vaishali says
So great to hear, Marcy. I need to try out the hearts of palm noodles--what a great idea.
Lorra says
Hi Marcy,
Would you please tell me the amount of vegetable broth you used in your cashews to achieve the creaminess?
Thank you,
Jeanna gaines says
Delicious!!!!!
Yall pls make this recipe
Vaishali says
Thanks for the enthusiastic review! 🙂
Sarah says
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes and especially this one!
I made this today and my husband loved it and said how great it tasted and amazing it’s all vegan!
All of your recipes have turned out so great.
Vaishali says
Hi Sarah, so happy you have loved this lasagna recipe. It's a favorite in our home too.
VT says
Hi Vaishali, Great website. Thanks for the recipes posted over the years. They are really great since I use them to make dishes that are dairy-free and nut-free for my allergic son. I would really appreciate it if you could post the original recipe for the lasagna that uses Morinu tofu. Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Vaishali says
Hi VT, for the ricotta recipe just substitute the cashews with a package of silken tofu. And you can use breadcrumbs instead of cashews for the vegan parmesan. Add slightly old bread or breadcrumbs to a food processor with the rest of the parm seasonings and process, then use.
Vinny says
This recipe is something awesome. I made it for a group of friends coming over Friday night, including some who were not vegan, and everyone loved it. Thanks for your incredible recipes.
Vaishali says
So happy you loved it Vinny!
Mardy says
Hi Vaishali, I am going to make this for Sunday Dinner but wanted clairify the ‘soy free’ aspect.... don’t both Tofurkey and Gimme Lean sausage have soy ingredients in them?
Thanks, will let you know how it works out.
Vaishali says
Hi Mardy, yes they do but you could try Field Roast which is soyfree! So happy you're making it!
Barbara Thorpe Miller says
I don’t see the Parmesan recipe
Vaishali says
Added now-- both as a link from the ingredient list and in recipe notes. Thanks!
Tony Rossi says
Hello, Vaishali.
Thank you for another great recipe. I have been making and enjoying your recipes for several years, especially your Indian dishes.
I'm having trouble finding the recipe for the cashew parmesan you refer to. You indicate it's in the notes, but I can't find it. Thanks in advance, and thanks again for your excellent website and recipes!
Tony
Vaishali says
Thanks so much for the kind words, Tony! And I forgot to add the link to the parm recipe-- it's added now. 🙂