Guys… this is one of those “God DAMN – I can’t believe this is vegan” moments.
Lasagna was definitely a staple meal in my house growing up – I loved everything but the cheese. Eventually, my family began making me my very own tray of lasagna – cheese-free!
A few years ago, I started making cheesy dishes with cashews, tofu, and nutritional yeast (check out my vegan cream cheese recipe if you want to be blown away).
I’ve been playing around with the idea of making a vegan lasagna and, after a few attempts, I’ve hit the jackpot.
This recipe is near and dear to my heart. It took a few times to get it right and requires a lot of time (and love).
So, what goes into making this vegan lasagna? I’m glad you asked! 🙂
How to Make Vegan Lasagna
Before anything, you need to make your cashew ricotta cheese.
It’s not hard to make, but it can take a while. You have two options: soak your cashews overnight or boil for 30 minutes on the stovetop.
I personally like soaking them overnight, but if you forget to do it (or just don’t want to) boiling works too!
Once your cashews are soaked, drain the water and place them into a food processor or blender along with distilled white vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt, and some water.
Blend it up & chill for at least an hour. Voilà! Your cashew ricotta is complete.
Next up? The noodles & filling! I used a blend of walnuts, spices, fresh garlic, and Trader Joe’s beyond beef for this vegan lasagna (but regular ground beef works fine, too).
Allow your noodles to steam in a large pot with water until they’re almost done. You want them to be soft, but not cooked all the way.
Place the ground beef into a skillet and allow it to brown. In the meantime, combine walnuts, fresh garlic, and spices in a food processor. Then add it to the skillet with the beef to combine.
Once your noodles are boiled and your filling is complete, it’s time to make some lasagna!
The thing I love the most with lasagna is that you get to literally build it from the tray up. You can mix up the layers however you’d like – but, I recommend putting a layer of sauce down before anything.
Next up we have the noodles, filling, and cashew ricotta cheese!
And that’s that, folks! Once you’re done building your lasagna, feel free to top it off with some fresh basil – when you’re ready, stick it in the oven for 25 minutes with aluminum foil, then 5 minutes without.
While this recipe is phenomenal fresh from the oven, it also tastes pretty dang good the next day!
I hope you give this vegan lasagna a try – it’s super delicious, filling, and made with love.
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My Favorite Vegan Lasagna
Ingredients
For Cashew Ricotta Cheese:
- 2 Cups Raw Cashews, Soaked Overnight
- 1/4 Cup Water
- 3 TBSP Nutritional Yeast
- 3 TBSP Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar*
- Dash of Salt & Pepper
For the Meat Filling:
- 1 Package Beyond Beef**
- 2 Cups Raw Walnuts
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- 1 TBSP Tamari***
- 1 TSP Liquid Smoke
- Dash of paprika & oregano
Everything Else:
- 1 Box Lasagna Noodles
- 1 Can Organic Tomato Sauce
- Fresh Basil
Instructions
For the Cashew Ricotta Cheese:
- Soak the cashews overnight (alternatively, you could boil them for 30 minutes to an hour).
- Once your cashews are soaked, drain the water and place the cashews into a food processor along with the other ingredients.
- Blend until fully combined and chill for at least an hour.
For the Noodles & Meat Filling:
- Place noodles into a large pot and cook until almost done.
- While your noodles are cooking, add the beef to a skillet to brown.
- Add all other ingredients into a food processor and combine. Then, add to the skillet and mix together.
- Take your noodles out of the water, gather your filling & cheese, and get ready to build your lasagna.
Making the Vegan Lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add a layer of sauce to the bottom of your pan. Follow with noodles, beef, and cashew ricotta. Repeat until you’ve filled the pan to the top.
- Stir the remaining sauce with the cashew ricotta and place on top of lasagna. Add fresh basil, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Cool & serve!
Notes
* If using apple cider vinegar, drop it down to 2 TBSP.
** You can swap for ground beef if you’d like, too!
*** You can swap the tamari for soy sauce.
