Cheesy Vegan Lasagna

Vegan Lasagna made with whole, hearty and simple ingredients. Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food. Who doesn’t love a thick slice of delicious, messy, cheesy and perfectly layered lasagna?!? Nobody, that’s who.

What’s your favourite Christmas main dish?! You know what I mean, the centre piece at the middle of the table. Okay, can I just say, when you’re vegan, the side dishes at holiday time usually stay pretty much the same with the traditional fare like mashed potatoes, stuffing, broccoli and all that side jazz but the main dish definitely changes. We celebrated Christmas early this year and I enjoyed a slice of this healthy, hearty Vegan Lasagna with my Christmas meal. Last year I had Trader Joe’s stuffed veggie-turkey (which all the vegans and non vegans alike swooned over!)… this year lasagna and maybe next year Mac and Cheese?!?  So much for having to stick to one main dish at the centre of the table every darn year, lol!

This Vegan Lasagna uses my easy, 20 minute, Nut Free Cheese Sauce I shared earlier this week. Holy moly this soy free and dairy free sauce is good. And it’s particularly yummy in this Vegan Lasagna. The water from the cheese evaporates when baking and turns into a delicious, melty, vegan cheesy ricotta in the oven. My family could not get over that this lasagna was completely dairy free – love when that happens.

And then let’s talk about the tomato sauce. This sauce is meaty, hearty and ideally simmered for a couple hours on the stove to get those deep and delicious tomato flavours you only get from a slowly simmered sauce.

Once the sauce has simmered it’s time to get layering. Layer the tomato sauce, pasta and vegan cheese until your Vegetable Lasagna is filled right to the top…

And bake until the lasagna is perfectly cooked on the inside, the Vegan cheese melted and ricotta-y in the middle AND the top nice and crispy… yum!

This Vegan Lasagna is definitively a weekend recipe, with the slow simmered sauce and the 45 minute lasagna baking time! If you are looking for a weekday, easy One Pot Lasagna… try my One Pot Quinoa Lasagna ready in start to finish in under 30 minutes! If you do whip this Vegan Lasagna up in your home, I love hearing your feedback… share it in the comments below or snap a shot of your lovely Vegan Lasagna and share it on Instagram with the tag #CearasKitchen! #EatHappyLiveHappy

Vegan Lasagna

---

★★★★★

4.7 from 18 reviews

• Author: Ceara
• Total Time: 2 hours 45 mins
• Yield: 10 slices 1x

Print Recipe

Description

Hearty, cheesy, meaty and comforting Vegan Lasagna. This lasagna is perfectly layered with a thick and meaty tomato sauce and a cheesy, ricotta-style cheese sauce. One of my favorite recipes to make on the weekend.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Tomato Sauce

• 2 small to medium white onions, finely chopped
• 4–6 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cups mushrooms, chopped
• 2 red peppers, chopped
• 2 cups zucchini or eggplant, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
• 2 x 680 ml/23 oz cans plain tomato sauce (Here’s the tomato sauce I used)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Sauce

• Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce (double the recipe)
• 3/4 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and some of the water pressed out (measured after defrosting)

Lasagna

• 12–16 lasagna sheets

---

Instructions

Tomato Sauce

1. Sauté onions and garlic with a dash of olive oil or water over medium high heat for a couple of minutes until the onions are translucent. Add chopped mushrooms, peppers and optional zucchini/eggplant. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until soft and lightly cooked.
2. Stir in spices (basil, oregano and hot pepper flakes) and sauté for a minute until fragrant. Add tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar to the vegetable mixture.
3. Bring sauce to a boil and leave to simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes to 2 hours (stirring occasionally).

Cheese Sauce

1. Prepare the cheese sauce while the sauce is cooking.
2. Defrost frozen spinach in the microwave. Squeeze out any excess liquid and measure out 3/4 cup of spinach. Mix 1/2 of the cheese sauce with the spinach.

Cook the Lasagna Noodles

1. If your lasagna noodles are not precooked, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook for 8 minutes until the lasagna sheets are cooked al-dente. Spread the cooked sheets out on parchment until you layer them in the lasagna. Note: you can skip this step if your lasagna noodles are already precooked.

Assemble and Bake Lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 375F/190C and grease a casserole dish with olive oil or line with parchment paper. To assemble the lasagna, spread 1 heaping cup of tomato sauce on the first layer of a 9×13 casserole dish. Place 3-4 lasagna sheets on the tomato sauce. Top with 1 cup of the spinach cheese mixture, 1 cup of tomato sauce and 3-4 lasagna noodles. Repeat layers, alternating between the cheese and spinach-cheese sauce, until you have filled the pan. Spread an even layer of cheese sauce on top of the lasagna (see photo for reference). Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top (optional).
2. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes until the top of the lasagna is golden brown. Take the lasagna out of the oven and leave to sit for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Notes

1) Use gluten free lasagna noodles if you need this recipe to be gluten free.

• Prep Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Category: Main