Vegan Lasagna with Tofu Ricotta

This vegan lasagna with tofu ricotta is so tasty, you won’t miss the meat and cheese of a traditional lasagna. I’m sure your whole family is going to love it!

As a food blogger, you learn over the years what foods are your arch-enemy when it comes to photography. I would say that lasagna is mine! However, this delicious vegan lasagna recipe was so tasty I couldn’t pass sharing it here! It had been entirely too long since I last made lasagna so I was craving it the other week.

I’ve tried this recipe a few times now and I originally tried to create a one pot lasagna. It worked pretty well, but photographing it was a nightmare. So, I ditched the one pot method and switched to your regular baked lasagna. Not only was a it a little easier to photograph, I actually liked the flavor of the baked one better too! I think having the extra time to bake vs. making it on the stove top gives the flavors a bit more time to develop.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Mushrooms and Fresh Spinach: I love this combo of veggies in lasagna. You’ll cook the mushrooms and spinach together in a pan with onion, garlic, red wine, and oregano to really pack it with flavor before layering it into the lasagna.
• Tofu: You’ll need firm tofu for the vegan ricotta cheese in this vegan lasagna. It is super simple to make, just crumble it up after pressing to remove some the moisture and then mix it with nutritional yeast, parsley, and basil.
• Nutritional Yeast: This is the secret ingredient that adds cheesy flavor to the ricotta and the cashew cream sauce without the cheese, of course! I buy nutritional yeast in the bulk bin at our local coop. However, you should be able to find it at most grocery stores like Marianos, Whole Foods, Sprouts, etc.
• Cashews: To create the cashew cream sauce, you’ll puree raw cashews in a blender with broth, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce. This super simple cashew cream adds some of the fat to this vegan lasagna that you would normally get from cheese in traditional lasagna. That extra fat makes it more filling and rich.
• Tomato Sauce: Since you are already making a ricotta and cashew cream sauce, I just buy a store-bought pasta sauce for the red sauce in this vegan lasagna. I really like this one from Rao’s.
• No-Boil Lasagna Noodles: Save yourself from washing an extra pot and use no-boil lasagna noodles!

Tips for Making this Recipe

• Mushroom and Spinach Filling: After preheating the oven, you’ll sauté the chopped mushrooms together with onion, garlic, red wine, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Once the mushrooms are cooked, you’ll stir in the spinach to cook until wilted. Afterwards, turn the heat off and set aside as you assemble the other layers.
• Vegan Tofu Ricotta: This is super simple – just add the pressed tofu to a small mixing bowl and crumble well with a fork. Stir in the nutritional yeast, basil, and parsley then set aside to make the cashew cream sauce.
• Cashew Cream Sauce: If you have a high-powered blender like a Vitamin, you can skip the soaking step, otherwise you’ll want to soak the cashews so they puree smoother in a regular blender or food processor. The cashew cream sauce is just 4 ingredients – cashews, broth, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce. Soy sauce may seem like a strange addition here, but it just adds some umami flavor to the cream sauce.
• Layer: Once you have your spinach/mushroom filling, tofu ricotta, and cashew cream sauce ready, you can start layering! The photos above show you an example of how I layered these.

How to Serve this Recipe

I love serving this vegan mushroom and spinach lasagna with a big salad like in the photo above. If you want a salad recipe, this simple white bean pesto salad with arugula would be a great salad option with this lasagna.

Can you freeze this lasagna recipe?

Yes, you can freeze this lasagna and reheat it later! You can either assemble the recipe until the baking step and then cover and freeze to bake it later. If freezing after baking, I would suggest cutting it into singe serving pieces and then freezing those separately in containers.

More vegan comfort food recipes…

• Vegan macaroni and cheese with broccoli
• Vegan chocolate swirl banana bread
• 4 bean vegan crockpot chili
• Quick and easy vegan stroganoff

Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Created by: Deborah Davis

Course Entree, Main Dish

Cuisine Italian-Inspired, Vegan

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

6

This vegan lasagna with tofu ricotta is so tasty, you won't miss the meat and cheese of a traditional lasagna. I'm sure your whole family is going to love it!

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Ingredients

  

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Filling and Assembly:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups chopped cremini mushrooms ~8 oz. pkg
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion ~1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Dash of red chili flakes
• 5 ounce bag baby spinach
• 25 ounce jar marinara sauce
• 9 no-boil lasagna noodles

For the Vegan Ricotta:

• 14 ounce package of firm tofu drained
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 3 teaspoons dried parsley
• Dash of black pepper

For the Cashew Cream:

• 1 1/2 cups raw unsalted cashews soaked overnight or 15 min in very hot water
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil for 1 minute. Stir in the mushrooms and onion. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until onion is tender and translucent. Stir in the garlic, red wine, oregano, and red chili flakes. Cook another 1-2 minutes until some of the wine has cooked off. Stir in the spinach and cook another 2-3 minutes until wilted. Set aside.
• To make the vegan ricotta, add all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl. Break tofu apart with a fork until it resembles ricotta. Stir in the yeast, basil, and parsley. Set aside.
• To make the cashew cream, puree all the ingredients together in a blender. 
• To assemble the lasagna, spread 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce in an even layer onto the bottom of an 8"x 8" baking dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles then 1/2 of the mushroom spinach mixture, then 1/2 the tofu ricotta, then 1/3 of the cashew cream, and 1/3 of the marinara. Top with 3 more lasagna noodles, the other 1/2 of the mushrooms, the last 1/2 of the tofu ricotta, another 1/3 of the cashew cream and another 1/3 of the marinara. Top with 3 more lasagna noodles. Spread the last of the cashew cream and marinara over the top noodles. Sprinkle with additional nutritional yeast and chopped parsley if desired.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Take foil off and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting. Garnish with fresh basil and store-bought vegan parmesan if desired. 

Notes

This lasagna freezes very well if you want to make it ahead. To freeze, either cut into individual servings and store in separate airtight containers and then thaw in the microwave when ready to eat. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 recipe | Calories: 495kcal | Carbohydrates: 54.5g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Sodium: 215mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 6g

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