The best easy vegan lasagna made with real food ingredients. No one can tell this lasagna is dairy, egg, and soy-free.
This vegan lasagna recipe tastes just like the classic recipe we all know and love. It’s warm, bubbly, and comforting. Almond based ricotta is nestled between layers of lasagna noodles, eggplant, zucchini, and marinara.
Whether you’re vegan, plant-based, paleo, have a dairy-intolerance (most people have trouble digesting lactose after infancy, according to Physicians Committee), or want to eat a little greener, this vegan lasagna recipe is one you need in your repertoire. If you’re looking for a vegetarian, rather than vegan, lasagna, head over to my , , Pumpkin and Chard Lasagna, or Veggie Lasagna Cupcakes.
Making vegetarian lasagna is easy, right? Just leave out the meat. In fact, I almost forget that anyone puts meat in lasagna at all. The real question is how to replace the cheese in traditional lasagna. The ricotta filling has been an important part of all the lasagna recipes I’m made in the past.
Enter my vegan almond based ricotta cheese. Remember I said this lasagna was made with real food, not processed ingredients? That’s because this ricotta is made with raw almonds! If you don’t have a good blender, or want to take a shortcut, I recommend Kite Hill’s ricottabut you’ll probably need 1-2 packages.
For this vegan lasagna recipe I like the ricotta to have even more flavor, so I double the truffle oil and salt, toss in a couple of garlic cloves, and a little fresh parsley. This vegan ricotta is so good, that I can’t resist licking the spoon. When I made this homemade vegan ricotta again for this lasagna, I was reminded that you’ve got to keep blending longer than you think to get a really cream consistency. Just keep going until it’s just like ricotta.
I make this vegan lasagna just the way I usually made my vegetarian lasagna – with lots of beautiful vegetables like roasted eggplant, zucchini, and roasted red peppers. I slice the zucchini thinly with a vegetable peeler, so it doesn’t need to be roasted like the eggplant does. A jar of drained roasted red peppers ads flavor and I also love to add some capers (not shown) for a salty, briny bite.
To assemble the lasagna, spread tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Next we top with a layer of the veggies.
Then the lasagna noodles. I used no-boil noodles because I’m lazyso busy, but you have options here. You could use whole wheat noodles, gluten-free noodles, or simply use zucchini slices instead of the noodles for a paleo lasagna. I never thought I’d hear the words paleo and lasagna together, but there you have it.
I have also used store-bought marinara sauce here, again, to keep this recipe as easy as possible. If you find yourself with an abundance of tomatoes, you must try my Fresh Tomato Marinara! As the sauce adds a lot to the flavor of this lasagna, you’ll want to make sure to use a good quality one. I prefer a sauce that’s not too chunky here. If you have a good local marinara you love, go with that!
Can we just take a moment to look at that creamy, spreadable, dreamy ricotta that’s actually almonds? It’s so exciting to me to learn how to make comforting favorites with new ingredients.
Once we have finished layering the lasagna with sauce, vegetables, noodles, and vegan ricotta, it goes into the oven for about an hour until nice and bubbly.
This vegan lasagna can be made ahead and reheated until warm. Leftovers make a delicious lunch the next day.
Don’t miss the short video!
Yield: 12 small pieces
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
An easy vegan lasagna recipe with delicious layers of eggplant, zucchini, roasted peppers, and an almond based homemade "ricotta" filling. No one can tell this lasagna is dairy, egg, and soy-free!
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced lengthwise into 1/4" strips
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, divided
- 1 recipe vegan ricotta
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons truffle oil
- 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, plus more for garnish
- 25 oz. favorite marinara sauce (I used Sonoma Gourmet brand)
- 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into strips lengthwise
- 1 (12 oz.) jar fire roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry
- 1 (9-oz) box no-boil lasagna noodles (I used DeLallo whole wheat, use gluten free if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- To cook the eggplant, mince two of the garlic cloves and stir into the olive oil. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a broiler or grill/grill pan to medium high. Cook, turning half way until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Add more oil if the eggplant gets dry. Remove from heat.
- I like this ricotta filling to have even more flavor, so to the linked vegan almond ricotta recipe, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons truffle oil and 2 cloves peeled garlic. Blend in the blender until blended. Add the parsley and pulse just to chop. Mix the rest of the way with a rubber spatula.
- To assemble the lasagna, spread a thin layer of the marinara over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Top with a layer of the prepared eggplant, raw zucchini, and red peppers. Lay a single layer of lasagna noodles over the vegetables. Spread 1/2 of the ricotta over the noodles. Top the ricotta with a layer of marinara, then more vegetables, noodles, the remaining ricotta, remaining vegetables, and last layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with the remaining marinara sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes, until noodles are tender.
Notes
Want more cheese? Feel free to top this lasagna with your favorite dairy-free Parmesan or mozzarella. Follow Your Heart Parm and Miyoko's Mozz are my favorites. Paleo Option: Omit the pasta sheets and double the vegetables. Use layers of vegetables instead of the pasta. Gluten Free Option: Be sure your sauce and pasta are gf. Nutrition information is approximate and calculated by a third party site. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again using your favorite calculator.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12Serving Size: 1/12 recipe
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 226Carbohydrates: 22gProtein: 7g
