Best Vegan Lasagna
Who knew vegan lasagna could be so delicious? This dairy-free lasagna recipe is easy to make with simple ingredients and tastes amazing! It's the best!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
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I used to be skeptical of vegan lasagna—could it really be that good? This recipe is proof that yes, it really can. This vegan lasagna tastes as good as it looks.
My husband, who has a major weakness for creamy pastas, also found the concept of a cheese-less lasagna questionable. I figured this recipe would convince him, so I brought some home and put it in the fridge. I soon found the man in the kitchen, going back for seconds. Then thirds.
If you’ve been paying very close attention to my recipe substitution notes over the years, you may have tried this technique already. It’s based on the vegan variation of the cheesy roasted eggplant lasagna in my cookbook, Love Real Food (page 163). I shared the concept in my classic vegetarian lasagna recipe, too.
Today, I wanted to show you the results with photographic proof. If you’re in the mood for a dairy-free alternative to traditional cheesy lasagna, this recipe is for you.
How to Make the Best Vegan Lasagna
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s why this recipe works:
1) Cashew cream in lieu of dairy
We’re replacing traditional mozzarella and ricotta with cashew-based sour cream. It’s easy to whip up in a blender. I’m still amazed by how well this “sour cream” concoction replaces all kinds of creamy, dairy-based cheeses and sauces. Some other recipes suggest blended tofu for this component, but cashew cream tastes much, much better.
One caveat—if you don’t have a heavy-duty blender, you’ll need to soak your cashews for a few hours before blending. If you’re blessed with a Vitamix (affiliate link) or similarly powerful blender, you don’t need to bother with the soaking step.
2) Vegetables for flavor and nutrition
We’re also building flavor by sautéing lots of vegetables and spinach. I used onion, carrots and mushrooms, but feel free to use whichever vegetables you have on hand (zucchini, bell pepper, or even butternut squash would work). Mushrooms are particularly good because they offer some umami depth to this meatless lasagna.
3) Garnish with more cashew cream, vegan Parmesan and fresh basil
We’ll layer up and bake this lasagna just like a regular lasagna. Once it’s out of the oven, we’ll drizzle a little leftover cashew cream on top. The cashew cream on the inside condenses as it bakes, so this adds a nice touch of irresistible creaminess.
Lastly, we’ll sprinkle on some vegan Parmesan, which is made with hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, and garlic and onion powder. It’s the perfect salty flavor booster. Add some fresh basil leaves if you have them!
Wondering what to serve with your lasagna? I’d pair it with roasted Brussels sprouts or broccoli, a simple side salad with balsamic dressing, or my Greek lentil salad for some additional protein.
If you’re craving more hearty vegan meals, here are a few delicious options:
- Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta and Beans) or Classic Minestrone Soup
- Hearty Spaghetti with Lentils & Marinara Sauce
- Ratatouille
- Mujadara (Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions)
Or, browse all of my vegan recipes here.
Watch How to Make Vegan Lasagna
Best Vegan Lasagna
Who knew vegan lasagna could be so delicious? This dairy-free lasagna recipe is easy to make with simple ingredients and tastes amazing. It’s the best! Recipe yields 8 servings.
Ingredients
Cashew cream
- 2 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours if you do not have a high-powered blender
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
Vegetables
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium-to-large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 large or 3 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 8 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 5 to 6 ounces baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
Everything else
- 2 ½ cups marinara sauce, homemade* or store-bought (I used Rao’s)
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles**
- Suggested garnishes: vegan Parmesan (or a light sprinkle of nutritional yeast) and fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If you soaked your cashews, drain and rinse them until the water runs clear.
- In a blender, combine the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and mustard. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. If you’re having trouble blending the mixture, slowly blend in up to ½ cup additional water, using only as much as necessary. Set aside.
- Then, we’ll prepare the vegetables: In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Once shimmering, add the onion, carrots, mushrooms, salt and several twists of black pepper. Cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until most of the moisture is gone and the vegetables are tender and turning golden on the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add another splash of olive oil if necessary to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
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Add a few large handfuls of spinach to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted. Repeat with remaining spinach and cook until all of the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Spread ¾ cup tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9” by 9” baking dish. Layer 3 lasagna noodles on top (snap off their ends to fit, and/or overlap their edges as necessary). Spread 1 cup of the cashew cream evenly over the noodles. Top with half of the veggies. Top with ¾ cup tomato sauce.
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Top with 3 more noodles, followed by another 1 cup cashew cream (save the leftover cream). Then add the remaining veggies.
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Top with 3 more noodles, then spread ¾ cup tomato sauce over the top to evenly cover the noodles.
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Wrap a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil around the top of the lasagna, making sure it’s taut so it doesn’t touch the top. Bake, covered, for 25 minutes, then remove the cover, rotate the pan by 180° and continue cooking for about 5 to 10 more minutes, until it’s steaming and lightly bubbling at the corners.
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Remove the pan from the oven and let the lasagna cool for 15 to 20 minutes, so it has time to set and cool down to a reasonable temperature. Drizzle leftover cashew cream on top (if it’s too thick to drizzle, thin it out with a small amount of water first). Sprinkle vegan Parmesan and fresh basil on top, if using, then slice and serve.
Notes
*Homemade marinara sauce note: You’ll need to double my marinara recipe to yield enough for this recipe, and then you’ll have extra. If you don’t think you’ll use it up within a few days, you can freeze it for later.
**Lasagna noodle recommendations: I like to use DeLallo’s Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (affiliate link) and Whole Foods’ 365 No-Boil Lasagna Noodles. See below for gluten-free suggestions.
Make it gluten free: Substitute gluten-free lasagna noodles. Choose no-boil (oven ready) noodles if possible; if not, cook them according to package directions. (Fair warning, I tried using DeBoles brand of no-bake lasagna noodles and they weren’t quite done cooking in the time specified here. Reheated leftovers were ok, though.)
Change it up: Feel free to play around with the vegetables here. You’ll want to use about 3 cups chopped veggies total (excluding the onion). Butternut squash might be nice, or try one zucchini and one red bell pepper in place of the mushrooms.
Storage suggestions: Leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 4 days. Gently reheat individual servings in the microwave or oven as needed. Or, freeze it for later—it’s generally easier to reheat single servings than to defrost a big block of lasagna!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Absolutely incredible recipe. I’ve really been missing lasagna and have tried it at a few vegan restaurants, but was always disappointed. I made a small modification to the recipe and added vegan mozzarella shreds to the middle and top and skipped the cream on top. I would like to eat this for every meal. Thank you for this!
You’re welcome, Rose!
Happy Holidays!
Do you think it’s possible to replace the pasta with zucchini sheets? If so, do you have any thoughts on making this ahead? I wonder about the water content with the zucchini sheets. We no longer eat pasta, miss it desperately, so we’re trying to find a vegetable “pasta” sheet substitute for this lasagna dish.
Thank you for your wonderful website and cookbook. Love them both!
I don’t know how that would work. I would be concerned it won’t have much structure.
I’ve made this lasagna three times in the last month, and it will be my go-to lasagna recipe going forward. I’m vegan and wanted something i could cook from scratch easily in other people’s kitchens while traveling for the holidays. This worked brilliantly. I made it for my non-vegetarian mom and her skeptical friends and then again for my non-vegetarian very meat oriented mom-in-law, and they all loved it. The cashew cream is so simple but absolutely makes the dish. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
I made this yesterdya and it was good! Next time I make it I am going to double the veggies because I would personally like a more veggie-full version. The cashew cream sauce was delicious. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Karen! I appreciate your review.
Made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I think I needed to water down the cream a bit more as it was very thick and I didn’t have any left for drizzling. I kept the veggies as suggested i.e. carrots and mushrooms but also added half a large zucchini and a small capsicum – I even threw in a few canned borlotti beans I needed to use up! My daughter and hubby loved it and I’ll definitely make it again – although not this year as I’ve set myself a challenge not to cook the same meal twice!
I followed the recipe, but made a few changes that I didn’t think it would make a difference, but I ended up with a gloppy mess with chewy noodles and neither my mom or I liked the flavor at all. :(
Maybe I’ll try again and follow the directions exactly. But maybe not. I really didn’t like it at all. Sorry. I’m not going to leave a Star rating cause I don’t want to bring it down since everyone else seems to really like it.
Oh no! What did you change?
Hi Kate,
I’m planning on making this for a friend and they will need to reheat etc the next day and possibly freeze. If you are freezing, do you freeze with the vegan parmesan on top? Also, if you are reheating in microwave, do you reheat vegan parmesan in microwave or should you try to have it in a separate container to sprinkle on hot lasagna (after reheating). Thanks!
I would add the parm when ready to serve.
Made this today and was delighted with the result! I used regular noodles and cooked them before baking. I have a high speed blender but soaked my cashews for an hour as a precaution. I didn’t need to add any extra water. I served it with a side of bean salad for protein. Can’t wait to make this again. Thank you C+K!
You’re welcome, Lauren!
I made this for my sister who is vegan. She said it was absolutely delicious!
That’s great to hear, Gerri!
This vegan lasagna is excellent! I followed the recipe exactly and we loved it. We have been vegetarians for 20+ years and are now trying to follow a vegan diet. We did not miss the cheese at all with this recipe. It creamy, flavorful, and love that it uses oven ready noodles! My husband kept tasting it and saying, it doesn’t taste vegan. Delicious! Thank you!
Hi- can i prepare this a day in advance and then bake the next day? or will it get too dried out? Thanks for your response :) I’ve made it once before and it was delicious! Now I’m going to serve it to my sister!
I recommend baking right away. I hope you are able to try it!
Question about the apple cider vinegar in the cashew cream. I don’t love the flavor of this. Would white vinegar be acceptable to substitute? I made and loved your Sun dried tomato fettuccine Alfredo with spinach from Love real food. It didn’t have any vinegar in the cashew cream.
Sure, you can try it or follow the Alfredo option if you prefer, Vickie.
OMG this was delicious and easier to make cashew cream than grate cheese. This will be a new regular on my entertaining menu.
Hi! I am doubling this in a large dish. How would that increase the cook time? (Same height, just a larger pan)
Also, is it possible to overlap noodles too much? Like overlapping 3 or 4 instead of 2 as shown, so it covers my whole rectangular pan? Do you know if they will cook and be ok?
I would suggest cooking at the same time and then adjust from there. I haven’t tried it another way, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
This was AWESOME! Made it exactly as written excepted I used an 8×8 pan since that’s what I had on hand. My partner requested that I make it weekly. Writing this comment as I finish the last slice…
That’s great to hear, Mitch! I appreciate your review.
Made this recipe for the first time for my vegan daughter and our vegetarian granddaughter. It was the best vegan lasagne ever. My husband and son who are carnivores also enjoyed it. Amazing recipe. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome, Isabel!
I made it, it’s cooling on the counter. I put the leftover cashew cream on my bean burrito and it was delicious. I’ll leave another comment after we eat it for dinner tonight.
Neither of us are vegetarian but we both thought this lasagna was delicious. I tried this recipe because I’m trying to reduce my cholesterol. 5 stars all day long!
Great to hear, Pat! Thank you for your review.
I have made this recipe many times- I use broccoli in place of spinach/ also a layer of vegan mozzarella cheese. We love it. Thanks for this recipe.
Nancy
Belwood Ontario
You’re welcome, Nancy! I appreciate your review.
I absolutely loved this! I’m a new vegan always looking for good recipes so I’m not stuck eating rice and beans every night. This was amazing! Even my picky teenaged son liked it. I’m so grateful to you for sharing it.
You’re welcome, AJ!
I’ve made this for people who are not into plant base and they are mind blown on how delicious this taste , when I make this I usually use different vegetables and I also make it with low sodium Marinara and no salt cashews and don’t add any salt which still taste amazing. My kids always want me to make this .
This is seriously so good! Works with GF lasagna noodles too.
Thank you for your review, Ashely!
Love this vegan lasagna! It’s a favorite of vegans and non-vegans alike. Can the cashew cream be made ahead and frozen to use at a later date?
I haven’t tried freezing it, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
I’ve never made lasagna before, this was the first recipe i ever tried and it was soooo good!!! I couldnt believe it was meatless, cheeseless, and gluten free. Thank you for this recipe!
You’re welcome, Liv! I appreciate your review.
Hi there! I made this yesterday for dinner today. How long would you recommend reheating in the oven? Also, this is on regular rotation. It’s so delicious! My entire family (toddler included) dive in!
That’s great to hear, Kara!
Hi Kate. Would it be possible to give grams/ ounces measurements in your recipes. I’m in the UK so it’s difficult to convert from cups to grams with different ingredients.
Many thanks.
Best lasagna I’ve had. This has quickly become a family favorite. I made a large tray for our New Years Party.