This vegan lasagna is made with vegetables, rich tomato sauce and has a special trick so you don't have to boil the noodles! It can also be made gluten free.
This recipe comes together much faster because of my easy trick. The key is in the raw vegetables and sauce cooking the raw noodles as it bakes!
This recipe was originally published on 11/18/2013
We love lasagna, but who has hours to make dinner?! Which is why I experimented with my homemade vegan ricotta cheese, raw vegetables, tomato sauce and lasagna noodles to get a quick, no boil trick to get this favorite dinner on the table with much less effort!
This easy vegetable lasagna is the lazy mom's dream. It gives you dinner for days, can be frozen for later and comes together so darn fast I could cry.
Ingredients
Here is what you need to make this plant based recipe:
- Lasagna noodles - to keep this vegan lasagna gluten free, make sure to choose gluten free lasagna noodles.
- Marinara sauce - Make your own or use your favorite jarred kind. Making your own allows you to adjust the flavors and salt content to your liking.
- Cashew ricotta - It's easy enough to make your own with raw cashews, otherwise use your favorite plant based ricotta such as almond, cashew, or tofu ricotta.
- Fresh spinach - spinach is great for its neutral taste, but other greens will work too if you prefer.
- Fresh chopped veggies - anything you have will work! I like zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, onions, garlic, and even carrots (shred or cut super small so they cook to tender).
- Grateable Vegan Parmesan Cheese - Another easy homemade cheese, or use your favorite store bought kind.
How To Make Easy Vegan Vegetable Lasagna
I love this recipe because you don't even have to boil noodles!
- Cover the bottom of the baking dish with sauce then place raw noodles on top.
- Stir together the spinach and ricotta and layer it on the noodles.
- Layer on more raw noodles, top with sauce and add the blend of chopped veggies.
- Continue until you are done with filling and finish with noodles, sauce and cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake.
- Serve!
NOTE: You can print the FULL recipe with all ingredients & detailed instructions below!
Tips for Layering Lasagna
You should layer veggie lasagna using the noodles as a guide. Also, look at how many filling ingredients you are using. Here is a quick guide:
- Put down some sauce on the bottom of your baking dish.
- Lay down noodles followed by sauce.
- Add a filling.
- Add more noodles followed by sauce.
- Repeat until you are done with the filling.
- Top with a final layer of noodles and more sauce.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
What to Serve with Lasagna
We love pairing this vegan lasagna recipe with at least one side dish, even though it's loaded with enough veggies to act as an all in one meal! Sprinkle some vegan Parmesan and fresh basil on top, and serve it with one of these dishes:
How to Make Lasagna Ahead of Time
As quick and easy as this vegan lasagna recipe is to put together, there are certain times you make want to prep it in advance. There are a few different ways to do this:
- Make the sauce and cheeses if you're using homemade, and wash and chop the veggies. Then simply assemble and bake when you're ready to go.
- The marinara sauce, cashew ricotta, and vegan parmesan can all be frozen to have on hand!
- Do all of the above and assemble but wait to bake. Remove from storage about 20 minutes before baking.
- Or, you can completely bake the lasagna, then reheat quickly when you're ready to eat.
Storage and Reheating Tips
- Leftovers of this gluten free vegan lasagna will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and the freezer up to 3 months.
- Usually, freezing lasagna before cooking is better, the cheese and filling hold up better. However, if you are not cooking the noodles first like in this recipe, it is better to freeze after cooking.
- If you decide to freeze leftovers, make sure the lasagna has cooled down fully and is stored in an airtight container.
- I like to put a layer of plastic wrap on the top as well to help prevent freezer burn.
- You'll also want to make sure you let it thaw completely before reheating.
- Reheat large portions, or the entire dish, in the oven as you would baking.
- Smaller slices heat up well in the microwave.
Do You Have To Boil Lasagna Noodles?
The short answer is not always. If you use enough moisture in the layers you do not need to boil the noodles first. This vegan lasagna recipe does just that!
There are 3 main keys to making this work.
- Use FRESH raw veggies, whatever you have in the fridge. Chop up and load them up.
- Use PLENTY of sauce. More is more.
- Cover the top COMPLETELY.
Fresh vegetables release water as they cook. So using them without cooking them in this lasagna allows the water to be sucked up by the noodles.
Also, increasing the sauce also helps contribute to the liquid needed. The noodles are super tasty because they are sucking up the sauce flavor with the released liquid from the fresh veggies.
Covering the top completely helps ensure that the top layer gets cooked and not burned to a crisp while baking. You also need to push the lasagna down if you notice those top noodle layers curling up as it bakes.
Common Questions
Traditionally, no. But you should always check ingredient lists when shopping. Some brands may use eggs.
Lasagna must have at least 2 layers, but you can absolutely add more if you'd like! I would suggest looking at how many fillings types you have. I prefer no more than 1-2 filling ingredients per layer.
Your last layer of lasagna should be the noodles, with a little sauce and some cheese sprinkled on top! This helps keep everything together and gives a nice browning layer on top.
You can freeze vegan lasagna! You just have to make sure to store it properly. Lasagna can be frozen before cooking or after. See blog post for detailed instructions on how to freeze lasagna.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
If you like this vegan lasagna, you need to try more! These veggie filled recipes are all easy to make from simple whole food, plant based ingredients.
Easy Vegan Vegetable Lasagna (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 box 15 lasagna noodles , gluten-free if needed
- 7 cups your favorite jarred marinara , can use homemade too
- 1 ½ cups cashew ricotta
- 2 cups fresh spinach , measure packed
- 4 cups mixed chopped veggies , use fresh
- 1 cup Grateable Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F/ 190 C.
- Mix the ricotta and spinach in a bowl, set aside.
- Cover the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking pan with 2 cups sauce.
- Add 5 raw lasagna noodles.
- Top with ricotta spinach mixture.
- Add 5 more raw lasagna noodles.
- Top with 2 cups sauce.
- Add 4 cups fresh chopped veggies.
- Sprinkle on ½ cup Parmesan.
- Add 5 more raw lasagna noodles.
- Top with 3 cups sauce, making sure to cover the noodles completely.
- Finally, add ½ cup Parmesan on top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Check periodically to make sure top noodles aren’t popping up. If they are, simply use your spatula to push them back down into the liquid.
- Take off the foil and bake 15 more minutes. You may need more time depending on what noodles you use. Let cool before cutting.
Notes
- The jarred sauce is used for convenience, feel free to make your own.
- I tested this with gluten free brown rice noodles and it turned out great.
- You can also use store bought ricotta and Parmesan to make this even easier.
- If your noodles start to buckle on top as it cooks, just use a spatula to keep pushing them down. This happened to me and eventually they got cooked enough to stay down.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Tracy Jacobs
Best Vegan lasagna out there. I have made this a couple of times. It’s my sons go to Birthday dinner and I have made it for a dinner party.it never ceases to delight and amaze people. Best part is that I made the vegan lasagna for the vegetarian guests and a meat dish for the meat eaters.the meat eaters tried some of the lasagna and were sold! They could not believe that there was no meat in there yet it was so delicious. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
veggiesdontbite
I'm so so happy you liked it Tracy! And it makes my day that so did everyone else. Thank you so much for the great review!
Dyan
I made this today and it is delicious! Had to use no-boil noodles because it's all I had. Didn't seem to matter! Added 1 TB of nutritional yeast to the ricotta. Not sure if it made a difference or not. Veggie mix was broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, and kale. Used jarred marinara that is oil free and sugar free (from Aldi). Overall... wonderful recipe! Thank you for adding something new to the rotation!
veggiesdontbite
So happy you liked it Dyan!! Your subs sound great!
Dyan
Hi! I'm reading this recipe in preparation for making it tomorrow and I have two questions.... (1) no nutritional yeast in the ricotta?, and (2) no seasoning for the vegetables? Like Italian seasoning? Thanks! Can't wait to try it!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Dyan! I am not a big nutritional yeast fan so I don't use it in any of my cheese recipes. But if you like it feel free to add it. As for the seasoning, the flavor of the marinara sauce, ricotta and parmesan will be plenty for the dish.
Lene Andersen
It didn’t work for me. I made a butter bean sauce instead of ricotta and used my own Napoletana red sauce. The taste was good but unfortunately the veggies were raw. Haven’t made a lot of lasagnas so maybe I should’ve realised the veggies needed cooking first. Otherwise lovely lasagna.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Lene, the reason it didn't work is because you most likely did not have enough liquid. Butter beans may not give off the same liquid as ricotta. Same with the sauce you used. The liquid ratio is the key to this. The veggies do not need cooking first. I have made this many times, as have others, and it can work. What kind of veggies did you use? The only veggie that may not work great is potato. But other fresh veggies will release liquid and that combined with the ricotta and marinara will cook the veggies and the noodles. If you want to try this again, I'd keep checking it and adding any liquid if it seems to be dry.
Brittany
So good best lasagna I’ve ever had!
veggiesdontbite
I am so happy you liked it Brittany! I really wanted to create one that wasn't so hard and laborious to put together!
Katrina
This looks good, can't wait to try it. What veggies did you use?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Katrina! Thank you so much. You will love this! Other than the spinach in the recipe, I used zucchini, broccoli and mushrooms!
Heather
By 'raw' noodles do you mean straight from the box without boiling first? Do you need no boil noodles to do this?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Heather! Yep!! Raw right from the box. No need to use no boil noodles. Just the regular kind. The raw vegetables release water, and the sauce has liquid as well. So all of that helps "cook" the noodles right in the pan!
Kari Duguid
I made this with mushrooms and frozen riced cauliflower. Super yum and super easy!
veggiesdontbite
That sounds awesome Kari!! So happy you liked it and it was easy!
Barbara
I’d love to make this for a party. Do you know if it can be made ahead of time and frozen?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Barbara! I have definitely frozen lasagna before. I suggest defrosting on the counter to allow it to get to room temperature slowly then heating it up once at room temperature!
Barbara
Thanks! Can’t wait to try it!
veggiesdontbite
I can't wait either!!
The Vegan 8
This looks soooo good girl and lazy and easy are my two favorite words! Bahaha! Definitely need to try this! My mouth is watering!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much girl! It's so good and so easy!
Cassie Autumn Tran
Lasagna is a dish I have not enjoyed in a VERY long time. This dish looks so romantically decadent and flavorful--it's the perfect dish for a large feast with your kids and a date night!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Casssie! It really is so good and easy to make!
Puro Food
That looks delicious! Comfort food recipes will always find a way to me eventually, I love trying new things.
https://www.puro.pk/
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much!! We love this recipe! And it's so easy to make!
karey garcia
Made the vegan lasagna last night and it was so good! My guests wanted to know what was in there then that tasted like cheese!?! Thanks for a great recipe Sophia!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Karey!! Thanks so much for letting me know and for making my recipe! Lasagna is a favorite, although takes some time. But such a good dish especially for guests. You should check out the chile con queso I just posted, perfect football app!!
sweetdashofsass
This looks really good. Interesting in making sometime and trying!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you! Please let me know how it turns out if you do!
Nancy Goodman
It worked! This is such a great recipe! I could have sworn that there was cheese in there somewhere!!! I learned that with nutritional yeast and cashews...and with a few other tricks..voila..magic. Who needs all that unhealthy stuff in our food. Thanks Sophia!!!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you thank you Nancy!! There are so many healthy things you can sub for those unhealthier versions. And I bet you feel a lot better eating this version too. Stay tuned this week for my veggie baked Mac n "Cheese"! If you're signed up to receive my posts via email you'll see it come through.