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Looking for something easy and delicious to feed your whole family? Or a new staple to your weekly meal prep routine? Try this simple vegan lasagne recipe!
One important thing for the grammar loving people out there (e.g. me): Is it lasagnA or lasagnE? Here’s what I found: In Italian, “Lasagna” is what the single pasta sheets are called whereas “Lasagne” denominates the plural and is therefore the correct name of the dish (which is made out of many single pasta sheets).
Lasagne has been an all-time favorite of mine since I was a child. It’s a comfort food, it tastes great, it’s an awesome dish to feed as many people as you like (depending on the size of your oven) and you can customize it however you prefer.
In May of 2019, I had the opportunity to visit the region in Italy where one variation of this dish originates from: the Emilia-Romagna, and let me tell you this: If you’re a foodie, this is where you’ll have to go. I know it sounds weird when talking about Italy – isn’t the whole country full of fantastic food? This region is foodie heaven! Especially Modena. We went for a whole road trip through Northern parts of Italy, Tuscany and down to Rome, and it was one of my favorite holidays ever… But that’s a different story and blog post 😉
Back to the vegan lasagne recipe: Since following a whole-food plant-based diet most of the time, I try to adjust recipes as much as I can, so this is my version of a vegan lasagne. Feel free to create yours!
For this recipe, I used only plant-based ingredients:
- Veggies:
- Carrots
- Bell Peppers
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Eggplant
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Grains & Legumes:
- Quinoa
- Chickpeas
- Dairy- and egg-free spinach lasagna pasta sheets
- Coconut Milk
- Vegan Cheese Alternatives
- Herbs & Spices
The ingredients for the filling can be substituted by other veggies or legumes you like e.g. lentils or beans (make sure these are pre-cooked or canned).
There’s in no right or wrong when it comes to a dish like lasagne as long as you layer one thing on top of the other so let your creativity run wild and free!
Although I consider this a healthy dish, I wouldn’t recommend eating it throughout a whole week. I’m a big believer in a varied diet and think it’s important to decrease the amount of processed food items I eat. And as much as I love the Violife vegan cheese, I don’t think it would be healthy to consume it in excess amounts (as needed for this recipe).
Regarding equipment: I used 2 medium sized baking dishes with dimensions of approx. 27x17cm, so I recommend using 1 larger one with dimensions of 27x34cm, that would be perfect. Here’s the Pyrex one I used, the other one is from IKEA.
I hope you enjoy my take on an Italian classic and have fun preparing your very own plant-based version of the vegan lasagna recipe!
Yummy Recipe for Vegan Lasagne
Equipment
- Large Baking Dish(es) (I only have two medium sized ones with dimensions approx. 27x17cm and used both, so using a larger one with dimensions of 27x34cm would be perfect)
Ingredients
Vegan Lasagna Filling
- 150 g Uncooked Quinoa (I used mixed colored Quinoa, can be whatever color you prefer)
- 300 ml Water to cook the quinoa
- 140 g Carrots sliced
- 200 g Bell peppers cut in squares (any color your prefer)
- 200 g Eggplant cut in squares
- 150 g Zucchini sliced
- 100 g Mushrooms cut in pieces
- 1 can Chopped Tomatoes (= 400g)
- 1 can Chickpeas in Water (= 400g)
Vegan Lasagna Layers
- 400 g Lasagna Pasta Sheets (I used Barilla Spinach Sheets which are egg-free and dairy-free)
- 100 g Vegan Cream Cheese (I used Violife Creamy Original Flavor)
- 400 g Vegan Cheese Slices (I used Violife Original Flavor Slices)
- 200 ml (Organic) Coconut Milk canned (I used Earth's Finest, yellow can)
Spices & Herbs
- 1 tsp Garlic Flakes
- 1 tsp Sweet Paprika Powder
- 1 tsp Dry Rosemary
Misc
- 3 tsp (Organic) Coconut Oil
Instructions
Vegan Lasagne Filling Prep
- Rinse the quinoa and cook with 300ml of water on medium heat until done. This should take about 15 – 20 minutes. I use pre-cooked quinoa which I do once a week for easier and faster meal prep throughout the week.
- Heat up the oven to 180°C – 200°C. It should be moderately hot, before you put the lasagna in. You know your oven best (I use a gas oven, which is very different to the ones I used before).
- While the quinoa is cooking: Cut and slice all the veggies.
- Heat up 1 tsp of coconut oil in large pan together with the paprika powder and stir until flavors develop. Add the veggies and stir. Let simmer for 10 minutes and stir every once in a while to avoid burning.
- While the veggies are simmering – Here's a neat trick: Pre-cook the lasagna pasta sheets for 5 mins, so they're al dente. That means they're not crunchy anymore but far away from being smooshy. Most lasagne pasta will say that pre-cooking is not needed (the ones I use say so) but the lasagna will turn out so much better when the sheets are a little moist and flexible in my opinion. When I skip this step, the lasagne turns out much harder to bite with way too much crunch (maybe classic lasagne have more moist to begin with e.g. the meat, bechamel sauce etc. which the plant-based version lacks, idk). Once done with cooking, put aside.
- Add chopped tomatoes and chickpeas to the veggies. Add the garlic flakes and dry rosemary. Stir and let everything simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Use the other 2 tsp of coconut oil to grease the baking dish(es).
Layering the Vegan Lasagne
- Now the real fun begins: Layering! Put a layer of pasta sheets on the bottom of the baking dish first.
- Now cover with quinoa.
- Cover with veggie mix.
- Use vegan cheese slices as next layer.
- Use some small chunks of vegan cream cheese and try to spread it as good as possible (not easy, best to use small chunks and put across evenly, these will melt anyway).
- Next layer of pasta sheets begins. Repeat everything until baking dish is full.
- End with a layer of vegan cheese slices on top (I made two versions as you'll see in the pictures: one with quinoa as last layer before putting cheese on top, one with pasta sheets as last layer – both were super yummy, but finishing with the pasta sheets layer gave the lasagne more stability.).
- Pour the coconut milk on top and let it rinse through the dish until it reaches the bottom.
Oven Time
- Put in the middle height of oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and looks delicious! This really depends on the cheese you use, there are some vegan cheeses out there, that will not melt, no matter what you do. I hate these. Where's the use in having a plant-based alternative for cheese if it doesn't melt?! You'll need to try tbh. I really like the Violife brand, their products taste great and never upset my stomach – and they melt 😀 However, these should normally be used sparsely due to their nutritional value. Making a lasagna with them will be ok as long as it's not a 365-days dish.
- Congrats, you're done! Enjoy! If you want to, you can use more rosemary as a garnish on top.We served two squares per person and had no issues putting what was left into the fridge for the next day. I think, it'll be ok for two days in the fridge, but I didn't try that (yet). We also put it into a glass food container and took it to work the next day to heat it up in the microwave for lunch and it was still delicious!
looks so yum! thanks for sharing!
This sounds delicious! I’m trying to eat more plant-based meals and this one sounds like a winner. Thanks for sharing this post, I’ll have to check the recipe out
Thanks so much and let me know how it goes 🙂 Would love to see your version, so please feel free to either tag me or share the picture with me! Have fun :))