Hello my chickpeas, and welcome to the first official recipe of 2024! We are starting the year with a bang with my Vegan Lasagna With Tofu Ricotta. This recipe is comforting and warm during these colder months, and it is a great meal to celebrate Veganuary! This is the best vegan lasagna out there because it's relatively simple to make, yet has tons of flavor packed in.
This recipe makes enough to serve 12, so it can be enjoyed by a larger group OR the leftovers can be reheated throughout the week! Either way, you don't want to miss out on this one. Let's get cooking!
Inspiration for Vegan Lasagna With Tofu Ricotta
I have always been a big pasta girly. I grew up in a vegetarian household and pasta was an easy but tasty staple for us, so now it just feels so comforting to me! We didn't do a ton of lasagna specifically when I was growing up, but all of the components of lasagna still take me back to childhood memories. The creamy cheesy layers, the flavorful marinara, and of course the pasta itself. It all comes together so beautifully!
When I created my Lemon Tofu Ricotta earlier this year, I knew I wanted to eventually use it in a lasagna recipe. I've been testing like crazy the last few months and I am so happy with how the final result came out! It was important to me when making this recipe to include all the classic components of lasagna, but also to include lots of nutrient-rich additions! For that reason we are incorporating lentils and lots of delicious veggies into our marinara mixture in this recipe. This is the perfect recipe to try out if you are participating in Veganuary, or if you are just looking for a new comfort meal!
Ingredients
This Vegan Lasagna With Tofu Ricotta is full of delicious ingredients, and quite a few nutrients too! Let's get into it.
- Lasagna noodles: no surprises here!
- Lemon Tofu Ricotta (or another vegan ricotta): in my personal opinion, the most important part. This is a beautiful creamy and cheesy layer in our lasagna. You also have the option of mixing in additional plant milk to thin out your ricotta if desired!
- Onion, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic: to make the best vegan lasagna, we've gotta throw in some delicious veg! These add fresh flavor and pack in some nutrients!
- Green lentils: these will bulk up our pasta, provide some protein, and make the texture a bit more interesting.
- Marinara sauce, veggie broth, and tomato puree: marinara sauce is of course a main staple in lasagna! We are combining it with the tomato puree and veggie broth, and they all work together to cook the lentils and veggies.
- Basil: an extra little flavor boost!
- Optional vegan mozzarella: not required, but definitely makes our vegan lasagna a bit prettier and adds more cheesy goodness!
How to Make Vegan Lasagna With Tofu Ricotta
You can find the full recipe down below, but here are the basics!
- Preheat your oven to 375
- Sauté your onion for a few minutes.
- Add your carrots, zucchini, and mushroom. Sauté a bit longer.
- Throw in your garlic
- Add lentils, marinara, veggie broth, tomato purée, basil, and salt. Bring to a boil.
- Lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes.
- Cook your pasta according to package directions.
- Thin out your vegan ricotta with a bit of plant milk, if needed
- Assemble your lasagna layers!
- Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes.
- Remove foil and sprinkle on optional vegan mozzarella. Bake another 5-10 minutes.
- Let cool and serve!
Tips & Tricks
I am very happy with how this recipe came out, but I of course want you to make it your own where you can! Here are a few ideas I have for you
- My Lemon Tofu Ricotta recipe includes optional lemon zest. I typically don't include that when making the ricotta for this particular recipe, however if you want a bigger punch of lemon flavor you absolutely could include it! It's amazing how much flavor a little lemon zest can add.
- If you aren't a fan of any of these veggies, feel free to leave them out! You could even play around with adding in different veggies if you'd like, just keep in mind that they may need more or less time to sauté than the ones included here. I think throwing in some bell peppers here would also be a great addition!
- I call for optional vegan mozzarella in this recipe, but I also think that vegan parmesan could be a fun addition if you wanted a slightly different flavor!
- For some reason my taste buds REALLY love the combo of hearty pasta dish paired with a caesar salad. If this is also a combo that calls to you, be sure to check out my Vegan Caesar Dressing so you can make that happen!
- If you want more vegan pasta dishes to try this Veganuary, be sure to try out my Taco Pasta or my Baked Vegan Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese next!
Enjoy!
Vegan Lasagna With Tofu Ricotta
This Vegan Lasagna with Tofu Ricotta is a delicious, veganized take on the classic! We will be cooking up a flavorful marinara mixture with veggies and lentils, then layering it with lasagna noodles and tofu ricotta to make the best vegan lasagna you've seen yet! Give this one a try for Veganuary, or any time of the year!
*Note that it is estimated to take 25 minutes to make your Lemon Tofu Ricotta and chop your veggies, then 95 minutes to complete the recipe directions. Much of this time is spent simmering your lentil mixture and baking your lasagna, so not all of it is hands-on time.
Ingredients
½ medium yellow onion, diced
2 small/medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 small/medium zucchini, diced
1 cup cremini mushrooms, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup uncooked green lentils
24 oz marinara sauce
1.5 cups veggie broth
14 oz tomato puree
¼ cup basil, thinly sliced
Salt to taste (I use ¼ tsp)
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
2.5 cups Joyful Balance Lemon Tofu Ricotta*, or another vegan ricotta
Optional: 2-4 tablespoon plant milk
Optional: ¾ cup grated vegan mozzarella
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Bring a medium nonstick pot to medium-high heat on the stovetop. Add just a bit of water to prevent sticking, and add your yellow onion. Allow to sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking.
- Add the carrot, zucchini, and mushrooms to the pot. Continue to sauté for another 3 minutes, still stirring occasionally and adding small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking.
- Add garlic to the pot. Sauté one more minute.
- Add your uncooked green lentils, marinara, veggie broth, tomato puree, basil, and salt to taste. Give everything a mix and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer 25-30 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. You may work on steps 7 & 8 while your mixture simmers.
- Cook your pasta according to package directions. When it's done cooking, drain the pasta. Let it cool a few minutes, until cool enough to handle. (At this point if you still have a while before your lentil mixture is done, you may want to lay the noodles out on a cooling rack to prevent them from sticking together).
- If your vegan ricotta is thick enough that it seems that it may be hard to spread, mix in about 2 tablespoon of plant milk at a time until it seems like a more spreadable (but still ricotta-like) consistency. I find that with the Lemon Tofu Ricotta, this is sometimes necessary if the ricotta has sat in the fridge overnight and thickened a bit. If your ricotta is already easily spreadable to begin with, then just skip this step!
- Assemble your lasagna:
-Spread approximately 1.5 cups of the marinara mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 dish. Top it with 3 lasagna noodles. Add half of the ricotta mixture and gently spread it.
-Spread another 1.5 cups of the marinara mixture, followed by another layer of noodles. (No ricotta this time)
-Spread another 1.5 cups of the marinara mixture, followed by one last layer of noodles, and the second half of the ricotta.
-Top with the last of the marinara mixture (should also be approximately 1.5 cups). - Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil and sprinkle on the optional vegan mozzarella. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes (uncovered) to melt the cheese a bit.
- Allow to cool and serve as you wish!
Notes
- *The Lemon Tofu Ricotta recipe includes optional lemon zest - you may include this if you'd like, but I prefer to leave it out for this particular recipe! Including it will just make your ricotta much more lemon-forward.
Happy cooking! If you made this recipe don’t forget to tag me (@joyfulbalanceofficial) on facebook or instagram so I can cheer you on for your lasagna-making ways.
Stay joyfully balanced!
Liga says
I really, really like lasagna, more than Garfield does :). I’m glad I came across this vegan iteration that I hadn’t tried. I’m not vegan myself but I like experimenting. It’s delicious!!!
Delaney Marie says
So glad you loved it!
Jazzmin says
This lasagna was incredibly comforting, especially on a snowy day like today in Winnipeg. I thoroughly enjoyed the tofu ricotta, it tasted just as delicious as I remember before I became vegan. And the green lentils made it so satisfying.
Delaney Marie says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The tofu ricotta is one of my favorite parts of this one 😀