The easiest vegan lasagna you’ll ever make! Completely nut free, gluten free, and soy free, this vegan lasagna is a crowd pleaser! Perfect for holidays and big family dinners!
Growing up, lasagna was a tradition for our family every single Sunday. And to be honest, I really hated lasagna!
I’m sorry, lasagna lovers, but it just wasn’t my bag.
But a while back, Jared asked me if I could make him a gluten free version of lasagna, and I’ll be honest: I scoffed at the idea. Who the heck wants to eat lasagna?! BUT me being me, and I like to be open to new things, I thought I’d give it a try…but add a few Banana twists (aka make it completely dairy free, grain free, and vegan too!).
Well, it turns out that I might despise lasagna, but I will take this sweet potato vegan lasagna any dang day of the week.
Even lasagna-lovers love this vegan lasagna, so to have people that aren’t really lasagna fans and people who are die-hard classic Italian comfort food lovers will dig this casserole.
How? Why? What magic are you using?! Well, I honestly think it’s the combination of lentils, sweet potato, and my dairy free ricotta (which if you don’t like ricotta, then you’ll LOVE this sauce- I personally am not a fan of regular dairy ricotta, but this sauce I could eat by the bucket fulls).
I made it one evening when we had a dinner party with our friends, and I had non-vegan eaters going back for seconds AND THIRDS.
I mean, come on now. That’s pretty amazing.
It’s the perfect dish for the holidays, the cozy winter weather, or just on a Sunday when you’re making a big family-style meal!
How to make vegan lasagna
The reason that this is the best vegan lasagna is because it’s so dang easy. Like, we’re talking way easier than any lasagna my mom made growing up (and we had lasagna every Sunday, so I’m very aware of how much effort can go into lasagna!).
For this vegan gluten free lasagna, you’ll need:
- Cooked lentils
- Vegan pesto (you can omit the nuts!) or chopped basil
- Cauliflower Ricotta (omitting the dairy free cream cheese)
- Sweet potato
- Tomato
- Spinach
That’s it! Really simple, plant based ingredients, but you’re going to be blown away by the taste and flavor when it all comes together. Trust me, even kids will flip for this!
How to make vegan ricotta
So basically, for this part of the recipe, we’re transforming my vegan Alfredo sauce into a vegan ricotta sauce that would go into lasagna!
Because I find ricotta to be slightly less cheesy than Alfredo sauce, I omitted the dairy free cream cheese here, which also yields the vegan ricotta completely nut (and tofu!) free!
I find that so many dairy free cheeses contain nuts or soy, and while I consume those ingredients, I know several people who can’t, and I love making recipes for everyone to enjoy! I mean, Sunday night dinners, everyone needs a plate of this 🙂
To make the vegan ricotta, all you’ll need to do is:
- Roast the cauliflower (or steam- but I think you’ll have a better flavor when roasted!).
- Place everything into a food processor (coconut milk, herbs, sea salt, and cauliflower), and blend!
Easy, two step vegan ricotta, making this truly the best vegan lasagna you’ll ever have!
Assembling the vegan gluten free lasagna
Now, the cool part about this sweet potato lasagna is that you don’t need to cook the sweet potato beforehand. Everything cooks together at once in the casserole dish.
So really, all you’ll need to do, along with the vegan ricotta, is prepare the lentils, and make sure your sweet potatoes and tomatoes are sliced into thin rounds.
Then it’s just assembling! I like to follow this order:
- One layer of sweet potato rounds.
- One layer of heirloom tomato rounds.
- A little spinach topped pesto lentils.
- A little cauliflower vegan ricotta on top.
Then repeat until your casserole dish is full, or you run out of ingredients! I try to always end with a layer of the ricotta on top because that’s how you end a traditional lasagna 🙂
Then you just bake and serve!
Truly one of the best healthy comfort foods, especially if you need a vegan or vegetarian option for a holiday, like Thanksgiving, or you’re doing a big family-style dinner and want to try something new!
Can you freeze vegan lasagna?
Yes, absolutely! To freeze this vegan lasagna, I recommend pre-slicing it into servings, then storing the servings in a container that’s safe to keep at freezing temperatures.
When you’re ready to heat the sweet potato lasagna again, place it onto a piece of tin foil on a baking sheet, preheat the oven to 350F, and let it cook for 10-15 minutes!
Simple as that 🙂
I hope you love this healthy lasagna recipe as much as I do! It’s perfect for meal prep, and always a crowd pleaser- even to the nonlasagna lovers!
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went over in the comments below! As always, I absolutely love seeing your beautiful recipes, so make sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest!
Happy lasagna-eating!
More healthy comfort food recipes:
Paleo Vegan Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Vegan Lightened Up Fettuccine Alfredo
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PrintThe Best Vegan Lasagna (Gluten Free!)
The easiest vegan lasagna you’ll ever make! Completely nut free, gluten free, and soy free, this vegan lasagna is a crowd pleaser! Perfect for holidays and big family dinners!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 55
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked lentils
- 2 tbsp vegan pesto or chopped basil + 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 serving vegan cauliflower Alfredo, omitting the dairy free cream cheese/cashews
- 2 extra large sweet potatoes
- 1 heirloom tomato
- 1 cup spinach
Instructions
- Prepare the cauliflower Alfredo according to directions if you haven’t already (you’ll need to roast or steam the cauliflower before making itÂ
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- In a medium bowl, toss the lentils with the vegan pesto or chopped basil and set aside.
- Slice the sweet potatoes into thin rounds, using a very sharp knife and a cutting board. Then slice the tomato into thin rounds as well, and set aside.
- Assemble the lasagna in a large baking dish for casseroles. Place enough sweet potato rounds to cover the bottom of the dish. Then spoon heirloom tomato slices,  topped with spinach, 1 cup basil lentils, and cauliflower Alfredo.
- Repeat until you’ve filled the casserole dish or run out of ingredients, finishing with the cauliflower Alfredo on top.
- Cover the vegan lasagna and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft when poked with a toothpick. To brown the cauliflower sauce on top, remove the cover and let cook for 5 extra minutes in the oven.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Keywords: vegan lasagna, vegan gluten free lasagna, sweet potato lasagna, healthier lasagna
Woahhhhh this is unbelievably good! Such a delish and nourishing meal! More savory recipes please 🙂
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Aw thank you so much!!! I definitely will!
Love to try this recipe someday!!
★★★★★
Aw I hope you do! Enjoy!