This is THE best and smoothest vegan lasagna! It doesn’t have nuts and you can’t taste the cauliflower used for the béchamel sauce. Raved by friends and family – it’s a complete winner! Dairy free, packed with vegetables and delicious -this will be your go-to meal to wow your family or friends!
How to make this EASY vegan lasagna?
For those that don’t eat cheese or nuts, this is the best lasagna to try!
Cauliflower Béchamel
You would never guess that there is cauliflower in this lasagna!
It’s quite simple to make this cauliflower béchamel. Simple add all your spices and your prepared cut and cauliflower into a medium pot and let it cook until softened.
After it’s finished cooking, drain your cauliflower and add it carefully into your blender. Add the vegan cheese (I wouldn’t skip this part) and blend it until it’s thick and creamy. I’ve added 2 cups of vegan cheese previously to make it more thicker.
Marinara sauce
I didn’t have time to make a home made pasta sauce and used a Costco brand I found. I consider every bottled sauce from the store to be a base to add to. Take your ordinary sauce and add some vegetables and spices to make it incredible! And of course, if you don’t have time you can just skip this step and use the sauce from the jar right away!
What do you need to add to this sauce?
It may seem like a lot – but just a few staple ingredients are needed to heighten your marinara sauce to the next level!
Vegetables
This is where you can choose your most favorite vegetables. The usual lasagna favorites are: mushrooms (I used shiitake), onion, zucchini and spinach. Other great choices are: red pepper or squash. If you’re looking for more protein in your lasagna you could certainly add cooked lentils!
Spices
I added a few different spices to add complex flavors. If you feel like the marinara sauce is already too acidic, you can omit the lemon juice. I rarely have a savory dish that I don’t add lemon to! I love the freshness of it!
Assembling your lasagna!
Now it’s the fun part! All the hard work is done and you’re ready for assembly!
Lasagna pan?
I actually used a silicone banana loaf pan for my lasagna. One because I wanted it contained so I can take a photo of it nicely after it was cooled in the fridge. Second, this lasagna recipe makes 2-3 servings (depending on how much you can eat in one sitting!) so this was the perfect size to use.
This is the loaf pan I used for this lasagna recipe!
What kind of lasagna sheets should we use?
I’m trying to cut back on my gluten consumption and thought I would experiment with gluten free lasagna sheets with this recipe! Am I ever glad I did! I used sheets made from corn and rice and it worked out SO well! I didn’t miss the regular pasta sheets at all.
The gluten free sheets I got did not have to be pre cooked. Be sure to check your package directions on whether it needs to be cooked or can go directly into the oven to cook.
Assembly
As with all lasagna, to have the pasta sheet stick to the bottom, I coated the base of the pan with a thin layer of marinara sauce. It doesn’t have to be the one you just made with vegetables, you can use two tablespoons from the jar as well. It’s just the glue that sticks the sheets to the bottom.
Then we add a layer of sheets. It can overlap!
Then we add our marinara sauce. I love mine thick so I can minimize the juices flooding the lasagna.
Then I add a layer of cauliflower béchamel on top. You could use a piping bag to dollop the sauce on top of the marinara layer and then carefully, with the back of a spoon, smoothen the dollops to make an even layer. It’s not necessary but it just ensures the two layers don’t get mixed.
Keep adding a layer of lasagna sheet, then marinara sauce and finish with a layer of cauliflower béchamel.
Cover your lasagna with aluminum foil and place into a preheated oven at 375F. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove it from oven and let it cool completely or if you can’t wait be careful of the hot liquids that may have emerged from cooking.
What do you eat lasagna with?
Picture your favorite crusty bread with some vegan butter and smashed/rubbed garlic on it.
Or if you would rather skip the bread, you could make a hearty salad that would go so beautifully with this recipe!
Finally, I would love to pair this lasagna with a delicious bowl of soup!
Variations to this lasagna
I haven’t personally tried these but I’ve seen the “cheese” part of the lasagna substituted with tofu and cashew nuts.
How long does this store in the fridge?
To photograph this lasagna, I actually stored it in the fridge to stiffen the layers. I was then able to cut the layers more cleaner and able to photograph it. I really love eating this lasagna the day after once it’s been in the fridge overnight. It just tastes better!
But to answer your question – it’ll store in the fridge for up to 3 days!
Can you freeze this dish?
Absolutely! Lasagna is great to freeze as a dish to eat later! I let it thaw out on the counter and then cook it in the oven at 350F for 25-30 minutes depending on how frozen it is. Best bet is to check if it’s cooked through by sampling the middle of the lasagna near the middle bottom.
Garnishes for the top
Top your lasagna with some garnishes that will elevate the flavor and look so pretty!
- red chili flakes
- chive flowers
- cut chives or spring onion
- violas
- fresh cracked pepper
Craving similar cauliflower recipes? Check out these:
- Creamy and Delicious Cauliflower Curry Recipe
- Creamy and Easy Roasted Cauliflower Soup (with fennel)
If you’ve tried this recipe or others please send me a photo on social media or write a comment below! Thank you! I appreciate you so much.
Best Vegan Lasagna with Cauliflower Béchamel (no nuts!)
Equipment
- 1 blender
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
Marinara Sauce Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup zucchini diced
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 1 cup mushrooms shiitake
- 1/2 cup spinach frozen or fresh
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tsp vegetable stock
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
- 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
Cauliflower Bechamel
For the saucepan
- 1 cauliflower small, cut into small florets
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp salt
For the blender
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp pepper white pepper
- 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
- 1 cup mozzerella plant based, I used daiya
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Cauliflower Bechamel
- Wash and cut your cauliflower into small florets
- In a medium sized pot, boil your vegetable stock and add garlic cloves and salt. You could also add lemon juice, paprika, onion powder etc for more flavour.
- Spoon your cauliflower in carefully into the hot water. Alternatively you can add the cauliflower to the pot right away and let it come to a boil.
- Cook for 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.
- After it's tender, spoon your cauliflower carefully into a blender. Add your ingredients including plant based cheese.
- Check for salt, pepper and add paprika if you want it to have a kick.
Marinara Sauce
- In a large pan set to low-medium heat, add your EVOO
- add your onions, zucchini, mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes
- Add in your spices, other ingredients except your store bought or home made marinara sauce
- let your vegetables soften and let the spices absorb into the veggies
- Add in your marinara sauce and spinach. Let it come to a boil briefly and shut off the heat
- Stir and let it stand for 10 minutes
Putting it all together
- Preheat the oven to 375Preheat oven to 375I made enough sauces for a silicone banana loaf sized panI put some plain marinara sauce on the bottom of my loaf panI placed a cooked lasagna sheet on top, followed by béchamel sauce, followed by spinach marinara sauceI repeated with pasta sheet, bechamel and marinara sauce. I had four layers of pasta in total with bechamel on top to finish.garnish with fresh basil or parsley leaves and red chili flakes or black pepper
- Meanwhile, start assembling your lasagna in a loaf pan*
- I took some plain marinara sauce and coated the bottom of the pan
- I then arranged a couple of lasagna sheets ** on top
- Spread some marinara sauce with veggies you prepared on top
- And add the next layer of cauliflower béchamel***
- Keep layering in this order and finish with the béchamel****
- Cover and bake for 25 minutes
- Remove from oven and garnish with fresh chopped parsley, chives or chilli flakes
Notes
Nutrition
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