The secret to this tasty Vegan Lasagna Recipe is the gluten-free and dairy-free bechamel sauce that’s layered between sheets of gluten-free pasta, marinara, spinach and thinly sliced zucchini. It’s hearty and satisfying while remaining light and nutritious. Winner, winner, delicious and healthy vegetable lasagna for dinner!
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Why I love this recipe
- It’s a full dinner in one baking dish. Sure you can add a simple side salad or a roasted veggie side dish, but you don’t have to.
- Easy to layer and get into the oven….no matter what the day threw at you!
- It’s both vegan and gluten-free—-meaning no separate meals for different dietary needs…not only CAN everyone enjoy, but even those who eat meat and cheese love this delicious lasagna.
- Full of umami flavor, totally satisfying….yet still light….perfect for when you’re craving pasta, but not something heavy that will weigh you down!
- In the mood for a vegetable lasagna with white sauce? Go for it…double up the bechamel and skip the marinara….fabulously delicious results await! An easy swap that works!
Make the bechamel
Start by making the dairy-free bechamel. This takes just 10 minutes to make and can be done up to 5 days in advance, and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
- Make a roux with olive oil and cassava flour.
- Whisk in cashew milk a few tablespoons at a time.
- Sprinkle in salt, pepper and paprika.
- Whisk in miso paste.
The bechamel will thicken up slowly as it cooks. Yo can store it in a glass jar in the fridge until you’re ready to put the lasagna together. Check out my vegan bechamel post for more detailed instructions.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Lasagna noodles: Use a brand with ingredients that work well for you. Gluten-free noodles work beautifully. You’re not going to cook them in advance of making the casserole, regardless of what the package says.
- Baby greens: use spinach, kale, chard or a mixture.
- Zucchini: substitute yellow summer squash.
- Bechamel: Use my easy recipe for dairy-free bechamel sauce or buy store bought…but make sure to read the label of the jar to know what’s in it.
- Marinara: You can substitute with crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce.
- Nutritional yeast: This does a good job at imparting a bit of cheesy flavor without needing to add cheese. I try to stay away from dairy-free cheese that’s loaded with processed ingredients.
How to make it
Prep the zucchini. I use my mandoline to cut thin (⅛″ thick)slices that resemble lasagna noodles. You can also use a vegetable peeler or cut them lengthwise by hand.
Finely chop greens and lay out all ingredients to layer into a 2-quart baking dish.
Spoon about ½ cup of marinara sauce onto the bottom of pan. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. You may have to use a scissors to trim the corners to fit, if your baking dish has rounded corners.
Next, spoon ½ cup bechamel onto the noodles. USe an offset spatula to smooth into a thin layer. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast.
Sprinkle a layer of chopped greens onto the nutritional yeast.
Lay out zucchini slices across the entire length of the baking dish.
Continue to layer marinara, pasta, bechamel, nutritional yeast, spinach and zucchini until all supplies have been used up.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
Cut into 8 pieces and sprinkle with fresh herbs, if desired.
Debra’s Pro Tips
- If you make the bechamel in advance, this will take you just 10 minutes to layer into the dish and get into the oven.
- Gluten-free pasta tastes best when cooked al dente, otherwise it gets mushy. Trust the process and layer the lasagna noodles into this casserole UNCOOKED…they’ll come out perfectly al dente in the oven, no need to boil.
- Zucchini will come out with a bit of a bite, meaning the texture of a lasagna noodle….the perfect layering veggie. You can omit the actual noodles all together and just use thinly sliced zucchini as the noodle layer.
- Resist the urge to take lasagna out of the oven sooner, thinking that the bubbling sauce around the edges means that it’s done. The noodles and the zucchini need the full 45 minutes to cook.
- Make it a classic vegan white lasagna by omitting the marinara and doubling up on the bechamel.
Serve, Store, Reheat
- Serve with a simple green salad, green beans or broccoli.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for 5 days.
- Reheat in a 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until heated through.
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📖 Recipe
Veggie Lasagna with Dairy-free Bechamel
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 8-oz package gluten free lasagna noodles uncooked
- 2 cups dairy-free bechamel sauce
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach finely chopped
- 1 lb. zucchini
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Dairy-free Bechamel Sauce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup cassava flour
- 2 cups cashew milk
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon light miso
Instructions
Make Bechamel Sauce
- Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a small saucepan.
- Whisk in cassava flour. Mixture will become thick and pasty. Whisk in 2 tablespoons cashew milk right away. Continue to add milk in slowly, ¼ cup at a time, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Each addition will thin the sauce out, and then as it cooks a bit, it will thicken back up.
- Continue adding milk until ¼ cup is left. Dilute the miso paste into the remaining milk and then add that to the sauce, whisking and cooking until it's fully incorporated and sauce is thick enough to stick to the back of a spoon.
- Stir in the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Let sauce cool completely before transferring to a jar and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Assemble the Lasagna
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spoon ½ cup marinara onto the bottom of baking dish. Top with a layer of uncooked noodles, then ½ cup bechamel. Sprinkle with 2 tsps nutritional yeast, ½ cup chopped greens and a layer of zucchini laid out.
- Repeat the layers until your supplies have run out and the baking dish is full. Sprinkle the top with nutritional yeast and bake for 45 minutes. Lasagna will be bubbling and both noodles and zucchini will be tender.
- Cut into 8 pieces and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
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