As many vegan bloggers before me, I have discovered the magic that is cashew ricotta. Creamy, savory cashew cheese between layers of soft pasta and marinara…I don’t think there’s anything that could make me happier. If I’m being absolutely honest, I only had ricotta once before switching to a vegan lifestyle, but I definitely don’t think I’m missing out on anything.
I love making lasagna because it’s a meal that lasts for days and tastes even better as leftovers. I always used lasagna noodles that require boiling in the past, but we switched to the no boil kind and it makes this meal that much easier.
Like most everything I make, I like to change up the vegetables in this. My only consistency is the spinach and ricotta. Try it with roasted red peppers and portobello mushrooms, or sundried tomatoes and caramelized onions.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 8 ounces mushrooms, diced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 carrot, chopped finely
- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely
- 1 stalk celery, chopped finely
- 1 tsp basil and oregano
- 1 jar marinara sauce, or 24 ounces homemade
- 10 ounces of no-boil lasagna noodles, or regular lasagna noodles, cooked
- 1 batch of vegan cheese, or favorite vegan cheese
- 1 batch of cashew ricotta, recipe below
- 10 ounces frozen spinach, drained and thawed
Directions:
1. Oil a 9×13 pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Heat the rest of the oil over medium heat and sauté mushrooms, onions, garlic, celery, bell pepper, and carrots with basil and oregano until soft. Pour in marinara sauce.
2. Spread a few tablespoons of marinara sauce and a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan. Top with 2-3 lasagna noodles (whatever fits best.)
3. Mix cashew ricotta with thawed and drained spinach. Dollop 1/3 of the cashew ricotta on the noodles and spread to edges of lasagna sheets. Shred cheese directly onto ricotta. Add another layer of noodles and top with vegetable marinara. Repeat alternating layers.
4. Spread marinara on top layer of noodles and shred vegan cheese on top.
5. Bake at 350 ˚ F for 30 minutes or until edges are bubbling and noodles are soft.
Cashew Ricotta
• 1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked overnight
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 tbsp water, or more if necessary.
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp refined coconut oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ½-1 tsp salt, to taste
1. Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth, scraping down sides as needed.
Avocados and Ales 
Vegan cheese looks (and sounds) really interesting! Does it taste similar to the real thing? Great recipe by the way 🙂
Nothing is ever going to perfectly replicate cheese, just like most alternative milks don’t perfectly replicate milk, but I think they’re a delicious option in their own way 🙂
Daiya cheeze is just like dairy cheeze,it melts awesome.
^^^ Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner (http://www.artisanveganlife.com/) contains a bunch of recipes that turn out very, very close to the real thing; aged vegan cheeses are gonna rule the world one day, I’m tellin’ ya ❤
I would loveeee to try her new cheeses that are available to purchase, but I think I would feel guilty dropping $60 on vegan cheese!
YESSS! To be honest, I’d probably do it anyway tbh if I could get it shipped all the way to New Zealand :p
Consuming dairy products is something that has actually make you feel guilty. The breast liquid we consume is stolen from calves who are in turn are stolen from their moms in the first few hours after their birth. If they are males these small babies are violently slaughtered few weeks later for “the real thing” (as you called it).
Which is one of the many reasons why I make my own vegan cheeses.
Boy does that look good!!
Wow, that looks so good!! Drool worthy!
Thanks Jenn!! That means a lot coming from you! Everything you post is drool worthy!
So interesting that we never ate ricotta. Our lasagna was cottage cheese and velveeta.
I’d love to make this. I was a little confused about the layers. Are there 2 different kinds of layers, one with noodles, cashew ricotta, and cheese AND one with just noodles and vegetable marinara—and you alternate them? How many layers of each, so that I would know what percentage of ingredients to use on each layer?
Yep, exactly that! I got about 6 layers altogether, so about 1/3 of each.
Thanks.
This looks amazing in SO many ways. Cheers for the delicious share 🙂
Sounds really good! Cashew ricotta… I need to try that ;). Xo
This was delicious! Perfect New Year’s Day dish! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Fantastic!!! So glad you tried it!!
I use fresh tofu with a little lemon juice and onion powder, crushed up into the consistency of Ricotta cheese. It’s wonderful! I use it in ziti and other Italian dishes.
I used to used a similar recipe (see my previous post about tortellini) but had to go soy free for a few months due to an allergy in my household. Fortunately we’ve been able to reintroduce it, but I got addicted to this ricotta 🙂
Delicious recipe! Yummy! I made only one change….I used sliced roasted eggplants instead of the lasagne noodles. Will definitely make this again!
Thank you!
Eggplant sounds DELICIOUS in this! I’ll have to try that next time!
Made this tonight and it was AMAZING! The cashew ricotta is now my new addiction. Thank you!!!
I love agood home-made cashew ricotta & your lasagna looks superb & I will make it tomorrow with home-grown veggies from our garden: double yum!
Looks great. How many portions is this though?
What can you use in place of almond flour
More cashews!
Oh my, all those gooey layers. I can imagine the depth of flavor from all those veggies. I will be making this soon. I’d even eat this for breakfast the next morning! Thank you -Johanne http://www.thesunnyside.life
I have made this twice and both times rock – thanks for the recipe.
Hi Lacey
I am in my first month of being vegan although I’ve been researching (aka reading your blog) for a year. Yesterday I tried this lasagna for the first time and can I say I almost cried with relief that the mozzarella actually TASTES LIKE CHEESE! I’m beyond excited. It’s no exaggeration to say this might actually change my life. I’ve now got faith that decent vegan cheese is possible. The relief! I did have a couple of questions for you – firstly how do you get your lasagna top or a pizza to go all melts like dairy cheese? I’ve noticed direct heat like the oven just crisps and dries the cheese out rather than melting it. Secondly, the vegan cashew ricotta – I can’t get away from it tasting of nuts more than cheese. I’m sure one of my ingredients just isn’t cutting it. Which is it likely to be? Acid content or salt…? Just wondering what it is that makes the mozz so cheesy and the ricotta not. Sorry for huge rambling message. And just so many huge thanks for the mozz recipe. X
Hi Helen! Thanks for the positive review! I find it melts much better if I press it into the sauce on top of lasagna or pizza, and drizzle with a little olive oil and water to help it melt.
As far as the ricotta, I would try increasing the salt and acid content, but overall it does have a large amount of nuts, so it might be hard to get that flavor right. You may find that you prefer tofu ricotta better, I believe Post Punk Kitchen has a great recipe.
Hi Lacey, thanks so much for coming back to me. I’ll try the added liquid thing on the mozz. I’ve made it another two times since – it’s awesome. Thank you! X
hi, sounds like a great recipe, but could you please clarify a couple of things: 1 teaspoon basil & oregano – is that 1 tsp each, or 1 tsp mixed? also, if i bought vegan cheese, what quantity is ‘a batch’? thank you!
1 tsp of each. Most purchased vegan cheeses come in about 14 ounce packages, but I generally suggest people use their own discretion as to how much cheese they like to put on their meals.
thank you
I’ve made this delicious lasagna a few times and I love it so much. Tonight I made (and cooked) it for a fri3nd who’s having surgery tomorrow. How would you suggest she best reheat it?
I want to make this and ship to my son. Have any suggestions for this? Thank you
This is an excellent question! I would wrap tightly and freeze in a recyclable foil container, and ship with several ice packs in a foam container if possible.