This is probably the easiest vegan lasagna you’ll ever make and one of the most delicious! No need to pre-cook the noodles – they soften as it bakes.
Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner with a group of people taking a Civil Rights Tour through the South. The menu for the night was barbecued pork sandwiches and pork-and-beans, the idea being to give them a little taste of local cuisine (which revolves around pork, apparently).
The only problem: Several of the 30 participants were vegetarian. When the planners of the dinner realized this, a call went out for vegan dishes, and I was happy to oblige with my potluck standard, vegan lasagna.
I’ve been making this recipe for years, and I can’t bring myself to change it. I keep thinking I should do something to fancy it up, but it’s my daughter’s all-time favorite food, so I never want to risk ruining a batch. (This is a kid who has written several essays this year about her love for lasagna; her hero is Garfield the cat.)
The Easiest Vegan Lasagna
Recipes for vegan lasagna abound, and I’m sure you can find fancier, richer tasting versions, but for sheer easiness of preparation and basic yumminess, this one can’t be beat. You don’t need to pre-cook the lasagna noodles, and you can make it super-easy by using jarred spaghetti sauce.
Check out just how easy it is in my short video.
You can make this as light or decadent as you want. Your choice of spaghetti sauce will determine how much fat it has. (For the lowest-fat version, use a sauce with no oil added; Whole Foods has one.)
For some special occasions, I sprinkle the lasagna with vegan cheese during the last 5 minutes of cooking. This option is, of course, not fat-free, but it really helps “sell” it to any omnivores you happen to be feeding.
But the plain, uncheesified lasagna seemed to be a hit at last night’s dinner. The pan returned home empty (and not just because E. ate 4 pieces!) I regret that I never got the opportunity to find out who the vegetarians in the group were, but it felt good just to know that they were there.
Easy Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 24-oz jars spaghetti sauce or your favorite pasta sauce
- 9 uncooked lasagna noodles (regular lasagna noodles NOT no-boil noodles)
- Vegan Parmesan such as my almond parm, optional
- Sliced black olives optional
Filling:
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
- 1 pound firm or extra-firm tofu not silken!
- 1 teaspoon salt optional
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast adds a cheesy taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary crushed
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Sauté the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat in the 2 tbsp. water until tender; cover between stirring to keep them from drying out. Remove from heat and add the spaghetti sauce.
- Place the tofu and thawed spinach in the food processor and process briefly. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth. (You may do this without a food processor by using a potato masher on the tofu.)
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spread half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×12-inch pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, using three dry noodles and leaving a little space in between them. Spread half of the tofu mixture on the noodles (you can drop it by spoonfuls and then spread it or hold each noodle in the palm of your hand and spread the tofu on it before placing it in the pan). Cover with another layer of 3 noodles and then spread the remaining tofu mixture over them. Top with a final layer of noodles, and pour the remaining sauce over this.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with vegan Parmesan or cheese and sliced black olives if you want. The lasagna will cut better if you allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Please share:
Elexis
So delicious!!!! A must try recipe for anyone! My non-vegan boyfriend said it is better than regular lasagna! 🙂
It is Wednesday, and I am going to make this again Saturday for my family. Love feeding the people I love blant based foods!
AnnMarie
Susan, I tried this on the recommendation of someone over in the FB McDougall group. I’m so glad I did! Throughout our dinner my husband & I kept exclaiming, “This is SO good!” Let’s just say there aren’t as many leftovers as I thought there’d be! I’m looking for recipes to serve for some upcoming, SAD-eating visitors. This is going to slay them. Thank you!
Diane Vener
I am wondering if the lasagna recipe freezes well?
Susan Voisin
Yes, it freezes just fine.
Cecilia Piaggi
I wonder if the Lasagna freezes well?
CB
Susan Voisin
It freezes great! And it reheats easily in the microwave or oven. Keep it covered, though, so it doesn’t dry out.
Sharlott Swanger
I had never even tasted a vegan dish before this week, but was inspired by a documentary I recently saw on Netflix. My daughter-in-law was planning to make her amazingly good meat-based lasagna and I decided to make your lasagna as well for immediate comparison. Everyone (all carnivores) really liked your recipe. My son even said yours was a “good alternative” to hers. I had sprinkled chopped flat leaf parsley as well as the sliced black olives on mine and it was MUCH more beautiful than hers. I will be making this again and am searching for other vegan recipes to try. Thanks!!
Susan Voisin
I’m so happy to hear that! I hope you will find lots of vegan recipes that you enjoy just as much!
Christy B
Im making this for the second time tonight😀👍. The first time I followed the recipe exactly just as the recipe called for and this time I’m adding some broccoli and a little bit of Daiya cheese and I’m not sure what else but we love this recipe we will definitely continue to use it! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Elizabeth
I made this with a few substitutions to the ingredients in order to make it Tex-Mex style. I used half enchilada sauce and half tomato sauce instead of pasta sauce, and instead of the seasonings listed I used taco seasoning plus 2 tbs. of lemon juice in the tofu ricotta mixture. Aside from those changes, I followed the instructions exactly.
This is only the second lasanga I’ve ever made, and last time I used oven-ready lasanga noodles. The difference was that my last lasagna was drier (I used a lot less sauce than this recipe) and the noodles were a little softer. I think I prefer a softer noodle than this recipe produced. It was a little chewy and gummy for my taste, and I think next time I’ll try partially cooking the noodles first, or maybe letting the whole lasagna set in the refrigerator for several hours. The tofu was very tasty and an excellent filling, but the amount could be increased. Anyway, I’m not a lasagna pro, but this recipe was pretty good. My omnivore boyfriend ate it and seemed to enjoy it.
Becky Pohle
What substitute suggestions do you have for people allergic to mushrooms?
Susan Voisin
You can either leave them out completely or substitute a vegetable you like such as zucchini or eggplant. I’ve made it with eggplant and it was delicious. I would add a little extra seasoning to help make up for the flavor of the mushrooms.
Jill
I baked a mini-version of this tonight in my 3-quart Creuset so it would be a “one pot” meal. I cut the ingredient amounts to fit and broke the lasagna noodles into pieces since my Dutch oven is round. I did the tofu and spinach mashing first using the Creuset as a bowl (transferred to a plate), cooked the mushrooms/sauce in the pot on top of the stove, then instead of layers just kind of swirled everything into the sauce. Came out great! Thanks for such a versatile recipe!
Susan Voisin
Wow, what a great idea! I’ll have to try it soon. It sounds perfect for just the two of us now.
Jill
Right, or I was thinking later I should have just used my 8 x 8 instead of a 9 x 13 for the small casserole dish. Even in the smaller size, when it’s just me here, there are lots of leftovers to freeze! <3
Dennis
Wonderful. One meat eater, one fish eater, and one not sure, and me, a true plant based kind of guy. Everyone loved it as is. Used fresh spinach, doubled the mushrooms. It’s just easier and we love ‘shrooms. I cooked it on my gas fired BBQ grill. If you wish to try this way of cooking, give yourself some time to stabilize the temperature. I used two of four burners. Everyone thought I was crazy with the heat wave cooking lasagna, but I had the answer: cook outdoors. Thanks for the solid recipe. It was a true crowd pleaser.
Naomi
Wow, would love to hear how you cooked this on your grill. That would be the perfect answer.
Sandra
Made this today for our camping trip this weekend and had to make an extra tray to sample! I have to tell you, being Italian and having my mom’s recipe passed down to me, I never thought after going plant-based that I’d be able to find a recipe that came close, until today! Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe which I plan to make for Christmas for my Italian family to try! I had extra eggplant in my fridge, so I decided to add with the mushrooms! Wow!
Pauligirl
Susan,
Thank you for your wonderful recipes! Every one I’ve tried comes out terrific. Am making the spinach and mushroom lasagna again this evening, and got to wondering if it can be assembled much ahead of time?
I added my own preferences to your recipe: LOVE using fresh spinach, and I don’t really weigh it out, rather smash it all into the food processor till the tofu turns a pretty green, and I substitute miso for the salt — mmmm!
The best product review? Three teen boys that devoured the lasagna without any complaints!
Vicki
I just want to thank you for this recipe. I have made it many times and it is always perfect. I use the filling recipe for other things too, like stuffed shells. Yours is my go to website for recipes, and I have never had one that didn’t turn out well and delicious. Thanks again!
Detra
Do you fill the shells uncooked and do you use any sauce? Sounds yummy.
Laina
Hi Susan,
I just made this tonight. I haven’t had pasta in so long! This was so wonderful. I get so tired of eating the same thing over and over. I’m so happy that I can come here to your website and get some fresh ideas for recipes that are low to no fat and vegan. I was getting a little depressed trying to figure out something different for a change and I feel better now. 🙂
Thanks so much – Hugs!
Chery
I’ve made this for pot lucks and it has always been popular. However I’m not a big fan of soy Parmesan so I always use either crushed cashew or simply nutritional yeast.
Next time I’m going to make a huge amount of vegan bolognese in my slow cooker for this recipe.
Hilma Jones
This is absolutely delicious exactly as written! My family and friends have enjoyed this recipe…and they are not whole-foods plant-based converts (yet) like my husband and me. Good job developing this easy to make and delicious fat-free casserole!
Melissa Sherlock
I finally made this lasagna today after seeing it come across about three times over the years and knowing it was E’s favorite. Well it is my new go-to! I’ve always made Rip Esselstyn’s Raise the Roof but it is such an ordeal to make it, I rarely do. This is easier and absolutely yummy!! Will be adding it to the regular rotation. I did not made to tofu smooth; just crumbled it and mixed with the spinach. I accidentally put all the other filling ingredients in the sauce! But it worked so well still! I absolutely love this! Not fancy but I would serve it to company in a heartbeat!
Laurel
I’ve been eating this way for 8 months. Tonight, after being served your Easy Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna, my 16-year-old son said for the first time, “This is really good.” BIG praise from a young man mourning the absence of meat in the house. This one is definitely going into the rotation. And into my lunch tomorrow. Thank you, Susan!
Jill
What is there to say? It’s a classic.
Jenna Curtis-Williams
I’ve tried four other vegan lasagna recipes and each one felt like something was “missing” and/or were ridiculously time consuming. This recipe is hands down the best. It’s easy, flavorful, and satisfying. My husband and I were really impressed. We happened to have a non-vegan family drop in for dinner and their kids’ favorite part was “the white and green stuff inside.” We will definitely be adding this to our regular meal rotation.
*Note: I added an extra tbsp of Nutritional yeast
Maggie Bailey
I have made this dish several tines and it is amazing! It has become one of my favourite dinners. Thank you for this!
Casey Mcclung
This is my favorite lasagna too! It’s pretty much foolproof and always delicious!
Cindy
This is fabulous!! It tasted so rich we could not believe there was no eggs dairy or cheese. This is my new go to company dish. It was so easy. I used whole wheat lasagne noodles and Whole Foods fat free Marinera sauce. This was my first successful lasagne. Thank you so much!! We enjoy your recipes. Your Dirty Little Secret Soup and Black eye pea hummus are staples in our house. And your southern cornbread recipe from your dressing, etc…we love your recipes. Thank you for making our meals wonderful. We are grateful for the time you put in sharing your recipes. I constantly tell people to check out your recipes.
Sam
The lasagna looks great!
I’m sorry for the dump question, but I want to be totally sure. You use dried pasta sheets, not the fresh pliable and uncooked version you can get at some places? So the water in the veggies and tofu is enough to cook them through?
Sam
A little addition. For the tofu mixture, you just blend until all indegrients are incorporated? Not to a fully green paste, right?
Susan Voisin
Yes, just use the regular, dry lasagna noodles found on the shelf with the spaghetti and other pasta. About the paste question, I would say mine does usually resemble a green paste. Once I had to make it without a food processor and just mashed it with a potato masher, and it was more crumbly but still good.
Sherry Z.
Anther crowd pleaser! My omnivore husband loved it. It will be on the regular rotation at our house.
Claudia Ferriday
Delicious and so easy! I served this for Christmas dinner and everyone loved it. The early birds even had it for breakfast the next morning. I doubled the recipe and made it in a large pan a few days ahead and then froze it (uncooked). After thawing in the fridge for a day, it cooked nicely in the oven. This is my new go-to lasagna recipe – thank you, Susan!
Sydney
Is there something I can use to replace tge mushrooms? This looks si yummy, but I hate mushrooms!
Susan Voisin
You can skip the mushrooms entirely or add a vegetable that you do like. I recommend something mild-tasting like zucchini.
Becky Striepe
Oh my gosh, I am officially a fan of this recipe! My family demolished it!
Christina
Absolutely delicious!!! I brought it to my family reunion where no one else was vegan and everyone said how good it was!
I didn’t save enough sauce to fully cover the top layer of noodles, so the top layer got kind of hard after baking. But when I reheated the lasagna (I made it a day ahead of the reunion), I made another batch of sauce and poured half on top. The top noodle layered softened right up after baking/reheating!!
I was thinking about adding some veggie layers the next time I make it. I was thinking yellow squash, but what other veggies would complement the flavors in the sauce and filling? And should I layer the veggies raw or cook them first?
Susan Voisin
I think that veggies like zucchini would be fine raw. You might also try some very thickly sliced eggplant.
Rosemary
Always a family favourite! Easy and delicious!
Natasha
Loved this recipe!! Very easy to make and very tasty. Made it for part of my family’s Christmas meal. Everyone loved it, including the omnis. I didn’t add any vegan cheese or olives. Will definitely make it again (it’s my go-to lasagna recipe now).
kim
I have been wanting to make this recipe for years, yes years . Tonight I finally did, and am so very happy with the results, Susan! I was going to serve over arugula, but i forgot. Probably best i didn’t 🙂 Thx, so much Susan! I couldn’t give it a star rating for some reason… I give it a 5 !
Jeannie
5 Stars! I just made this last night because I have company coming. I used rice lasagne noodles, Trader Joes Fat free spaghetti sauce (25 ounces each), and firm tofu. Everything was as easy as described and it is delicious! I can’t believe how the tofu/spinach spread gives me the same feeling as eating ricotta. I also used Chef AJ’s faux parmesan recipe on top. Thank you for sharing this secret recipe with me. I feel like I have something “normalish” to share with company that I will enjoy as well. And like you said it is very easy. It took me longer than 15 minutes prep, but everything does. My tofu was frozen, etc. Next time I will buy my mushrooms chopped and shave off a few more minutes. I think I will also prepare the seasonings a day ahead too.
Xenia
Hi, this sounds amazing… I was wondering would it still be good if I add artichoke to this, I’m not using tofu will use some low fat cream cheese n cottage cheese instead? I’m thinking of making it tonight in my slow cooker so dinner will be ready for tomorrow… Thanks 😉
Susan Voisin
I think artichokes would be a good addition. I have a hard time imagining it with cream cheese and cottage cheese, though.
Jill
Still making this great recipe years later. I’ve been using my rotary grater to grate walnuts over the top so it looks like Parmesan. In my quest for minimalism (gone too far? 🤣), I donated my 9 x 13 (!!) and ended up buying another 8 x 8 to make up for it. 🤦♀️ Had enough left over for people to take slices home. We went to Tahoe a couple times this past summer and I made it both times. I’m still old school and cook noodles beforehand. 😏 Most of my regular rotation is Fat Free Vegan recipes. You’re a lifesaver!
Danielle
This is the second time I’ve made this, and this variation was my favorite, so I thought I’d add my ideas here!
*I omitted the mushrooms since I didn’t have any, and made my own chunky tomato sauce, heavy on the no-salt seasonings. 🙂
*I used a large bag of collard greens instead of spinach. I microwaved them for a few minutes until warm, and squeezed the water into the sauce for extra vitamins.
*I roughly smashed a can of chickpeas and added them to the tofu filling.
The end result was really chewy and hearty with the collards and the chickpeas. As is usual with lasagna, it was even better the next day. I just had the final piece right now for lunch and wish I had more. Thank you for the recipe!
Danielle
Oops, forgot to add my rating!
Cynthia
Susan,
I have used your wonderful lasagna recipe a few times and it’s always a hit. Do you think one could use gluten free lasagna noodles in this recipe and still work?
Thanks for your fantastic recipes. Don’t know how I’d exist without them!
Susan Voisin
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, gluten-free noodles should work. If they seem very thin, though, I recommend using a little less sauce.
Candace
Just wondering what you can sub for the tofu? Would you recommend a cashew cream or a white bean sub? How watery does the tofu/spinach mixture get?
Susan Voisin
Well drained white beans will work. It’s a thick mixture, not watery at all. I’ve made it with white beans before, and while it’s not my favorite taste-wise, it does work.
Detra
Made this last night and added minced onion, 1 zuccini, and green bell pepper in with the mushrooms. Wish I had more than 9 pasta sheets because I ended up using a big pan. Used fresh spinach instead of frozen. Used Italian seasoning and a tad of garlic salt with more garlic powder instead of the seasonings mentioned and fresh garlic. It was sooooo good. Definitely gonna have to freeze and wrap the leftovers because I dont want a single bite to go to waste.
Alyne
Susan says this is her favorite lasagna. It’s my favorite, too. I make this frequently, especially for pot luck suppers attended by omnis. They always ask for the recipe and are surprised it is vegan. I use a potato masher instead of a food processor and like the texture better that way. Try this one. You won’t be sorry.
PS A friend says this is the only lasagna she has made for 8 years Why fix it if it’s not broke.
Jill
Man, do I miss this recipe. But the days are gone of just wandering into the supermarket and picking up what you want when you want it. . I haven’t seen lasagna noodles or pasta sauce on the shelves in over a week. This is one of my all time favorite recipes here. We went grocery shopping yesterday and simply bought what was available. A bag of pistachios (!), a few cans of lonely looking organic beans (and in the past never bought organic!), a bunch of leeks (!), a small bag of red potatoes, the last bag of Gala apples. We stopped at a small Yemeni grocer on the way home and found dry pinto and black beans, cinnamon and garam masala in small jars, and a bag of white flour. Giving Americans a taste of what it feels like to be under sanctions. For us, it’s been a few weeks; for them, decades. I’ll still enjoy the incredible photography and writing here, however. Stay safe, everybody.