What’s not to love about lasagna right? It’s got everything you want for comfort food heaven, including meatiness, creaminess and let’s not forgot those lovely layers of pasta!
Not many people dislike like this Italian classic, but did you know you can make really meaty vegan lasagna from whole foods? Yes, that’s right! And it tastes every bit as good as ANY meat version out there, only 100% healthy and compliant to your whole foods plant based diet.
How To Make Vegan Lasagna
Ok, here’s the deal. Lasagna can sometimes be a little time consuming to make, however, if you make a huge dish of it then you’ll easily have 2 or 3 meals.
Lasagna has 2 elements that will take the most time to make, then you just have the construction.
Bechamel sauce
The bechamel sauce in this easy lasagna recipe is made from soaked cashews, a whole roasted garlic bulb, and lots of cheesy nutritional yeast. This sauce really makes the dish creamy, and the roasted garlic takes it to another level. Do NOT skip the step as roasting the garlic rather than using raw, because it completely changes its taste and this is not to be underestimated.
Bolognese sauce
The best (and cleanest) plant based ground mince to use by far is the dried organic soy mince. It is literally made from one ingredient, unlike the shop bought meat alternatives. So be mindful of this if you really want your meaty vegan lasagna to be whole foods plant based and as healthy as possible.
You can also sub the canned tomatoes for this amazing, homemade red sauce that will blow your mind.
Pasta sheets
In this recipe we have used corn pasta sheets to make the dish gluten free. You’re free, however, to use any pasta you like here. Again, go for healthier or wholegrain versions to keep your lasagna healthy but still super delicious.
What To Serve With Lasagna
There are lots of great ways to serve this amazing vegan lasagna. Why not try a crisp green salad, steamed green veggies, oil free fries or our famous cinnamon-maple glazed sweet potatoes?
Of course, you can just eat this lasagna alone as it’s a complete meal with all the food groups you need.
Best 'Meaty' Vegan Lasagna Recipe Made From Whole Foods
Equipment
- Large lasagna dish (around 8" by 12" inch)
- Large non-stick saucepan
- Good quality blender
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Wooden spoons
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried soy mince Alternatively, you can use 2 cups pre-cooked lentils for soy free version.
- 3 400g cans tomatoes
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 medium white onions finely chopped
- 2 large carrots finely chopped
- 5 sticks celery finely chopped
- 6-8 cloves garlic crushed
- 2-3 cups veggie stock
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp thyme
- Lots of black pepper
- Splash vegan Worcester sauce optional
- Couple handfulls fresh basil
- Rough/chunky ground polenta mixed with nutritional yeast for crunchy topping optional
For the cheese sauce
- 200 g cashew nuts soaked in water for at least 2 hours or ideally overnight.
- 1 whole bulb roasted garlic (see instructions below)
- 2 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
- Black pepper
- 1.5 cups water
Instructions
For the bolognese sauce:
- In a large, non-stick saucepan, dry fry your chopped onion to get some colour on it. Add splashes of hot water as you go to caramelise and prevent it going too dry. After 5 minutes, add your chopped carrots and celery and carry on frying over for at least 10 minutes to soften everything down. Keep adding your splashes of hot water as you go to prevent sticking.
- In the meantime, prep your dried soy mince by soaking for 5 minutes in hot water (or as per instructions).
- No add all of your herbs, garlic and spices (except the fresh basil) and fry again for a further few minutes.
- Add your soy mince, canned tomatoes, tomato puree and veggie stock and mix well. Bring to a simmer and cover. Let the whole thing cook slowly for about 20 minutes. Be sure to check fluids and add more water/stock if required. You need this to be the consistency of a bolognese sauce. At the end of cooking time, add your fresh, chopped basil and stir.
Foe the bechamel sauce:
- Pre roast your bulb of garlic by slicing off the end with the root. You need to make sure you chop a tiny bit off the top of each clove of garlic when you do this so the heat can get in properly, but you still want it to hold its shape. Cutting off the end also allows for you to be able to simple squeeze the roasted garlic puree out after it's cooked. Wrap completely in tin foil and either air fry it on high for 22 minutes, or roast in your oven for 45 minutes.Unwrap and leave to cool completely before attempting to squeeze the garlic out.
- Prepare your bechamel sauce by adding all ingredients to a high speed blender. Simply squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's shell straight into your blender. You will need a good quality blender here as you want this sauce to get as smooth as possible. You will also need to make sure that your cashew nuts have been adequately soaked for at least 2 hours before (ideally overnight).
- Blend for as long as it takes to make your sauce smooth. You will need to stop and scrape down the sides during this process to ensure no hard bits in the end result. You may also need to add more water if you can't get a full spin going on your blender. You are going for a cheese sauce type consistency. You need it to be thick, but pourable.
- Once you have your sauces ready to go, it's time to get constructing your lasagna.
- Start with a thin layer of bolognese sauce on the bottom of your lasagna dish, then work from there. You will want to do a layer of sauce, then a layer of pasta, then a layer of bechamel on top of your pasta. It goes bolognese sauce, pasta, bechamel sauce, then start again.
- Keep going until you're out of pasta and sauces. You should get about 4 layers of pasta and sauces in the average sized lasagna dish. You may have to break some of the pasta up to fit in the dish, but don't get too pedantic over it. It doesn't matter if the pasta doesn't entirely cover each layer every time.
- Finish your lasagna with a final layer of pasta and bechamel sauce. Then sprinkle your top with a mix of rough ground polenta and nutritional yeast if you wish for a delicious and crunchy topping.
- Bake in over at 160C (320F) for around 1 hour or until pasta is fully cooked.Serve with garlic bread, green salad, fries or vegetables.
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Why not use our best ever, whole foods plant based, lentil-walnut pasta sauce in this lasagna recipe next time for a different twist?
We hope you LOVE our amazing, vegan lasagna made from whole foods.
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