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This post has been sponsored by Silk®. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This classic vegan lasagna will make the whole family happy! Say hello to layers of vegan ricotta, marinara sauce, lasagna noodles, and vegan béchamel sauce.
Classic Vegan Lasagna
One of my flaws is how impatient I am. Sharing recipes with you guys is no different - once I get an idea, I want to share it with you IMMEDIATELY. But amazing things take time. This lasagna recipe is one of those amazing things. I have been so excited to share this with you!
I shared a photo of this lasagna on my Instagram story a few weeks back and a couple of you messaged me for the recipe, so I hope you’re excited, too!
I love all of the recipes I post here on the blog. Truly. But this one is officially in my top 5. My family loves it, it’s simple to make, there is no complicated “faux-meat” recipe involved. Just straight up marinara, vegan ricotta, noodles, and a homemade béchamel sauce. Layering the lasagna takes the most effort out of anything, but you really can’t get around that when it comes to this classic dish! It’s a labor of love.
Speaking of the layers, when I first made this recipe, I had no idea how to layer a lasagna. Every recipe online does it differently, and I don’t think there is really a right or wrong way. But, I did find that layering the noodles and then the ricotta makes spreading it out much easier. Because trust me - you definitely want this amazing ricotta on every single slice.
How do you make vegan ricotta? Well, I’m glad you asked because it’s so easy and so good. This ricotta has 4 simple ingredients: Raw cashews, Silk® Plain Almondmilk Yogurt Alternative, lemon juice, and basil.
The yogurt alternative gives the ricotta the PERFECT creamy-yet-light texture. Just blend up some pre-soaked cashews, then mix with yogurt, lemon juice, and basil. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as my son would say (literally...because lemon.)
Silk is one of my favorite and convenient dairy-free brands (I use their coffee creamer every single day!) The first time I went dairy-free was back when my son was a breastfeeding baby and had an allergy to milk protein. Going vegan a few years later was much easier when I had already had some beloved vegan products.
You can find the Silk products used in this recipe at your local Walmart, located in the dairy section. You might be surprised to know that Walmart carries a lot of great vegan items, which is one of the reasons I like to shop there. I love supporting grocery stores that support my favorite companies!
For the marinara sauce, you’ll need a lot of it! Grab 2 big jars, or make a double batch of homemade marinara.
The béchamel sauce for this recipe is totally oil-free. I like using cornstarch and a plant-based milk alternative to create a thick, creamy sauce instead of oil or butter and dairy. The yogurt added to the béchamel just amps up the creaminess! My go-to milk alternative is Silk Unsweetened Almondmilk for the mild flavor. You can also find that product at Walmart, near the dairy milk.
The reason I’m calling this recipe a classic vegan lasagna is because there is no meat alternative, but also no veggies or zucchini noodles or any of that jazz. This is just straight up classic lasagna, but vegan-ized. Simple as that! I find that the vegan ricotta gives this dish the perfect amount of texture. However, if you want a little extra texture (or want to sneak in some veggies) you can create this recipe with cauliflower bolognese instead of marinara.
Lasagna Noodle Pro-Tip
Important tip before I give you the recipe: Instead of boiling them, you can partially cook the noodles by soaking them in hot water. I always struggled with lasagna noodles sticking together before trying out this trick.
Did you make this recipe? Tag me @karissasvegankitchen on Instagram so I can see!
Recipe
Vegan Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb box lasagna noodles
- 6 cups water
- 2 24oz jars marinara sauce about 5 cups
Ricotta
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup Silk® Plain Almondmilk Yogurt Alternative
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
Béchamel Sauce
- 2 cups Silk® Unsweetened Original Almondmilk
- 4 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder or 4-5 cloves fresh minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 cup Silk® Plain Almondmilk Yogurt Alternative
Topping
- your favorite vegan cheese
- fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Soak cashews in water overnight.*
- Bring about 6 cups of water to a boil. Lay the lasagna noodles out in the pan you'll be making your lasagna in. Cover with the boiling water. Give the noodles a little stir - this will help prevent them from sticking. Cover the pan.
- In a medium-sized pot, whisk together the almondmilk, cornstarch, garlic powder, and black pepper. Add in a bouillon cube.
- Bring to a simmer on medium heat. Simmer until thick and creamy, then remove from heat. Whisk in the yogurt alternative.
- Drain the water from the cashews.
- In a blender or food processor, pulse the cashews until broken down into smaller pieces.
- Mix the cashews with the yogurt alternative, lemon juice, and basil.
- Pre-heat the oven to 425F degrees and drain the lasagna noodles.
- Layer the lasagna.
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- 4-5 noodles
- ½ cup ricotta
- 1 cup marinara
- ½ cup bechamel
- 4-5 noodles
- ½ cup ricotta
- 1 cup marinara
- ½ cup bechamel
- 4-5 noodles
- ½ cup ricotta
- 1 cup marinara
- ½ cup bechamel
- 4-5 noodles
- remaining marinara sauce
- remaining bechamel sauce - Bake, covered, for 20 mins.
- Uncover, top with your favorite vegan cheese, and bake for an additional 20 mins.
Terri S says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delish! I used your marinara recipe, as well. My husband was raving about how great it was. He couldn’t believe it was oil-free. This will now be my go to lasagna recipe. Thank you!
Karissa says
Oh yay! That's wonderful. Thank you for leaving a review!
Jana says
This recipe looks tasty. I made another lasagna recipe recently and loved it, but wanted a little more "classic". What I really did like about the other recipe, instead of a vegan ricotta, garlic hummus!
Mary N says
This sounds delish! Noodle layering trick that you'll thank me for when serving, is to alternate noodle layers horizontal, then vertical. The spatula then makes a clean cut into the finished product. I'm crazy about veggies so I add diced carrots, onion, mushrooms, and sliced zucchini to my homemade sauce. Also, I layer spinach atop the vegan ricotta. Being Italian, I grew up on lasagna albeit not vegan back then.
Michele says
How long do you soak the noodles? I'm assuming you want them al dente, but I can't see how long that takes... Thanks!
Karissa says
About 30 mins.
mary says
we dont have almondmilk yoghurt, only coconut yoghurt, so what can you use instead please.
Karissa says
Any plain non-dairy yogurt will work.
Ruth says
Hi Karissa. I am new to your site. I am eager to make the cucumber chips. I have been looking for recipes as we are gluten free in our household and I believe I can do a lot with your recipes. They all look yummy. Want to try your lasagna and the cauliflower dish too. Thank you and will let you know how the chips turn out 🙂
June says
Thank you
Sarah says
Delicious and willing to make it again!
Karissa says
Thrilled that you like it! Thanks for leaving a comment.