This Vegan Gluten Free Lasagna is comfort central. It’s loaded with homemade vegan meat sauce and a cashew ricotta that is life-changing. No need to preheat the oven for this recipe, as this lasagna is made on the stovetop. Think Sunday comfort or perhaps the perfect vegan camping meal, either way, this dairy free lasagna won’t disappoint.
Because this recipe is made on the stovetop, it makes for the perfect vegan camping meal. Adam and I have a big camping trip planned for early September and preparation for these trips is always a lot- but always worth it. This recipe would be the perfect camping lasagna if you plan ahead a little bit. Most likely you will need to make the cashew ricotta and vegan meat sauce before you leave unless you have a big fancy RV with all the hookups and you bring your blender along. Adam and I rough it a little more than that and tent with just a simple propane stove so we won’t be blending any cashew ricotta while camping. Once the meat sauce and ricotta have been prepared this recipe can be ready in 20 minutes on the camping stove.
How to make vegan ricotta
It is so easy to make your own cashew ricotta- almost too easy. The cashew ricotta is so simple to make and the taste is amazing! The only thing that requires a little preparation is soaking the cashews. But if you forget you need to soak them beforehand. A little hack I tend to use is to soak them in boiling water for only 30 minutes. Then they are good to go. Simply boil a small pot of water, and then take it off the burner. Next, place the cashews in the pot of boiled water for 30 minutes. This process will soften them and make blending them super simple.
After the cashews have soaked, add all the 6 ingredients into a highspeed blender and blend until smooth. I suggest starting with 1/3 cup of water as you want the cashew ricotta to be thick yet smooth. But if your blender is having a hard time with only 1/3 cup of water add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of water. You will use all the ricotta made for this recipe so no need to store it, but if you are making it ahead of time, just store it in a sealed container in the fridge.
here are some reasons why I love this vegan gluten free lasagna, so listen up!
- This dairy free lasagna would be a perfect camping meal. It would take some preparation (making the cashew ricotta and meat sauce ahead of time) but throwing it all together on the Coleman stove would make this one epic vegan camping meal. I wouldn’t suggest this recipe for a backpacking trip (I just see vegan meat sauce spilling in your bag…). But if you are tenting and for sure if you have an RV this recipe would be perfect because it’s made on the stovetop!
- I’ve processed the veggies for the vegan meat sauce in a food processor to give the meaty texture some of us look for. But I’ve actually been doing this little trick for a while because Adam (the Picky Husband) is big on texture and the size of veggies. If he is going to eat vegetables they need to be cut very small for him to enjoy them. So instead of me chopping everything super small, I started using my food processor to do the hard part. With veggies chopped super small, I know the picky husband will eat them!
- I used these gluten free lasagne noodles for this recipe. They are oven-ready so that they don’t need to be boiled/cooked before adding them to the recipe. If I can avoid having to add an additional step to a recipe without compromising it, I will!
Looking for more epic vegan camping meals to take on your adventures. Try this Mushroom Stroganoff or this Spicy Corn Salad with Black Beans (make the dressing ahead of time).
This dairy free lasagna is rich, flavourful, and secretly packed with veggies that your picky eaters won’t even detect. If you are a planner, this vegan gluten free lasagna would make for a delicious vegan camping meal. If not, save it for family dinner on Sunday night. This recipe is simple to make but does take some effort to make the different components of the recipe. But once the noodles, cashew ricotta, and vegan meat sauce are all brought together, it is so worth it.
Vegan Gluten Free Lasagna
Ingredients
vegan meat sauce
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup carrot (pulsed in the food processor to chop finely- roughly 1 medium carrot))
- 1/3 cup celery (pulsed in the food processor to chop finely-2 stalks)
- 1/2 lbs mushrooms (pulsed in the food processor to chop finely- roughly 7-8 mushrooms)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/3 cup vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup cashew cream (optional)
cashew ricotta
- 1 cup cashews (soaked)
- 1/3 cup water (add additional 1-2 tbsp if necessary)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- sea salt
lasagna
- 8-11 gluten free lasagna noodles (broken in half-oven ready noodles)
- 2 cups pasta sauce
- 1 tsp oil
Instructions
vegan meat sauce
- Prepare the vegan meat sauce by heating a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 2 tsp of oil to the pan.
- Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes. Pulse the carrots, celery, and mushrooms (each on their own) to create very small pieces. Add to the onion mixture and saute for a few minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, bay leaf, and seasonings. Mix together.
- Next, add the crushed tomatoes and veggie broth to the mixture. Add the cashew cream now, if using. Bring to a slight boil and then simmer for ten minutes (covered). Stir every few minutes. Once done, remove the bay leaf.
cashew ricotta
- Prepare the cashew ricotta. Once your cashews have been soaking for at least 1 hour add them to a blender. (You can soak the cashews in boiled water for 30 minutes if short on time).
- Add the cashews and the rest of the ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Start with 1/3 cup of water and if you need to thin out the ricotta add 1-2 tablespoons more. Ricotta should be thick but smooth.
Assemble
- Take a skillet and add 1 tsp of oil to the pan along with 2 cups of pasta sauce. Break apart the lasagna noodles (in half or small broken pieces). Add one layer of noodles in the pan, then add roughly 1/2 cup of the meat sauce over the noodles and then dollop 1/3 of the ricotta on top and spread it over the noodles. Add another layer of broken noodles, more meat sauce, and more ricotta. Then add the last layer of noodles, and meat sauce and ricotta. Make sure the noodles are nestled in among the tomato sauce, meat sauce, and ricotta. Let it simmer for 15-25 minutes or until the noodles are soft.
- Serve immediately. Store in a sealed container and reheat before eating.
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Now… this is something i can make in Paris without an oven! BONUS! Can’t wait to try it and DIVE right in!
…and for dessert, I’m having the Rocky Road Brownies!
haha- you sure know how to plan a good dinner menu! 🙂