Easy Vegan Lasagna with Lentil Bolognese

A hearty lentil bolognese and a creamy white bechamel make this vegan lasagna the BEST ever. We made this recipe with different ground beef alternatives, but there is something fundamentally perfect with using only brown lentils.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Italian, Soy-free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Best vegan lasagna, Lentil Lasagna, Vegan lasagna

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Baking 30

Total Time 1 15

Servings servings

Calories 1212kcal

Author Nandor Barta

Equipment

Ingredients

Lentil Bolognese Ragu

1 Onion (medium)
2 cloves Garlic
1 + ½ cup Brown lentils canned (15-oz can) or cooked
14 oz Chopped tomatoes 1 can
5 oz Sieved tomato puree aka Tomato sauce
1 tsp Sweet paprika powder
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Vegan Bechamel Sauce

½ cup Cashew
½ cup Dairy-free milk
1 clove Garlic
1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
½ tsp Nutmeg optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

Other ingredients for the layers

12 Lasagna pasta sheets
7 oz Dairy-free cheese or vegan parmesan or more nutritional yeast

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Initial preparations

Soak cashews in hot water for 5 minutes, then drain them. Alternatively, boil water on the stovetop and cook cashews for 5 minutes.

Making lentil bolognese sauce

Peel and chop the onion and cook it lightly in olive oil until it turns glossy. Add peeled and chopped garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasoning (sweet paprika powder, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper) and cook for 5 minutes.
Add cooked or canned lentils and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Making vegan bechamel sauce

Use a regular blender, a hand blender, or a food processor, whichever gives you a creamier result.
Add soaked cashews, garlic clove in whole, dairy-free milk, and seasoning (nutmeg, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper) and blend them until creamy.

Layering the vegan lasagna

To ensure that the pasta sheets do not stick to the bottom, we place a thin layer of lentil bolognese ragu at the bottom.
After that, the layers should look like pasta sheets, bolognese sauce, and white sauce.
And repeat... We needed the above combination 6 times to fill a 9 x 7 x 3 inch (23 x 18 x 8 cm) oven-safe dish. The last layer should be white sauce which you can sprinkle with vegan grated cheese or vegan parmesan, or more nutritional yeast.
We made 6 layers of pasta, 7 layers of ragu, and 7 layers of white sauce. You can use less pasta and more sauce in between the sheets, it is totally up to you. (In the photos, we used spinach lasagna pasta sheets, that's why they are green.)
Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) and bake your lasagna for 30 minutes.

Notes

Other vegan ground beef alternatives

Here are some other suggestions. Feel free to choose whichever you like per your taste.

TVP (textured vegetable protein) is the closest you can get to the real ground beef texture and taste without the fatty and greasy part nonetheless. We used TVP in our vegan cabbage lasagna recipe. We show you there how to prepare it through step-by-step photos and instructions, including a quick video.
Cauliflower and walnut mince is a seemingly weird combination but works cauliflower gives the minced texture, while walnut adds meaty richness. If you eat soy-free or prefer a whole foods substitute, we have step-by-step instructions for you to make it within our vegan spaghetti bolognese recipe.
Mushroom bolognese would be most people's first choice as they are easy to work with, cheap, and has familiar ingredients. Although we think that mushroom does not deliver on texture perfectly. It remains too spongy. We only use them in combination with cauliflower and walnut mince and prepare them similarly.
Tofu could be another alternative, although most people bit hesitant to use it. It is not easy to make tofu crunchy, and you can easily end up with something too gooey. We rarely use it.
Quinoa or millet gives a minced texture, but they are so tiny compared to ground beef. We use it in our vegan bean chili recipe in combination with other veggies.

Nutrition