Vegan Spinach Lasagna (Tofu Ricotta)

What to expect?

Lasagna or “lasagne” is a popular casserole-type Italian pasta dish where there are 3 alternating layers baked with melted cheese on top. The traditional recipe consists of ground beef cooked in a bolognese ragú sauce, Béchamel sauce, and dry or fresh lasagna pasta sheets.

Spinach lasagna is actually a vegetarian version of the classic, where ground beef is substituted with a spinach ricotta filling. It is meatless by default, but contains dairy.

If you make our vegan spinach lasagna recipe, you’ll get a crumbly juicy vegan ricotta mixed with fresh spinach leaves baked in between a hearty marinara sauce and lasagna noodles.

Ingredients

Spinach lasagna is already a vegetarian recipe so we are one step closer to making it vegan. We have a classic vegan lentil lasagna recipe, from which we pulled some inspiration. So what do we need to make this yummy vegan spinach lasagna in the below photo beside the pasta sheets?

Marinara sauce

We made our vegan marinara sauce recipe and cooked it without adding any vegan ground beef alternative. The difference between Pomodoro sauce and marinara sauce is that the latter is chunky, while the other one is smooth.

• Olive oil
• Red onion → You can use purple onion, but red onion looks better in this sauce
• Garlic
• Basil → You can use fresh basil leaves or dried ground basil.
• Oregano → Same goes here. You either have fresh leaves or use dried ground oregano instead.
• Canned chopped tomatoes → We used this one since ripe, sweet tomatoes are not always available in the produce section.
• Sieved tomato puree → You can probably find several types of tomato sauces in the stores. We recommend choosing sieved tomato puree, which is thicker and unseasoned.

Spinach tofu ricotta

We kind of combined our 5-ingredient vegan cashew alfredo sauce with crumbled tofu, so the vegan ricotta, in the end, is juicy and not dry. If you need a nut-free version, make our vegan Bechamel sauce recipe instead.

• Firm tofu
• Spinach leaves → If you use frozen leaves, make sure to thaw them and squeeze the water before adding it to the lasagna.
• Soaked cashews
• Dairy-free milk → We usually use homemade cashew milk, but use any unsweetened plant-based milk.
• Garlic
• Nutritional yeast → This brings a cheezy, Parmesan cheese-like flavor.
• Nutmeg → If I have to pick one spice to elevate the flavor of spinach, I would choose nutmeg. You should try it, it fits perfectly just like in our spinach soup recipe.

? You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

Making marinara sauce

1. Heat a frying pan or a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, chopped onion, and garlic and sauté them for 2-3 minutes until the onion turns tender and opaque.
2. When the onion and the garlic are cooked, add canned chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Stir well.

3. On low-medium heat, bring the sauce to a boil so that the herbs and spices are activated. In the end, you will have a sauce just like the one in the below photo.

Making spinach tofu ricotta

1. To make the cashew white sauce, boil water in a kettle and soak cashews in hot water for 5-10 minutes. You can boil water on the stove and cook the cashews for 5 minutes. When the time is up, drain it. 
2. Add all ingredients: soaked cashews, one clove of garlic in whole, dairy-free milk, nutmeg, nutritional yeast, salt, and black pepper to your blender or food processor. Blend them until creamy.

3. After pressing the tofu, take a large mixing bowl and crumble it with your fingers.

4. Add the cashew white sauce. Stir and mix well.

5. Wash the fresh spinach leaves and chop them in a food processor. Add it to your mixing bowl.

Baking vegan spinach lasagna

This recipe yields 4 servings. We used a 9×7×2-inch large oven-safe dish. We made 3 layers of noodles, 4 layers of marinara sauce, and 3 layers of spinach tofu ricotta filling.

1. Start with a thin layer of red sauce.
2. The next layer should be the lasagna pasta noodles.
3. Then marinara sauce again.
4. Next up is the vegan spinach ricotta mixture.
5. Then pasta again, marinara next, and spinach ricotta again, and so on.
6. The last layer should be marinara sauce. You can sprinkle it with grated vegan mozzarella, vegan Parmesan, or nutritional yeast. 
7. Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit (ca. 204 °C) and bake your vegan spinach lasagna for 30 minutes. 

Variations

• Make it nut-free: Use our vegan Bechamel sauce recipe instead of the white cashew sauce.
• Skip lasagna noodles: Think of zucchini or eggplant instead of pasta or our vegan cabbage lasagna.
• Add other veggies: What goes well with spinach and ricotta? Mushroom, artichoke, or roasted red peppers all sound like lovely choices.
• Add pesto: Take your vegan spinach lasagna to the next level by adding a swirl of vegan spinach pesto or vegan sun-dried tomato pesto on top of each pasta layer. You will thank us for this tip.

Equipment

• Tofu press – We use our trusted TofuBud*, but you can choose any DIY method or tofu press. Read our guide to pressing tofu for more information, tips, and steps.
• Oven-safe glass baking dish – I especially like glass or ceramic dishes to bake lasagna.

Storing tips

All casseroles are great for batch cooking, and this vegan spinach lasagna is no exception. You can easily store it in the fridge for 3-4 days without any problem.

Store any leftovers per serving (in an airtight container) in a freezer and thaw whenever you need it. 

Reheat it in a microwave, or if you made it ahead of time, pop the whole lasagna back in the oven for 5-10 minutes on lower heat.

FAQs

Vegan Spinach Lasagna with Tofu Ricotta

Nandi Barta

This easy vegan spinach lasagna recipe features a savory marinara sauce and a rich spinach tofu ricotta filling. It will surely satisfy you and leave you feeling full and content. So why wait? Layer it up, bake it to perfection, and enjoy this delicious meal today!

4.8 from 4 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Baking 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 4 servings

Calories 530kcal

Equipment

• Immersion hand blender with 20 fl oz container
• our Vitamix A2300
• Non-stick frying pan (10.5 inch / 26 cm)
• Oven-safe glass baking dish (8-inch / 20 cm)
• TofuBud (pressing tofu in 15 minutes)

Ingredients

  

Marinara sauce

• 1 Onion (medium)
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 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 white sauce

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

Spinach tofu ricotta filling

• 1 Vegan white sauce from above
• 4 oz Fresh spinach leaves
• 10 oz Firm tofu

Other ingredients for the layers

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

Instructions

 

Making marinara 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.

Making vegan white sauce

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

Making spinach tofu ricotta filling

• Use firm tofu and press it. Pat it dry with a paper towel.
• Take a large mixing bowl and crumble tofu with your fingers.
• Add cashew white sauce. Stir and mix well.
• Wash the fresh spinach leaves and chop them in a food processor. Add it to your mixing bowl.

Baking vegan spinach lasagna

• Start with a thin layer of marinara sauce at the bottom.
• After that, the layers should look like pasta sheets, marinara sauce, and spinach ricotta filling. We needed the above combination 3 times to fill a 9×7×2-inch (23×18×5 cm) oven-safe dish.
• The last layer should be marinara sauce, which you can sprinkle with vegan grated cheese, vegan Parmesan, or more nutritional yeast.
• Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit (ca. 204 °C) and bake your lasagna for 30 minutes.

Notes

Can you use frozen spinach?

Absolutely. Let frozen spinach thaw before adding them to your filling. It is important to squeeze any excess water out of it otherwise it will thin your filling significantly. Usually on bag of frozen spinach is 10 oz (280g), which is equal to 1 pound (450g) of fresh leaves. In this recipe we used 4 oz (120g) fresh spinach leaves, so you can substitute it with 2.5 oz (75g) frozen spinach.

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in June 2021. More tips, info, and details have been added and republished in April 2023.