Healthy Vegan Lasagna (Protein- & Veggie-Packed)

by Alena
Pinterest Hidden Image

Craving an Italian pasta dish fresh out of the oven? Our healthy vegan lasagna is high in protein and veggies and a wonderful comfort meal that’s irresistibly creamy.

Life would be a lot less fun without vegan lasagna, pizza, pasta and all the carby goodness! Our healthy and veggie-packed recipe turns crowd-pleasing comfort food into a lower calorie dinner for the whole family.

Whole wheat lasagna sheets are layered with flavorful vegetable ragu, homemade almond ricotta and an easy low-calorie, high-protein cheese sauce!

Nutriciously Week of Bowls iPad

free 7-day vegan meal plan

Your next week of eating is planned out with these quick and delicious vegan bowls, meal prepping steps & full grocery list.

This delicious vegan lasagna is perfect for picky eaters to help them eat more veggies, loved by kids and it’s a great meatless meal for any non-vegan.

Although it isn’t a super quick weeknight dinner, it’s great to prepare on a lazy Sunday and enjoy any leftovers the next day!

If you love undetectable healthy, whole food plant-based recipes, try our protein-packed pesto pasta, vegan white sauce pasta with veggies and this creamy potato broccoli casserole.

white baking dish on a table filled with red and white dairy-free baked lasagnapin it

Look at the recipe

  • Undetectably healthy and veggie-rich
  • Creamy, comforting yet nutrition-packed
  • Low in saturated fat
  • Great for meal prep & batch cooking
  • Hearty and satisfying without the meat or dairy
  • Perfect for meat lovers and picky eaters
  • Delicious weekend dinner

This really is the ultimate healthy vegan lasagna!

Completely whole food plant-based with a beautiful balance of complex carbs, fiber-rich veggies, plant-based protein and satisfying healthy fats, this comfort food was born to make everyone love healthy meals.

table with bell pepper, zucchini, carrot, whole grain lasagna sheets and tomato pastepin it

Ingredients needed

  • Lasagna sheets — choose between regular, whole wheat or gluten-free.
  • Vegan ricotta — we love our easy homemade almond ricotta but any vegan version is fine!
  • Vegan cheese sauce — this makes our lasagna high in protein and irresistibly creamy!
  • Fresh spinach — adding some greens is always a good idea.
  • Marinara sauce — use store-bought for convenience, it’s pretty much always vegan.
  • Finely chopped veggies — go for your favorites here; we like a combination of carrots, bell peppers and zucchini.

Find the exact amounts in the recipe card below! We’ll also share some adjustment ideas with you in just a moment.

white bowl with almond ricotta in which fresh spinach is mixed by two handspin it
blender in kitchen with white bean cheese sauce in it and a hand on toppin it

How to make our healthy vegan lasagna

Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C) and get a baking dish. If you want to make this lasagna with our homemade ricotta and cheese sauce, make these two recipes within 15 minutes or so.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine vegan ricotta and spinach, then move on to the other components!

Make the ragù

You’ll need around 4 cups of finely chopped veggies for your vegan ragu. You can use a sharp knife or your food processor if you want to hide the veggies even better!

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add chopped onion, veggies and a splash of vegetable broth to it.

Sauté until everything is slightly soft, stirring occasionally.

Add marinara sauce, mix until well-combined and season to taste with salt, pepper and herbs. Set aside.

Assemble the lasagna

Grab your baking dish and let’s put this goodness together! Using a large spoon or ladle, cover the bottom of your dish with ragu.

Follow this layer with lasagna sheets, then some cheese sauce, sheets again, spinach ricotta mixture, lasagna sheets, ragu, lasagna sheets again, the last bit of ragu and a hefty serving of cheese sauce.

Cover the baking dish with a lid or some foil, place it into the oven and bake for 40 minutes. At this point, remove the lid and bake for another 5 minutes or so, until the sauce turns slightly brown.

Remove from the oven and let your lasagna cool for a few minutes before serving!

woman in linen apron standing next to a table and spreading almond ricotta on to whole grain lasagna sheetspin it
woman layering vegan lasagna by placing whole grain sheets on top of tomato saucepin it

Storage & serving suggestions

Any leftovers can be stored in the baking dish covered with foil or in an airtight container in the fridge. The lasagna keeps well for up to 5 days and can also be frozen for up to 3 months!

The latter works especially well if your lasagna has a good amount of sauce. Thaw your frozen lasagna at room temperature before reheating it in the oven!

Once cooked lasagna has been thawed, it can be kept in the fridge for an additional 3-4 days. 

Find a great guide over at Taste of Home about the different ways to reheat lasagna.

Needless to say, you can serve this protein-packed vegan lasagna on its own or pair it with a simple green salad and ranch dressing, roasted Brussels sprouts or broccoli.

white baking dish held by two hands with tomato vegetable sauce and white dairy free cheese saucepin it

Tips & FAQs

Which veggies can I use for the ragu?

This is an easily customizable recipe, especially when it comes to the vegan ragù — we used zucchini, eggplant, carrot, bell pepper and mushrooms for the vegetable filling, but you can get really creative here!

Don’t stress over this step; pretty much any vegetable you find in your fridge will do. We’ve made this lasagna with carrots only, eggplant only, we’ve added cauliflower or lentils – the latter makes the sauce chewier and even higher in protein.

We recommend that you chop the veggies really finely with a knife or use a food processor! You can even blend the cooked veggies into the sauce with an immersion blender.

How to make gluten-free lasagna

There are two main ways of making a gluten-free vegan lasagna. Either choose gluten-free lasagna sheets (check the box for baking time!) or go with sliced zucchini instead of grain-based lasagna sheets.

Keep in mind that swapping whole grain lasagna noodles for zucchini slices will also drastically lower the calorie content of your vegan lasagna! If you don’t want that, consider adding some red lentils to the ragù for more satiating complex carbs. 

woman with apron standing next to a dish with baked vegan lasagna and serving one piece of itpin it

Make this lasagna higher in protein

One serving of our healthy vegan lasagna already packs 25 grams of protein, but we can still increase that!

You can add some red lentils, textured vegetable protein or mock meats to your vegan ragu — something especially meat-eaters will enjoy.

Another idea is to swap the almond ricotta for tofu-based ricotta!

If you don’t find a store-bought version, it’s super easy to make at home. Check out this simple recipe!

Other customizations

Make the cheese sauce creamier by adding cashews or almond butter before blending! If your family isn’t used to eating lots of whole foods, definitely sprinkle some vegan cheese shreds on top of your lasagna.

You can also omit the spinach entirely and reduce the amount of veggies used in the ragu or replace some of them with store-bought mock meats to ease into a healthy plant-based diet.

For a super melty vegan cheese experience, go for homemade mozzarella and sprinkle with vegan parmesan!

baking dish with creamy dairy free vegan lasagna where a piece has been cut outpin it

How to save some time

You can use store-bought vegan ricotta for your filling and go for vegan cheese shreds for a super delicious lasagna topping!

That way, you could skip both of these recipes when making your lasagna.

You can also prepare each component ahead of time and assemble your lasagna in the baking dish. Wrap tightly with foil and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake later in the day!

More healthy dinner ideas

Our blog is full of delicious healthy vegan comfort foods! Try these next.

Have you tried making vegan lasagna before and which ingredients did you use? If you followed our recipe, we’d love to read about it in the comments below. Feel to leave a rating, Pin the lasagna here or tag us on Instagram – we’d love to see your creations.

baking dish with creamy dairy free vegan lasagna where a piece has been cut out

Healthy Vegan Lasagna (High-Protein)

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This is the best healthy vegan lasagna with a high-protein cheese sauce and lots of veggies in the ragu! This budget-friendly recipe is easy to follow, totally kid-approved and a really nutritious plant-based family dinner.

Ingredients

For the Vegan Ragù

  • 2 15-oz jars marinara sauce (840 ml total)
  • ½ cup of water
  • 4 cups finely chopped veggies (zucchini, eggplant, carrot, bell pepper, mushrooms)
  • 1 chopped onion
  • Salt, pepper, oregano, basil to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C) and get a baking dish.
  2. Follow our recipes for the almond ricotta and low-fat cheese sauce if you don't use store-bought replacements.
  3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine vegan ricotta with spinach.

Make the Ragù

  1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and add your finely chopped vegetables and onion.
  2. Sauté with a splash vegetable broth until everything is slightly soft, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the marinara sauce and water, then mix with a spoon until well combined. Season to taste, then set aside.

Assemble the Lasagna

  1. Get your baking dish and let’s put this baby together! Using a large spoon or ladle, assemble the vegan lasagna: start with ragù, then some lasagna sheets, cheese sauce, lasagna sheets, spinach ricotta mixture, lasagna sheets, ragù, lasagna sheets, ragù and finish everything off with the rest of your cheese sauce.
  2. Cover the baking dish with a lid or foil, place it into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
  3. Remove the lid and bake for another 5 minutes, uncovered, until the sauce turns slightly brown. Watch your lasagna closely so it doesn’t burn!
  4. Finally, remove the baking dish from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

    • You can store any leftover lasagna in the baking dish covered in foil or an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
    • Use your favorite vegetables for the ragù; it can be anything from zucchini, eggplant, or carrot to bell pepper and mushrooms. If you or your family doesn’t love the vegetable texture, you can blend the vegetables into the tomato sauce with an immersion blender.
    • For a more meaty and higher protein version, you can use red lentils or textured vegetable protein in the ragù.
    • If you’re short on time, pre-boil the lasagna sheets and use store-bought vegan ricotta.
    Nutrition Information:
    Yield: 6
    Amount Per Serving: Calories: 474Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 894mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 18gSugar: 14gProtein: 25g

    Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated automatically, their accuracy is not guaranteed. Just focus on whole plant-based foods and eat until satiety!

    Please rate & share if you like this!

    Leave a comment on our blog or share on Pinterest or Instagram.

    Browse these categories

    Alena sitting in a cafe with a bowl of fresh plant-based food and a glass of coffee in front of her

    About Alena Handwritten FontAlena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.

    18 thoughts on “Healthy Vegan Lasagna (Protein- & Veggie-Packed)”

      • Hi Corey,
        thanks for the (mostly) positive feedback! Yeah, there’s sometimes the issue with our popups and cookies I believe… we’ll soon change up some plugins which hopefully resolves this. When I’m logged in, I don’t see any popups but I want this to be a pleasant experience for our readers, too ;)
        Stick with us!
        Best,
        Alena

        Reply
    1. Looks good! :)
      For your cashew cheese – do you soak the cashews? And also… do you really put a *whole tablespoon* of salt in it??

      Reply
      • I doubled the recipe and used just under a tablespoon of salt, it was plenty salty like this. I recommend starting with a teaspoon and after mixing adjust salt to taste. I have a vitamin and didn’t soak my cashews, but if you don’t have a high-speed blender I would recommend it.

        Reply
        • Hey Dana and Andrea,
          thank you soooo much for asking about the salt! We found this a bit questionable as well so we made the lasagna again and now agree that 1 tsp is definitely the way to go ;)
          Sorry for the confusion! This also depends on how used to salt you are, I assume.
          I second Andrea on the soaking issue – just 10 minutes of soaking in hot water while preparing the rest of the recipe could be enough for your blender if you forgot to do so hours before making the lasagna.
          Feel free to let us know how it turned out and also rate the recipe if you like it ♡
          Warm wishes,
          Alena

          Reply
    2. Has anyone made this yet? Do you think it would freeze well. I would like to make a double batch if I’m putting all this work into it and save one for later. It looks delicious and sounds even better!

      Reply
      • Hey Andrea,
        to be honest – we never tried freezing it because the lasagna is gone in 1-2 days here! I imagine it would work, though. Please let us know if you tried :)
        Hugs,
        Alena

        Reply
    3. This definitely didn’t disappoint! Finally, my kids ate their veggies without complaining… and the cashew cheese sauce was super delicious.
      Thanks

      Reply
    4. Made this today and it came out perfect! This will definitely be on my regular menu going forward! I used the homemade ricotta (next time I will blend longer) and cheese sauce (delicious) Thank you for this recipe. I love finding vegan replacements for my favorite foods, it keeps me healthy and I don’t miss them AT ALL!

      Reply
    5. Dear Alena, I was thinking about making the healthy vegan lasagna with the tofu ricotta rather than the cashew one. Under the tofu ricotta recipe you say Used for baking: omit the nutritional yeast and go easy on the black pepper. Does that mean if I’m using the tofu ricotta recipe for the lasagna which I will be baking I do NOT put in the nutritional yeast and very little if any pepper in the tofu ricotta?
      Looking forward to your reply
      Sincerely
      Pat

      Reply
      • Dear Pat,
        happy you like our lasagna recipe and want to try it! The tofu ricotta recipe isn’t on our website, I linked to another blog (simple veganista) and I’m afraid, you need to ask her your question as I’m not very familiar with her recipe :)
        Let us know how you like it!
        Warmly,
        Alena

        Reply
      • sorry I didn’t add this information! I assume it’s around 12 sheets. The number of lasagna sheets needed depends on how thick or thin you want each layer to be. Just get a regular-sized box and use as many as needed!

        Reply
    6. Silly question but am I supposed to precook the noodles? It doesn’t say that but every lasagna recipe I know you do have to pre cook or get oven ready kind? Thanks!!

      Reply

    Leave a Comment

    Skip to Recipe