This Vegan Lentil Lasagna is a delicious change to regular lasagna as the cheesy sauce is prepared with butternut squash, tofu, and nutritional yeast, and the filling is packed with wholesome ingredients such as sweet potato, kidney beans, and red split lentils which are flavoured gently coriander, cumin and garam masala. This lasagna recipe is a great recipe to have up-your-sleeve for those times when you need something extra tasty to impress visitors!
A great idea is to use leftover pumpkin from carving at Halloween, and use it instead of the butternut squash, to prepare the lasagna sauce. Alternatively, you can use sweet potato for the sauce instead of the squash.
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💛 Why You’ll Love This Lentil Lasagna
- ✅ Comforting one-pan meal packed with lentils, beans, and vegetables
- 🧀 Creamy butternut squash sauce with a cheesy golden topping
- 🌱 Naturally vegan, nut-free, and easy to make gluten-free
- 🍂 Lightly spiced with cumin, coriander, and garam masala
- 👨👩👧👦 Family-approved especially those crispy baked edges!
- 🎃 Great for using up leftover squash or Halloween pumpkin
📜 Origins of lasagna
The best meals are classic meals that have stood the test of time. We love traditional foods hence our family recipe blog is packed with traditional recipes albeit made vegan & plant-based. We find it fascinating discovering what people used to eat and how those meals evolved. It is thought that modern day lasagna originated in medieval Italy as a lasagna recipe was recorded in one of the first recipe books, the 14th century cookbook titled The Liber de Coquina or The Book of Cookery.
Medieval Italians enjoyed their lasagna sheets fermented and boiled. Cheese and spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon were added to flavour the pasta sauce. Eventually other ingredients were added to the lasagna such as meat, meatballs, eggs, vegetables, herbs, and white sauces. Tomatoes were not introduced to Italy until the 16th century so medieval lasagnas were tomato free! However, there is contention as to whether lasagna is in fact a British invention as a recipe for lasagna was also discovered in the first British cookery book The Forme of Cury [1390] which contained the recipes from King Richard the Third's master cooks.
The Forme of Cury lasagna was titled by the Old English term Loseyns and was a layered dish of pasta, cheese and a meat sauce. The pasta was simply prepared with white flour and water, rolled out and dried before being boiled in a pot. The cooked pasta was layered with grated cheese, sweet spices and a meaty broth, similar to a modern day lasagna layers. Some claim that medieval British knights enjoyed meals of lasagna and the historian Glyn Hughes [2016] book which translates The Forme of Cury into modern day English, states that the English Loseyns and the Italian Lasagne both have their origins in 1st century Roman cookery.
It is interesting to note that medieval pasta, including British medieval pasta dishes, was flavoured with spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, mace, cloves as well as other spices, and often sprinkled with sugar! Yet these pasta dishes were not regarded as a dessert as the sugar was regarded as a spice.
If your looking for an extra quick lasagna recipe that is ideal for easy mid-week family dinners then do check out our Vegan Lasagne Soup recipe as its especially great for those days when you fancy a lasagna but are short on time.
🔪 How to prepare
There are a few stages to preparing this lentil lasagna but the steps can be prepped in advance so that on the day the lasagna is required it can be put together quickly. You can use oil to sauté the vegetables or you can prepare an oil-free lentil lasagna by sauting the vegetables in a small amount of vegetable stock.
Prepare the lasagna filling: (you can prepare this a day or so in advance and keep within the refrigerator)
Step 1: Sauté the onions, carrots, celery and sweet potato in oil or vegetable stock for 8 minutes.
Step 2: Next add the garlic, cumin powder, coriander [cilantro], bay leaf, and tomato paste. Mix and cook for a further 1 minute.
Step 3: Mix through the dried red split lentils and kidney beans.
Step 4: Pour in the vegetable stock and canned diced tomatoes. Gently boil for 20 minutes.
Prepare the lasagna sauce: (you can prepare this a day or so in advance and store within the refrigerator)
Step 5: While the filling is cooking, prepare the lasagna sauce. Add the butternut squash to water in a pan and cook for about 10 minutes until soft.
Step 6: Transfer the cooked squash to a food processor or blender, along with the water, silken tofu, nutritional yeast flakes, white miso paste, and apple cider vinegar. Blend the sauce until smooth.
Step 7: Set the vegan cheese sauce aside until required.
Finish preparing the lasagna filling:
Step 8: Once the filling has cooked stir through the garam masala powder, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
Assemble the lasagna:
Step 9: Now its time to layer up the lasagna using the dried lasagna sheets. Add a layer of the filling to the bottom of the baking dish, cover with lasagna sheets, and repeat until the filling has been used up. Spread the cheese sauce over the top.
Cook the lasagna:
Step 10: Bake for 25 minutes,
Step 11: Remove the lasagna from the oven and sprinkle the top with grated vegan cheese. Bake for a further 20 minutes or until the lasagna sheets have cooked and the topping is nice and crisp.
Optional Step 12: Garnish with chopped parsley or coriander or chives.
Enjoy your delicious home-cooked meat-free lasagna. You'll likely go back for second helpings!
📋 Recipe Notes & FAQ'S
⏲️ Storing
Store leftovers within a covered container for up to 3 days. Or once the baking dish has cooled completely you can cover the dish and store the lasagna inside.
🌡️ Freezing
Or freeze for 3-4 months.
♨️ Reheating
Reheat the leftovers either in an oven or microwave. Set the oven to a notch below the cooking temperature stated within the recipe and cover your baking dish with some aluminium or kitchen foil. Reheat for 35-30 minutes or until piping hot throughout, and the sauce is bubbling. You can remove the foil a few minutes before its ready so as to crisp up the top if preferred.
Or reheat in a microwave by adding slices of lasagna to a microwave-safe plate. Cover the plate with a microwave-safe lid or microwave-safe plastic wrap poking a hole in the middle to allow steam to escape. Reheat for 2-3 minutes at a time until its steaming hot throughout the lasagna.
Yes, this vegan lasagna is perfect for gluten-free diets with a few simple modifications. The main considerations is to use a gluten-free vegetable broth, a gluten-free plain flour mix, and gluten-free lasagna sheets, and also to double check any packaged ingredients just to be sure they are free from gluten ingredients.
A simple leafy green salad and a few slices of garlic or crusty bread rolls are traditional side accompaniments to a lasagna, but a few more tasty ideas include delicious home-cooked Baked Beans in a Tomato Sauce, tasty flavour-packed Boston Baked Beans, and these amazing Classic Mushy Peas which are so simple and humble yet pack a flavour bang.
Also, these Indian spiced Chana Chaat Chickpeas would compliment the lasagna spices beautifully, and this side can be served chilled.
🧂 More vegan pasta recipes
We also particularly love this easy Three Bean Minestrone soup as its so easy and packed with humble wholesome ingredients. For more dinner ideas do check out our growing collection of home-cooked dinner recipes.
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
Vegan Lentil Lasagna
Equipment
- large lasagna dish or casserole dish big enough to serve 6-8,
- Small saucepan
- large non-stick pan
- small food processer or blender,
- mixing spoons
Ingredients
To sauté veggies:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or ½ cup [125 ml] of vegetable broth
For lasagna filling:
- 250 grams dried red split lentils
- 1 can kidney beans 400 grams [14oz can], drained. (Or 240 grams cooked beans) Alternatively replace with chickpeas.
- 400 grams sweet potato chopped into bite size chunks
- 200 grams carrots 1 large, sliced lengthways into 4 sticks and chopped into small chunks
- 150 grams onion 1 medium-large, chopped. Any type of onion is fine, especially red ones.
- 100 grams celery 1-2 ribs, sliced into small chunks
- 4 cloves garlic thin sliced, use more if preferred
- 2 cans diced tomatoes two 400g [14 oz cans] or a 500-600g carton or jar of tomato passata
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste [puree]
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander [cilantro] powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 litre vegetable broth [hot]
After sauce is cooked:
- 2 teaspoons garam masala powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice optional
- 12 sheets lasagna dried, use more sheets as required
For the butternut cheesy sauce:
- 300 grams butternut squash or pumpkin, sliced, grated or chopped into small pieces
- 480 millilitres water
- 150 grams firm silken tofu this is often found on the aisle section in supermarkets as it is a shelf-stable tofu
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Garnish:
- 100 grams vegan cheese grated, or replace with extra tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes. Or perhaps use some thin sliced tomatoes to cover the sauce.
- 8 grams parsley fine chopped, or replace with coriander or, chives
Instructions
Prepare the filling:
- Heat the oil or veggie broth in a non-stick pot.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Add the onion, celery, carrots, and sweet potato. Sauté over a medium heat for 8 minutes.Stir frequently.400 grams sweet potato, 200 grams carrots, 150 grams onion, 100 grams celery
- Mix through the garlic, bay leaf, cumin, coriander and tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute stirring all the time to avoid sticking to the pan.4 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon cumin powder, 2 teaspoon coriander [cilantro] powder, 1 bay leaf
- Stir through the lentils and kidney beans.250 grams dried red split lentils, 1 can kidney beans
- Pour in the hot vegetable broth along with the canned diced tomatoes. Add a good sprinkle of salt and pepper.2 cans diced tomatoes, 1 litre vegetable broth
- Give it a good stir and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes and stir frequently.
Meanwhile prepare the sauce (this step can be omitted if using a ready prepared vegan white or cheese sauce):
- Place the butternut squash into a saucepan along with 2 cups [480 ml] of water.Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until the squash is very soft.300 grams butternut squash, 480 millilitres water
- Once soft drain the squash or pumpkin over a sieve or colander, reserving the liquid. Push the squash around to squeeze out excess cooking liquid.
- Place the squash into a food processer or blender. Pour 1 cup [240ml] of the squash cooking liquid into the processer (if you don't have this much just top up with some water). Or place the squash and cooking liquid in a bowl or pot suitable for using an immersion stick blender with.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients, along with ½ teaspoon of salt and some black pepper if liked.150 grams firm silken tofu, 1 tablespoon white miso paste, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- Blend until smooth. Set aside until required. Don't worry if the sauce looks thin as it will thicken up a little as it sits and even more as it bakes on top of the lasagna.
Preheat the oven to 180 Fan, [200 C], [Gas 6], or [400 Fahrenheit].
After the lasagna filling is ready:
- Once the lasagna filling has been cooking for 20 minutes remove from the pan from the heat.
- Mix through the garam masala, along with the lemon juice if using, and season with salt and pepper to taste.2 teaspoons garam masala powder, 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Assemble the lasagna:
- Cover the base of your casserole dish with the lasagna filling. Layer over lasagna sheets and then another layer of filling and repeat until the filling has been used up.I managed 3 layers of sheets but depending on your oven dish you may get 4 or more layers.12 sheets lasagna
- Pour over the butternut cheese sauce and spread it out to cover the lasagna top, it will drip down the sides into the lasagna but this is fine.
- Bake for 25 minutes on the middle or top oven shelf.The sauce will form a thin crust but will be soft underneath, this is simply the tofu baking and will taste delicious.
- Remove from the lasagna from the oven and sprinkle the vegan grated cheese over. Or instead sprinkle some nutritional yeast flakes for extra cheesiness without the cheese, alternatively add a layer of thin sliced fresh tomatoes.100 grams vegan cheese
- Place the lasagna back into the oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the lasagna is at your preferred golden colour and crispness.
- Garnish with chopped parsley, coriander or chives.8 grams parsley
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Leftover vegan lasagna will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days in the fridge. Add a layer of kitchen foil to cover if preferred, or store within a covered container. Or keep the lasagna within the casserole dish.
- Lasagna can be frozen for 4-6 months if well wrapped in the freezer. Defrost completely before reheating, and if frozen within the baking dish allow the dish to come to room temperature, to avoid cracking the dish in the oven.
- To reheat place the lasagna into a casserole dish and cover with kitchen foil to prevent the lasagna overcooking as it reheats. Reheat a notch down from the cooking temperature, for 25-30 minutes or until piping hot.
- The vegan grated cheese can be replaced with a layer of thin sliced tomatoes. Simply add the tomatoes after the white sauce has been spread over the lasagna and bake for 40 minutes.
- A few handfuls of fresh spinach leaves can be added to the lentil mix after it has finished cooking on the stove top. Or add some kale for the last 10 minutes of cooking the lentil mix.
Nutrition
💬 Comments
Prepared our Vegan Lentil lasagna? We would love to know how you got on with the recipe so do pop back and drop us a comment below. Thanks so much, Jacq x
Kristen says
What temperature please?
Jacq says
So sorry about that! No idea how that slipped by not adding the cooking temperature! Thanks so much for letting me know. Recipe has been updated with the temperature. Hope you enjoy the butternut lasagna 🙂