Best Whole30 Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe

Hi friends! I’m excited to be partnering with Lucini Italia to share the BEST Whole30 Vegetarian Lasagna recipe!

While I definitely love indulging for the holidays, I find myself craving all the veggies this time of year. I created this recipe because you shouldn’t have to compromise taste for a healthy and delicious holiday meal.

That’s where Lucini Italia comes in! Their line of tomato sauces are all organic, Whole30 approved, and have no added sugar. A win-win-win!

I’ve always been a strong believer that the quality of the ingredients you use makes a huge difference in a final recipe. Lucini Italia believes the same thing – they source from one organic tomato farm in Tuscany to guarantee a high quality tomato.

In case you didn’t know, in addition to organic sauces, Lucini Italia also offers artisan vinegars and premium extra virgin olive oils. You can learn more behind the bottle here.

Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe without Cheese

One thing I love about this recipe it that it’s dairy-free since it’s made without cheese. Well, animal cheese, that is! Instead, I use vegan mozzarella shreds.

This Vegetarian Lasagna also uses a homemade dairy-free ricotta. Made in a food processor with a blend of soaked cashews and almonds, you can prep the ricotta ahead of time to make this recipe easier.

Why is this the Best Whole30 Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe?

1. Homemade dairy free ricotta.
2. The best vegetarian ‘meat’ crumble, made from walnuts and sunflower seeds.
3. Organic Roasted Garlic Marinara from Lucini Italia that has no added sugar, and is Whole30 approved.

How To Make Vegetarian Lasagna

1. Prepare Your Homemade Ricotta – use food processor to blend together soaked cashews, almonds, almond milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt & freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate for at least one hour to thicken.
2. Prepare Your Vegetarian ‘Meat’ Crumbles – process your raw walnuts and sunflower seeds in a food processor. Cook onions and mushrooms in a large saute pan, then proceed to add in your processed nuts + seasonings. Set aside.
3. Salt & Broil Eggplant – Slice eggplant into 1/4″ rounds (you want at least 18 rounds) and sprinkle salt on both sides. Let drain on their sides for 20 minutes – I found it easiest to do this using a colander. Pat off any excess water from eggplant slices, and brush both sides with olive oil. Broil on a baking tray for 4-6 minutes, or until browned.
4. Blanch Vegetables – Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add zucchini, broccoli, and peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
5. Prepare ricotta – mix 1 egg into homemade ricotta.
6. Assemble & Bake – see below for more details and photos.

How to assemble the Vegetarian Lasagna

1. Assembly, Layer One – Spread a thing layer of Lucini Italia Organic Roasted Garlic Marinara on bottom of a 9″x13″ baking pan (at least 2.5″ deep). Place a layer of eggplant slices – without overlapping.  Spread a thin layer of Lucini’s Organic Roasted Garlic Marinara sauce over the eggplant. Sprinkle 1/3 of meat crumble, followed by 1/3 of ricotta (in dollops), and lastly 1/3 of dairy free mozzarella shreds.
2. Assembly, Layer Two – Top with zucchini, broccoli, and bell pepper slices. Spread a thin layer of Lucini’s Organic Roasted Garlic Marinara over the green vegetables. Sprinkle 1/3 of meat crumble, followed by 1/3 of ricotta (in dollops), and lastly 1/3 of dairy free mozzarella shreds.
3. Assembly, Layer Three –  Finish with a final layer of eggplant slices followed by the sauce, remaining ‘meat’ crumble, ricotta and dairy free mozzarella shreds.
4. Bake – Move pan to oven and bake for one hour at 350F.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I choose to work with brands that I trust and use in my own kitchen, and while this recipe was made in partnership with Lucini Italia, all opinions are my own.

I’m able to provide FREE recipes thanks to working with brands that support me – if you’re able to show Lucini Italia some love, it would mean the world to me! Buy their sauces, try this recipe, leave a rating, comment below (if you’ve tried this recipe, or even if you just want to!), all of the above are helpful, appreciated and seen 🙂

If you like this recipe, I’ve got other Whole30 friendly recipes on my site like this Spicy Tahini Riced Cauliflower or this Tomato Coconut Curry. And If you’re searching for some holiday baking recipes to go along with this dinner, I suggest trying these Paleo Soft Ginger Cookies!

Thanks for tuning in, and can’t wait to hear how you like this recipe!

Best Whole30 Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe

Prep: 45 minutes minutes

Cook: 1 hour hour

Total: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

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The BEST Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe. Filled with layers of eggplant and zucchini, a homemade dairy-free ricotta, and meatless 'meat' crumbles made from walnuts and sunflower seeds. This is a healthy, pasta-free vegetarian lasagna that won't leave you hungry!

Ingredients

Best Whole30 Vegetarian Lasagna

• 1 ea large eggplant sliced into ¼” rounds (at least 18 slices)
• 1 ea medium zucchini sliced into 1/8” rounds
• 1 ea medium green pepper cut in half, seeded, and cut into ¼” slices
• 1 ea small head of broccoli cut into small, ½-¾”(~2 cups)
• 1½ jars lucini organic roasted garlic marinara sauce
• 1½ cup vegan ricotta see below
• 1 ea egg
• 1 8oz bag shredded dairy-free mozzarella chees
• 1 cup Meatless crumble see below

Vegan Ricotta

• ½ cup raw cashew pieces
• ¾ cup raw blanched almond slivers
• ½ cup dairy free milk I used almond milk
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• ½ tsp salt

Vegetarian 'Meat' Crumble

• 1 cup Raw walnut pieces
• ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup onion chopped (1 small-med onion), heaping cup
• 10 oz Mushrooms chopped small
• ½ tsp salt

• tsp ½salt

Instructions

Vegan Ricotta

• Soak almonds and cashews together in boiling water for 30 minutes then drain. Add drained nuts to food processor along with all other ingredients. Do not use a Vitamix as it will make the mixture too smooth. Blend up to 5 minutes until mixture is fine grained like dairy ricotta. Refrigerate mixture for at least an hour before using.

Vegetarian 'Meat' Crumble

• Add raw walnuts and sunflower seeds to a food processor. Pulse until the walnuts resembles the texture of ground meat (the sunflower seeds will stay mostly intact). Set aside.
• Add olive oil to medium saucepan. Add onions and saute on medium heat until onions are clear. Add mushrooms and continue to saute mixture until completely dry and starts to brown (8-12 minutes.)
• Finish by stirring in walnut/sunflower mixture and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

Best Whole30 Vegetarian Lasagna

• For the vegetarian lasagna, start by salting both sides of eggplant rounds and allow to drain on their edges for 20 minutes using a colander.
• Use a paper towel to pat off water from eggplant slices. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil. Line slices on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil 4-6 minutes until well browned. Remove from oven. Set aside until final assembly.
• Bring 2 quarts of water to boil with 1 tsp salt. Add zucchini, peppers and broccoli pieces all at once to boiling water. After 2-3 minutes, drain the vegetables into a colander and rinse with cold water. Set aside until final assembly. Note: by blanching the veggies, there will be less water released as the lasagna cooks.
• Mix one raw egg into vegan ricotta. Set aside until final assembly.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a 9x13, 2.5-3” deep baking dish, rub olive oil on all inside surfaces.
• Layer One- Spoon a thin layer of Lucini Roasted Garlic Marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan. Place a layer of cooked eggplant on top of the sauce without overlapping the eggplant slices. Spoon a thin layer of marinara sauce over the eggplant. Sprinkle ⅓ of the meatless crumble over the sauce. Drop ⅓ of the ricotta mixture on top of the crumble in small dollops. Sprinkle dairy free cheese over the top of the ricotta.
• Layer Two - Place the green pepper slices, broccoli, and zucchini in a single layer over the top of the cheese. Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the peppers. Sprinkle another ⅓ of crumble over the sauce. Drop ⅓ of the ricotta mixture over the top of the crumble. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the ricotta layer.
• Layer Three - Finish with a final layer of eggplant slices followed by the sauce, remaining crumble, ricotta and cheese.
• Bake for one hour at 350F. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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