Dairy Free Baked Ziti
This dairy free baked ziti is creamy, saucy and flavorful! This easy vegan baked ziti is made with lentils, homemade marinara sauce and a creamy cashew cheese topping. The ultimate comfort food, this recipe is ready in 30 minutes and is perfect for weeknight meals or entertaining.
If you love quick and easy pasta recipes, be sure to check out all my pasta recipes, including this dairy free creamy tomato sauce pasta recipe or Tuscan white bean pasta.
Here, you’ll find simple, gluten-free recipes that are quick, easy to make, and packed with the best ingredients. I love sharing simple from-scratch meals that fit into busy lives. To get to know more about Bites of Wellness and my unique take on food, head over to the About page!
Why you will love this recipe
- Simple ingredients
- Easy to make
- Twist on classic comfort food
- Ready in 30 minutes
Ingredient highlights
- Gluten free pasta – ziti is traditional for this but penne would work too. I recommend using a chickpea or lentil based pasta for more protein and fiber.
- Cooked lentils – lentils help to make this more filling and replace the meat in traditional baked ziti. Cook your own lentils or buy them already cooked at the store.
Homemade pasta sauce
- Tomato paste – tomato paste provides a deep, rich tomato flavor.
- Balsamic vinegar – balsamic vinegar is my secret ingredient in any homemade tomato sauce, it cuts the canned flavor from the tomatoes. .
- Tomato puree or crushed tomatoes – use tomato puree, crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes that you zip in the blender to crush.
Dairy Free Cheese Topping
- Soaked cashews – cashews create the creamy topping for this dairy free baked ziti. The cashews are soaked then blended to create a creamy sauce.
How to make vegan baked ziti
Soak the cashews: Pour boiling water (I like to use an electric kettle) over the cashews in a bowl. Allow them to sit at least 5 minutes in the hot water.
Cook the onions and garlic: Peel and chop the onions and garlic. When the skillet is preheated, add the onions, cook 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Once onions look almost done, add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add the spices and tomato paste to the onion and garlic mixture. Stir well to coat the onions and garlic in the tomato paste before adding the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Add the tomatoes to the skillet: Add the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar over the onions and garlic. Stir well. Cook 2-3 minutes over low heat.
Cook the pasta: When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook 1-2 minutes less than recommended on the box.
Make the cashew sauce: Drain the cashews and discard the water. Add the cashews, fresh water, salt and garlic powder to a high-speed blender. Blend on high 1-2 minutes until creamy.
Add the lentils to the marinara sauce and turn off the heat. Stir well.
Add pasta to baking dish: Spoon enough tomato sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish (8×8 or the equivalent size) to ensure the pasta won’t stick. Next add the pasta and all the sauce, stirring well to ensure all the pasta is coated in sauce.
Top the pasta with dairy free sauce: Pour the cashew cream over the top of the pasta and smooth it out with the back of a spoon or spatula.
Bake and serve: Bake in a 425F oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn on the broiler and broil for 3-3:30 minutes. Serve hot.
What to serve with dairy free baked ziti
This lentil baked ziti is so filling and flavorful it can easily be served by itself, especially for a weeknight meal. If you are entertaining or wanting to serve this creamy vegetarian baked ziti with a side dish or two, some great options would be:
- Salad: Asparagus Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing or your favorite green salad with creamy Italian dressing.
- Soup: Try this with Frozen Veggie Soup or Mediterranean vegetable soup
- Garlic bread or crusty bread of choice
Common questions
What kind of pasta is used for baked ziti
Typically, baked ziti uses ziti noodles, which are long, tubular and smooth. This shape of pasta is great because it allows the sauce to get stuck inside the pasta noodles. You can also use penne, rigatoni, elbow macaroni or Mostaccioli shaped pastas.
Can you make vegan baked ziti in advance?
Yes. Make the entire dish the up to 48 hours in advance, store it covered with foil in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, pop it in the oven covered in foil at 425F for 25 minutes, remove foil and broil 3-3:30 minutes.
Can you freeze baked ziti before baking?
Yes! You can fully assemble the baked ziti, allow it to cool completely in the fridge then move it to the freezer to freeze up to 3 months. I recommend that you use a foil baking pan for this, as you will be out a casserole dish if the ziti is in the freezer for months. Be sure to cover the ziti in foil then plastic wrap to ensure it doesn’t get freezer burn.
When ready to serve, remove the plastic wrap and put the ziti in a 375F preheated oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the foil cover and turn the oven to broil. Broil for 3-3:30 until the top is brown.
Can you make this without cashews?
Yes! Replace the cashews with:
- Hemp hearts (no soaking needed) – hemp hearts have a little grassier flavor, so I recommend increasing the garlic powder to ½ to ¾ teaspoon to help offset that grassier flavor.
- Raw sunflower seeds or pepitas (will need soaking just like the cashews) – sunflower seeds or pepitas will have a slightly different flavor but if you cannot tolerate cashews, this is a good option.
- White beans – white beans can be used to make a creamy sauce. If you want to use a can of white beans, I would increase the water to ¾ cup.
Can you double this recipe?
Yes! This recipe uses chickpea pasta which typically comes in 8 oz. boxes. If you are using a gluten free noodle, typically that comes in 16 oz. boxes. In this case, you should double all the ingredients and use a 9X13 casserole dish instead of 8X8.
Vegan Baked Ziti
$8.03 Recipe/$2.02 ServingIngredients
- 8 oz chickpea or lentil pasta, ziti or penne shaped - $2.99
- 1.5 cups cooked green lentils - $0.56
Homemade Pasta Sauce
- 1 medium white onion, chopped - $0.33
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped - $0.16
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste - $0.08
- 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar - $0.31
- 28 oz. tomato puree or crushed tomatoes - $1.75
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning - $0.30
- 1 tsp. garlic powder - $0.10
- 1 tsp. sea salt - $0.05
Creamy Cashew Sauce
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked - $0.93
- 1/3 cup water - $0.00
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt - $0.03
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder - $0.03
Instructions
- Add water to a large pot and put over high heat to bring to a boil for the pasta. Preheat oven to 425F.
- Soak cashews: pour boiling water over cashews in a bowl Let them soak at least 5 minutes.
- Preheat a large skillet. Finely chop the onion and 2 clove of garlic. When the skillet is hot, add the onions. Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. When onions are almost done, add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, Italian seasoning, salt and garlic powder to the cooked onions in the skillet. Turn to low heat.
- Once tomato paste is well incorporated in the onions, add the can of tomato puree and balsamic vinegar. Add cooked lentils to pasta sauce. Stir well and cook over very low heat.
- When water is boiling for pasta, add pinch of salt and the pasta. Cook for 1-2 minutes less than what the instructions on the box indicate.
- Make the cashew sauce: drain the cashews from the soaking liquid. Add cashews, fresh water, salt and garlic powder to blender. Blend on high 1-2 minutes.
- Spoon 2-3 large spoonful's of pasta sauce into the bottom of an 8×8 casserole dish. Next add the cooked pasta and the rest of the pasta sauce on top. Stir well.
- Once all the pasta is coated in sauce, flatten down the pasta in the casserole dish. Pour the cashew cream over top and smooth out with back of a spoon or spatula.
- Bake in a 425F oven for 10 minutes. Immediately turn on the broiler and broil for 3-3:30 until the top starts to get golden brown. Serve hot.
Notes
- Be sure to use a casserole dish that can handle high heat (from the broiler), don’t use glass it can shatter. You can also use your largest cast iron skillet.
- This recipe was written using chickpea pasta which comes in 8 ounce boxes. If you are using a full pound of pasta, double the ingredients and use a 9×13 dish instead.
- If you are using canned diced tomatoes, drain off some of the liquid in the can before quickly blending, otherwise the sauce may be too watery.
- Be sure to cook the pasta 1-2 minutes less than the box instructs, as it will continue to cook in the oven as well or the pasta will get mushy in the oven.
- Time saving tip: Don’t have time to make your own marinara? Use a jar of your favorite store bought!
- Cover in boiling water – pour boiling water over the cashews in a bowl or glass. Allow the cashews to soak at least 5 minutes. The longer they can soak, the softer they get.
- Microwave – add just enough water to cover the cashews and microwave 2-3 minutes. Allow the cashews to sit in the microwave 5 minutes before carefully removing them (use oven mitts) to discard the water.
- Stove top – bring water and cashews to a boil and allow it to boil 1-2 minutes. Allow cashews to rest in the hot water for at least 5 minutes before draining the cashews.
- Countertop – the easiest way to soak cashews it to add water to a cup with the cashews and allow them to soak 6-8 hours.
- Fridge: Leftover vegan baked ziti can be store in the fridge in a well-sealed container for up to 5 days, making it perfect for leftovers! Serve leftovers for lunch or dinner!
- Reheat leftover ziti in the microwave 1:30 -2 minutes or in the oven 375F for 10-12 minutes.
- Freezer: Freeze leftover baked ziti for up to 3 months. Be sure to label it with the name, date and use by date. I like to spoon the leftovers into Soupercubes so I can freeze individual servings at a time. Once frozen, transfer the cubes into a freezer safe bag and freeze 3 months.
