My mom makes amazing lasagna so it was always something our family looked forward to eating growing up, but since it’s laden with ground meat and cheese I wanted to find a replacement for us to enjoy. Most of the shredded vegan cheese I’ve tried aren’t the tastiest, so sometimes I’d rather just go without. I tried to create something that was nutritious, but filled with Italian flavor and I think this lasagna did the trick!

3 tsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 package of tempeh (Trader Joe’s) prepared as “sausage crumbles” (Recipe here)

1 16 oz button mushrooms, sliced

1 16 oz. organic firm tofu

1 bag of frozen chopped spinach

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 box of whole wheat lasagna noodles (uncooked)

2 28 oz of marinara

1 tbsp of nutritional yeast

3 tbsp. Vegan parmesan

1 tbsp italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375*
2. Prepare the tempeh by following the link provided in a saute pan.
3. Grease a 9×13 baking dish and add a few tbsp of marinara to the bottom of the dish. Add the rest of the marinara to the tempeh crumbles.
4. Sauté the onion, half the bag of frozen spinach, mushrooms and garlic  in olive oil until soft and add salt and pepper.
5. Press the water out of the tofu, dice, and add to a food processor. Blend on high until smooth with the italian seasoning, 1 tsp of olive oil, salt and pepper, and nutritional yeast. Fold in with the vegetable mixture to make the filling.
6. Lay down a layer of dry noodles on the sauce and add vegetable mixture to top. Add a layer of tempeh marinara, noodles, vegetable mixture, noodles, and marinara.
7. Top with vegan parmesan and cover with foil. Bake for 45  minutes until bubbling at the edges and uncover to bake the last 15 minutes.