Help me make a dairy-free lasagna that doesn't have weird substitutes

July 30, 2015 4:44 PM

I'm looking for a lasagna recipe that doesn't have cheese. I'm sure I can probably just leave the cheese off and have it come out fine but I want the recipe to be a little more filling and have the leftovers last longer than if I did that.

I'm not looking for any special versions of the lasagna where I have to replace the noodles with zucchini or anything. I am also not interested in vegan cheeses or grinding up nuts to make a cheese substitute, unless I can just slice up tofu and use that and have it come out good? Meat/sauce/wheat noodles are fine as is. Help me replace the fourth major ingredient of cheese with something that will still make it resemble a lasagna somewhat.

If you have a more unique version of lasagna (like I saw one that included olives but it had cheese) I am interested in that as well, so long as it has no dairy. I love most veggies so any recipes that add in veggies to the meat and carbfest that is lasagna would be great, again so long as it can still pass for a lasagna. Thanks in advance, I know you guys always have great ideas when it comes to recipes.

posted by atinna to Food & Drink (25 answers total)

Best answer: Silken tofu lightly pulsed in the food processor with some chopped garlic, parsley, basil, salt and pepper is such a good substitute for ricotta it's not even funny. As a lifelong cheese lover who has turned severely lactose-intolerant in middle age, being able to use this in place of ricotta in lasagna and stuffed shells has been a godsend for me.
posted by briank at 4:53 PM on July 30, 2015 [23 favorites]

How about butternut squash, carmelized onion, and spinach?
posted by MsMolly at 4:55 PM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Briank I'll have to try that but I'm still open to more ideas. I don't have a food processor but I assume I can get the same result with mashing the tofu/spice mixture by hand? (I don't have much experience with tofu besides eating it diced up)

MsMolly that recipe has milk and cheese and doesn't have any meat so that's not exactly what I'm looking for.
posted by atinna at 5:00 PM on July 30, 2015

Shoot. I didn't read the ingredient list carefully enough. Apologies.
posted by MsMolly at 5:09 PM on July 30, 2015

Coconut milk bechamel (make bechamel, use coconut milk and oil instead of milk and butter) works exactly as well as bechamel, which is pretty much the white layer for lasagne bolognese. Just don't include the cheese.

If you want to pad the bulk of the lasagna more to make it more filling/last longer, I would use a vegetable puree like butternut squash or cauliflower whisked in with the bechamel.

I also always sneak spinach into my lasagna to pad it, as well.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:12 PM on July 30, 2015 [3 favorites]

I would sautee some finely chopped onions and a ton of crimini mushrooms until they're browned and tasty and use that as my fourth layer. If you're feeling it, you could wilt some kale or spinach in the sautee mixture too. (I don't have a recipe per se, but operate under the cooking philosophy that if you combine delicious ingredients, it's bound to turn out tasty.)

Kinda out there idea: what about cauliflower? This is verging into dairy substitute territory, but when you rice cauliflower and cook it down, it has a similar consistency to ricotta baked in a lasagna situation. I went looking and found a recipe that did just this: https://vegbonvivant.wordpress.com/tag/vegan-roasted-cauliflower-lasagna/

Again, I'm not saying use this recipe, but maybe take the cauliflower part and add it into your usual (non-vegan) recipe.
posted by purple_bird at 5:13 PM on July 30, 2015

Best answer: I've used silken tofu the way briank suggested, and I can attest that the texture and taste are really good in lasagna or with other pasta dishes. I don't have a food processor either, but I do have a blender and it worked well.

Silken tofu is so soft that I don't see why you couldn't get a pretty good result mashing it by hand with a fork--it won't be as smooth, obviously, but I think it would be fine.

Here's an example of the texture you'll get if you mash firm regular tofu with a fork--if you used silken it would be even smoother.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:27 PM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have made this for a group of both vegans and meat eaters and its awesome. Also freezes well.
vegan pumpkin spinach lasagna
posted by sarahnicolesays at 5:30 PM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

Sesame Paste (Tahini) makes a creamy analog for dairy when you make it into a thicker version of homemade Tahini Sauce (Sesame Paste+H20+Lemon Juice+whisp 'o Garlic & Sea Salt.) But don't do that.

Buy Cashew Butter at Whole Foods or your nearest health food store and make the Tahini Sauce Recipe. Almond Butter might work, too.
posted by jbenben at 5:32 PM on July 30, 2015

Best answer: Thirding making tofu ricotta. It is my preferred cheese substitute in lasagnas. If you're not afraid to play with your food, getting in there with your hands to make it squishy and sticky like ricotta is fun! For extra cheesy flavour, add nooch. Isa Chandra Moskowitz, the grande dame of vegan cooking, has a pretty nummy recipe for tofu ricotta lasagne here. You can fiddle with it to make it your own.
posted by Kitteh at 5:32 PM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you use silken tofu, whisk it smooth with a little lemon, garlic, maybe some oregano, salt & pepper. Use a hand blender to go easier, or a nutria bullet works, too, if you have one.
posted by jbenben at 5:33 PM on July 30, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks everyone for your wonderful ideas. I am going to try out the mashed tofu. More ideas still welcome for future lasagnas!
posted by atinna at 5:35 PM on July 30, 2015

Much of what makes cheese so delicious is the fat. Suggest fatty items like olives, olive oil, fatty meats, nut butters including tahini, avocado, fish oils.
posted by goblinbox at 5:59 PM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

I love the tofu ricotta recipe linked to above -- and you can absolutely make it by mashing it together. I also recommend adding in defrosted, drained frozen spinach into the mix, too. If you have miso, add a bit of that in. But if you don't have that or nutritional yeast, you're fine -- just make sure you season it well with salt and pepper otherwise. (A drizzle of olive oil wouldn't be unwelcome -- I've found some of the tofu-ish things I made do need a bit of extra fat.)

I often make lasagna with tofu ricotta and it's awesome. (In the future, you can even do half tofu, half ricotta, if you want! It's really flexible.)
posted by darksong at 6:29 PM on July 30, 2015

I agree with darksong - I suggest nutritional yeast - it's less of a ricotta substitute and more of a Parmesan substitute. It'll disappear in the sauce but lends a nice cheesiness!
posted by vitabellosi at 7:33 PM on July 30, 2015

Just make the béchamel with stock, margarine and flour instead of milk, butter and flour.

Top it with a layer of golden bread crumbs.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 7:41 PM on July 30, 2015

I've made this vegan lasagna, which uses a mixture of roasted cauliflower and tofu (and nutritional yeast) in place of ricotta.
posted by O9scar at 8:17 PM on July 30, 2015

I regularly make lasagna with tofu - and I mash it with a fork.

That said, I've been using firm, and it's a little dry. I'm an idiot: it never occurred to me to use silken. That sounds like it would be much better.
posted by jb at 8:35 PM on July 30, 2015

I make a bechamel sauce with non dairy milk and oil that turns out okay. To give it cheese-like flavour I add Dijon mustard and nutritional yeast, but I'm not sure if the latter is too niche an ingredient.

A touch of turmeric would make the mix more yellow and superficially cheesy, and a lot of flavour perception is shaped by tricking the mind.
posted by chiquitita at 12:42 AM on July 31, 2015

Definitely breadcrumbs on top to replicate the crunchy grilled cheese crust.
posted by tinkletown at 2:01 AM on July 31, 2015

It sounds odd, but I love putting black beans in my lasagna for extra oomph. I bet purreed white beans would work really well too, and look more like a 'cheese' layer.
posted by rainbowbrite at 6:54 AM on July 31, 2015

Adding capers to tofu ricotta makes it much more delicious - I usually add about a tablespoon of actual capers plus a splash of brine per box of tofu.
posted by snaw at 9:19 AM on July 31, 2015

Tofutti makes a fabulous vegan ricotta if you don't want to make your own. I buy it at Whole Foods or Natural Grocers.
posted by QuakerMel at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2015

Beschamel sauce made with dairy free ingredients. I used stock & margarine to make it for my lactose intolerant father in law. Stock gives it the same nice umami thing cheese does.
posted by wwax at 2:26 PM on August 2, 2015

I once had an amazing green lasagna made with pesto and chopped-up marinated artichoke hearts in olive oil. Many brands of pesto contain parmesan, but you can find one that doesn't, or make your own.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:57 PM on August 2, 2015