Vegan Baked Ziti with Lentils
This vegan baked ziti is so creamy, cheesy and satisfying. It makes for the best comfort food dish to serve to your family or guests. Made with lentils, marinara sauce and a cashew cream, the combination of flavors is absolutely perfect!
Servings: 6
Calories: 554kcal
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 16 oz ziti noodles (1 lb) cooked accordingly to packaging (keep them al dente)
- 25 oz marinara sauce homemade or store-bought
- ½ cup dried lentils (about 1 ½ cup cooked lentils) or 15oz canned lentils, drained
Cashew cream topping
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes, then drain
- 1 ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the dry lentils to a medium pot, then add plenty of water and cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and keep on a low simmer until the lentils are tender (about 20-25 minutes). Drain and set aside.
- While the lentils are cooking, cook the noodles al dente. Then, drain the noodles and return them to the pot used to cook them. Add the marinara sauce and cooked lentils and stir to combine.
Make the cashew cream topping
- In a blender, combine the drained cashews, water, nutritional yeast, garlic and salt. Blend until very smooth taking a few breaks to scrape the walls of the blender. You might need to blend for 2-3 minutes to reach a super smooth texture. The mixture will appear a little thin, this is what you are looking for!
Assemble and bake
- In a large baking dish, add about half of the tomato-lentil-noodles mixture, then drizzle over about half of the cream sauce, then top with the rest of the noodles and finish up with the rest of the cream sauce, evenly spread over the whole dish.
Video
Notes
- This dish makes for amazing leftovers. Store them in the fridge in a covered container for 4-5 days, then reheat in the microwave until warmed up.
- Make sure to cook your noodles al dente as they will keep cooking in the oven.
- You can use your favorite marinara-tomato sauce to make this recipe. I find that a smoother tomato sauce works better. If you have a chunky marinara sauce, then you can slightly blend it before adding to the noodles.
- You can also use penne or rigatoni to make this dish. Any tubular shaped short noodles would work just the same as ziti.
- Nutrition: please note that the nutritional information is an estimate per serving provided for informational purposes only (calculated by software) and accuracy is not guaranteed. Consult with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if you need precise nutrition calculations for health reasons.
Nutrition
Calories: 554kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 960mg | Potassium: 937mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 518IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 6mg