Vegan Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna

You might also like these recipes for classic vegan lasagna and vegan mushroom lasagna. Healthy might not go hand in hand with holidays, but here’s a dish that might just make you change your mind. My vegan Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna. This is a creamy, indulgent, decadent dish, but it’s also packed with stuff that’s really, really good for you. There’s pumpkin, in the velvet pumpkin bechamel sauce, and you get your serving of greens in the savory creamed spinach. Best of all, there’s nothing artificial in here – no vegan cheeze, no fake meat. It’s all pure, unprocessed food, and it has all of the flavors of fall. To make this lasagna even more ridiculously easy, I use no-boil lasagna noodles. In fact, you’ll be surprised at how quickly this comes together. You do need to put the creamed spinach and the pumpkin bechamel together, but both are very simple recipes with just a handful of ingredients, so it’ll all come together in no time at all. I’ve shared this recipe with you before, as a lasagna for two, and at the time many of you made it and loved it. But we are not two in our home anymore, and since leftovers of this lasagna are amazing, I decided to double the recipe into a regular-sized lasagna. To adjust it down to a smaller serving, use the recipe slider (point the mouse at the number of servings).

Tips for making the perfect Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna:

What makes this lasagna super easy to make is that most of the ingredients come canned or packaged. I use canned pumpkin and frozen spinach. Since you need a good bit of each, this works out really well and cuts down on cooking time. You can do this the hard way and start from scratch, but why would you? You might think you have too much of the pumpkin bechamel when you make it, but bear with me. You will use it all up, and you really want the pumpkin to shine here. I like making my own cashew cream for the creamed spinach simply because it gives me the consistency I want, and it takes all of two minutes to measure out a cup of cashews, a cup of water, and hit the blender button. But if you really don’t want to do this, use cashew milk or even almond milk. The first time I made (and shared) this lasagna, I used grated potatoes for the topping. I’ve since revised that idea and I prefer to use breadcrumbs mixed with an Italian herb mixture or oregano. They bake up nice and crispy and golden, and they complement the rest of the lasagna beautifully. You can use panko bread crumbs for an even crispier topping. Or, if you’re making this with gluten-free lasagna noodles, use gf breadcrumbs. Nutmeg is the spice of choice for this recipe, and it is great with both the pumpkin and the spinach. You need 2-3 teaspoon of nutmeg, which might seem like a lot, but remember, this is a family-sized lasagna with about 8 hefty servings. And the nutmeg is one of the few flavorings here, in addition to the garlic and onion in the creamed spinach and the herbs in the breadcrumbs, so be bold with it. Remember to bake the lasagna covered for 30 minutes, and uncovered for 30. You need the liquids inside to steam at the beginning so they cook the noodles. It’s an important step.

Ingredients

Lasagna noodles (I use no-boil for convenience) Parsley or basil (optional, for garnish) Vegetable oil Unbleached all purpose flour Pumpkin puree (canned) Almond or other nondairy milk Nutmeg Raw cashews Onion Garlic Spinach Breadcrumbs Oregano (or Italian seasoning mix)