Watch the video above for how I made this dish and see below for the recipe! 

This video/blogpost is part of a big HOLIDAY collaboration with a bunch of awesome vegan YouTubers. Everyone made such amazing looking food – check out the playlist to watch all of the delicious recipes.

I’ve really been obsessed with lasagna lately. I used to be super intimidated by the idea of making lasagna. I think my fear stemmed from this one time when my friend and I attempted to make lasagna with oven-ready noodles but I guess we didn’t make it saucy enough so the noodles were super undercooked. It was a strange experience. After that, I’m pretty sure I didn’t make lasagna for a while.

Now that I’ve gotten over my tragic experience, I’ve learned to love making it again. Especially during this time of year when I’m craving those warm & cozy comfort foods. Sure, it does require a little more work than some of my usual recipes but it is so worth it especially if you are making a dinner for other people as well. This would be such a great dish to make for a holiday potluck or a nice Christmas dinner. Or if you are just cooking for yourself, one lasagna could literally be meal prep for a week! Who doesn’t want lasagna every single day? I wouldn’t get sick of it.

Like my last lasagna video, I made my own sauce – this time with a slight twist. I wanted to make a vegan bolognese-type sauce with some lentils. In hindsight, I think brown or green lentils would have worked better to make this more of a “bolognese” style, but this still worked very well and was delicious.

Alternatively, you could just buy a nice jar of marinara sauce!

The lasagna (as I mentioned in the video) definitely didn’t turn out aesthetically pleasing. I was actually very disappointed at how “ugly” it looked. I even considered (for a very brief moment) making it again to see if I can get a prettier looking dish. But I reminded myself that my channel isn’t about “pretty” food. Nor is it about being perfect and having the perfect looking type of photos. As I always say, this is REALITY. Not Pinterest (not dissing Pinterest by the way).

So the lasagna ended up looking more like a simple casserole dish with things just thrown in there (lol) but it still ended up tasting delicious. That’s really all that matters, right?

So check the recipe out down below and of course, watch the video to get the visuals! You could make this and bring it to a nice vegan holiday potluck or make it for your loved ones for your Christmas party dinner. I would love to see your creations, so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @CheapLazyVegan.

 

Vegan Sweet Potato Lasagna Recipe (Gluten-Free, Oil-Free)

Ingredients:

• 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes
• Lentil “Bolognese” Sauce (or you can use store-bought marinara/pasta sauce)
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup red split lentils (I used dry)
  • large can of stewed or diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • salt to taste
• Cashew & Tofu Cheese
  • 1/4 block firm/extra firm tofu (Optional: You can omit this and use 1 cup of cashews instead)
  • 3/4 cup cashews (soaked overnight or boiled for about 20 minutes to soften)
  • 1 lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp basil
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder

Instructions:

1. In a frying pan or wok on medium-high heat, sauté onion with a little oil (or water, to keep it oil-free if you wish) for a couple of minutes then add garlic for another 2 minutes until the garlic starts to brown.
2. Add chopped mushrooms and once they’ve started to cook and shrink down a bit, add the lentils and stewed tomatoes. Break apart the tomatoes and mix well.
3. Add some water, basil, oregano and salt to taste. Mix well and bring to a boil on high heat. Once at a boil, turn it down to a simmer and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the red split lentils have cooked.
4. While the lentils are cooking, add all the ingredients for the Cashew & Tofu Cheese in a food processor or a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth – this might take a couple of minutes.
5. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Prepare your sweet potatoes by peeling them and slice them into thin, flat slices.
7. Once the lentils have cooked and the sauce is finished, you can start assembling the lasagna. I started with a layer of the sweet potato slices, slightly overlapping each other. Then added half of the “cheese” (please see video for commentary) and half of the bolognese sauce. Repeat the same process one more time.
8. Finish off with the last layer being the sweet potato slices. I topped mine with some nutritional yeast.
9. Cover with aluminium foil and bake at 375 degrees F for about 1 hour. Then remove the foil, increase the heat to 400 degrees F and bake for another 5-10 minutes for the top to brown slightly.
10. Let the dish cool for a bit before serving. You can store in the fridge for about 3-4 days and enjoy as left overs!