Vegan Slow Cooker Lasagna with White Beans and Pumpkin Tofu Ricotta

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Slow Cooker Protein Packed Pumpkin Lasagna

If you’ve been neglecting your slow cooker, it’s time to put back on your kitchen counter. Vegan Slow Cooker Lasagna is your new best friend and last minute weekend dinner.

Does This Cook All Day?

This Vegan Slow Cooker White Bean Pumpkin Lasagna is from my very first book, The Vegan Slow Cooker. It cooks in 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so it’s not a recipe that you can start in the morning. If you are looking for something that does cook all day try my Vegan Slow Cooker Creamy Indian Lentils and Kidney Beans or Italian Slow Cooker Cranberry Bean Soup with Greens.

What If I’m Allergic to Soy?

It’s a twist on the traditional ultra-heavy lasagna. Instead of a pre-made vegan ricotta, it uses a homemade pumpkin tofu version. If you are allergic to soy, you could use a nut ricotta or even Kite Hill’s pre-made ricotta.

Slow Cooker Protein Packed Pumpkin Lasagna - Updated
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • Pumpkin Tofu Ricotta:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated (pour boiling water over them and let them sit for 5 minutes)
  • 1 package (15 ounces) silken, soft, or firm tofu
  • 1 can (15 ounces) cooked pumpkin or 1½ cups pureed pumpkin, cooked fresh
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • salt, to taste
  • For the Lasagna:
  • ¾ package of whole wheat lasagna
  • 1 jar organic marinara sauce (homemade works fine too!)
  • 1-16 0z can cooked white beans (low or no salt is best, and organic if you can find it)
Instructions
The night before:
  1. Make the pumpkin tofu ricotta and store in the fridge until morning.
One and a half to 2 hours before dinner:
  1. Spray the crock with olive oil so you won't have a nightmare cleanup on your hands later on.
  2. Break off the corners of one side on each piece of the lasagna noodles so that they fit snuggly in the crock pot.
  3. Spread thin layer of sauce covering the bottom of the slow cooker
  4. Put in a single layer of whole wheat lasagna noodles
  5. Now spread some of the cheese pumpkin mixture
  6. Spread another thin layer of sauce
  7. Sprinkle some of the white beans on top of that
  8. Repeat those steps ending with a last layer of lasagna noodles and top that with sauce.

Be sure to check out my slow cooker faq page for more slow cooker info, including how to pick out a slow cooker for you.

This is a perfect dish to serve at a dinner party or on a Saturday night. It’s easy to make and hearty enough for non-vegans to enjoy. Just add a green salad and some garlic bread and everyone will be happy!

More Recipes to Try

 

Slow Cooker Protein Packed Pumpkin Lasagna - Updated

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Prep Time 20 mins Cook Time 1 hour 30 mins Serves 4     adjust servings

Ingredients

    Pumpkin-Tofu Ricotta

    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 3 sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated (pour boiling water over them and let them sit for 5 minutes)
    • 1 package (15 ounces) silken, soft, or firm tofu
    • 1 can (15 ounces) cooked pumpkin or 1½ cups pureed pumpkin, cooked fresh
    • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
    • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
    • 1 teaspoon onion powder
    • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
    • salt, to taste

    Lasagna

    • 3/4 package of whole wheat lasagna
    • 1 jar organic marinara sauce (homemade works fine too!)
    • 1-16 0z can cooked white beans (low or no salt is best, and organic if you can find it)

    Instructions

      The night before:

      1. To make pumpkin-tofu ricotta: In food processor, blend olive oil and rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes until a paste forms. (There may still be some lumps.) Add remaining ricotta ingredients, and blend until creamy. Add a little water if mixture is too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if desired. Store in airtight container in fridge.Make the pumpkin tofu ricotta and store in the fridge until morning.

      One and a half to 2 hours before dinner:

      1. Spray the crock with olive oil so you won't have a nightmare cleanup on your hands later on.
      2. Break off the corners of one side on each piece of the lasagna noodles so that they fit snuggly in the crock pot.
      3. Spread thin layer of sauce covering the bottom of the slow cooker
      4. Put in a single layer of whole wheat lasagna noodles
      5. Now spread some of the cheese pumpkin mixture
      6. Spread another thin layer of sauce
      7. Sprinkle some of the white beans on top of that
      8. Repeat those steps ending with a last layer of lasagna noodles and top that with sauce.

      by

      Pumpkin Tofu "Ricotta"

      print shopping list
      Cook Time 2 hours

      Ingredients

      • 1 container tofu (silken, soft or firm - they all work fine)
      • 1-15 oz. can cooked pumpkin (or the equivalent cooked fresh pumpkin)
      • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (give it a try adds a more cheesy flavor)
      • 1 Tb. Italian seasoning
      • 1 tsp. onion powder
      • 2 cloves crushed garlic
      • 1 Tb olive oil
      • 3 sun-dried tomatoes, re-hydrated and minced (pour boiling water over them and let them sit for a few minutes)
      • salt and pepper to taste

      Instructions

      1. In a food processor blend the olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes until you have a paste. (It’s ok if there are still some lumps in it). Add the rest of the ingredients, blend until creamy. Add a little water if you need to thin the mixture. Taste and adjust seasonings.
      2. Cook on high for about 1½ to 2 hours.

      by

      Comments

      3. What size jar of marinara sauce do you use? I have to convert to Australian (metric) sizes so I’m wondering if it’s closer to the 500g or 733g size jar.

        Reply

        • Hi Anna – here are some of the conversions for this recipe. Please email me if you need any others. I’m planning to update the site for both measurements, but I’m not sure when this year I will do it.

          1 jar (24 ounces, or 672 g) marinara sauce, store-bought
          1 package (15 ounces, or 420 g) silken, soft, or firm tofu
          1⁄4 cup (24 g) nutritional yeast
          About 3⁄4 package (10 ounces, or 280 g) whole wheat lasagne noodles (the regular kind, not the no-boil noodles)
          1 can (141⁄2 ounces, or 406 g) white beans, drained
          and rinsed, or 11⁄2 cups (340 g) homemade

          Reply

        • Oh – and all the recipes in the cookbook have both measurements already. It’s just the website I need to update.

          Reply

      4. Thanks heaps. Of course, our products come in different sizes, even with the conversion. That’s always a problem for me when I try to make some of the vegan recipes I find online. For instance, I can’t get tofu in packages of 340g (12oz) or 425g (15oz). So I’ve either got to use less, or buy two packages and throw some out. And strangely enough, I’ve never found any lasagna noodles here that were NOT the no-boil kind. Maybe they won’t work then? I’ll give it a try and let you know. I’m an American who moved to Australia 8 years ago, so I’ve had a lot of product differences like this to adapt to.

        Reply

      6. This looks amazing. Lately I’ve seen silken tofu in two sizes — 16 oz. refrigerated and a smaller size packaged for long shelf life. Which one of those do you use here?

        Reply

        • If you have any lasagna you make now in the oven with dry noodles it should cook about the same amount of time. I would cook at 350 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes.

          Reply

      8. Do you need to cook the noodles before putting them in the crockpot, or do you put them in dry? This recipe looks amazing BTW!

        Reply

      10. In the years since you first posted this the recipe for the pumpkin ricotta has apparently gotten lost – could you repost it? Or maybe I’m just not seeing it?

        Reply

      13. I’ve made this before but it was on a weekend…. which was great, don’t get me wrong! But I was wondering if I assembled the night before, kept it in the fridge until I got home from work and then plugged it in….. would it be a mess? Soggy? Do you think there’s a chance it might work?

        Reply

      14. I’ve now made this recipe a half-dozen times from your book, and it’s DELICIOUS every time. I am making it again this week!

        Reply

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