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.
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 0 z can cooked white beans low or no salt is best, and organic if you can find it
Instructions
- The night before: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:Spray the crock with olive oil so you won't have a nightmare cleanup on your hands later on.
- Break off the corners of one side on each piece of the lasagna noodles so that they fit snuggly in the crock pot.
- Spread thin layer of sauce covering the bottom of the slow cooker
- Put in a single layer of whole wheat lasagna noodles
- Now spread some of the cheese pumpkin mixture
- Spread another thin layer of sauce
- Sprinkle some of the white beans on top of that
- Repeat those steps ending with a last layer of lasagna noodles and top that with sauce.
Nutrition
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
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Coffeecake Steel-cut Oatmeal
- Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie with a Teff Flour Pecan Crust
- 19 Vegan Tacos Everyone Will Love!
Melissa says
Wow this sounds good. I am going to have to try it asap!
Deb Bixler says
Sounds great and is just the kind of recipe I love. I am definitely making this one. Thanks, Deb
Anna Down Under says
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.
Kathy Hester (geekypoet) says
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
Kathy Hester (geekypoet) says
Oh – and all the recipes in the cookbook have both measurements already. It’s just the website I need to update.
Anna Down Under says
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.
Beth says
How many does it serve, please? Thanks, Beth
Kathy Hester says
It serves between 4 to 6 depending on what you have on the side.
Margaret Harris says
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?
Kathy Hester says
I use the smaller ones that are shelf-stable.
Heidi L. says
If I don’t have a slow cooker, is there an oven version?
Kathy Hester says
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.
Julie says
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!
Kathy Hester says
Put them in dry, they will cook fine in the casserole.
Cara O'Sullivan says
Hi, do you know if this would work well in an electric pressure cooker?
Kathy Hester says
I’m sorry, but I have no idea. I’ve not made a lasagna in my pressure cooker before.
Debbie C says
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?
Kathy Hester says
I switched recipe plugins and I think it got lost. It’s added now. Thank you for letting me know <3
Debbie C says
Got it – Thanks!
Kelly says
I don’t see the pumpkin ricotta recipe – can you please repost? Thanks 🙂
cynthia says
I can’t see the pumpkin ricotta recipe, either. Please repost — this looks amazing!
Kathy Hester says
I switched recipe plugins and I think it got lost. It’s added now. Thank you for letting me know <3
cynthia says
thank you — this works now. can hardly wait to try it!!
EMC says
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?
Catherine @ Ten Thousand Hour Mama says
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!