Ready for the richest, heartiest, most flavor packed meatless and dairy-free pasta dinner ever? You need to try this vegan baked ziti! With a chunky cauliflower walnut sauce and creamy cashew ricotta, this meal is sure to satisfy vegans and non-vegans alike!

Vegan Baked Ziti on a Plate with Parsley, Napkin and Drinking Glass in the Background

Well, I guess it's about time. Perhaps you're wondering why is it that I waited so long to share a vegan baked ziti recipe on this site? Honestly, I couldn't think of what to do with it to make it special. Baked ziti is pretty basic and relies so heavily on meat and cheese. What could I replace them with?

I'd been rolling the ziti idea around in my head for a while, and then just last week it hit me: my cauliflower walnut spaghetti sauce would be perfect for some vegan ziti!

Vegan Baked Ziti in a Pan with Serving Spatula

Have you tried this vegan meat sauce recipe? I've gotten so many (awesome) reviews for it, so I know a bunch of you have. But in case this one is new to you, it's basically a super rich, intensely flavorful vegan meat sauce that uses crumbles of cauliflower and walnuts for the meat. Sound weird? It works! Trust me!

I also included some dairy-free ricotta, which is an adapted version of my basic vegan ricotta cheese recipe, and a layer of rich bechamel sauce in lieu of the traditional melted mozzarella that you'd normally find in baked ziti.

Ingredients You'll Need

Cauliflower walnut "meat" sauce. You'll need a full batch of this sauce for the recipe. If you have another favorite vegan Bolognese-style sauce that you'd like to try instead, be my guest. I even have a few others that might work, like my lentil Bolognese or mushroom Bolognese. You'll need about 6 to 7 cups.
Dried ziti pasta. Obviously you could substitute any shape of pasta and the recipe will work, even if it's no longer considered baked ziti. Penne is probably the option that's most similar to ziti.
Olive oil.
Flour. We're using all-purpose wheat flour for our bechamel sauce. Whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour will probably work just fine as well.
Non-dairy milk. Use a dairy-free milk that's unflavored and unsweetened. Pretty much any variety except canned coconut milk is fine. Have a look at my guide to dairy-free milk if you need help choosing a variety.
Salt.
Raw cashews. It's important that your cashews are raw (not roasted) in order to give the vegan ricotta the best flavor and texture.
Lemon juice.
Garlic.
Extra firm tofu. Regular old firm tofu can be substituted if that's what you have on hand.

Tip: Traditional baked ziti is topped with mozzarella. I find that I don't miss it in this recipe with the bechamel, but feel free to include a layer of shredded vegan mozzarella cheese if you'd like.

How It's Made

Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!

Start by making the sauce, since it takes about 50 minutes from start to finish. The sauce can be made a couple of days in advance if you'd like.
Cook your pasta until it's al dente, then drain it into a colander.
To make the bechamel sauce, first create a roux by cooking some flour in olive oil. Whisk in non-dairy milk and cook the sauce until it thickens a bit.
To make the vegan ricotta, first blend soaked raw cashews with lemon juice, milk, garlic and salt in a food processor bowl. Crumble in the tofu and pulse the machine until the mixture is well-blended but a bit chunky.

Cashew Tofu Ricotta for Making Vegan Baked Ziti

Once you have the pasta, sauce, bechamel and cheese prepped, you're ready to layer everything. Spoon some pasta sauce into the dish, then pasta, then ricotta.

Collage Showing First Three Layering Steps to Make Vegan Baked Ziti: Ladle Sauce into Baking Dish, Layer Pasta in Baking Dish, Layer Vegan Ricotta Over Pasta

Next, more sauce, more pasta, more ricotta, a final layer of sauce, and bechamel.

Collage Showing Last Three Layering Steps to Make Vegan Baked Ziti: Layer Vegan Ricotta Over Pasta, Layer Sauce Over Ricotta, Spread Bechamel Over Sauce

Bake to perfection!

Overhead View of a Plate of Vegan Baked Ziti with Fork and Drinking Glass

Leftovers & Storage

You can store your vegan baked ziti in it's original container, tightly wrapped in plastic, or in an airtight container and it will keep for about 4 days in the fridge.

You can also freeze the ziti in an airtight container and will keep for at least 3 months.

More Vegan Baked Pasta Recipes

Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!

📖 Recipe

Plate of vegan baked ziti topped with parsley.

Print Pin

5 from 6 votes

Vegan Baked Ziti

Ready for the richest, heartiest, most flavor packed meatless and dairy-free pasta dinner ever? You need to try this vegan baked ziti! With a chunky cauliflower walnut sauce and creamy cashew ricotta, this meal is sure to satisfy vegans and non-vegans alike!

Course Entree

Cuisine American, Italian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 12

Soak time 4

Total Time 1 42

Servings

Calories 589kcal

Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

1 batch cauliflower walnut meat sauce
1 pound dried ziti pasta

For the Bechamel Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
½ teaspoon salt

For the Vegan Ricotta

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours, drained and rinsed
¼ cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon salt
1 (14 ounce) package extra firm tofu, drained

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the cauliflower walnut sauce according to the recipe.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook it according to the package directions. Drain the pasta into a colander, return it to the pot, and toss with a dash of olive oil.
To make the bechamel sauce, coat the bottom of a small saucepan with olive oil and place it over medium heat.
When the oil is hot, whisk in the flour.
Cook the flour, whisking constantly, until it darkens just a bit and begins to smell nutty, about 2 minutes.
Whisk in the milk and flour and bring the mixture to a simmer.
Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer, whisking occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until it thickens up a bit.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the bechamel sauce to cool a bit. It will continue to thicken up as it cools.
While the bechamel sauce cools, make the ricotta. Place the cashews, milk, lemon juice, garlic, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.
Break the tofu into a few chunks and add it to the food processor. Pulse until the texture is chunky, like that of ricotta.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Layer one third of the cauliflower walnut sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
Layer half of the pasta over the sauce.
Layer half of the ricotta over the pasta.
Layer another third of the cauliflower walnut sauce over the ricotta.
Layer the remaining half of the pasta over the sauce.
Layer the remaining half of the ricotta over the pasta.
Layer the remaining third of the cauliflower walnut sauce over the ricotta, smoothing it out a bit with the back of a spoon.
Drizzle the bechamel sauce over the cauliflower walnut sauce, spreading it out a bit with the back of a spoon.
Place the dish into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, uncovered, until heated throughout.
Optional step: place the dish under the broiler for a few minutes, watching carefully to avoid burning, until the bechamel sauce starts to bubble and brown.
Remove the dish from the oven and allow it to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Divide onto plates and serve.

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Comments

5 from 6 votes (1 rating without comment)