When we first discovered this recipe, we made it two days in a row; the first day for ourselves, and the second so we could bring it to Dan’s parents and share with them how amazing it was. It is a little too labor intensive to be a regular option on our menu at home, but it has become the standard dish we make and bring to family holidays. We’ve made it every Thanksgiving for our family gathering, and have even made a double-batch for ourselves on two Christmas days in a row spent home, just the two of us.
All of this is an indication of just how much we love this recipe, and how perfect it is for the holidays!
This recipe comes from Rip Esselstyn, Caldwell Esselstyn’s son, both of whom are amazing in the low-fat, plant-based food world. I’ll dive into more detail about them both at some point, but Rip Esselstyn was a firefighter and he got his whole squad to switch to a whole foods, plant-based, low-fat diet. The results were awesome and from that experience, along with his food background with his father, he developed the Engine 2 diet. There are a bunch of good recipes on the Plant Strong by Engine 2 website, so I recommend you take a look if you’re interested.
We’ve made quite a few alterations over the years:
- Removing the tofu – This gets rid of excess moisture and eliminates a kind of difficult step in the process (especially if you’re trying make this recipe zero waste – I suffered through towels covered in tofu attempting to make it by the original recipe directions to avoid paper towels)
- Eliminating the corn – I found the corn doesn’t add much to the recipe and again, removed moisture that can cause a soggy bottom
- Adding more spices to the vegetable mixture – I use what we call the “crack spice mix” (because it’s just that good) which takes the flavor in the recipe to the next level!
- Enhancing the topping – the original recipe just calls for blended raw cashews; I’ve added a spice mix to the topping, as well as another trick (detailed in the recipe) that makes them easier to blend into a crumble and adds even more flavor
It’s pretty amazing how good this lasagna comes out. It has a ton of vegetables in it, and sweet potato might seem like an odd base, but it replaces the ricotta texture you’d typically find in a lasagna recipe, and the vegetables, sweet potato and spice come together to create a fabulously unique and delicious flavor.
This recipe is:
- Filling
- Flavorful
- Balanced
- Packed full of veggies
- Perfect for special occasions
I really hope you try this one out and love it as much as we do; of all the recipes I’ve shared before (perhaps my banana bread aside) it’s been the most life-changing for us.
If you try out this recipe, please share it with me by commenting or tagging me in a photo on Instagram @plantsnotplastic. Enjoy!
Amazing Sweet Potato Lasagna
Equipment
- 9x13 casserole dish
- second casserole dish or aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled, chopped, boiled & mashed (1)
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 head broccoli diced stem, bite-size piece crown
- 2 medium carrots sliced/diced
- 2 medium red bell peppers diced
- 8 ounces crimini mushrooms cubed/diced/sliced (2)
- 16 ounces spinach whole leaves (3)
- 30 oz tomato sauce canned or homemade
- 1-2 boxes lasagna noodles sub rice noodles for gluten free
- 6 medium Roma tomatoes finely sliced
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
Topping
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 tbsp oat flour (4)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil sweet potato for 12 minutes or until soft, then drain and mash
- Saute onion, garlic, carrots & broccoli stems in a large pan for 5-7 minutes, or until they've just begun to caramelize (5)
- Add bell pepper, broccoli crowns & mushrooms and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, until water has just cooked off
- Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl
- Add all spices and mix thoroughly
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish with a layer of sauce
- Add a layer of noodles and cover them with another layer of sauce
- Add the vegetable and spices mixture and spread evenly
- Cover with another layer of noodles and then another layer of sauce
- Add the sweet potato and spread evenly, then cover with spinach and another layer of sauce
- Add a final layer of noodles and cover with sauce
- Cover the top of the lasagna with an even layer of sliced tomatoes
- Cover the lasagna (6) and bake for 45 minutes
- Make your topping while lasagna is baking by combining all ingredients in a blender and pulsing/blending into a fine powder
- Remove the cover, sprinkle the topping evenly over the lasagna and cook uncovered for an additional 15 minutes
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- White or orange sweet potatoes will work fine in this recipe.
- Pop the stems out of your mushrooms, then cut the heads in halves or thirds and sliced to cube.
- The original recipe calls for 16oz (it cooks down quite a bit when cooked) but this is a lot of spinach so I always just do an unmeasured but generous layer.
- You can make oat flour yourself by blending rolled oats in your blender.
- Use the layer saute method for cooking your vegetables - the water naturally in your next round of vegetables will deglaze the pan for you, without oil, vegetable broth, or additional water.
- Use a second casserole dish for a zero waste cover instead of aluminum foil.
By tomato sauce do you mean a spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce from a can?
I use canned tomato sauce for this recipe 🙂
Any substitute for the cashews in the topping?
Walnuts or hemp seed hearts will work great! If you use walnuts, put the topping on 10 minutes before rather than 15 so they don’t overcook.
We’re a no cashew house, so I subbed them with sunflower seed and it got rave reviews! Thanks!
That’s great to hear! I hadn’t thought of sunflower seeds before; great substitution idea!
How much sunflower seeds did you use as a substitute for the cashews?
Did you pre cook the lasagna noodles or use no bake noodles?
I don’t precook the lasagna noodles or use no bake – layering the noodles between sauce lets you put uncooked noodles into the lasagna raw rather than having to precook them.
My family isn’t a huge fan of mushrooms – can you suggest a different veggie to sub in please?
Definitely. There are enough veggies in the mix that you could probably skip it altogether, or add something like zucchini or eggplant in its place.
Hi! Is there a reasonable substitute for oat flour? We don’t have any, and I guess I wouldn’t buy it for just 1 Tbsp worth… Would typical flour give a raw taste? Would almond flour be too nutty? Thanks!
I believe you could use regular, or just leave it out. The oat flour helps to keep the oil that’s naturally in the cashews from clumping as much but it’s not necessary if you don’t want to risk raw white flour.
Oat flour is blended up oats you make oatmeal with. . Just blend til a flour consistency
Thanks for these replies! We do have actual oats!
Thank you for this recipe. Do you cook the noodles before using them, or do they soften as they bake?
They will soften as they bake, no need to precook them 🙂
Hi there, I would love to make this tonight. Do I precook regular lasagna noodles? Or use the kind that say
pre cooked? Thank you Lina.
No need to precook the noodles, they came out great put raw into the lasagna raw.
Do you have a recipe for the tomato sauce so we can avoid using can foods?
If you check out my tomato basil sauce recipe you can get a good sense of how to make a good homecooked sauce – I would just skip the basil and use an mix of Italian spices (or an Italian spice mix from the store) – the conversion for fresh to cooked tomatoes is about 5-6oz for every medium tomato, so if you’re using Romas you’d need about 5-6 tomatoes for this recipe, cooked down into a sauce. May not be perfect because I’ve never done homemade sauce for this recipe, but I hope this helps!
Can you use Canneloni/white beans instead?
Instead of sweet potato? I’ve never tried but it sounds like it could work! I’ve also used Russet potatoes instead of sweet potatoes and the recipe turns out well, just slightly more savory.
This recipe was delicious and I am planning on making it for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, a couple of my guests have nut allergies 🙁 I was planning on making a smaller version of the lasagna for them without the cashew topping but was wondering what to top it with instead…any ideas??? Thanks for your help!
I’ve used hemp heart seeds before as a substitute and someone else here in the comments used sunflower seeds and said it turned out great 🙂
Thank you so much for responding! hHw much of the hemp hearts do you use to substitute for the cashews?
Hemp heart seeds are higher in fat (so they’ll be richer) – I would use a heavy 1/2 cup. If you use sunflower seeds it would just be a 1:1 swap.
Thanks! I can’t wait to try it 🙂
I’m eating this right now. It’s delicious! I used hemp seeds due to nut allergies. I’m hoping leftovers stay well in the fridge, because I’m hoping to enjoy it for lunch this week.
It stores great in the fridge!
Thanks for the reply! I”ll be enjoying it for lunch and as my next holiday meal.
I ended up with one sweet potato…..one was boiled and mashed. What about the other one?
Both should be boiled and mashed. Are you referring to the (1)? That is to reference the first bulleted item in the notes!
Hi—I just made this but we’re instructions to cook the spinach omitted or is the amount incorrect? 16 oz spinach is a large shoe box full snd there was no way that was going to fit. Maybe it was 6 oz? Anyway just wanted to pass it on. It looks & smells great though, haven’t tried it yet—still lava from the oven, lol!
Thanks! It’s not a typo, but I totally understand it’s a ton of spinach. The original recipe (from Engine 2) calls for 16oz so I’ve left it the same in mine – you can pack it in if you really try, but I typically don’t add that much. I just do a generous, unmeasured layer of whole, washed spinach leaves. I’ve updated the recipe card with a note saying this also!
Such a great dish! I made it today for my family of 4, including 20 month old and 3.5 year old. It was amazing! Thank you for sharing!!!
So glad you and your family loved it 💛
is there any reason I can’t make this a day ahead and cook the day of? I’m thinking not but kind of wanted affirmation of that fact. Thanks
The noodles will get soggy unfortunately if it’s not cooked right away and it won’t turn out nearly as good 😕
This is one of our favorites! Making it tonight! Yummmm
💕💕
Love this Mary, thank you! I’m so happy you like my alterations and will be making the lasagna for Thanksgiving this year. I’ve got a few more coming between now and Thanksgiving as well, so keep any eye out for anything else you might enjoy 🙂