This is the perfect Easy Vegan Pasta Bake for quick dinner and only a few ingredients. It’s high protein, contains healthy fat and high fiber and is also gluten-free. A healthy plant-based meal that’s super easy to make, creamy and delicious. Comes together in 30 minutes.
EASY VEGAN PASTA BAKE
I love a delicious baked pasta. It’s total comfort food. I threw this meal together in no time and my daughter absolutely loved it. We have a very busy schedule during the week, so quick easy meals are a must. But I also want them to be healthy.
This dinner is high protein, high fiber, has healthy fats and is super filling and comforting.
I used a high protein gluten-free lentil pasta. I love this pasta because of the high protein content. It also tastes delicious. If you are not a fan of gluten-free pasta, feel free to use regular wheat pasta.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- Lentil pasta: I used red fusilli but any kind will work.
- My homemade pizza sauce: You can use a store-bought pizza sauce or marinara if you like, but I prefer homemade because the sodium content is way better.
- Fresh spinach
- Tahini: Adding tahini to the red sauce really improves the flavor and makes it rich and creamy, as well as adds some healthy fat.
- Nutritional yeast
- Vegan mozzarella cheese: I used daiya mozzarella shredded cheese. I use it sometime for time and convenience. It’s helpful for my crazy busy schedule. But I understand some will not want to use it. Feel free to use my homemade mozzarella instead.
- Fresh basil
HOW TO MAKE EASY VEGAN PASTA BAKE
First, prepare the red sauce by making my pizza sauce and then mixing in the tahini and nutritional yeast.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
Assemble all of the ingredients and add to an 8×8 baking dish.
Top with vegan mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes.
Garnish with fresh chiffonade basil.
MORE VEGAN PASTA RECIPES
- Easy Vegan 20 Minute Alfredo
- Vegan Lemon Florentine Pasta
- Chili Pasta
- Walnut Basil Pasta
- Sun-dried Tomato Pasta
- Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo
Easy Vegan Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 8 ounces gluten-free lentil pasta (use regular if preferred)
- 2 cups (480g) my homemade pizza sauce (which is one batch)
- 1/4 cup (64g) tahini
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 large handfuls fresh spinach
- fresh chiffonade basil
- 1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya shredded store-bought for time and ease, but you can use my homemade if you don't want to use store-bought)
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions and make sure to salt the water well.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the red sauce. After you make my pizza sauce, add the tahini and nutritional yeast. Whisk well. This really amps up the flavor and makes it creamy and rich. A serious step-up from a plain marinara/pizza sauce.
- Drain the cooked pasta and add to a large bowl.
- Add the spinach and red sauce to the pasta and mix well.
- Add only 1/2 cup of the cheese and mix throughout.
- Pour the pasta mixture into an 8x8 baking dish and spread out evenly.
- Top with the other 1/2 cup of cheese.
- Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes until hot and the cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil.
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Great recipe! Pleasantly surprised at how creamy and flavorful it was. And I love how quickly it comes together, even with making your tomato sauce. The non-vegan husband loved it and said it’s “a make again.”
Can you make this ahead of time? Either the day before and refrigerate or a week before and freeze?
Amazing! Made this last night with generic tomato sauce, viola chedder and didn’t have any fresh basil. Still delicious. It’s a keeper!
This was amazing! We all loved it. Since we are basically 4 adult eaters in our house, I had to increase the servings to match 12 oz of pasta. Next time, I’ll just double it. I even used generic Kroger pasta sauce to save money and with the tahini and nutritional yeast, you couldn’t tell the difference. This will become a staple in our house.
So wonderful to hear!!
Insanely delicious. My whole family said they would eat this every night.
I tried this vegan pasta bake. It was delicious and so easy to make. I am so impressed with all your recipes! You are amazing!
SO kind, I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes, thank you!
I made this last night and all 5 of us loved it! My kids and husband kept commenting on how good it was! I used my own homemade marinara sauce and gluten free brown rice pasta. The tahini and nutritional yeast were amazing additions giving so much depth of flavor and creaminess. It was super simple to make and a favorite for sure!
Yay that’s so wonderful to hear!!
The red lentil pasta worked great here. Love the high protein swaps in your recipes! Keep ‘em comin’!😄
I’m so glad, thank you so much Jessica!!
This recipe was excellent! The tahini takes it to the next level. Thanks!
Yay, really glad to hear that Nina!
Yay, thank you Nina!
This was so easy, quick and delicious! I served it with broth sautéed zucchini, yellow squash and onions. Great combo. This will be a regular in my house and will be great for company or a take a meal dish. So glad I made a double batch for leftovers! Thank you.
That’s awesome Patti! Thank you!
We just made this and loved it! All the recipes that we have tried have been excellent.
That thrills me to hear, thank you Jim!
Oh no! I forgot to add the stars in my review. This one is definitely five stars and then some!
OK, honest to God foodgasm going on over this dish, Brandi! It was INCREDIBLE! Since I was using the whole recipe of your pizza sauce I threw the tahini and nutritional yeast in the blender with everything else. I could not stop licking the spatula! I tossed in a ton of fresh spinach, and was delighted to top it off with fresh basil from my garden. My husband and I were licking our bowls after dinner. 😆 I can’t remember a time where he kept thanking me over and over for the meal. The first words out of my mouth were, “This one is definitely going into the weekly rotation!” Thank you, Brandi! I know how crazy busy you are, and this new recipe is so very much appreciated!
Sooooo thrilled to hear this Colleen, thank you so much for the glowing review!!!
Am I correct that the 1/4 tahini refers to 1/4 cup?
Yes! Sorry I fixed it. 64g is 1/4 cup of tahini.
This was delicious! I made it a bit spicy but it was still great.
So wonderful to hear, thank you Elfriede!
I made this recipe last night. I am not a person who is going to spend hours making a meal and this recipe was, as promised, QUICK to put together and yet it tasted AMAZING. The tahini and nutritional yeast added to traditional red sauce is genius- it really elevates the flavor. The added spinach makes it a super easy way to get veggies into your meal. My husband commented several times how good this dish is and I am very much looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today! I will certainly be adding this to my regular rotation- delicious, easy and quick- doesn’t get better than this! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us!
Woohoo, this is so awesome to read Sally! SO stoked you and your hubby loved it so much!! Yes, the tahini and nutritional yeast is a game changer for red sauce. It was a spur of the moment decision so there’d be some heathy fat for my daughter and I loved how yummy it turned out!
In the notes you talk about using cashews but I didn’t see them in the recipe. Did I miss something??
That was an error. It was from another recipe. Disregard, I’ve removed it. Just need to refresh your browser!