This Dairy Free Lasagna made with vegan cashew cheese and a ground turkey marinara sauce is so hearty and satisfying. It's the ultimate comfort food - without the dairy!
Just because you're following a dairy-free diet, for whatever reason, doesn't mean you can't have your favorite comfort foods like lasagna. Nowadays, there are so many options to make your favorite dishes dairy-free - and still delicious!
This dairy free lasagna uses my homemade vegan cashew cheese that adds rich creamy "cheese" in place of the more traditional ricotta cheese. The sauce has ground turkey, but you can either leave the ground turkey out or replace with chopped mushrooms to make this a full vegan lasagna.
If you are looking for a "cheesy" lasagna without the dairy, I think you'll love this recipe!
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🌟 Why you'll love this recipe
If you like lasagna, but you're dairy-free either by choice or by doctor's orders, then I think you will LOVE this recipe!
- You can make prep this lasagna in less than 30 minutes, including assembly time.
- The total time is about an hour, including the prep time to make the cashew cheese and assemble the lasagna. More than half of that time consists of the bake time. So while the lasagna is baking, you can make yummy side dishes like easy Air Fryer Broccoli or Easy Fruit Salad.
- If you've got friends coming over for dinner, this dairy-free lasagna feeds a crowd!
- This lasagna recipe makes 8 servings. For our family of four that means we usually have leftovers that we can enjoy another day!
- The recipe is totally flexible: you can use your favorite marinara sauce. Use the ground turkey, leave it out, use ground beef, or use finely chopped mushrooms. So many ways to customize this recipe to you and your family's liking!
🛒 Ingredient notes
Cashew cheese - Follow this easy homemade vegan cashew cheese recipe. I've included a simplified version of it in the recipe card below. Be sure to read the full article for tips on making vegan cashew cheese. You can also use store-bought cashew cheese.
Marinara sauce- You can make your own sauce, or use a jar of your favorite store-bought pasta sauce.
Ground turkey - This lightened up lasagna recipe calls for ground turkey meat. I recommend buying a 85/15 mix because the 15% fat is just enough to add a luscious layer of extra flavor. But you can use 93/7 if you prefer.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
- In a large pot, cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.
Make the cashew cheese
2. In a food processor, blend together the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, kosher salt, lemon juice, and ⅔ cup water. As the mixture processes, gradually add more water 1 Tablespoon at a time, as needed, until the mixture becomes smooth. Set aside.
Make the sauce
In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute, just to soften the garlic.
Add the ground turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon, stirring and cooking until just brown on all sides.
5. Sprinkle in the kosher salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. Stir until the seasoning is well combined into the meat.
6. Pour in the marinara sauce and stir. Add the chopped spinach and stir. Lower heat to low-medium and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Assemble the lasagna
7. Lightly butter the inside of the baking dish. Spoon a thin layer of sauce on the bottom.
8. Top with 3 to 5 lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping each other.
9. Spoon a layer of cashew cheese over the noodles, just enough to cover the noodles.
10. Repeat the layers - sauce, noodles, cashew cheese - until you reach the top of the baking dish with about an inch of space at the top.
11. Sprinkle your favorite dairy-free cheese across the top.
12. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top cheese is almost melted.
13. Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley on the top. Allow the lasagna to cool about 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
👩🏻🍳 Substitution and storage FAQs
We love cashew cheese. It's flavorful and easy to make from scratch, and also easy to find at the grocery store. You can also substitute cottage cheese if you like cottage cheese. There are also dairy-free ricotta cheese options in many grocery stores these days that would work in this recipe.
You can use ground beef instead of ground turkey. You can also use finely chopped mushrooms, which bring big umami flavors and are a great meat substitution. Or you can forego all of those options for a more creamy sauce without the texture that ground meat/ground meat substitute adds.
Allow the lasagna to cool completely, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Yes! Allow the lasagna to cool completely, then store in a freezer-safe, airtight container for up to one month. You can freeze lasagna for two or three months, but after about one month it does start to lose its flavor and texture.
🥘 Kitchen tools and equipment
For this recipe, you just need a few basic kitchen tools:
- Food processor - to make the cashew cheese.
- Dutch oven - to make the sauce. You can also use any large pot but a heavy bottom pot works best.
- Large rectangular baking dish - a 9 x 13 inch baking dish works well to bake the lasagna in. If you choose one with higher sides, as pictured here, you can make more layers! The baking time stays about the same.
🍽 Serving ideas
This dairy free lasagna is amazing when balanced with lighter, healthier side dishes. Try this Air Fryer (Ninja Foodi) Broccoli recipe, Garlic Lemon Asparagus, or Garlic Rosemary Roasted Carrots.
It's also fantastic when served with Garlic Parmesan Knots or Garlic Rosemary Focaccia Bread.
🍷 Lasagna wine pairing
The best wine to pair with lasagna, whether it's dairy-free or not, is a big, bold red wine. Go for a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or a Syrah.
More dairy-free pasta recipes
If you love pasta as much as I do, and you're looking for a dairy-free option, here are some popular 5-star dairy-free pasta recipes to try!
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Dairy Free Lasagna
Equipment
Ingredients
Cashew Cheese
- 2¼ cups unsalted cashews, soaked and drained (see notes)
- 3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅔ to 1 cup water
Lasagna
- 10 to 12 ounces lasagna noodles (about 15 lasagna strands)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground turkey
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- 2 cups lightly chopped spinach
- 1 cup dairy-free Mozzarella shreds
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.
Make the cashew cheese
- In a food processor, blend together the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, kosher salt, lemon juice, and ⅔ cup water. As the mixture processes, gradually add more water 1 Tablespoon at a time, as needed, until the mixture becomes smooth. Set aside.
Make the sauce
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute, just to soften the garlic.
- Add the ground turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon, stirring and cooking until just brown on all sides.
- Sprinkle in the kosher salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. Stir until the seasoning is well combined into the meat.
- Pour in the marinara sauce and stir. Add the chopped spinach and stir. Lower heat to low-medium and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Assemble the lasagna
- Lightly butter the inside of the baking dish. Spoon a thin layer of sauce on the bottom.
- Top with 3 to 5 lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping each other.
- Spoon a layer of cashew cheese over the noodles, just enough to cover the noodles.
- Repeat the layers - sauce, noodles, cashew cheese - until you reach the top of the baking dish with about an inch of space at the top.
- Sprinkle your favorite dairy-free cheese across the top.
- Bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top cheese is almost melted.
- Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley on the top. Allow the lasagna to cool about 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Marie Batdorf says
This was great! My dairy free husband especially loved having lasagna for the first time in years. Of course, you all know when she says "butter" the dish she means to use dairy free margarine. It even skipped sugar which many people add unnecessarily. Thank you!
Sylvia says
Hi...do you think you could make this ahead and freeze uncooked? Looks delicious btw. Thanks so much.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Sylvia, I have only frozen this cooked so far, but with regular lasagna, you can assemble and freeze it uncooked, so I would imagine you should be able to do so with this dairy-free lasagna. Just be sure it's frozen in an airtight freezer-safe container. Add 10-15 minutes of extra bake time if you are baking it from frozen. If you do try it, let us know how it goes!