Black Bean Vegan Lasagna

Although making lasagna takes time (requiring very little skill), it is well worth the effort, when I see how much my family enjoys it. The cheesy soft warm pasta is layered between luscious, juicy, and perfectly seasoned black beans, tomato, and onion sauce. I need to emphasize that it is 100% gluten-free and vegan.

The most time consuming part of making this lasagna is preparing the sauce. I combined cooked black beans, tomato puree, tomato paste, onion, and all sorts of spices in a saucepan and let it simmer for 1 hour. In the end, the black beans thoroughly absorbed the distinctively flavored tomato sauce. This black bean tomato sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. I prepared it the night before I assembled the lasagna, which makes the work much easier, especially if I have a tight schedule that day but still want to serve a big meal.

Due to the increasing availability of gluten-free lasagna and vegan cheese, I was able to buy them at the local grocery stores. I used a package of non-boil gluten-free brown rice lasagna, and it turned out surprisingly nice and soft. For the cheese mixture, I combined Daiya gluten-free/dairy-free mozzarella cheese, Tofutti sour cream, Silk unsweetened soy milk, and basil. The assembly process of this lasagna is the same as a beef version lasagna. Pay attention to avoid overlapping the pasta layer when assembling, otherwise the overlapped part will not be thoroughly cooked.

You can prepare and assemble the whole dish the day before you are going to bake it. Using black beans instead of beef makes this dish less heavy and healthier. It is a great vegan main dish to serve your family and guests.

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Black Bean Vegan Lasagna

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

2 hrs

Total Time

2 hrs 15 mins

 

Tools Knife and cutting board, 6-quart sauce pan, 9” × 13” baking dish, measuring spoons and cups,

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: gluten-free dinner, vegan dinner, vegan lasagna

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Author: Joyce @Light Orange Bean

Ingredients

Sauce

• 4 cups cooked black beans
• 3 cups tomato puree
• 1 cup water
• 1 can 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 cup onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1-½ tsp oregano
• 1-½ tsp basil
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin powder

Cheese Mixture

• 2 cups Daiya shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 pack Tofutti sour cream
• 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk Silk brand
• 1 tsp basil

lasagna

• 1 pack gluten-free lasagna noodles approximately 10-12 strips
• 1 tbs GoVeggie parmesan cheese
• optional ½ tbs chopped green onions

Instructions

1. Over medium-high heat, combine all the black bean tomato onion sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Mix occasionally and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 1 hour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cheese, sour cream, soy milk and basil.
3. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease the baking dish using a cooking spray. Lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish with the sauce. Place one layer of lasagna strips lengthwise over the sauce and do not overlap the strips. Top with 1/3 of the herbed cheese mixture. Repeat sauce, lasagna strips, and cheese mixture until all lasagna strips are finished. Place the rest of sauce on top of the last layer of lasagna strips. Sprinkle ½ tbs parmesan cheese on the top layer. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.
4. Let the dish rest for 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle the rest of parmesan cheese on top and garnish with green onions.