Vegan lasagna with homemade ricotta cheese tastes heavenly. And we don’t need a list of ingredients in this recipe. With just 4 ingredients, you have a delicious main course. The beauty of lasagna is that you can also use your leftover sauces and cooked leftover vegetables. In this recipe, I will keep it simple. However, feel free to experiment with whichever leftovers and vegan cheese you have.

The Ingredients

• Pre-cooked pasta sheets
• 2 cups Vegan Ricotta
• A bunch of baby spinach leaves
• 1-cup white Sauce (recipe below)

The Procedure

Sauté the baby spinach or you can steam them until tender. Season them with salt and red chili flakes and set them aside.

In a large casserole dish, start by spreading a generous layer of the white sauce. Now layer the lasagna. Spread more white sauce and add your spinach and ricotta filling. Add a layer of lasagna and repeat the process until you achieve 3 layers.

Bake your vegan lasagna for 30 minutes at 375F.

Let it sit for 5 minutes before you cut and serve.

Homemade Vegan White Sauce

To make the white sauce, you need:

• 2 cups cashew nuts – presoaked
• ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast
• ½ tbsp. lemon juice
• A pinch of sea salt to taste
• 2 cloves of garlic – minced

Blend the cashew nuts in a blender until smooth and creamy.

Sauté the garlic in a small sauce pot. Add the rest of the ingredients except the lemon juice. Bring them to boil whisking constantly. Once the sauce thickens, add lemon juice, stir, and remove the pot from the heat.

When the sauce cools, you can use it in any recipe that calls for white sauce.

Homemade Vegan Ricotta Cheese

To make vegan Ricotta cheese at home, you need the following:

• 2 cups of almonds – presoaked
• 2 cups of soy milk
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• The juice of 1 lemon (4 tablespoons)

Blend all the ingredients except the salt and lemon juice and squeeze out the liquid using a muslin cloth.

Now put the milk you squeeze out in a pan and add the salt. Under high heat, bring the milk to boil as you stir occasionally. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until it thickens slightly. Now switch off the heat and add the lemon juice. Stir briefly, and let it sit until it cools off (for about 3 hours).

As the liquid cools, you will notice the curds forming. Filter the liquid from the curd using a muslin cloth. Once all the liquid has drained, transfer this ricotta cheese to a cheese basket and wrap it in the paper. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, all the remaining liquid will have filtered out and what remains is a firm block of vegan ricotta cheese.

In Conclusion

Most people complicate their vegan lasagna with multiple sauces and ingredients. As a result, your dish loses clarity. Vegan delicacies are equally enjoyable, and they don’t need a load of ingredients to make them stand out. Try this vegan lasagna recipe today and keep it simple.

The secret to the best vegan gluten-free brownies is in the quality of chocolate used. For this recipe, I use 80% dark chocolate and additional cocoa powder. You also need to grease your baking tin with coconut oil. Or use a parchment paper for easier slicing and handling once the brownies are cooked through.

In addition, non-vegan brownies use eggs to incorporate air, which makes them light and fluffy. In our recipe, we will use an egg substitute. However, this is entirely up to you. You can also use light flour like coconut flour without the vegan egg for similar results. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces vegan dark chocolate – chopped into smaller chunks
• ¼ cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 cup melted coconut cream (or use vegan butter)
• 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or any sweetener you prefer)
• A dash of vanilla extract
• A pinch of sea salt
• 1-cup gluten-free flour
• Egg substitute

Procedure

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare your baking tin by either greasing with coconut oil or line it with a parchment paper.

The Egg Substitute

To make the vegan egg, mix 2 tablespoons of chia seeds with 6 tablespoons water. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes to thicken. You can also use a flax egg, but I find chia seeds healthier.

The Chocolate Ganache

Mix the dark chocolate chunks with cocoa powder and pour in the hot coconut cream. Mix gently. The heat from the coconut cream should melt the dark chocolate effortlessly.

However, if you are using vegan butter, you have to pre-melt the dark chocolate first.

The Vegan Gluten Free Brownies Batter

In a large bowl, mix in the sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg substitute. Add the chocolate ganache and mix thoroughly. Now sift in the flour and fold gently.

Pour this batter in the baking tin, and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and bang the baking tin on a hard surface. This takes care of any uneven baking and gently breaks the top surface.

Return them to the oven to continue baking for another 20 minutes. A well-done brownie should be crunchy on the surface and gooey in the center.

While slicing, keep wiping the knife after each cut to maintain neatly shaped brownie slices.

To serve the vegan gluten-free brownies, drizzle some melted dark chocolate and garnish with chopped nuts and herbs.

Enjoy!

Recipe Variation

The above recipe is simple and healthy, but you can make it even better and more flexible for your kitchen.

Generally, store-bought gluten-free flour might contain tapioca flour, rice flour, potato starch, teff flour, buckwheat flour, sorghum flour, or garbanzo flour among others. Some also contain nut flours. You can easily make yours at home.

For example, you can make almond flour by simply grinding raw almonds in a powerful blender or grinder. But, since almond flour is quite fine and dense, it barely holds shape. Because of this, make sure you mix it with a different type of flour like brown rice flour for fluffy brownies.

You can also add healthy spices and herbs in your brownies. Freshly ground ginger and mint leaves go well with brownies.

And the list is endless. Customize your vegan gluten-free brownies just how you like them.

The popular ranch dressing is made from Mayonnaise, buttermilk, salt, black pepper, garlic, onion, chives, parsley, and dill and other industrial food flavors, preservatives, color, and stabilizers. As health conscious vegans, we tend to avoid popular store-bought products because obviously, we can’t verify the ingredients (unless there is a vegan note included). Ranch dressing is one of these products. In this recipe, I’ll share with you a simple yet healthy way to enjoy your own home-made vegan ranch dressing.

The Ingredients

• 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• A handful chopped fresh chives
• Vegan buttermilk (recipe below)
• White vinegar (optional, but it acts as a good preservative, and it introduces the tangy flavor)
• Herbs – finely chopped (optional, to taste):
• Italian flat-leaf parsley
• Fresh Dill
• Paprika
• Cayenne pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Tabasco
• Fresh oregano
• Salt To Taste

Procedure

Mix your chopped herbs with garlic and combine with the rest of the ingredients (except vegan buttermilk) in a large bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Chill the vegan ranch dressing for 1-6 hours to let the ingredients infuse together. When ready to serve, add the buttermilk gradually as you mix to get to your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Vegan Buttermilk and Vegan Mayonnaise Recipes

I always make these in bulk and store to use within the month. They always come in handy for most of my weekly meals.

To Make the Vegan Buttermilk

You need a cup of either soymilk or almond milk. The other options won’t cuddle as well as these two so don’t even think about them.

To the milk add a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon or vinegar and let it sit for 2 minutes for the magic to happen.

You can use the vegan buttermilk in any recipe that calls for buttermilk; it works just fine (maybe even better).

To Make the Vegan Mayonnaise

The basics of mayo is a base usually inform of milk, well-cooked vegetables or tofu, oil, mustard, and lemon juice.

Vegan Mayo Ingredients

• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

For this vegan mayo, we shall use soymilk as the base. The other milk options work as well, but from personal experience, soy wins. If you need a replica of store-bought mayo, use soft silken tofu instead of milk.

Blend all the ingredients together (except the oil) and adjust the seasoning, as you taste. Now turn the blender into a slower speed and add oil gradually as you blend until it emulsifies. Store in an airtight container and use it on sandwiches, dressing, your kids’ snacks, and in different aioli recipes (as a base).

Note

The original yellow or brown mustard is 100% vegan. It’s made from mustard seeds, spices, vinegar, and salt. However, avoid the most recent types such as Dijon and honey mustard. These contain a few ingredients from animal products.

In Conclusion

If you’re thinking these vegan substitutes taste weird, you’re wrong. They taste better than the store bought non-vegan counterparts. Moreover, they are healthier especially when you make them at home. Additionally, they contain less saturated fats, zero cholesterol no preservatives or additives, and you can also reduce the amount of sodium you use to keep them healthy.

This vegan ranch dressing will be an excellent dip for breadsticks, chips, vegan chicken patties, and vegan pizza. It is also a great addition to salads.