Vegan Baked Ziti
Vegan baked ziti is an easy weeknight meal yet delicious enough for a special occasion. This meatless baked ziti is packed with pasta noodles, tomato sauce, vegan sausage, and tofu ricotta, then topped with vegan cheese or béchamel sauce. It has all the comfort food goodness of lasagna without the work.
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You can add veggies to make this dish healthier or add some vegan sausage to the ziti to make it a flavorful and hearty meal. If you’re looking for some more comforting dinner recipes you should also check out my recipes for vegan lasagna, stuffed shells, and vegan goulash.
You’ll love vegan ziti because it’s
- rich, creamy, and cheesy.
- hearty and comforting.
- as tasty as lasagna without all of the effort.
- easily made gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Ziti Noodles – or any shaped pasta that you like. Spirals, small shells, or penne also work well.
- Tomato Sauce – any jarred pasta sauce that you like. You will need 2 (24 oz jars.) You can also use 2 (24 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes. Many recipes call for 1 jar of sauce, but I find it to be too dry. It bakes up with a nicer consistency with 2 jars of sauce. You can also use my homemade roasted tomato sauce or my roasted red pepper and tomato sauce.
- Vegan Sausage – any vegan Italian-style sausage works well. You can dice up any store-bought vegan sausage links or you can make your own vegan sausage with my vegan sausage crumble recipe or seitan sausage links. You can also swap this out for vegan “beef” crumbles, and diced mushrooms, or omit the vegan meat completely.
- Vegan Ricotta – I like to use my easy vegan ricotta made with tofu, make cashew ricotta, or you can also use store-bought vegan ricotta.
- (For my tofu ricotta you will need extra firm tofu, olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic, and salt).
- Onion – (optional) I saute an onion before adding the sausage and tomato sauce for extra flavor to the baked ziti, but you can leave it out if you want.
- Olive Oil – to saute the onion and vegan sausage.
- Italian Seasoning – for flavor.
- Salt – for flavor.
- Sugar – (optional) to cut the acidity of the tomato sauce. This is completely optional, but I usually buy a sauce that doesn’t contain sugar, so adding just a little enhances the flavor. If your sauce already has it, you probably won’t need to add any.
- Vegan Cheese or Béchamel Sauce – for the top of your dairy-free baked ziti! You can make it easy and sprinkle on a package of your favorite vegan cheese on top or you can use my homemade melty vegan mozzarella, vegan liquid pizza cheese, or vegan bechamel sauce. Tip: if you leave the agar agar out of my homemade mozzarella, it will be a sauce that you can pour over the top without having to let it set and remelt it.
How to make vegan baked ziti
Step 1 – Preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C).
Step 2 – Peel and dice an onion, then saute it in 1 tbsp of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt until it’s translucent.
Step 3 – Add vegan sausage (diced up small if using sausage links) or “beef” crumbles and saute for 3-4 more minutes.
Step 4 – Pour in 2 jars of marinara sauce, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, and a sprinkle of sugar (if needed), and let simmer on the lowest setting.
Step 5 – Boil the ziti in a large pot according to package directions to cook it al dente.
Step 6 – While the pasta is boiling make your tofu ricotta by blending 1 block of pressed firm tofu, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, a handful of basil, and 1 tsp salt in your food processor until creamy. You can add a splash of plant-based milk or water if it’s too thick.
Step 7 – Drain and rinse cooked pasta and add it to the sauce and stir well.
Assembly
Step 8 – Pour half of the sauce and noodles into the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch casserole dish.
Step 9 – Spoon dollops of vegan ricotta on the noodles.
Step 10 – Pour the remaining sauce and noodles over the ricotta.
Step 11 – Top your ziti with 1 cup of vegan mozzarella cheese or a batch of vegan bechamel sauce.
Baking
Step 12 – Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 1 hour until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
Step 13 – Let it cool for about 10 minutes to firm up a little before spooning it onto a plate.
Pro Tips
- If using vegan cheese, cover the ziti with foil for the first 40 minutes of baking to help the cheese melt.
- Serve your ziti with a vegan Ceasar salad, broccoli salad, or vegan focaccia for a complete meal.
- To sneak in some veggies and make this healthier, use my vegan bolognese sauce with hidden veggies instead of plain sauce, or use my tofu bolognese to add more protein.
Storage and reheating
This vegan ziti recipe makes a lot of food. If you are only 1 person or a small family you may want to cut the recipe in half, however, baked ziti is delicious reheated for lunches and it freezes well, so it’s great for meal prep!
Storing – Cover any uneaten baked ziti and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Reheating – to reheat your baked ziti, microwave each serving for about 3 minutes. You can also sprinkle the ziti with 1-2 tbsp of water, cover with foil, and place the casserole dish back in the oven at 350° F (176° C) for about 15-20 minutes.
Freezing – Freeze the ziti in a tightly sealed container with minimal air surrounding the pasta. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the fridge.
How to make vegan baked ziti ahead of time
If you want to make the baked ziti ahead of time and have it ready to pop in the oven, simply assemble the ziti and then cover it with foil, and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking. It will require an additional 10-15 minutes of baking since it will be very cold in the fridge.
How to make baked ziti gluten-free
Use firm gluten-free pasta. I find that noodles made with a corn or quinoa base hold up the best in baked ziti. Rice noodles will become mushy and don’t hold their shape when baked. Make sure to cook the noodles al dente since they will continue to cook when baked.
More vegan comfort food
Vegan baked ziti recipe
Vegan Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 (16 oz) package ziti, or any other pasta
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 (14 oz) package vegan Italian sausage, diced (or "beef" or vegan sausage crumbles)
- 2 (24 oz) jars tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon sugar, (optional)
Tofu Ricotta (or use store-bought vegan ricotta)
- 1 (14 oz) package firm tofu, drained and pressed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Vegan Bechamel Sauce (or top with vegan cheese)
- 2 1/2 cups plain plant-based milk , (like soy or oat milk)
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon salt, (or to taste)
- 1 dash nutmeg, (optional)
Equipment
- Food Processor – for tofu ricotta.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Peel and dice an onion then saute it in 1 tbsp of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt until it's translucent.
- Add vegan sausage (diced up small if using sausage links) or "beef" crumbles and saute for 3-4 more minutes.
- Pour in 2 jars of tomato sauce, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, and a sprinkle of sugar (if needed), and let simmer on the lowest setting.
- Boil the ziti according to package directions to cook it al dente.
Make the tofu ricotta: (or use other vegan ricotta)
- While the pasta is boiling make your tofu ricotta by blending 1 block of pressed firm tofu, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, a handful of basil, and 1 tsp salt in your food processor until creamy. You can add a splash of plant-based milk or water if it's too thick.
Assemble the baked ziti
- Drain and rinse cooked pasta and add it to the sauce and stir well.
- Pour half of the sauce and noodles into the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch casserole dish.
- Spoon dollops of vegan ricotta on the noodles.
- Pour the remaining sauce and noodles over the ricotta.
- Top your ziti with 1 cup of vegan mozzarella cheese or a batch of vegan bechamel sauce.
Make the vegan bechamel sauce: (or top with vegan cheese)
- Warm 2 1/2 cups of milk.
- Melt 4 tbsp of vegan butter in a saucepan then add 4 tbsp of white flour and stir until you get a thick roux.
- Slowly add the warm milk while stirring constantly until you have a thick sauce. Add the salt and nutmeg to taste and then pour over your ziti.
Bake the ziti:
- Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 1 hour until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
- Let it cool for about 10 minutes to firm up a little before spooning it onto a plate.
Notes
- If using vegan cheese, cover the ziti with foil for the first 40 minutes hour of baking to help the cheese melt.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
Do you use fresh or dried basil in the ricotta?
I use fresh for the best flavor. Enjoy!
This recipe can be quick if using store bought ingredients, but I wanted the homemade version (and had time) so I made both the tofu crumbles and cashew ricotta at the time of making this for dinner. I also started the tomato sauce by making a soffritto from sauteed onion, carrot and celery first. I also sneaked in a zucchini that was about to go bad, lol. Used a big can of tomato sauce (plain, not pasta sauce) and a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies. Added a lot of parsley, oregano and basil but skipped the sugar altogether. Since the tofu crumbles were freshly baked, I didn’t cook them in the sauce before assembling the dish for baking. For noodles, I used the shirataki noodle ziti pasta (4 7 oz. packages) freshly cooked as well.
Once the tomato sauce was done, I simply stirred the tofu crumbles into it and added the pasta as well. Only afterwards, I read that this recipe calls for 16 oz of pasta and I thought that my 4 packages of noodles would be too much, but no, as I realized that 16 oz of dry pasta would surely expand and end up being more than 16 oz. Anyway, I put half of the mixture into my big glass baking dish (9 x 13, I think), then covered with 2 cups of freshly made cashew ricotta and the rest of the tomato mixture. Had full intentions of using the homemade vegan mozzarella I made previously, but it went bad in the fridge (boo, must remember to freeze it next time I make it) so I ended up using just regular mozzarella I had in the fridge (I still eat cheese). Baked for only about 35 minutes and it was all a bubbling delicious, gooey experience when we finally bit into it! Yum!
Of course, one can make this dish with lasagna noodles and call it a lasagna! Or add spinach into the ricotta for a different flavor. Anyway, the flavors and textures were great and there are a ton of leftovers. Yay for not making dinner tomorrow! 😄😁 Thank you Monica!
I’m so happy that you liked it, Beata! There are so many options when putting baked ziti together and they all seem to bake up delicious! 🙂
I made it with mushrooms instead of the vegan sausage and loved it! I prepared as much vegan ricotta and boiled ziti as indicated, but when I assembled it, I ended up having a good mount of pasta left over, same with the ricotta. So my version might not have the ingredients proportional to yours, but it was very tasty! Son (7yo) liked it as well. Thank you!
I’m glad that you liked it. I wonder if you used a smaller pan that I did. You need a big lasagna pan to fit it in. 🙂
I made it using all the ingredients topped with cheese skip the sauce topper