Easy Vegan Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (Not Watery)

The best summer fresh easy vegan zucchini lasagna recipe is not watery! This healthy zucchini lasagna recipe is gluten free and dairy free. A perfect summer meal that uses up those every growing zucchini from your garden!

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How to Cut Zucchini Lasagna Noodles

This recipe uses any sized zucchini from the garden! 

The answer is what makes this vegan zucchini lasagna so fast and easy to throw together on a busy summer day!

Simply slice the zucchini into long thin slices. This can be done with a large chopping knife or a mandoline slicer. 

A quick option is to thinly chop the zucchini and layer them this way as more like a lasagna bake.

How to make Zucchini Lasagna Not Watery

There are several ways to make zucchini lasagna not watery depending how much time you have. The quickest way, and my personal favourite, is the last one!

• Salt them, then dab dry with paper towel
• Grill them
• Cut very thin (A mandoline slicer works best for this.)
• Add gluten free pasta 

Is soy good for you?

Soy definitely! All the harmful pesticides and other chemicals sprayed on this cash crop – NO! But there’s another problem with soy, many soy beans unless the package specifies are GMO. This means they have been genetically modified to be resistant to roundup (glyphosate).

So if soy is organic and non-GMO it is good for you!

But what about the high estrogen in soy?

This is actually so amazing. plant estrogen will actually go into your cell openings and block xenoestrogens (synthetic or natural chemical compounds that mimic estrogen, potentially disrupting the endocrine system and causing health issues) that are, shall we say a cell bully.

However, the plant estrogen, in soy or red clover, is a gentleman bodyguard, it will wait at the entrance until summoned. Only if your body’s cells need more estrogen will they go into the cell. If the plant estrogen isn’t needed, it will sit at the door almost like a body guard from all those toxic xenoestrogens.

So organic, non-GMO soy is incredible for you, even for the guys!

Ingredients for Vegan Zucchini Lasagna

• zucchini
• tomato sauce (marinara is a great option)
• gluten free pasta (orecchiette is my favourite to use)
• fresh herbs (optional)
• vegan cheese (optional)
• Tofu ricotta:
• firm tofu
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• garlic (fresh or powdered)
• onion (fresh or powdered, or chives)
• basil (fresh or dried)
• Italian seasoning (optional)
• salt

Tools You May Need:

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• Mandoline Slicer – for cutting the zucchini into thin even slices.
• Baking Dish – I use an 9″ x 13” pan.

Instructions: How to make Vegan Zucchini Lasagna

Make the Tofu Ricotta

Make vegan zucchini lasagna with tofu ricotta is so quick! I like to prep this the night before so it has time to marinate and saves time the next day. However, this isn’t necessary! 

1. Drain one package of firm tofu and crumble into a bowl.
2. Add the lemon juice, oil, salt, basil, Italian seasoning and garlic.
3. Mix well.
4. If prepping ahead of time, store in the fridge.

Make zucchini “noodles”

Wash 1 large zucchini or 2 medium zucchini.

Cut the ends off and slice into thin slices either using a large knife or a mandoline slicer. Slice about 1/4 inch thick.

Assemble the Lasagna

1. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce into the bottom of your glass baking dish.
2. Layer on top of this a layer of gluten free pasta. I like to use orecchiette pasta as it cooks quickly and almost gives the effect of one large noodle, instead of a bunch of individual ones.
3. Layer the zucchini “noodles”.
4. Next place a layer of tofu ricotta, followed by a thin layer tomato sauce, and again gluten free pasta.
5. Follow with the next layer of zucchini “noodles” and repeat layering until your pan is filled.
6. For the top layer after placing down the zucchini “noodles” top with a thin layer of tomato sauce and garnish with either fresh basil, spinnach, thinly sliced tomatoes and or eggplant.
7. Top all this with the rest of the tofu ricotta or vegan cheese if using.
8. Cover with foil and bake at 375° F for 35 minutes. Then take off the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes until bubbly.

Variations of Vegan Zucchini Lasagna

Make zucchini lasagna gluten free by using gluten free pasta. 

Make zucchini lasagna grain free using the other tips to keep the zucchini lasagna from becoming watery. Slice thinly with a mandoline slicer, salt them and pat dry, or grill the zucchini “noodles” first.

For vegetarian zucchini lasagna you can use real cheese and cottage cheese instead of tofu ricotta and vegan cheese. 

Add spinach to the layers. Be careful adding fresh spinach to the layers as they give off a lot of moisture. If you decide to make sure to steam and strain them first.

Add a vegan protein: cook up green or black lentils, season with salt and herbs. This can be added to the zucchini lasagna layers. Make sure the lentils are drained well to avoid soggy lasagna. 

Switch up the herbs: basil and oregano, garlic and Italian seasoning, garlic and rosemary all taste lovely. Use fresh herbs in your garden as you can.

Garnish with thin slices of tomatoes, eggplant and spinach.

Tips: Vegan Zucchini Lasagna

How do you keep zucchini lasagna from being watery?

There are several ways. A lot of recipes recommend salting and drying your zucchini slices first. I’ve never had to do this with this recipe because I add gluten free pasta noodles to the layers which soak up any extra moisture. 

Other ways to make sure there isn’t to much moisture and still skipping these steps: 

1. Make the slices very thin.
2. Use fairly thick/not watery pasta sauce.

Tips for Getting Moisture Out of Zucchini Slices + making it grain free.

If you want to make this recipe grain free (no pasta). Here are two tips for getting moisture out of zucchini slices:

1. Salting: salt will naturally draw moisture out of the zucchini slices. To do this, lay the zucchini slices on a baking sheet that is lined with paper towels. Then sprinkle on some salt. Wait about 10 minutes. When you start to see moisture droplets pat them dry and you’re ready to bake!
2. Grilling: another option is to grill the zucchini slices to remove the moisture. Place your slices directly onto the grill and cook them for a few minutes per side. I’d imagine this method will give a scrumptious charred flavour to your zucchini!

Make this vegan zucchini lasagna recipe even faster!

Make sure to prep the tofu ricotta the night before hand.

Instead of slicing zucchini “noodles,” simply chop the zucchini into small pieces and place in layers as in the above instructions. It’s almost like a lazy man’s lasagna or zucchini lasagna bake or zucchini casserol.

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I would be grateful if you could come back and give it 5 stars, let others know what you’ve discovered!

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Vegan Zucchini Lasagna

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

The best summer fresh & easy vegan zucchini lasagna recipe is not watery! This healthy zucchini lasagna is gluten free and dairy free.

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Ingredients

• 1 large or 2 medium Zucchini
• 1 Quart Tomato Sauce (marinara is a great option)
• 10 oz gluten free pasta (orecchiette is my favourite to use)
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs (optional)
• 2 cups Vegan Cheese (optional)
• 1 block tofu - extra firm
• 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder (2-3 cloves minced, or 2-3 garlic scapes or tops chopped)
• 1 tsp Onion powder (or 1 Tbsp fresh chives)
• 2 tsp basil (one handful of fresh basil, chopped)
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt (Himalayan or Celtic)

Instructions

Make the Tofu Ricotta

1. Drain one package of firm tofu and crumble into a bowl.
2. Add the lemon juice, oil, salt, basil, Italian seasoning, onion (or chives) and garlic.
3. Mix well, set aside.
4. Note, you will want to save a little at the end for garnish on the top.

Make zucchini “noodles”

1. Wash 1 large zucchini or 2 medium zucchini.
2. Cut the ends off. Slice into thin slices (about 1/4 inch thick) either using a large knife or a Mandoline slicer.

Assemble the Lasagna

1. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce into the bottom of your glass baking dish.
2. Layer on top of this a layer of gluten free pasta (add more if your zucchini "noodles" are thicker).
3. Layer on the zucchini "noodles".
4. Next place a thin layer tomato sauce, another layer of pasta, followed by a layer of tofu ricotta.
5. Repeat layering with the next layer being zucchini "noodles" then repeat layering in step 4 until your pan is filled.
6. Top layer by placing zucchini "noodles" with a thin layer of tomato sauce.
7. Garnish with either fresh basil, spinach, thinly sliced tomatoes and or eggplant.
8. Top all this with the rest of the tofu ricotta (or vegan cheese if using).
9. Cover with foil and bake at 375° F for 35 minutes. Then take off the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes until bubbly.
10. Do a fork test to see if the zucchini has cooked through. They should feel tender.

Notes

• To save time, prep the tofu ricotta the night before and put in the fridge. Bonus it it will have more time to marinate.
• If you like lots of tofu ricotta go ahead and double it.
• A tasty addition is spinach, make sure to sautéd first to get the excess water out.
• It it's still watery: If you found it was still watery, add more pasta next time, especially to the bottom couple layers. I like to use gluten free orecchiette pasta as it cooks quickly and almost gives the effect of large lasagna noodles. The pasta works to soak up extra liquid and keep the zucchini lasagna from becoming watery.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 182Total Fat: 4.93gSaturated Fat: 0.587gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0.665gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1352mgCarbohydrates: 26.11gFiber: 6.8gSugar: 9.94gProtein: 6.78g

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