Learn how to make the best Vegan Baked Ziti, a cheesy, meaty, and easy comfort food that’s ready in 1 hour! Enjoy it for weeknight family dinners or freeze and reheat it later on.
Craving more easy and cheesy vegan pasta dinners? You’ll also love my Vegan Baked Mac and Cheese, Vegan Manicotti, Pumpkin Pasta Bake, and Vegan Lasagna Soup.
This Vegan Baked Ziti Recipe was one of the very first recipes I posted on my blog! And after all these years, it’s still one of my favorite family dinners and most popular recipes. It doesn’t matter who I feed it to—my kids, extended family, or die-hard meat eaters—it always receives rave reviews from everyone who tries it.
I can almost guarantee that if you like vegan lasagna, you’ll love baked ziti. It’s also a dreamy vegan comfort food disguised as a baked pasta dish, except it’s easy to toss together and bake in about 1 hour. Those ooey gooey layers of pasta, vegan cashew cheese, marinara sauce, and vegan beef are too good to pass up!
A perfect weeknight dinner you can serve hot from the oven or freeze and reheat when company comes over unexpectedly, my creamy baked ziti is possibly the best recipe ever.
Why you’ll love this easy vegan baked ziti recipe
- It’s just SO easy! This baked ziti is just as good as my Vegan Lasagna but much easier to make. Just dump everything into a casserole dish, bake, and enjoy!
- Everything you need in a comforting dinner – Al dente ziti noodles are combined with vegan ground “beef,” homemade cashew cheese, and marinara sauce. What more could you need in a family-friendly comfort food?
- A perfect freezer meal for later – Freezing baked ziti is a breeze! This freezer meal always comes in handy when company comes over, for holiday dinners, and during busy weeknights.
How to make vegan baked ziti
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Blend the cashew cheese ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
Next, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the noodles and add them to a prepared casserole dish.
Cook the vegan meat in a pan until it’s browned and cooked through.
Stir the cooked vegan meat and marinara sauce into the dish with the noodles until combined. Spoon the cashew cheese on top and stir it in a little bit.
Extra cheesy option: Combine the cashew cheese with my Homemade Vegan Ricotta for an extra cheesy ziti.
Bake the vegan ziti uncovered until it’s hot and bubbly. Garnish with fresh herbs and vegan parmesan, then enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta noodles. You might not be able to find gluten-free ziti, but a similar shape, like penne, will work just fine.
If you’re looking for a time-saving option, you can use a bag of non-dairy cheese shreds instead of the homemade cashew cheese. My Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce would also be good here!
I like making this with Beyond Beef Crumbles best but any brand of vegan ground “beef” will work just as well. Impossible, Gardein, and even TVP that’s been rehydrated in broth are all good options. Sliced or chopped vegan sausages would also be tasty.
Once the leftover pasta bake has cooled, transfer it to individual airtight containers and refrigerate. The pasta will stay fresh for up to 4 days. To reheat, zap the leftovers in the microwave or warm them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven.
Yes, vegan baked ziti freezes very well. After cooking the ziti and letting it cool completely, tightly cover the casserole dish with foil and freeze. When it’s time to eat, bake the ziti in a 350ºF oven for about 1 hour or until it’s warmed through.
Vegan Baked Ziti
Ingredients
Cashew Cheese
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
The Rest
- 1 pound ziti pasta
- (2) 24- ounce jars marinara sauce
- 16 ounces vegan ground beef Impossible/Beyond/or vegan sausages
- Optional: 2 cups vegan shredded mozzarella cheese + 1/4 cup vegan parmesan
- chopped fresh basil or parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare oven and dish: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.
- Make the cheese sauce: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil (I use my tea kettle). Pour the hot water over the raw cashews and let soak for 5 minutes, or up to an hour. Drain the cashews and add to a high-powered blender along with the fresh water (¾ cup), lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion powder and salt and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta: Prepare pasta according to package instructions. You can cook the pasta while your cashews are soaking to save time. Drain the noodles and add to the casserole dish.
- Cook the vegan meat: Cook the vegan ground beef (or sliced sausages) in a pan until browned and cooked through.
- Combine in the baking dish: Pour the jars of marinara sauce and cooked vegan meat on top of the noodles and stir to combine. Spoon the cashew cheese on top of the pasta in large dollops. Stir it in just a little bit, leaving some pockets of cheese intact (you don’t want to mix it a lot, the cheese will become thicker as it bakes and taste incredible).
- Bake: If desired, sprinkle with some vegan mozzarella and/or parmesan. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve immediately, sprinkled with some fresh herbs for garnish.
Notes
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Gluten Free: Use gluten free noodles that are a similar shape to ziti, such as gluten free Penne.
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Vegan Meat: I used Beyond beef, but you can use Impossible, Gardein, or even TVP that has been rehydrated. Vegan sausage also works, sliced or chopped.
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For a Veggie Variation: In a pan, saute a few cups of veggies such as zucchini, spinach, bell peppers and/or mushrooms. Stir into the pasta with the sauce.
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Storage and Reheating: Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 days, making it a great meal prep for lunches. Simply reheat in the microwave until warm, or an oven-safe dish.
- Freezer: This dish can be frozen. Once cooked, let it cool completely, then cover tightly with foil and freeze. When ready to serve, bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until warm.
Nutrition
Is this an updated recipe from years ago? I had it printed off (in 2018, I believe)and gave it to my mom- she sent me a photo asking for it again because part of the paper is missing/unreadable (got wet?). The paper version says “vegan baked ziti with cashew cheese” – so I was wondering if it’s the same recipe.
It is the exact same recipe, yes! 🙂 One of my favorites.
Looks delicious can this be frozen prior to baking? I’m trying to get ahead of the holidays and have meals on hand – if not, do you have other recommendations?
This one could be frozen but I wouldn’t recommend it, especially for serving company. The noodles will probably be mushy.
Hi,
How long does the soaked cashews stay fresh in the fridge? I want to soak the cashew in boiling water for 5 minutes as you said. However, I want to do this for the day before I cook. How long will the water soaked cashews last in the fridge? Thank you 🙂
If you’re going to soak the cashews for a day, you don’t need to use hot water. Just cover the cashews with cool/room temperature water and refrigerate for 24 hours or so. When you’re ready to use them, I would probably drain and give them a quick rinse. Hope that helps and you enjoy the ziti!
I have made this recipe a bunch of times as you instructed and it always turned out amazing plus it’s simple to make. Recently, I wanted to cut out the processed foods of the vegan ground beef and non-dairy mozzarella, so I made 3 cups of green lentils (for the “beef”) and I made your homemade vegan mozzarella cheese. I put the whole batch of the homemade mozzarella cheese to the ziti in addition to the cashew cheese. It turned out just as delicious (if not more!) and it’s much healthier. I wanted to share for anyone interested. 🙂
Easy and better than anticipated. I’ve never tried making cashew cheeses before and I think I should have soaked them maybe longer due to it not being as smooth as regular ricotta. But… delicious! Made the dinner rolls to go with as everyone requests them. Another Nora Cooks success!
The cashew cheese sauce in this is amazing! I’ve made the sauce several times now to incorporate into other dishes as well.
I love how hands-off this recipe is. It is perfect for a weeknight dinner that the whole family (toddler included) can enjoy.
I made this using the tofu crumbles from your Ultimate Vegan Chili recipe as the ground “beef” and it came out phenomenal! For the mozzarella, I used a recipe for cashew-based liquid mozzarella which worked great. Thanks for another winner, Nora!
I’m glad you loved the recipe, Faith! Thanks for your awesome review and feedback!
Looks delicious! Do you think I can substitute lentils for the vegan ground beef?
Absolutely!
Hi Nora, this sounds great! We love all your recipes. I was wondering if the tofu crumbles from your Ultimate Vegan Chili recipe would work as a ground beef sub here? Or would you season them differently?
Thanks Faith, that always makes me happy to hear! Yes, you can absolutely use those tofu crumbles, as written, in the baked ziti recipe. I don’t think I’d change a thing personally. Enjoy!
Delicious and super quick/easy to put together. I skipped the shredded cheese and it was still delicious. My non vegan family members absolutely loved it as well.
I’m glad the ziti was a hit with your family! Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback!
I was thinking about using walnut ‘meat’ instead. What do you think?
I think that would be delicious!
Sorry. Actually, it was asking how much vegan mozzarella cheese would you need to substitute for the cheese sauce.
Thanks!
I usually use a whole bag, about 2 cups, but you can use more or less to your liking.
How much is in cups is one bag of vegan mozzarella, approximately? Thanks!
It depends, but usually almost 2 cups.
Hello! I love this recipe and want to make it for a mama friend who just had a baby to help with the postpartum period. She lives about fifteen minutes away. Do you think it’s best to just make it as usual, including baking, and then bring it over and they can warm in the oven for a few minutes before eating? Or should I make it up to the point of baking and then bring it over for her to bake?
Also- can this be made ahead of time, like in the morning or afternoon or the day before for baking tomorrow? Thanks!
Oh that is so kind of you. You could do this either way, but if possible I would make it without baking but all put together, bring it over, pop it in the oven and serve. Just so it’s warm when you serve it and it doesn’t dry out from getting baked again, which can happen. It’s probably best not to mix the pasta with the sauce and cheese until closer to serving, because the pasta will absorb the sauce/cheese and start to get dry. You could make everything, keep separate, then put it together right before going over though. Hope that helps!
Thank you! As a follow up question, if I use beyond beef (the kind that is “ground” and kept in the grocery store with the regular raw meat, not frozen) and wanted to cook it first, should I only cook partially and then mix it in or cook fully and not bake as long?or? Cook beyond beef fully and then still do the recipe as normal! Thank you!
Cook the beyond beef all the way first, then continue with the recipe as written. 🙂 Hope that helps, enjoy!
Another delivery recipe! Easy to make, because I had all the ingredients on hand. Definitely will be making this again…I don’t expect leftovers to last past tomorrow’s lunch!
I meant to say DELICIOUS! Darn autocorrect!!
Incredible easy and delicious!! I cooked up some beyond beef and mixed in… now I can’t stop thinking about the leftovers in my fridge!
Hello!
This recipe looks wonderful.
Question: Should I cook the vegan beef crumbles first, or just add them in frozen?
The crumbles will be fine if you add them in when frozen. 🙂
Baked ziti was always our special meal when I was growing up. I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and it brought me right back to my childhood. Thank you for this amazing recipe and for all of your recipes.
This is the best ziti! I don’t care for bagged vegan cheeses so I just made the cheese sauce and topped with a little vegan parm. I used Gardein crumbles and did not cook them first- just mixed them in frozen and it was fine! This ziti is perfection as is, but I like that it could be changed up with whatever veggies we have on hand. Thank you!
We have made this many times and it’s one of our favourites!
Delicious on the first night and also so good re-heated as leftovers.
I’m so glad you love the recipe, Barb!
I have this in the oven now. I cut the recipe in half. I think I added too much water to the cheese; it was smooth/flowing versus chunky. Is it supposed to be chunky? I guess we’ll see what happens.
It’s okay if it was more of a sauce, it should thicken up in the oven and turn out just fine. Hope you enjoyed it!
It was really good! But better a couple days later after sitting in the fridge.
Absolutely loved this dish! No “meat” or cheese and still fantastic!!
Thank you for sharing your terrific review and feedback, Charlene! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
So amazing as always. Thank you for all the vegan recipes! You’ve become my go-to for delicious food. 🙂
This recipe was awesome. Highly recommend a little red pepper flakes for a kick and using Miyokos vegan liquid mozzarella on top. SO DELICIOUS!
I appreciate you using my recipes, Lauren! I’m honored to be your go-to for delicious recipes! Thanks for your stellar review and feedback!
Does the Miyoko’s melt? Or did you have to broil a little?
I don’t broil, but I’m sure that would be great too. It seems to melt fine for me. Just don’t use too much 😊
We have had this so many times and love it! I’m making and freezing it for an upcoming event. Will I need to thaw it out prior to baking at 350 for an hour or is that the time and temp for the frozen dish? Thanks again and can’t thank you enough!
Hi Laurie. I’m so glad you are loving the ziti! I would prepare the recipe up to the point of baking it, then cover well and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw it in the fridge overnight and then bake as directed. You may need to bake it a little longer than normal. Happy cooking!
My non-vegan family members asked for this recipe. It’s THAT good.
That’s fantastic! Thank you so much for your review!
Thank you Nora for another great recipe. I’ve made it many times and everyone loves it vegans and non alike. I don’t use any meat or cheez and it’s still wonderful. I’m wondering if I can make it, bring it somewhere and cook it several hours later?
You’re so welcome, Joan! I’m so glad you loved the recipe 🙂 I like the ziti best when it’s fresh, but assembling it, then cooking it later should be fine. Try to boil the pasta until it’s almost al dente so it doesn’t become too mushy after baking.