Raw Vegan Lasagne is perhaps the most quintessential classic raw food dish. I’d say it’s probably introduced more people to raw food via retreats and restaurants than anything else. This is my take on this classic raw food recipe.
The absolute top of the pile raw food classic, raw vegan lasagne is always a crowd pleaser. It’s got multiple stages, so it’s going to be a dish that you create for special occasions. That being said, regular lasagne does take quite some preparation time too, so it’s not that far removed from it’s cooked inspiration.
If you do want to shorten the time you spend on this, you can leave out the fermentation stage of the cheese and simply blend all of the ingredients from the first and second stage together. I would definitely suggest taking the time to do the fermentation though, since you’ll end up with a much nicer dish. It’ll have more nutritional value too.
How to Make Raw Vegan Lasagne
Raw lasagne wasn’t my idea, it’s just one of those dishes that people love and have known about forever. Even today people are discovering raw food through this fantastic little dish. This is my take on that dish. I published the first version of this in 2007 and have only just given it a revamp, which shows you what a great dish it is, seeing as it’s still consistently one of the top posts on my site.
In this post I’m going to show you how to make individual lasagne portions, built on the plate. Alternatively you could certainly use a baking dish to build one big lasage, keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days and cut portions from it as needed.
You’ll see most raw and plant-based lasagne recipes just include a nut cheese, pesto and tomato sauce, which is wonderful and more in keeping with the original recipes for this dish. I’ve also added a meat sauce element, which is entirely an option, but does give something extra.
If you want to add a raw plant-based parmesan cheese you could follow this recipe: Pine Nut Parmesan. Or you can make a quick parmesan by using a Microplane to grate macadamias very fine, then mix in a bowl with a little nutritional yeast and salt.
You’ll definitely want to refer to the full recipe below, but here’s an overview of how to make raw vegan lasagne:
- As mentioned above I like to ferment the macadamias, so they make a tree nut cheese. If you want to save a bit of time and preparation, you can leave out the fermentation stage if you want and just blend the ingredients together.
- You’re also going to be making your other layers, for when you’re ready to build your raw lasagne. That means the tomato sauce, the pesto, the walnut meat layer and the spinach.
- The walnut meat layer is something I came up with as an additional layer, to make the whole thing a bit more meaty and substantial. Again, if you’re looking to try this but want to start with an easier version of the recipe, you can leave out this layer.
- The other thing you’re going to need is fine cut zucchini / courgette strips for the ‘pasta’ layer. Ideally these would be done on a mandoline, but it’s also completely possible to do them with a ribbon peeler.
- In the video below you’ll see me talk about making this lasagne as individual portions. I prefer this way of doing it because they look so fantastic served like this. However, a more practical and everyday approach would be to make one bit lasagne in a baking dish and cut individual portions as you need them.
Here’s what the stages look like for building the individual lasagne. You’ll see we’ve garnished with a quenelle and some small dice tomatoes, plus some chiffonade basil.
Raw Lasagne Ideas & Variations
If you have leftovers of any elements in the recipe, there’s a bunch of different ways you could use them.
An initial idea that comes to mind is to use some or all of the elements in courgette/zucchini rollups. This would involve cutting strips of courgette/zucchini and spreading a little of each the full length of the strip, then rolling up into bite size pieces.
You could also make the leftovers into an incredible salad. Get yourself a nice fresh green salad together, with some tomatoes, olives, peppers, cucumber – whatever you want really.
The pesto would make a great dressing on it’s own. You could also combine the cheese and pesto, add a little water and maybe a dash of extra vinegar to make a dressing too. You could then crumble some of the walnut meat layer over the top.
Or you could mix the tomato sauce with the cheese and do the same, adding a little vinegar perhaps, to make a dressing.
If you have any raw breads hanging around, any of these leftovers will make fantastic open faced sandwiches, or even mini pizzas. OK, no I’m getting hungry thinking about how amazing that would be! 🙂
We have some free raw bread recipes here, or if you want a dapper dive into raw breads, including pizza bases, check out our online course: Raw Breads, Crackers & Wraps here.
Raw Vegan Lasagne Recipe
Raw Vegan Lasagne Recipe
Nutrition (For one serving)
Ingredients
Macadamia Cheese 1st Stage
- 1 cup macadamias (soaked 8 hours)
- 1/2 cup water or a little more as needed
- 1/2 tsp probiotics
Macadamia Cheese 2nd Stage
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Walnut meat layer
- 1 cup walnuts (soaked 1 hour or more)
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (soaked for 1 hour or more)
- 1 tbsp brown miso
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
Tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes (soaked 2 hours or more)
- 2 dates (medjool are perfect)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Italian herb mix
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Pesto
- 2 cups tightly packed basil leaves
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast
Wilted Spinach
- 7 ozs spinach
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Assembly
- 4 courgettes (zucchini)
- 10 basil leaves (cut chiffonade)
Instructions
Macadamia Cheese 1st Stage
- Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.
- Place the mixture in a strainer that has been lined with cheesecloth and place a weight on top. The weight should not be so heavy that it pushes the cheese through the cloth, but heavy enough to gently start to press the liquid out.
- Leave to culture for at least 24 but no longer than 36 hours.
Macadamia Cheese 2nd Stage
- Mix the salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder and garlic powder with the fermented cheese from the first stage.
- The cheese is now ready and can be stored in a sealed container for up to a few weeks.
Walnut meat layer
- Grind all ingredients in a food processor, leaving the mixture slightly chunky.
Tomato sauce
- Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth.
Pesto
- Grind all ingredients, leaving some chunkiness!
Wilted Spinach
- Combine salt and spinach in a bowl. Massage until the spinach wilts down and gives off most of its liquid. Drain off any excess liquid.
Assembly
- Place 4 strips of courgette / zucchini on a plate, slightly overlapping.
- On top of this, put down a layer of the tomato sauce, then the cheese, the walnut meat layer and finally the pesto and then spinach on top.
- Place two thin slices of tomatoes on top of this.
- As we did at the start, put a layer of slightly overlapping courgette strips on top of the tomatoes.
- Repeat the steps for the filling ingredients, along with the tomatoes and a layer of courgette / zucchini.
- Garnish with a quenelle of cheese, some small dice tomatoes, a couple of turns of black pepper and a sprig or some chiffonade of basil.
Nutritional yeast is a very umami flavour, which means it’s a very satisfying savoury flavour. It’s also cheesy, which is why it’s used in raw tree nut cheeses. You could try substituting with a little light miso. Although it’s not a cheesy flavour, it’s also very umami. I also find a small amount of pine nuts blended in will help with the flavour you’ll lose by leaving out nutritional yeast.
This lasagne becomes a bit too watery after freezing, so it’s best eaten within 3 to 4 days. Honestly, that shouldn’t be a problem because of how great it tastes!
Yes, you can definitely make the cheese without fermentation. Just blend all of the ingredients together for the cheese and use them as is. I highly recommend training it with fermented cheese at least once. The cheese will last for weeks after it’s done, so can be used for other things if you have any left over.
I make all sorts of cheese, even camembert but following your Ricotta recipe, I made it three times and ended up with anything but nothing close to.
Interesting.
Hey Russel,
I haven’t made this yet. I have chickpea miso. Can I use that and if so how much?
Hi Deanna,
I can’t seem to see the thread that you’re posting this on. Where do you want to use the miso in the lasagna?
Assuming you mean the cheese in the lasagne, I’d suggest 2 tsp of light miso. If your chickpea miso is light in colour that should be fine.
Holy cow! This recipe is phenomenal! I have tried several different sun-dried tomato recipes and they were always an epic fail. Your recipe tastes amazing! Thank you for sharing this from this on your recipe. This is going into our rotation for sure! AND love the fermented macadamia nut cheese!!!
Wonderful! Thanks, Wendy 🙂
Hi Russel,
I am so excited to try out this recipe this weekend. I do have a few questions: 1) I’ve looked into every market in Maryland and none have brown miso paste (or maybe they are out?). I do have red miso paste; would this be a decent substitute? 2) I do have white miso paste which I am planning to replace for the probiotics. Would the miso remain the same tsp measurement as the probiotics? 3) Also, I know you stated that any probiotic powder will work, but I’ve looked online and the ones I’ve seen are either flavored or made by companies that seem to be not vegan friendly. I wanted to know what brand of probiotic powder you use so that I can order it (and try it with the lasagna again in the future)?
You’re an amazing chef and thank you so much for sharing your gift with us <3
Hey Briana,
1. Yes, you can use red miso.
2. I would do double the volume measurement if using white miso instead of probiotics.
3. I use Wild Nutrition here in the UK. You should easily be able to find what you’re looking for in your country by searching ‘vegan probiotics’. Here’s a page from the UK that you might be able to find in your country.
Hi Russell,
Can’t wait to try your modified recipe! I have a question for you. Regarding the sun-dried tomatoes, is it 1.5 cups dried sun dried tomatoes before it’s soaked?
Thank you,
Wendy
Hey Wendy! Yes, measured before soaking.
Hey Russell, could we ferment nut-cheese with something other than probiotics? Say miso or something along that line?
Cheers
Wen
Hi Wen, yep, miso would work. I’d go with a light miso.
This new version looks phenomenal.
I’ve made old one in 2002 and it was simply WOW.
I can’t wait to make this one but I need miso.
The ones I have bought before in Latvia did not have the same taste as miso should taste.
Could you please tell me what can I substitute with or can you recommend me any good brand i can buy from amazon.co.uk?
Nice! Can you get the Clearsping Miso? That’s a good one.
This is the first recipe of yours that I made. My boyfriend and I LOVED it. Even my 15-year-old, who is mostly veggie averse.
For me, compiling and sampling all the layers really helped me understand just how delicious, satisfying, and *easy* raw food can be:
– I made more of the cheese later for a dip (and as topping!).
– The pesto was *phenomenal.* I never even liked pesto before. I guess I never had a good one!
– Even the zucchini were delicious, and I’m not a squash girl. It was surprising that they take on a literally BUTTERY flavor with just some simple olive oil and salt.)
Each layer, I could eat alone and be so happy.
Skeptical, I even shared a piece with my mother. NOT a raw foodie by any means — fried, fat-heavy “Southern” diet — I thought she’d think it gross and suspicious, but she couldn’t stop raving and raving about it for days. Although she does still love vegetables and salads, “raw lasagna” is something that sounds admittedly quite suspicious to someone who doesn’t know that you don’t use the same ingredients for these classic dishes.
Just one thing — my “meat” layer didn’t taste like meat; it tasted almost the same as the sauce layer. I’m very new to raw and vegan meals, but it tasted very tart and “tomato pasty.” Did I do something wrong?
Hey Blue, the meat layer isn’t supposed to taste like meat, it’s just supposed to have a meaty consistency, so maybe don’t process it as much next time, so it has more texture.
Got it. It did have that texture — thank you.
Wats up Russ!! Great recipe..dish came out pretty good. Although eye ran out of walnut meat for the last layer. Probably because eye used too much on the previous ones. Question..eye don’t own a dehydrater, can eye still use my oven if it’s on the lowest setting, which is probably 150 degrees to warm it up a little bit?
Hey Jamal, you can. I’ve made a video on that, which you can see here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My husband and I love the taste of this better than the traditional dish made with meat, pasta n cheese.
It is worth the time and $ to collect the ingredients! It tastes even better when eaten at room temperature.
Thanks, Julie 🙂
Hi Russell!
My husband and I have been raw vegans for a year this month. I have to say, we consider this the best raw recipe ever! Thanks so much for sharing all your wonderful recipes and videos!
Thanks, Jamie 🙂
Hi Russell, quick question: I am allergic to walnuts. What’s the next best tasting nut you’d recommend to replace it in this recipe? Thanks!
Almonds are great. Maybe mixed with a few Brazils.
I would like to make this – just one question: is it possible to make without oil? If not, where can I decrease it without compromising the recipe?
Yes, you could leave out the oil. It will change the taste a little, but if you’re used to that, you’ll be fine.
I’ve been making this lasagna a lot. I’m getting ready to make it again for some guests.
Thank you
I have to say this is the best raw lasagne I have ever eaten, no matter where I take this dish everybody loves it.
I recently went to a 60th birthday party where 75% of the guests were true blue meat eater and they loved it some came back for seconds and thirds and many of them asked for the recipe. So I just wanted to thank you so much for your wonderful tasty recipes.
I love to hear that! 🙂
YES’ this is the Best Ever Raw Lasagna*** I have been Raw vegan for over 13 years. All Russell’s recipes are so Tasty*
To a Rawsome Day*
Tricia
Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoy this recipe so much, Tricia 🙂
Just wondering, could you freeze half of the tomato sauce and use it for later?
Sure could 🙂
Thank you for the tip! Will try raw sprouted tofu as a ricotta cheese substitute. Will let you know how it goes.
Hi Russell, I’m new to your site and only 2 weeks into raw. Loving what I’m reading, thank you so much. I have one question – what is a good substitute for pine nuts?
Great! It really depends which recipe. Most of the time cashews or macadamias are great.
I’m new to raw food. Sorry if this is a dumb question. Do I serve this right out of the fridge or do I let it sit at room temp before I serve? Thanks!
Whatever you prefer. If you have a dehydrator, you can pop it in there for 20 minutes to warm it through 🙂
This is absolutely amazing!!! Made it yesterday and left it in a fridge over night. Delicious!!!!!! Too bad my dish was too big so the layers were really thin, but still equaly yummy 🙂
Could this meal be dehidrited as well, just to get all the watter out of the zucchinis?
Thanks again for your brilliant work!
Yep, you could certainly pop it in the dehydrator to warm it up and give it a little more of a cooked texture.
Glad you liked it so much! 🙂
Hello Russell, this recipe is great! I’ll have to modify it to eliminate allergens (no nuts), so I have quite a task in front of me, but nothing impossible. A question: can a raw lasagna such as this one be frozen after preparation, a few days before it would be served? Thanks – and I LOVE your website, well done and keep it up!
The lasagne wouldn’t really freeze well, as it would be very watery when thawing. But the individual components would freeze OK, so you can then build it when its all defrosted.
Thank you – assembling it on location is a great idea!
Hi Russell,
Can I leave the nutritional yeast out and it still be good? I’m allergic to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and if nutritional yeast is deactivated but is a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae then I’m thinking I shouldn’t have nutritional yeast either, right? What are your thoughts? I’ve been vegan for 3 years and now raw vegan for 2 weeks. I’m trying to make things others will want to eat too. 🙂 Thank you for your help.
Thank you
Lynndel
Yes, if you’re avoiding Saccharomyces cerevisiae you want to stay away from nutritional yeast. And you’ll be fine without it in this recipe.
Awesome ! Even my husband said that we could serve this as a dish when entertaining
It’s definitely a good one for that!
This was absolutely amazing. Hands down best tomato sauce I have ever had raw or cooked!
Love it, Frank 🙂
How big of a dish is best?
You can really use whatever size you like. . .it really comes down to how many people you want to serve and how much you want left over. It’ll last for 3 days in the fridge.
I will defiantly make this! Looks incredible. I am wondering though, how thick to slice the courgettes?
Thank you!
Pretty much as thin as you can get them on a mandoline.
Hello Russell! I am so excited to try your recipe. I have a small company where I cook and bake for special diets (SCD, GFCFSF, Paleo, Vegan/Vegetarian, Pritikin, Renal etc). I”m always on the look-out for cool, new, and interesting stuff. This fits the bill. 🙂
P.S. I have a client that can’t eat tomatoes because of acid reflux. Any suggestions for this recipe?
I think all you could really do in this recipe is leave out the tomato sauce — it will still be great.
Perhaps you can make a bell pepper and nut sauce to replace the tomato.
Hi Russell! This was my first attempt at making a raw meal and it turned out fabulous! The walnut meat recipe along with its texture and flavor turned me away from meat completely. Thank you so much for sharing!
Amazing! You picked a great one to start with 🙂
Made this for a potluck, it was a hit!!!!
This is my favorite recipe!! I use the walnut layer, cheese, spinach and tomato sauce and put them on marinated baby bellos (like your flax bites recipe suggests). I tone down a little on the oregano on the spinach layer, but other than that, follow the recipe pretty exact. I bring the mushroom bites to all sorts of gatherings and everyone, especially omnivores, love them!!
I’m making the lasagna tonight for the family for dinner. I can’t wait. Thanks again for your great recipes!!
Awesome! Thanks for stopping by and sharing 🙂
looks great russel
Thank you for this recipe Russell. I’ve just finished making it for dinner tonight. Already had most of the ingredients including all the nuts, so this probably cost about $10.
Thanks, Dave 🙂
Interesting how one views things differently depending on how familiar they are with raw ingredients, I found I had everything already in the cupboard so found it cheap to make and very delicious.
This recipe takes a lot of time and the ingredients are expensive (all the nuts and oil), but it is definitely worth it. I made it for a special occasion a few weeks ago and it just got better with every day I had it for leftovers. I’m going to make it again this weekend for a friend’s birthday. Thanks for a great recipe!
To Hamclout – I’m really sure your Mom would have loved the effort and love you obviously put into it even if it didn’t turn out as expected. At the end of the day she loves you for you, don’t be too hard on yourself
I made this for my mom on Mother’s Day and spent a TON of money (about $150) and time making it. I was EXTREMELY disappointed. It tasted pretty much like olive oil and oregano. I have already had problems with depression and this just tore me apart that I couldn’t even give her a gift. I cried for hours!!!!!
I’m sorry about that.
It definitely shouldn’t have cost $150, so I’m wondering what exactly happened.
I made the recipe very close to yours. It looked great on the plate. Where I live ingredients like those aren’t cheap. They are so expensive that’s why I made this on a special occasion.
If ingredients are hard to find or expensive in your area, you can substitute almonds for the macadamia nuts; cashews for the pine nuts (I’ve used sunflower and walnut for this cheese and it was great); fresh roma or cherry tomatoes for the sun drieds (chop up and let it set in a strainer for liquid to drain); dried parsley and thyme for fresh (use 1tsp dried for 1 T fresh in most cases); for nama shoyu use coconut aminos, soy sauce, Braggs Amino; swiss chard instead of spinach, or other more local tasty green.; Marmite of Vegemite (not raw) or a mix of soy sauce and tahini for the miso; mashed avocado for oil.
You can use any pesto recipe that suits your budget better. Obviously any substitutions will likely affect the flavor. This is my favorite raw recipe and the ‘meat’ tastes so ‘real’ I almost don’t like it! I only just started playing with substitutions as I prefer no oil. I have not managed to salt and oil the zukes yet (too impatient!) and it turns out fine, yet it can be a bit wet. I just carefully tip the juices off the plate if needed and save that good juice to add to a raw soup in a day or so.
Thanks, Cyndi 🙂
Awesome tip! Thank you. I think you can also use crumbled raw sprouted tofu as ricotta cheese imitation?
Absolutely! I’d just make sure it’s either well seasoned when bought or season it yourself. 🙂
Beautiful food! <3
Food porn 🙂 Can’t stop looking at this, need to make it!
Wonderful – let us know how it goes!
Wow, I just made this and it’s amazing! Super full and satisfied – yum!
Hi Sarah, thanks for stopping by – glad you loved it! 🙂
Would this recipe freeze and thaw alright? Or strictly a fresh meal?
Hi Lace, no this would not defrost well as it would turn watery.
Made it today and larrrrve it! A tad hard to layer and prepare but definitely worth the effort like you say and I wouldn’t change a thing! 🙂
is there any alternatives i can use instead of olive oil?
Hi Rochi, yes, you could use a bit of avocado.
thank you by the way i made this last week it was outstanding just like real lasagne and it tasted way better then store bought veggie lasagne thanks!
This is the first raw meal that I’ve made. It worked out great everyone loved it except my son who’s a meatasaurus (he’s a butcher). It tastes like lasagne to me too. I halved the salt content and was glad I did or it would’ve been to salty for us. Will definitely be making it again. Loving your work.
Hi Jeannine, haha, a ‘meatasauraus’!
sounds salty but otherwise beautiful, prob not so tasty without the salt.
Ive followed everything to the t….it stull fell apart 🙁 lol i had it in the frig from 11am -8pm it was a littke watery but it taste like regylar lasagna. I warmed the oven and sat it in it turned off for 1hr for a warm dishtype.
Hi Me 🙂
Sounds like the tomato sauce was a little watery. That’s usually the culprit for being too watery. Let the tomato sauce sit for a while before using it in the lasagne, the water will rise to the top and then you can pour it off.
Other than that, you might have made do with less water in the cheese.
i don’t want to use yeast = just leave it out?
Yes, you can just leave it out.
I love being in the kitchen so when i got your course this was one of the first meals I made, new to vegan and both my husband and I loved this!
One note of caution, just because a mandoline looks innocent its not. I am normally very safe in the kitchen but while figuring out how it worked I didnt use the guard properly and cut the tip off my finger! Its healing but did add an extra day to the prep process. Lol
That’s great! Yes, you have to watch out for that mandolin blade!
Love this Recipe.. I’ve made it sooo many times.. and i’ve used the elements for so many other recipes in my Cafe in Perth, Western Australia.. we luv your work Russell James *~*
Thanks, Martine. Good luck with the cafe, I think maybe next year is the year for me to visit Australia 🙂
I made this the other day with a group of friends and it was absolutely delicious. We chose to plate it individually and it worked out great as we end it up eating it shortly after assembling it so we did not have to worry about cutting into it. I pretty much inhaled mine, it is outstanding. Thank you for posting this.
Thanks, Raluca – I’m so glad you and your friends enjoyed it 🙂
How much are your DVDs?
Hi Marilyn, thanks for asking, you can see all my products with the prices here: https://therawchef.com/products.html
If you’re looking for something to serve skeptical omnivores – this is it! Even my hotdog-addicted father called it a “home run”. Amazing recipe!
Thanks, Suzanne – I love that!
This looks amazing! It’s my goal to make it’s this week…
Greetings from Belgium.Liesbeth
You’ll love it 🙂 The leftovers are also amazing in salads. Let us know how it goes.
I’ve made this lasagna a couple of times now and it’s one of the most delicious raw food recipes I have ever tasted! The walnut-“meat”-layer is so delish and filling that it’s just perfect as a Sunday dinner. 🙂 Thanks for all the great recipes! Love your blog (the recipes, the photography, the videos, everything)!
Thanks, Julia. Yes, that walnut ‘meat’ layer is really satisfying isn’t it.
this recipe is amazing!!! i used almonds instead of walnuts and left out the miso and it still turned out great!!! i am obsessed with your blog, btw. have been following for about three years and now finally have the willpower to go 80% raw!! thank you.
Aww, thank, Assata. I’m glad you’re still going with it, sounds like you’re enjoying where you’re at.
is the miso necessary for the walnut meat layer? can i leave it out?
Hi Assata, nope, you can leave it out.
What kind of miso are you referring to if it’s raw?
Russell, this is delish! My mother and sister who do not eat raw had this after i made it and they liked it very much. Approximately how many calories are in a serving? Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Hi Michelle, I’m glad they liked it – it’s certainly a great one for giving to people who don’t think they like raw food.
I don’t know how many calories are in a portion unfortunately.
Russell, oh my!! I made this lasagna yesterday and it is so delish!!! I made it in a large glass pan and gave half of it to my sister and her husband who think it is fabulous as well. Thank you so much for sharing your culinary expertise with us.
Hi! Thanks, I’m so glad you loved it!
I don’t know what it is about your food but just seeing the photos and reading the recipe makes me chuckle with delight – just hits me right in the heart. Can’t wait to try this but I can’t digest macadamias or Brazils for some reason and I’m not that clever with cashews. Every other kind of nut seems fine – any suggestions? Would almonds too sweet?
Hi! Thanks for that, I love the thought of my recipes hitting you in the heart and making you chuckle — I’ll always think of that when I’m I’m creating a recipe.
Almonds would work great in this.
This looks so good – I can’t wait to try it! But does anyone know a substitute for walnuts in the walnut meat layer?
Hi Jacqui, I love to use portabello mushrooms, instead of walnuts.
Well, first I was thinking it might be quite an undertaking, since I’m fairly happy with three ingredients or less. Many of the items called for not in season now…after I made it, I thought, hum – it’s a once in a while dish. The day AFTER I made it. OH MY Gosh, I’m probably going to make once a month or so. Spectacular, the flavors mingled, and developed, the textures, if you miss Italian lasagne, this is the best. If you don’t, you’ll love it anyway. Worth the time.
My friend prepared this for me this weekend. Delicious!
I made this recipe and I’m enjoying it.
I just tried making this recipe and have had some challenges. First, I had a difficult time making really thin slices of zucchini. Then, I put it in the fridge to firm up. When I checked on it 30 minutes later, the olive oil from the pesto separated and has pooled on the plate, so the lasagne is now swimming in oil. What did I do wrong?
Hi Anita, I would slice the zucchini on a mandoline, they’re very cheap and I use mine all the time.
With the olive oil, it’s difficult to say without actually seeing what you did. Make sure where you measure the basil that you fully pack the cup, and you could also use a little less olive oil.
Russell, I recently discovered your site and your amazing food…I’m not raw, but have been trying to do it at least 2 days a week…I had a raw potluck last night and made this lasagne, it was amazing! Wow, I’ll do it again soon…cheers from San Diego 🙂
I’m about to make this. After firming it up in the fridge can i put it in a dehydrator so that I can serve it slightly warm? Say 2 hrs at 115?
Sure can – I would warm as covered individual slices so it doesn’t get dry as it gets warm.
Thank you for sharing this recipe- I made it a few nights ago and absolutely loved it!!
I made this last night for a Raw dinner party I was hosting for some of my non-raw friends. Everyone loved it, it was absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
This looks fabulous and I'll be making it for friends on Saturday! In the cheese you list 2 yellow peppers – are those yellow bell peppers?
That's correct, yes – yellow bell peppers.
After craving this for months, gathering all the necessary ingredients (got my hands on nama shoyu yesterday–had never heard of it although I live in Japan!), and determining substitutes (i.e. cashews for macadamias), I finally assembled it yesterday and was quite pleased with the results. My 1st question: Is it necessary to use so much salt or just personal taste? 2nd question: I used regular spinach, minus the stems (I assumed they would be tough and should not be used–is this correct?), but wondered if I am supposed to use any particular kind of spinach, i.e. salad or baby spinach? Q3: I'd love to try all your recipes, but sun-dried tomatoes are very dear here in Japan, so I'm kind of stingy with them. Can you please let me know in general when they are vital to a dish vs. nice-to-have, i.e. in sauce vs nut cheese? Last question: I hope this isn't a stupid question, because I'm new to Raw cuisine, would it be OK to freeze the leftovers?
Gratefully yours,
William
You can certainly adjust the amount of salt. If you have baby spinach the stems can be used but if they're big thick spinach stems then removing them is best.
Sun-dried tomatoes are necessary to provide thickness to the sauce.
Leftovers can be frozen.
After craving this for months, gathering all the necessary ingredients (got my hands on nama shoyu yesterday–had never heard of it although I live in Japan!), and determining substitutes (i.e. cashews for macadamias), I finally assembled it yesterday and was quite pleased with the results. My 1st question: Is it necessary to use so much salt or just personal taste? 2nd question: I used regular spinach, minus the stems (I assumed they would be tough and should not be used–is this correct?), but wondered if I am supposed to use any particular kind of spinach, i.e. salad or baby spinach? Q3: I'd love to try all your recipes, but sun-dried tomatoes are very dear here in Japan, so I'm kind of stingy with them. Can you please let me know in general when they are vital to a dish vs. nice-to-have, i.e. in sauce vs nut cheese? Last question: I hope this isn't a stupid question, because I'm new to Raw cuisine, would it be OK to freeze the leftovers?
Gratefully yours,
William
Do you have any recommendations on what I can use in lieu of the nutritional yeast? Thanks
From Russell: you can just leave it out
okay your lasagne is so amazingly fantastic! i made so much of it and there was still not enough!!! completely sold out 😉
i gave everyone the link to this page (and your website) so that they can see for themselves.
you are a true inspiration.
your bread is in my dehydrator as i’m writing these lines; i’m so glad for your tip to dehydrate it overnight… it’s too hard to resist!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!
maya
Question to anyone who tried this recipe:
How easy was it to cut through the lasagne?
Do the individual slices look so pretty – are the layers distinct?
I’m planning on making this recipe to impress a few skeptics LOL so presentation is very important for this occasion (as for the taste – I’m not worried – I know it would taste DIVINE…)
Thanks!
From Russell: If you want to make it to look like this then build them up individually, rather than making one whole lasagne in a pan and then cutting it up.
That’s looks absolutely delicious !!!!! Does anyone have any idea how many calories a serving is ?
We made this last night. I was surprised that it came out so pretty. I loved the fresh thyme addition to the nut cheese. We do not have a mandolin but my husband improvised with a carrot peeler and was able to recreate your paper-thin slices. I substituted bazillion nuts for the macadamia nuts. It tasted fine but is there a nutritional advantage to macadamia nuts? I used white miso instead of the dark brown. Is there a reason for the dark brown miso?
From Russell: Hi Martha, the dark miso is for a bouillon flavour – white miso is a different taste and more mild.
Your pics of the recipes looks great…can’t wait to try your recipes…do you have a recipe for raw artichokes; how to marinate the artichoke w/o boiling it; Raw/Live Foodist are saying to dehydrate food at 105 degrees (F) or below…but some recipes & cold pressed oil on the web temperature rises to 110 to 115 degrees (F)…are the enzymes destroyed at temperatures higher than 105 degrees (F)?…Thnx
From Russell: Different enzymes are lost at different temperatures; the most fragile ones start to get lost around 120 degrees F, and it’s thought that happens only when the food stays at that temperature for a prolonged period of time. However most people set their dehydrator at 105 or up to 115 so as not to even get close to that.
I only have a vitamix. Going to buy a food processor which one is easy to use what model # do you like what about cuisinart? or do you recommend a different brand?
From Russell: Love the Cuisinart, plus the [rice came down a bit a few months ago I believe. kenwood tend to last for ages, but may not be very powerful. Magimix have some good ones too, but you’ll need to get a powerful model. You really get what you pay for with food processors.
By the way, I wrote about this recipe on my blog and borrowed the pic. If that’s a problem, please let me know and I’ll take the pic down.
This dish was HEAVENLY!!!! Thank you!
Russell, this look delicious. Do you have the nutritional values for this dish, i.e. amount of calories, cholesterol, protein, etc. per serving?
This is amazingly delicious… but the two of us couldn’t possibly eat the whole thing. How long do you think the left-overs will keep?
From Russell: Hi Catherine, it will keep for 2 to 3 days in the fridge.
Hi,
I made this last week after I tried the Chocolate cake recipe. This is the best Lasagna I ever had! It is heavy too. We had one portion for lunch and we didn’t need any food at all afterwards.
Thanks! Hmm.. what should I try next? 😀
Delicious! Thank you darling! x
I’m a new raw fooder–just 5 days old! This is the BEST recipe a newbie could make. Quick, easy & no dehydrating required! The lasagna has so much flavour, you will not be disappointed! It looks & tastes so much like the cooked stuff that you won’t miss your old standby. Thank you for sharing it with us Mr. James.
This was delicious, to be sure, and worth the time since we have leftovers galore. I substituted liberally and it still turned out great. And I second the comment about too much salt. I used less than called for and will use less still next time.
I saw the other comments about too many nuts. That’s probably why my husband and I have a heavy, heavy feeling in our bellies now. Next time we’ll have about half the portion and start out with a great big salad. But truly, one week into our raw food diet, this meal was a welcome treat!
Will this recipe freeze well? Since there are so many steps, I would like to make more at one time and freeze it for later so get the most out of the time spent in the kitchen. let me know if you think that will work with this kind of dish. It looks great! Also, have you tried substituting eggplant for zucchini?
From Russell: The whole lasange will definitely not freeze well, but you could freeze the component parts and assemble once they have defrosted, so you’re ready for serving. Never tried eggplant for that, but it would work nicely.
Amazing. Truly amazing. This is some of the best tasting food I have ever eaten. Thank you so much!
Hi Russell, I am going raw slowly after attending a course with you and Karen. I am a little concerned with the amount of nuts in a few of the recipies with regard to the fat content (not bothered about weight just health). Would you care to comment on this, when you have time, i’d be interested in your opinion. Thanks!
From Russell: Hi Lisa, for me, eating recipes with nuts isn’t something I’ll do masses of. Most of the food I create is for special occasions, so it isn’t part of my daily intake.
I think it’s important to remember that nuts offer a different type of fat than cooked, saturated fats; but also that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to eat handfuls everyday. I definitely notice a difference when I’ve eaten too much fat, even raw fat, such as avocados…I get that fat “hangover” feeling.
I’ve also been on the other end of the spectrum in my search for the perfect diet for me, and eaten very little fat. I found this very hard going and found myself feeling very unsatiated by anything, so it wasn’t very sustainable.
I feel that to begin with someone may need, and be able to get away with, more nuts. But as they progress they may find themselves relying less on nuts, and even being less tolerant of the effect of even raw fat.
Hope that helps.
Thanks! I’ll be trying this asap!
OH My Gosh! this was so good, I had my friends who don’t eat raw loving it. I had some left over the next day and put it on raw crackers, wow what a treat! Thank you Russell,sure wish I lived closer to come to one of your class’
Lulah, this wouldn’t really lend itself to being warmed in the dehydrator to well as it’s so dense.
I warmed it for 20 mins at 105 and it was slammin! Thank you for this recipe, best raw lasagna ive ever had.
can this be put in dehydrator to warm a bit?
Wow, that was delicious. It took a while to make and it was well worth the effort!
I’m glad I used less salt than it said though, because I still found it a bit salty.
Tastes even better than when I used to make cooked vegan lasagne. Nice work!
Hi Donna,
Yes, use the dry ones, but soak them to make the whole thing less salty.
The ones in oil usually have other ingredients in there that won’t do you any good whatsoever.
Hope that helps
Hi,
I just want to confirm that this the sundried tomatoes are the dry kind not packed in oil?
thanks, this looks like a lot of work but it sure looks good.
Thanks Shannon, glad you love it!
Hi Ash, It will last a few days covered in the fridge.
Hi! I love this recipe, but how long would it keep in the fridge? I would want to prepare it on a weekend, and hopefully dig into it through the week..
I just wanted to say that I absolutely love this recipe. I made it this week. It is not only my favorite raw lasagna recipe, but the best lasagna I’ve ever tasted 🙂
Hi Debra,
Thanks for your comments.
Cashews and pine nuts would be fine to substitute, don’t be afraid to experiment!
Hope that helps.
Russell, that lasagna looks amazing!! I absolutely love your blog and am always waiting anxiously for your next update. 🙂 Where I am in Canada, macadamia nuts are crazy expensive, would cashews or pine nuts sub okay for them in the nut cheese layer? Or would it make to big of a difference in taste? Thank you so much, your blog is such a raw inspiration! 🙂 Debra
Hi Becky,
Thanks for that, I’ve adjusted the recipe to the correct quantity of 2T now.
How much lemon juice is in the Nut Cheese layer? It’s listed twice: first as 2 Tablespoons and then again as 3 Tablespoons. I can’t wait to make this dish!!
Thanks