Recipe Vegan Baked Ziti

Vegan Baked Ziti

Source

https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-baked-ziti/

Ingredients

Vegan Ground ‘Beef’

• 92g textured vegetable protein (TVP) (~1 cup)
• 240ml vegan beef stock or vegetable stock (1 cup), boiling hot
• 30ml olive oil (2 Tbsp)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp liquid smoke
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 130g tomato paste (~½ cup)
• 800g crushed tomatoes (28 oz) — or marinara sauce
• 400g chopped tomatoes (14 oz)
• 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Vegan Cheese Sauce

• 120ml extra virgin olive oil (½ cup)
• 63g all-purpose flour (½ cup)
• 1440ml soy milk or other creamy non-dairy milk (6 cups)
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 45g nutritional yeast (¾ cup)
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder

Pasta

• 450g ziti noodles or penne, dry weight (16 oz)

Serving

• Fresh chopped parsley
• Ground black pepper

Instructions

Vegan Ground ‘Beef’

1. Add TVP to a mixing bowl. Pour boiling hot stock over it. Stir well with a fork. Let sit 5–10 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil in a pot. Sauté onion until softened.
3. Add garlic, oregano, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Sauté 1 minute to toast spices.
4. Add rehydrated TVP, liquid smoke, soy sauce, and tomato paste. Sauté 8–10 minutes until browned.
5. Add crushed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

Vegan Cheese Sauce

6. Heat olive oil in a pot/saucepan over medium-high. When hot, add flour, stirring briskly.
7. Fry flour briefly, then add soy milk all at once. Keep stirring vigorously.
8. Continue stirring until sauce boils, then keep stirring until it thickens (usually a few minutes after boiling).
9. Turn off heat. Add Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Let cool (thickens more as it cools) while you cook pasta.

Pasta

10. Boil ziti/penne per package instructions. Drain and rinse.

Assemble & Bake

11. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
12. Add cooked pasta to the vegan ground ‘beef’ sauce. Gently mix.
13. Add 240ml (1 cup) of cheese sauce to the pasta mix. Gently mix.
14. Transfer to a 9×13 oven-safe dish. Smooth down.
15. Pour remaining cheese sauce evenly over the top.
16. Bake uncovered 25 minutes until lightly browned on top.
17. Top with fresh parsley and black pepper. Serve.

Tips & Notes

• Serves 8–10. Makes a lot. Perfect for families or meal prep.
• Make ahead: Cook sauce, pasta, and cheese sauce. Assemble in dish, cool, cover, refrigerate up to 48 hours. Bake with +5 minutes extra since starting cold.
• Keeps 5 days fridge. Freezer-friendly 3 months — baked or unbaked. Thaw overnight, bake as usual (+5 min if cold).
• Pasta: Ziti is traditional (smooth tubes). Penne or large ridged macaroni also work.
• TVP = textured vegetable protein. Widely available, high protein, cheap.
• Nutritional yeast can be omitted from cheese sauce if needed — still works.
• Dijon mustard = cheesy depth. Sub yellow prepared mustard.
• Gluten-free: Use GF all-purpose flour for cheese sauce + GF pasta.
• Bake uncovered — this browns the cheese sauce on top.

Tags

recipe, vegan, pasta, bake, ziti, main, italian, party, make-ahead