Easy Vegan Baked Spaghetti

This Vegan Baked Spaghetti Casserole is an easy and comforting family dinner! It's a one-pan recipe, made with healthy pantry ingredients!

If you are searching for some new dinner ideas, this vegetarian baked spaghetti will be your new family favorite! It's cozy, hearty, and a real crowd-pleaser!

Baked pasta (also called spaghetti pie) is traditionally made with pre-cooked pasta that gets tossed in a hearty meat and tomato sauce. Then it's topped with lots of cheese and baked until golden.

My version is a lot simpler because the pasta doesn't require pre-cooking, you simply throw everything into a casserole dish, and bake until cheesy perfection!

This baked pasta dish is 100% plant-based, soy-free, and dairy-free, and can be made oil-free.

Jump to:

• Ingredients and notes
• How to Make Vegan Baked Spaghetti
• Expert Tips
• FAQ
• Serving
• Storage
• More Easy Vegan Pasta Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients and notes

See the recipe card below for exact measurements.

• Spaghetti: We use regular pasta here, but if you want to add more fiber, you can whole wheat spaghetti noodles.
• Marinara: Make sure to use a good-quality marinara sauce or your favorite pasta sauce, because it makes a lot of difference.
• Canned tomatoes: Diced tomatoes from a can work best here.
• Vegan cheese: We use vegan mozzarella cheese, but any type of dairy-free cheese will work! If you don't have vegan cheese on hand, you can top the casserole with a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast instead.
• Cooked lentils: Use canned lentils to make this recipe easier. They add protein and fiber and give volume to the dish. You can also use black beans.
• Vegetable broth: Either store-bought or homemade. You can also use water.
• Olive oil: It gives some more flavor to the dish, but you can omit it for an oil-free option.
• Vegetables: For this, I am using red bell pepper and red onion, but you can also use yellow onion, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and spinach.
• Spices: You'll need Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. If you don't have Italian seasoning on hand, you can use equal parts oregano and dried basil.

How to Make Vegan Baked Spaghetti

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray, and start layering your ingredients. First, add the pasta, then the red peppers, onion, and cooked lentils.

Then, add chopped tomatoes, marinara sauce, spices, minced garlic, basil leaves, olive oil (optional), vegetable broth, and salt and black pepper. Stir carefully until everything is well mixed.

Bake for 25 minutes. Then, remove from the oven, add shredded cheese on top and bake for 20-25 minutes more, or until it's golden on top and the pasta is fully cooked.

Serve right away and garnish with some fresh basil and a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese!

Expert Tips

• Add salt in the beginning. Just as with boiling pasta on the stovetop, it's important to salt your pasta in the beginning, before adding the layer of shredded cheese. This way you'll have more flavor in every bite.
• Add enough liquid. It may seem like this recipe requires a lot of liquid at first, but trust me when I say that you'll need all of those 3 cups for your pasta to cook properly.
• Stir halfway to prevent sticking. I personally don't mind if the pasta sticks, but if you are not a fan, be sure to use pasta tongs to stir everything well before adding the cheese on top.
• Add more vegetables. This recipe is so versatile! You can add veggies like mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. No need to pre-cook them.
• If you don't want to use the one-pan method, you can cook the pasta in a separate pot. You'll need to cook it following the package directions, until al dente. Then, add the cooked spaghetti to the baking dish or to a mixing bowl and toss it with the rest of the ingredients, except for the vegetable broth which you won't need.

FAQ

Serving

This vegan baked spaghetti casserole recipe is perfect to serve alongside roasted Brussels sprouts, Mediterranean risoni salad, garlic bread, and our sweet potato beet salad.

Storage

Let leftovers cool to room temperature, then transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 4-5 days!

More Easy Vegan Pasta Recipes

Vegan Mac and Cheese without Cashews

Vodka Pasta without Vodka

Vegan Kimchi Alfredo Fettucine

15-Minute Pesto Pasta

📖 Recipe