Vegan Pasta Bake (Rich and Creamy)

Rich and creamy vegan pasta bake that feeds a crowd AND you can make it in advance so it’s perfect for a dinner party!

Well I never, doesn’t it look exactly like there’s a thick layer of cheese on top of that vegan pasta bake you see before you?

Well it’s not! It’s white sauce. Isn’t that some magic right there?

I wanted to make this pasta bake with a lentil bolognese sauce, but at the last minute decided to mix the bolognese with some cashew cream for a creamy sauce.

And then the creamy pasta is topped with a white sauce that bakes to look just like cheese! It’s too good.

It’s definitely rich. But it makes a perfect meal to feed a crowd.

There are a few steps involved but it’s actually quite simple and the prep for this is only around 70 minutes. Then it bakes for 20 minutes, so the entire meal is ready in 90 minutes.

And if you love this pasta bake then you’ll also love our vegan baked ziti so check that out too.

How To Make Vegan Pasta Bake

You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.

• Put the pasta on to cook. When it’s cooked, drain it, cover it (to prevent it from drying out) and set aside.
• Prepare your bolognese sauce. Add chopped onion and crushed garlic to a pot with olive oil and fry until softened. Add sliced mushrooms and soy sauce. Cover the pot for a minute and allow the mushrooms to release their water. Then remove the lid from the pot and let the water from the mushrooms cook off a little. Add tomato paste, lentils and chopped tomato. Bring to a simmer. Add a little light brown sugar to balance out the flavors. Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Prepare your cashew cream. Add raw cashews, lemon juice, water and salt to the blender jug and blend until smooth.

• Add the cashew cream to your bolognese sauce and mix it in.

• Then add the cooked pasta and mix it all in together.

• Prepare your white sauce. Add vegan butter to a saucepan and let it melt and start to sizzle just a little. Add all purpose flour and stir it in quickly, then add coconut milk and vegetable stock and whisk it in. Then switch to a wooden spoon and keep stirring while you bring it to the boil. Once it boils keep stirring for about another 4 minutes until it’s noticeably thickened. Remove from the heat and add ground black pepper, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast and sea salt.

• Place the pasta and bolognese mix into a 9×13 oven-safe dish and smooth down.
• Pour the white sauce over the top and smooth down.

• Bake uncovered at 430°F for 20 minutes until golden on top.

Ingredient Notes

Bolognese Sauce:

The bolognese sauce is a simple mix of onion, garlic, olive oil, mushrooms, soy sauce, tomato paste, lentils, chopped tomato (canned), a little light brown sugar for flavor balance and salt and pepper to taste.

• The mushrooms – we used white button mushrooms but cremini mushrooms (baby bella, portobellini) would be great too.
• The lentils – we used one 15-ounce can of brown lentils (drained). You can use canned lentils or just use 1 and ½ cups cooked lentils.

This bolognese sauce is totally delicious as is. And if you want to go with it exactly as is, you definitely can.

But I was inspired to make a simple cashew cream and mix it in for a creamy bolognese sauce.

The Cashew Cream:

• The cashews – we didn’t soak the cashews first since we didn’t find it necessary in our Vitamix. However, if you think your blender may struggle with it, then add the cashews to a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave them to soak for 15 minutes to soften. Then drain and rinse.

The White Sauce:

The white sauce that looks exactly like a thick layer of cheese on top of this vegan pasta bake is just like your classic bechamel sauce, but made with vegan butter, all purpose flour, coconut milk, vegetable stock and then some black pepper, dijon mustard and sea salt added for flavoring and nutritional yeast added for cheesiness!

• Vegan butter – can be replaced with olive oil but we enjoyed the buttery flavor added to this sauce.
• Coconut milk – we used one 14-ounce can (400ml) full fat, unsweetened coconut milk. If you avoid coconut then you can switch this for 1 and ⅔ cups (400ml) soy milk or other creamy non-dairy milk.
• Nutritional yeast – we used nutritional yeast for added cheesy flavor, but you can omit it if you prefer.

Serving Suggestions

This recipe results in a very rich, very satisfying vegan pasta bake that will definitely impress some guests if you had to serve it at a dinner party.

It also serves at least 8 people so it definitely feeds a crowd. If you’re wanting to serve it with some sides then a good vegan salad like a vegan Greek salad or a vegan chickpea salad would be wonderful on the side. Some vegan garlic bread would be great too. And of course lots of good red wine.

Make Ahead

Another thing that makes this a really good choice for a dinner party is that you can make it in advance. So you can get it all ready in the dish, cover it in foil and put it in the fridge and then 20 minutes before you need to serve it, put it in the oven to bake.

So you could literally make it the night before. Perfect for a stress-free dinner party. All you’d have to do on the night is make the salad, pop this in the oven and open the wine.

Now that sounds like the way to socialize!

Storing and Freezing

Leftovers keep really well in the fridge for 4-5 days and can be reheated in the microwave.

It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months if you’d like to freeze it. 

More Vegan Pasta Recipes

1. Vegan Pesto Pasta
2. Cheesy Garlic Vegan Alfredo
3. Vegan Cannelloni
4. Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
5. Vegan Stuffed Shells
6. Vegan Lasagna

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!