Vegan Baked Ziti

5 from 6 votes

This vegan baked ziti is more than just a pasta bake! It's loaded up with a tomato based vegan ground 'beef' sauce, topped with a rich nut-free vegan cheese sauce and baked to perfection in the oven.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 603kcal

Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

Vegan Ground 'Beef'

1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (92g) also called TVP
1 cup Vegan Beef Stock (240ml) or Vegetable Stock
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic Crushed
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
½ teaspoon Cumin
½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
¼ teaspoon Liquid Smoke
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
28 ounces Crushed Tomatoes (800g) or sub Marinara Sauce
14 ounces Chopped Tomatoes (400g)
1 Tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Vegan Cheese Sauce:

½ cup Olive Oil (120ml) Extra Virgin
½ cup All Purpose Flour (63g)
6 cups Soy Milk (1440ml) or other creamy non-dairy milk
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
¾ cup Nutritional Yeast (45g)
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
2 teaspoons Onion Powder
2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

Pasta:

16 ounces Ziti Noodles (450g) or Penne

Serving:

Fresh Chopped Parsley
Ground Black Pepper

Instructions

Vegan Ground Beef:

Add textured vegetable protein (TVP) to a mixing bowl. Pour boiling hot vegan beef stock (or vegetable stock) over the top.
Stir it in well with a fork. Leave it to sit for 5-10 minutes.
Add chopped onions and olive oil to a pot on medium heat. Sauté until the onions are softened.
Add crushed garlic, oregano, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper and sauté for a minute to toast the spices.
Add the prepared textured vegetable protein (TVP), liquid smoke, soy sauce and tomato paste and sauté for 8-10 minutes until browned.
Add crushed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, light brown sugar, salt and ground black pepper and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat and set aside.

Vegan Cheese Sauce:

Add olive oil to a pot or saucepan and turn the heat to medium high.
When the oil begins to heat up, add the flour, stirring briskly all the time.
Fry the flour in the oil for a bit, stirring vigorously and then add the soy milk all at once and keep stirring vigorously.
Continue to stir until the sauce reaches a boil and then keep stirring until it thickens. It will usually start to thicken a few minutes after it has reached boiling point.
When the sauce has thickened noticeably, turn off the heat and add dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, salt, ground black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
Leave it to cool down (it will thicken more as it cools) while you prepare your pasta.

Pasta:

Put your pasta on to cook according to package instructions.
When it's cooked, drain and rinse.

Assemble and Bake:

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Add the cooked pasta to the vegan ground 'beef' sauce and gently mix it in.
Add 1 cup of vegan cheese sauce to the pasta and sauce mix and gently mix it in. Transfer the pasta and sauce mix to a 9x13 oven-safe dish and smooth down.
Pour all the remaining vegan cheese sauce over the top and spread it evenly across the top of the dish.
Place into the oven to bake (uncovered) for 25 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Serve:

Top with fresh chopped parsley and a sprinkle of ground black pepper and serve!

Notes

Dijon mustard - can be replaced with any prepared yellow mustard. Adding mustard to this sauce really brings out the cheesy flavor!
Nutritional yeast - creates heaps of cheesy flavor in this sauce. However, you can omit it if you prefer to. The sauce works great with or without nutritional yeast.
Pasta - you can use ziti or penne or macaroni or any similar type of tubular pasta. We actually used a large ridged macaroni that worked great. It's very similar to ziti except it has ridges whereas ziti is smooth.
Make it gluten-free: You can make it gluten-free by using a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to make the cheese sauce and using a gluten-free pasta.
Make Ahead. To make this ahead of time, simply cook your vegan ground 'beef' sauce, your pasta and your vegan cheese sauce. Assemble in the dish, allow to cool and then cover it and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Bake it up when you're ready to serve! Allow an extra 5 minutes baking time since it's baking from cold.
Storing and freezing. Leftover ziti keeps very well in the fridge (covered) for up to 5 days. You can freeze the baked or unbaked ziti for up to 3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge and then bake as usual, allowing an extra 5 minutes baking time since it's baking from cold.

Nutrition