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This vegan pasta bake with cauliflower, mushrooms, and spinach is a great comfort meal which is plant-based, gluten-free, and healthy. It’s cheesy, creamy, delicious, and easy to make.
Penne Pasta Bake With Mushrooms And Spinach
Cheesy, creamy, dreamy and so yummy! Vegan pasta bake, my latest addiction. Do you sometimes crave a pasta bake but are you afraid that it might be too complicated to cook it? This recipe is very simple and I have included all step-by-step pictures below. I made this vegan casserole with gluten-free pasta and added mushrooms, spinach, and cauliflower to make it pretty healthy and low-fat.
Healthy Low-Carb Cauliflower Sauce
The sauce for this vegan pasta bake contains one head of cauliflower which makes it low-carb. You simply need to process all ingredients in a blender or food processor and the sauce is ready. You can add your favorite spices, I love to add lots of onion powder, garlic powder, dried Italian herbs, and also some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne/chili powder.
Cheesy Sauce
A pasta bake with cheese is so much better than a pasta bake without cheese, that’s why I added my easy vegan cheese sauce. That sauce is ready in 3 minutes, it’s nut-free, soy-free, and super delicious. I just pour it over the vegan pasta bake and cook it in the oven until the casserole can be served. So simple and good.
How To Make A Pasta Bake?
To make this pasta bake recipe even more uncomplicated you could cook the pasta and cauliflower already in advance (e.g. in the morning). 30 minutes before you want to serve this dish you only need to fry the mushrooms and spinach, make the cauliflower sauce, and the vegan cheese sauce.
This altogether won’t take longer than 10 minutes. And then you can relax while the pasta casserole is in the oven. If you have any leftovers you can simply store them in the fridge and reheat them the next day for lunch or dinner.
This Vegan Casserole Is:
- Gluten-free (if using gluten-free noodles)
- Healthy
- Low-fat
- Dairy-free
- Plant-based
- Flavorful
- Cheesy
- Comforting
- Easy to make
Use Your Favorite Ingredients
I am a big fan of mushrooms and spinach, that’s why I added them to this delicious vegan pasta bake. However, if you prefer e.g. zucchini over mushrooms or spinach, then simply add zucchini slices or tomato slices, etc. You can vary this dish to your preference, I love that it’s so versatile and always tasty.
Should you recreate this pasta casserole, please leave a comment and rating below, and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see your recreations.
Cheesy Vegan Pasta Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 17 oz (500 g) pasta of choice e.g. gluten-free
- 12 oz (340 g) of mushrooms
- 5 oz (140 g) of spinach
- 1 medium-sized (500 g) head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups (360-480 ml) of vegetable broth (*see recipe notes)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) coconut milk canned (*see recipe notes)
- 1-2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried Italian mixed herbs
- 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 batch of (200 g) easy vegan cheese sauce (or vegan cheese of choice)
Instructions
- In a pot, cook cauliflower florets in salted water until tender (about 15 minutes) then discard the water.
- In another pot, cook pasta according to the instructions on the packaging.
- Once the cauliflower is fork tender, process it in a blender or food processor, together with the vegetable broth, garlic, coconut milk, spices, and salt + pepper. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Heat oil in a skillet and fry the mushrooms over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add spinach and fry for an additional minute. Turn off the heat.
- Place the cooked pasta in a large bowl, add the cauliflower sauce, the mushrooms & spinach, and stir to combine.
- Pour everything in a greased baking dish (mine measures 13x9 inches / 33x23 cm).
- Make a batch of my easy vegan cheese sauce and pour it on top or use any vegan cheese of choice.
- Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you want your pasta bake to be creamy (with a little bit of sauce) use 2 cups of vegetable broth, otherwise, use 1 1/2 cups.
- Instead of canned coconut milk, you can use any other plant-based milk or cream of choice (e.g. soy milk/cream, oat milk/cream, almond milk, etc.).
- You can also cook the pasta and cauliflower already in the morning and store it in the fridge until you start making this dish.
- Recipe serves 6. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
I REALLY wanted to love this recipe, but all I could taste was cauliflower. I used soy milk instead of coconut milk, but otherwise I followed it to a tee. I also used your cheese sauce, which is delicious.
I am sorry you didn’t like it. I think soy milk doesn’t “mask” the taste of the cauliflower as much as coconut milk does. So this might have been the reason. 🙂
I CD tried this last night
It was yummy .. i liked it so much
My kids could not recognize the cauliflour
But one thing i didnt like
The easy cheese , i did not like the taste so i didnt pour it over the dish
Keep on .. i like your blog ❤️
Thanks for your feedback Nana! 🙂
Can I use froze cauliflower?
Yes, that is fine but I would recommend using a little less plant-based milk because frozen cauliflower contains more moisture. 🙂
ELA!!!!!🥴 I can’t describe with words how amazing ths recipe is 🤤 Every time I decide to make it the next day, I can’t even sleep at night thinking of it😂 Gosh, how did you come up with it? It’s literally the best pasta recipr I’ve ever tried! Congratulations, really! 👏🏻 Well done, it’s excellent. One of the few recipes that are ridiculously easy to make with ingredients everyone has at home, that never disappoints. It makes you full for so long and is packed with healthy plant protein from muschrooms, spinach, an whole-whear penne (that I’ve used). And it’s not like any other vegan recipe, e.g. a vegan burger, that non-vegans may say “why that when I can have a meat burger?”. There is no meat-counterpart for this one, hence it is an amazing addition to any family’s table. 🤩 Thank you for all your recipes, you are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! 🥰
Aww, Chloe! You seem to be such a sweetheart! Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, I really appreciate it a lot. And I am so glad you love this recipe. 🙂
Could you incorporate Nutritional yeast in any way?
Of course! 🙂 My vegan cheese sauce recipe already contains nutritional yeast. However, if you are going to use any other vegan cheese, you can, of course, add as much nutritional yeast to the spice mix as you wish. 🙂
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! Making sauce using cauliflower was a revelation to me! It was so tasty and the leftovers tasted even better today! I’m not vegan and used cheddar as a topping, will definitely be making this regularly now. Great winter comfort food.
I am so glad you liked this pasta bake! Thanks for your kind feedback. 🙂
Love this recipe! Any way you can add the nutritional facts?
Hello Fiona, I just added the nutritional facts! 🙂
Can I use almond milk instead of coconut milk in this recipe, the cheese recipe, and the alfredo recipe?
Yes, that’s no problem at all. 🙂
This is so good! I’ve been searching for something like this for a while. I like that its nut free. I even made the cheesy sauce to pour over it. The only thing I did change was I added nutritional yeast to the cauliflower sauce.
Sounds wonderful! Thanks for your amazing feedback. 🙂
Hello Ela, this is a verry delicious way to make healthy pasta!! Thks for share with us!!! Kisses from Romania
Thank you very much, Cristina. 🙂
Can this dish be frozen
Yes, that should be possible. I would recommend using freezer bags.
Can I use a regular kind of cheese? I am GF not vegan 🙂
Do you have a suggestion for a type of cheese? (Marble, Cheddar etc.)
This recipe looks delicious and I cannot wait to try it!
I am sure you can use any cheese of choice. I don’t have a recommendation though because I didn’t make this recipe with regular cheese (I’m vegan since 7 years). 🙂
How many calories per serving? I really like nutritional facts on your website.
Could I use potatoes instead if cauliflower ?
I never tried it but it should be fine. 🙂
Hi Ela
I just made this for dinner . It was amazing but a lot of steps and clean up. Well worth it I might add though . I opted for a creamier version adding 2 cups of broth . The bake still came out a little dry. What can I do differently next time?
Thank you for the wonderful recipe posts
Jan
Hi Jan! I am glad you liked it. You could try to reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes next time. This should do the trick. 🙂
Ela, your pasta dish made me so hungry! I love how creamy it looks, I can almost taste it!!!
Thank you so much, Anna. 🙂
This is the BEST PASTA EVER MADE!!! OMG IT WAS SOOO DELICIOUS!! ???????????? My mom NEVER get second helpings but guess what?!? She did today!! Thank you SO MUCH for this Amazing recipe! I am the only Vegan in the family so on my cooking nights, I am always looking for something different and this knock it out of the park ESPECIALLY The cheese!!! ????????OMG GREAT JOB! ????????
Yay, I am so glad to read that! Thank you, Lerisha for your sweet feedback! 🙂
Wow, this is really tasty! I’m not vegan or even vegetarian (but I am gluten sensitive) but it looked worth a try and I wasn’t disappointed. Even my husband really likes it and he’s a hard sell. I look forward to lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy you both liked my recipe! Thanks, Paula, for taking the time to leave a great feedback. 🙂
My husband is still raving about it today!
Amazing! ❤️
This pasta bake looks so delicious! ????
This is so Amazing that you made a cheesy sauce with cauliflower. I will definitely try it!
Much love,
Bianca ❤️
Thank you very much, Bianca. I hope you will give it a try and like it. 🙂
Lots of love, Ela ❤️
This looks amazing!! Can’t wait to make, thanks for sharing.
I hope you will like it, Karen. 🙂
Looks so good for gluten free
Thank you. It was very delicious. I hope you will give it a try. 🙂
Ela! I love this delicious recipe and the step by step pictures are so useful! Take care, Dee xx
Thank you very much, Dee! So glad the step by step pics are helpful 🙂