Vegan Baked Ziti
Ligia Lugo
Published:
December 10, 2025
Last Modified:
February 18, 2026
My vegan baked ziti recipe is comfort food at its finest! Tender ziti pasta, homemade vegan meat sauce, creamy white sauce, and loads of vegan cheese make this pasta bake a soul food meal through and through.
Anytime I’m cooking for company my first thought is some type of pasta casserole. I love that I can do all of the work ahead of time (even the day before!) and then just pop the casserole in the oven to cook while we hang out for a bit and enjoy some appetizers. (P.S. Homemade Tomato Bruschetta is a great starter for this meal!)
Baked pasta dish recipes like this allow me to be present and enjoy the company we’re having over, plus, pasta bakes are without fail, always a crowd pleaser.
It takes a little time investment up front to get all of the components ready, layered, and baked but after that this baby takes care of itself in the oven. It makes a ton of food and is easy to scale up so you can make enough for plenty of leftovers.
Ingredient Notes
For the Ziti Mixture:
- Olive oil – Choose a lighter weight cooking blend of olive oil instead of heavy extra virgin oil here.
- Onion – You can use white, sweet, or yellow onion here, just peel and finely chop it.
- Garlic – You’ll need a few fresh garlic cloves, peeled and minced. They have the best flavor when they are freshly chopped as opposed to chopped in advance!
- Soy sausage – I used smoked soy sausage for this recipe–it gives an amazing flavor! You can use any type of vegan sausage (we taste tested and reviewed several different brands of vegan sausage in our Best Vegan Hot Dogs review!) you wish or a different meat substitute like vegan ground beef. Cooked red lentils will work too.
- Canned chopped tomatoes – Use your favorite brand of canned chopped tomatoes. Plain and Italian seasoned are both good, or a fire-roasted variety for additional flavor.
- Dried Italian herbs – Usually a combination of herbs such as oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, and garlic. You can use a store bought Italian Seasoning blend or whip up some of my Homemade Italian Seasoning Mix.
- Salt and pepper – Add as much or as little as you like, taking into account how salty your vegan sausages may be and whether or not the canned tomatoes you use are salted.
- Ziti pasta – Some pastas contain egg ingredients, so make sure to choose a vegan ziti pasta. Ziti is the most traditional choice for baked ziti of course, but penne pasta would work as well!
For the Vegan Cheese Sauce:
- Vegan butter – I like the flavor that vegan butter adds to this cheesy white sauce, but olive oil will work too! Use your favorite vegan butter brand or check out my Best Vegan Butter review for a few of my faves.
- Plant-based milk – I used unsweetened almond milk, but you can also try a different non-dairy milk option like oat, soy, or rice milk. I don’t recommend using coconut milk here as the flavor doesn’t work well in this recipe.
- Vegan mozzarella – Melting vegan mozzarella into the white sauce gives it a nice savory flavor and also a rich, creamy texture. You can buy vegan mozzarella shreds in a bag or in a block and shred it yourself on a box grater.
- Nutritional yeast – A dash of nutritional yeast intensifies that cheesy flavor in your sauce! Use your favorite brand.
For Topping:
- Vegan ricotta cheese – There are many types available out there, such as almond, cashew, and tofu ricotta cheeses. We’ll be topping the baked ziti with it, to give it a final layer of extra creaminess. If you can’t find store bought vegan ricotta you could also use homemade Vegan Cashew Cheese.
- Fresh chopped basil – A staple for most Italian dishes! Fresh basil gives your baked ziti a bright green, sweetly fragrant finish.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Sauté veggies. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, for about 4-5 minutes until slightly softened and translucent.
- Add sausage. Stir in crumbled soy sausage and continue cooking, stirring often, for another 3 minutes.
- Add ingredients. Stir in canned chopped tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Season with salt and black pepper as desired.
- Simmer sauce. Reduce the burner to medium heat and let your sauce simmer for about 10 minutes. Give it an occasional stir to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Cook pasta. While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the package directions for al dente.
- Combine. Drain the cooked pasta and combine it with the cooked vegan meat sauce mixture.
- Transfer. Stir well and transfer the pasta mixture to a baking dish. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Make white sauce. While you wait for the oven to preheat, melt the vegan butter in a saucepot over medium-high heat. Whisk in the plant-based milk, then add vegan mozzarella cheese shreds and nutritional yeast. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Melt. Continue cooking and stirring the white sauce until the vegan mozzarella is completely melted.
- Pour. Drizzle your vegan cheese sauce over the ziti mixture in the casserole dish.
- Sprinkle. Top the baked ziti with clumps of vegan ricotta cheese.
- Bake. Transfer the casserole dish to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until heated through and melty on top.
- Slice and serve! Garnish your baked ziti with chopped fresh basil if you like, then slice into portions and serve warm.
Tips From Ligia
To make portioning your vegan ziti easier:
Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing into it. This gives the sauces a chance to firm up a bit and your casserole will be more likely to hold its shape after slicing.
How To Store
Refrigerating Portion the baked ziti into pieces that will fit into your airtight food storage containers, pack them up, and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Freezing Whole Baked Ziti: Assemble your baked ziti as instructed through Step 11, but don’t bake it just yet! Make sure to use a freezer-safe baking dish. Wrap your unbaked ziti tightly first with plastic wrap, then cover with aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover Baked Ziti: If you are freezing portions of already cooked ziti, simply pack them into a freezer-safe airtight container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Thawing Transfer your ziti to the refrigerator and allow it to thaw overnight.
Reheating If heating an entire casserole, bake it according to recipe directions starting from Step 12. If reheating pre-baked ziti, place it in an oven-safe dish, add a small splash of water, cover, and bake it at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes until heated through. Or, place it in a microwave-safe dish and heat on high until warmed through.
Vegan Baked Ziti
Ingredients
For the Ziti Mixture:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz. soy sausage, crumbled
- 14 oz. canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 ½ tsp dried Italian herbs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 14 oz. Ziti pasta
For the Vegan Cheese Sauce:
- 4 Tbsp vegan butter
- ¼ cup plant-based milk
- 1 cup shredded vegan mozzarella
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For Topping:
- ½ cup vegan ricotta cheese
- Fresh chopped basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, for about 4-5 minutes until slightly softened and translucent.
- Stir in the crumbled soy sausage and continue cooking and stirring for another 3 minutes.
- Stir in the canned chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Drain the cooked pasta and combine it with the cooked sauce mixture.
- Stir well and transfer the pasta mixture to a baking dish. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- While you wait for the oven to preheat, make the cheese sauce. Melt the vegan butter in a saucepot over medium-high heat, whisk in the plant-based milk, then add shredded vegan mozzarella cheese and nutritional yeast. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Continue cooking on low and stirring until the vegan mozzarella is completely melted.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the baked ziti mixture.
- Top with clumps of vegan ricotta cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until heated through and melty on top.
- Garnish your baked ziti with chopped fresh basil if you like, then slice into portions and serve warm.
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