Bringing you a comforting, veggie-packed, and easy bake today!
This roasted vegetable bake is saucy, savory, and features a delicious cashew cheese sauce browned to perfection!
No tofu or jackfruit in this bake, just vegetables and a flavorful cashew cheese topping!
We start by coating diced veggies with a drizzle of oil and spices: oregano, basil, cumin, and smoked paprika. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring regularly until the vegetables are tender.
In the meantime, let's prepare the sauce!
Blend soaked cashews (I usually soak them in boiling water for 30-40 minutes) with nutritional yeast, garlic, maple syrup, and vinegar. For an extra cheesy flavor, I added a couple of fermented tofu cubes, also called Chao, or fermented bean curd. If you don't have that on hand, simply add more nutritional yeast and salt to taste.
Once your veggies are tender, stir in a handful of spinach, and the tomato sauce. Note: for people who have trouble digesting tomatoes, you could probably replace it with puréed roasted red bell peppers, or pumpkin purée.
Top with a thick layer of cashew cheese sauce and bake for another 15 minutes, or until golden brown! The cashew sauce will slightly thicken and get a light, almost airy texture. SO good!
This bake is easy, flavorful, and makes a great weeknight family dinner! It can be served on its own, or with green salad on the side.
Looking for more comforting and saucy dishes? Check out this Stuffed Tofu in Spicy Tomato Sauce, Tempeh Stuffed Buffalo Shells, or this Easy Parsnip & Carrot Bake!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Cheesy Vegan Vegetable Bake
Ingredients
Cheesy Sauce
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 cubes fermented tofu (add more salt and nutritional yeast to taste if you don't have it)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Vegetable Bake
- 1 and ½ zucchini cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 carrot cut into ½-inch slices
- 5-6 mushrooms quartered
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ¾ teaspoon each: oregano, basil, cumin, smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 14.5-oz can peeled tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- a pinch of baking soda
Instructions
Cheesy Sauce
- Add the raw cashews to a bowl. Pour boiling water over the cashews and let it soak for about 40 minutes.
- Drain the cashews and transfer to a high-speed blender. Add the water, nutritional yeast, fermented tofu, garlic, maple syrup, onion powder, white vinegar, and salt. Blend on high-speed for about 30 seconds, or until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Vegetable Bake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Add the diced vegetables to a 10x7 baking dish and drizzle with the oil. Add the spices and salt, and stir to coat the vegetables.
- Bake for 40 minutes, stirring twice through baking.
- In the meantime, add the peeled tomatoes with their juice, maple syrup, and baking soda to a high-speed blender. Blend for 3-5 seconds, or until roughly chopped.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven and stir in the spinach. It should soften very quickly due to the heat. Pour in the tomato sauce and stir to mix with the roasted vegetables. Bake for another 15 minutes.
- Next, pour the cashew cheese sauce on top of the veggies and bake for another 15 minutes. Place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool a few minutes before serving.
- This bake can be served as is with a green salad on the side for a light meal, or with rice and/or your favorite plant-based protein.
Delicious! I grated some of my FoP aged tomato Camembert on top too!
Sounds great! Thanks for your feedback Kay!
This was really a great dish over some basmati rice. I think you have the total cook time incorrect?
Thanks Gary!
It's fixed!
This was phenomenal!
1. It made my house smell like a delicious Italian restaurant.
2. It had a nice variety of fresh veggies.
3. Prep was super easy.
4. The cheesy topping was surprisingly simple and delicious.
5. Everything tasted really good all together.
Thanks for this recipe!
Thanks so much Sue! 🙂 Glad you liked this vegetable bake.
My husband made this for supper this evening, and it was cheesy and delicious! It was served with roasted herby potatoes and a big salad. We don't have fermented tofu in the house, so he used more nutritional yeast, and also substituted onions for the mushrooms as we were out of mushrooms. All the ingredients, with the exception of the fermented tofu, are staples in this house, so it was easy to put together. This will definitely be added to our rotating recipes. Next time we will use the mushrooms and try to find that fermented tofu.
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I threw in what veggies I had and then the cheese sauce and it was a huge success with my family! Served it with quinoa as well : ) Thanks a bunch!
Glad you liked it Jovana! Thanks for your feedback!