Making a vegan casserole is easy. Making a satisfying, good tasting vegan casserole is much harder. For non-vegans this task is much easier, add some bacon, and about a pound of cheese on top, you'll satisfy most. Sure, I could have just added some processed vegan bacon and vegan cheese (with questionable ingredients) but I actually wanted a healthy dinner for my family with plently of plant based protein and "good" carbs.
I've been working on perfecting a tempeh casserole recipe for a while and the pictures don't do it justice. It's deliciously creamy, thanks to almond milk and the creamy herbed cashew cheese on top. Hubbs loved this recipe and my kids couldn't get enough.
It's actually a fairly easy casserole to make. Don't let the instructions scare you away. Cook the tempeh and veggies with some almond milk, add the pasta, top with crumbled cashew cheese, and pop in the oven for a few minutes.
The reason I used tempeh is that it is absolutely AH-Mazing!
Seriously, if you haven't used tempeh before then you are missing out. Tempeh may sound gross since it's made from fermented soybeans and produced with mold. Believe me, it delicious! It has a great nutty flavor that works well in savory dishes and takes the cake when compared to other plant-based proteins.
Tempeh Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 medium White or Yellow Onion diced
- 7 ounces 200g Tempeh (diced)
- 2 Garlic Cloves crushed
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Rosemary can use dried if needed
- 6 medium Tomatoes roughly diced
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked Pepper optional
- 1 cup unsalted whole Cashews
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
- ½ cup Unsweetened Almond or Oat Milk
- 3 cups Whole Wheat Shell Pasta cooked
- 1 teaspoon White Wine Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
Instructions
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Heat olive oil in a medium sized stockpot over medium heat. Add diced onions and saute for 2 minutes. Add diced tempeh, garlic, and rosemary. Saute for about 3 minutes until tempeh is lightly browned and garlic becomes fragrant.
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Toss tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper into stockpot with tempeh. Cover stockpot and cook for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally.
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Preheat oven to 475 F (245C).
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Prepare cashew cheese by pulsing cashews, ¼ teaspoon salt, and oregano in a food processor until it become thick and creamy. Set aside.
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Add almond or oat milk to tomatoes, bring to a quick boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes until mixture slightly thickens.
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Stir in cooked pasta shells and white wine vinegar to tomato-tempeh mixture.Pour into a large baking dish or casserole and sprinkle with crumbled cashew cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and bake on middle rack of oven for 5 minutes until bubbling and cashew cheese has browned.
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Remove from oven and serve hot.
Recipe Notes
1) For those sensitive to gluten use gluten free pasta and check your tempeh packaging label to ensure it is gluten free. 2) Tempeh casserole works well with different pasta shapes (spaghetti and linguine not so much).
If you are gluten sensitive, have celiacs, or just want to cut out gluten then you can still enjoy my tempeh casserole :) Just swap out the whole wheat pasta shells for gluten free pasta (any shape works) and check your tempeh label to make sure it is gluten free. Some brands that offer gluten free tempeh are Turtle Island (Tofurky), Lightlife, and Rhapsody Natural Foods. There might be others but these are the ones I'm aware of.
Want to try out tempeh in a different recipe then try one of these:
Manali @ CookWithManali says
i have been hearing so much about tempeh these days! I am not a huge tofu fan so I think i'll give tempeh a try! thanks for sharing Vanessa :)
Vanessa says
Hi Manali,
You definitely need to give tempeh a try. I'm not a big fan of tofu either but I love the nutty flavor and texture of tempeh :)
Manali @ CookWithManali says
Cool! I'm going to get it the next time I go grocery shopping! :)
Ashton says
I made this for dinner tonight. My boyfriend and I both loved it!
Vanessa says
Hi Ashton, I'm so glad. This is one of my favorite dinner recipes :)
Jamie says
Do you think I can make this ahead the night before and bake it the next day?
Vanessa Croessmann says
Hi Jamie, Sorry for the last response but you can definitely make this tempeh casserole ahead of time, keep it in the fridge and then bake it the next day ;)
Dawn says
I made this last night and we loved it. However, I soaked the raw cashews overnight. I then blended the drained cashews, soy milk, salt and oregano together and made a cream sauce. I added the tomatoes to the tempeh mixture and cooked it together. Then I mixed in the pasta dumped it in a baking dish and covered with the cream sauce. Oops I misread the recipe. But,it still turned out delicious!