This Lentil Mushroom Pasta Bake with Sweet Potato “Cheese” Sauce is a hearty, comforting vegan dinner.

Hands up if you love pasta bakes! I’m a big fan, and I love this most recent creation of mine. It incorporates elements from a couple of my recipes from 2020: this Lentil Walnut Bolognese and the sweet potato cheese sauce from these Vegan Nachos Supreme.

In this recipe, a lentil mushroom pasta sauce is mixed into rotini and baked with a vegan sweet potato-cashew “cheese” sauce on top. It’s a very satisfying vegan dinner that I love to serve with my avocado kale Caesar salad. (I just use celery and grated carrot in place of the roasted squash and beets.)

ingredients you’ll need for this lentil mushroom pasta bake

FOR THE LENTIL MUSHROOM PASTA SAUCE: Extra virgin olive oil, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, sea salt, pepper, cremini or white mushrooms, oregano, basil, chili flakes or cayenne, tomato paste, pasta sauce, cooked lentils, and red wine or vegetable broth.
Uncooked rotini or fusilli.
FOR THE SWEET POTATO CASHEW CHEESE SAUCE: Sweet potato, unsweetened non-dairy milk, soaked raw cashews, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, and pepper.

how to make it

Make the lentil mushroom pasta sauce: Warm the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, garlic, and a small pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 6-8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until all of the water has evaporated off of them and they are lightly browned. Mix in the oregano, basil, chili flakes, and another pinch of sea salt plus freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add the tomato paste, pasta sauce, lentils, and wine or broth. Bring to a simmer, then turn down heat to medium-low and continue simmering for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, make the sweet potato cashew cheese sauce: Steam the sweet potato in a pot fitted with a steamer basket for 15-20 minutes, until fork tender. Transfer into a bowl to let it cool slightly. Pour the almond milk into an upright blender, followed by the sweet potato, soaked cashews, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Blend until ultra smooth and velvety, adding up to ⅓ cup more milk if needed, to achieve a cheese sauce texture.
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain and return to the pot. Ladle all of the lentil mushroom sauce into the pasta pot and stir to combine.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly oil a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with olive oil. Scoop the pasta into the dish and pour the sweet potato cheese sauce over top. Spread to smooth out in an even layer.
Bake for 18 minutes, remove from the oven, and wait five minutes for it to set slightly before enjoying.

some final thoughts

If you or your children are mushroom-averse, you can use other vegetables in their place, such as finely chopped broccoli or kale.
If you need a nut-free cheese sauce, you can use ¼ cup of tahini or ⅓ cup of soaked and drained raw sunflower seeds instead.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and reheated at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes. Because leftover pasta bake tends to be drier than fresh, I recommend adding a bit more pasta sauce before reheating.
If you don’t have time to cook lentils, you can use 2 14-oz cans instead. Or use chickpeas or white beans!

more vegan pasta recipes

I hope that you love this vegan lentil mushroom pasta bake! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made!

Enjoy!