I’m super excited to announce this post is sponsored by World Kitchen, who I love for their gorgeous colourful bakeware. I collect both vintage and brand new dishes all the time! (No really, you should see my ridiculous collection). I have been compensated monetarily and with product. Woot woot!
,%20paired%20with%20marinated%20artichokes.%20We%20all%20know%20those%20two%20are%20a%20super%20great%20match.%20This%20pasta%20tastes%20just%20like%20the%20classic%20dip,%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20all%20disguised%20as%20dinner.%20Healthy,%20vegan,%20gluten%20free%20option,%20oil%20free%20option.)
Why hello there gorgeous, creamy, melt in your mouth, baked dish of deliciousness. Why yes, I do wish I was eating you right now… which would be for breakfast… which might be odd, but I am still so into the idea. Cold pasta fans anyone?
This dish is comfort food heaven! It’s like creaminess and comfort got together and had a baby and they named it Vegan Spinach & Artichoke Pasta Bake. No, not the cutest baby name I have ever heard of, but it will have to do. We can call it “Baked Love” for short.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the beauty of these CorningWare dishes? I LOVE the bright fun colours of these pans, they are just so totally me. I mean the turquoise one… I can’t even, I just think it’s the cutest.
These days it seems like most of the things I own are turquoise: I’m sitting at a turquoise desk, next to my turquoise cabinet, eating cereal out of a turquoise bowl (not so secretly dreaming of eating Baked Love straight out of this turquoise CorningWare pan). So when I received this package of colourful dishes in the mail I was jumping for joy at the gorgeousness. You’ll probably see these dishes show up in a lot of posts from now on. If you’re in a shopping type mood, you can get the set shown above here, or choose from a huge range of other colours, shapes, sizes, and styles.
Back to Baked Love.
This is a great dish for an easy weeknight dinner, but it would also be ridiculously perfect for a big party! A crowd pleaser if I ever saw one. I’m not just talking about a crowd of vegans, (where is this crowd of vegans? I want to come!) I am talking about EVERYONE. The cashews make it so sinfully creamy, an entire extra large box of spinach is crammed in there (Popeye would be proud), paired with marinated artichokes. We all know those two are a super great match. This pasta tastes just like the classic dip, but it’s all disguised as dinner.
What’s that dull rumble? That’s the sound of thousands of vegans running to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for Vegan Spinach & Artichoke Pasta Bake.
Let’s get cooking! First you need to either soak or boil your cashews until they are very tender. Then add them to a blender with all of the sauce ingredients and blend until very smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Melt the vegan butter and mix it up along with all the bread crumb toppings. Now set that aside too.
Drain the artichokes and roughly chop leaving them still leave them fairly chunky. Chop the onion. You guess it, set those aside.
Boil your pasta according to the package directions. In the last 30 seconds of cooking time, add all of the spinach to the boiling water along with the pasta.
Stir the spinach into the water until it is all wilted, then drain pasta and spinach together.
Add the pasta and spinach back into the pot, and now add the onion, artichoke, and all of the sauce. Stir to combine.
Spread the pasta out into a 9x 12 3 qt. baking dish. Then evenly shake the breadcrumb mixture overtop. Bake at 350F (180C) for 25 minutes until hot all the way through and the breadcrumb toppings have lightly browned.
Feast away my friends, feast away.
- For the Sauce:
- 1½ Cup Raw Cashews
- ¼ Cup Lemon Juice (about 1 lemon)
- ¼ Cup Nutritional Yeast
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
- 2 Cups of Non-Dairy Milk of Choice (I used soy)
- ½ teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1½ teaspoons Salt (or to taste)
- For the Topping:
- 1 Tablespoon Melted Vegan Butter
- ¾ Cup Bread Crumbs
- 1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
- ¼ teaspoon Chili Powder
- For the Pasta:
- 4 Cups Dried Penne
- 2 6oz Jars Marinated Artichokes
- ½ of a Medium Yellow Onion
- 11 oz fresh or frozen Spinach (I prefer fresh)
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- To make the sauce: You can choose to boil or soak the cashews. To soak the cashews: Put the cashews in a bowl, and cover them with water. Let soak for 3-8 hours until very tender then drain. To boil the cashews: Cover the cashews with water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and boil for about 10 minutes until the cashews are very tender, then drain.
- Add the cashews to a blender along with all of the sauce ingredients: the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, non-dairy milk, chili powder and salt, and blend until very smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- To make the Topping: Melt the vegan butter and mix it up with all the topping ingredients: the bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, and chili powder. Set aside.
- To make the Pasta: Drain the artichokes. Cut them into smaller pieces but still leave them fairly chunky. Chop the onion.
- In a very large pot, boil your pasta according to the package directions. In the last 30 seconds of cooking time, add all of the spinach to the boiling water along with the pasta. Stir the spinach in until it is all wilted, then drain pasta and spinach together.
- Add the pasta and spinach back into the pot, and add the onion, artichoke, and all of the sauce. Stir to combine. Spread the pasta out into a baking dish. Then evenly shake the breadcrumb mixture overtop. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until hot all the way through, and the breadcrumbs are lightly browned. Serve hot.
*For oil free, skip the tablespoons of vegan butter in the topping.
Bon Appetegan!
Sam.
Can this be done in a crockpot? I want to take it to a potluck but know it won’t keep well if its just in a dish.
I don’t have a crockpot myself, so I haven’t experimented with this, but I have heard from other readers that they have done it in a crockpot and loved it! So I would say yes. It’s definitely better served hot. Enjoy! 🙂
This was delicious! I started Day 1 of my Vegan Challenge, and I found this recipe and your blog last week. So glad about both. I’ll definitely be trying more of you recipes.
Congrats on your vegan challenge!! So happy you loved the recipe. I have some great resources for new vegans here, and basic questions answered here as well. Let me know if you ever have any questions or need any support 🙂
This was super delicious – I served it at Easter to a mixed crowd and everyone loved it. I don’t recommend making it the day before and reheating it as it lost its creaminess. When I make it again, and I certainly will, I will put the sauce on the pasta just before serving and just brown the topping under the broiler.
Thank you Sam!!! Your recipes are wonderful!
You are most welcome, Karen. So happy you and the crowd loved it! 🙂
Love this!!! looks so good! how would it do if i were to prep it but freeze it? and bake at another time?
I think it should work just fine. Enjoy!
This is my new favorite recipe. I didn’t have enough spinach so I threw in some chopped up squash and shredded carrots. It was sooo good and easy to make.
Woohoo! So happy you loved it, Megan!
hi there thank you for this tasty recipe. Spinach artichoke cheesy anything is what i miss when not having dairy. the cashew sauce is absolutely amazing. I have made it for a Christmas eve party this evening and will be making another batch but with mushrooms and spinach tomorrow for the family. Havent tasted it yet but anything with that cashew sauce has to be delish. will be a staple im sure in my vegetarian gluten free non dairy house hold.
Yay! I hope you love it Amy, mushrooms, and spinach additions sound delish! 🙂
Hi Sam, can this be frozen? I’m traveling for Christmas and want to take it with me. :
Personally, I don’t think pasta ever freezes well. It would be fine it was made the day before and heated before serving if that helps. Just make sure the pasta is cooked very al dente so that it doesn’t get mushy. Enjoy!
I learned that lil tip from a The Vegan 8 recipe for cheesy potato and broccoli soup… I remember thinking huh? Pickle juice, really? But I swear it makes it taste rich and cheesy somehow! So I thought to put a lil in this recipe too, and it was delicious! I am so in love with your recipes Sam! You truly make being vegan fun and delicious! 🙂
Awww thank you! That makes me feel like a million bucks 😀
This comfort food recipe was SO delicious!!! Everyone in my household loved and devoured it, even the carnivores! It was creamy, rich, and had just the right amount of crunch. I added a 1/4 cup of pickle juice to the sauce while blending it and it gave it the yummiest cheesy flavor. Can’t wait to make this again!
Woot! So happy everyone loved it. Love this idea of pickle juice, nice little zing! 🙂
Can I skip the nutritional yeast or substitute it in a lesser ratio for soy sauce? I saw in a website that that could work. Just wanted to make sure it would be okay?
Hi Ashley,
Nutritional yeast provides a cheesy nutty flavour. You can skip it if you like, but it might be a little lacking in flavour. I would not replace it with soy sauce as soy sauce is salty and nutritional yeast isn’t. Also the brown colour of soy sauce might make the dip look a funny colour. You could try subbing nutritional yeast with a bit of white miso paste if that helps. Enjoy!
Sam, I made this for supper two nights ago and I haven’t stopped eating it. I’ve had it for breakfast and lunch and supper and I can’t stop thinking about it. Next time I make it it’ll have to be when I have a crowd so I don’t end up eating the whole thing myself. So easy and delicious.
Thank you so much. This is definitely on my favourite list!
Hahaha amazing!!! 😀
Delicious!
I made some changes to the recipe:
-used cashew butter instead of pricessing raw soake cashew
-used unsweetened almond milk
-added bacon and removed most of the grease after frying
-sautéed onion and chopped spinach after bacon was well cooked
-no nutritional yeast (didn’t have any)
-Half a lemon
Fantastically tasty and creamy for the lactose intolerant.
After mixing all the cooked ingredients it already tasted awesome. I would skip the baking if I didn’t have time.
Great, so happy you enjoyed it Tami!
Wow, awesome recipe! I was desperate to make this for aaages, and just as I was ramped up to start, I realised I had no nutritional yeast! but was absolutely craving it, so added extra saucy flavours like the garlic, lemon and salt, and use about 3-4 T of vege stock…. still tastes awesome! I imagine it would taste even better with nutritional yeast, but for anyone out there who was lacking some like me, there are other ways!
Thanks sam 🙂
Yay! I’m so very happy you loved the recipe so much britt and were able to make it tasty without nutritional yeast. Great to hear it was enjoyed 🙂
Thank you for making vegan taste so good. I tried this recipe tonight and I cut everything in half as I knew it would be big. I also sauteed the onions before adding them and I included some sauteed mushrooms too. I live in a rural area so I use coconut oil for vegan butter and my crumb topping turned out great. Definite 5 stars and will make it again. It would be a great potluck offering as no one would even speculate that it was vegan. It is totally comfort food. Costco has a kilo bag of cashews for 15.99. Compared to buying meat, a kilo goes a long way so they are pretty inexpensive. Thanks again!
Yay!! So happy you loved the recipe so much! Thank you for the lovely comment! Totally made my day 🙂
I made this recipe last week and it was great! I live alone so made it and kept it in the fridge for a few days and warmed it up for lunches at work.
My only suggestions for those that want to make it is to sautee the onion before adding it to the pasta. I found it to be a bit crunchy after baking and didn’t particularly enjoy that texture with the other combination of textures (but that’s just me – I’m weird with textures). I also would have chopped the artichoke a lot more finely than I did as it ended up coming out in large chunks and was a bit overpowering even compared to the amount of pasta in the dish.
All in all though, a great recipe and I will definitely be making it again for my non-vegan friends. It’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser. The above suggestions are just based on my tastes and preferences.
That’s great Rebecca! So happy you loved it and were able to make it your own 🙂
Pasta bake is my ultimate comfort food, and this didn’t disappoint!! Unfortunately I put too much lemon juice in (I only had 1 cup of cashews so adjusted the rest of the recipe accordingly – except the lemon juice! Oops!) but was able to fix it with extra salt and chilli powder.
I am also super impatient so browned the breadcrumbs on the grill so I could enjoy sooner!
Yay! Thrilled that you liked this dish so much Carina. 😀
How much does the sauce part measure out to be?
I am going to have to sub cashews because of an allergy… I figure if I have the same amount of sauce whatever the sub I decide… the recipe should work out. Thanks!
Hi Rebecca,
I don’t know what you are planning on subbing for the cashews, but if you are subbing almonds for example, it would be the same amount of almonds as there was cashews. I hope that helps!
This recipe is absolutely incredible! The cashew sauce is fantastic. It’s tough to find vegan recipes that my carnivore daughter enjoys but everyone loved it. This will be a new “old reliable” in our house. Thank you!
Yay!! I love to hear that. So happy you and your daughter enjoyed it 😀
My husband made this for us last night. He also pro-actively found your recipe! I couldn’t believe it! I’m usually the one trawling the net for recipes!
We paired it with a big salad, so we managed to get 12 servings out of it! Was absolutely delish! Thank you so much!!!
Yay!!! So happy you and your husband loved the recipe so much 🙂
This is a killer recipe! Going to keep it in my company file. Amazing….truly amazing vegan dish! Can’t wait to eat the leftovers! Husband loved it too! THANK YOU!
Yay!!! So very happy you and your husband loved it so much Christine 🙂
Made this tonight. Newby vegan – decided to not tell my hubs it was vegan and made sautéed chicken on the side. He ate three helpings andloved it too! Wasn’t sure when I saw the price of raw cashews but I’m happy I trusted you now. You go girl!
Haha thank you Pam!! So happy your husband loved it too. That’s awesome! Yeah raw cashews can be pricey so I always buy them in bulk and on sale. They are a staple in my house! 🙂
Thank you for sharing! My new favorite vegan recipe! Just made this for dinner and i love it! So flavorful and delicious. Pretty easy to make as well.
That’s awesome!! So happy you loved the recipe Ryan. Thank you for coming back and leaving your review 🙂
WE made this and loved it. A couple of suggestions: I don’t have one of those heavy duty blenders so my cashew sauces are always a bit grainy. Still taste delish, but there it is. I added a couple teaspoons of the artichoke marinade liquid back to the ground cashews and other sauce ingredients and it made all the difference in texture and made it more saucy, as it was pretty thick. Also, next time I will probaby use a throw/stir method to add the spinach because it clumped up a bit. Not to worry, it still tasted great. 5 stars for sure!
So happy you enjoyed the recipe Laurie! You can use a fine strainer or a nut bag to strain out the cashew bits if you like. Adding the artichoke marinade is a great idea 🙂
I just new this was going to be awesome! I was eating it right from the pot before putting into the baking pan. 2-year-old girl ate this up in record time. This is a hit recipe and one that I’ll be making again, probably soon! It was one of those meals that I was disappointed I was too full for thirds! 😛 Thanks Sam.
Oh, and SUPER SIMPLE!!!! Love that! 🙂
Haha thank you 🙂
Haha! You’re so very welcome Srivani! It always brightens my day when I see that you have made and loved another one of my recipes. It’s Srivani approved! 😀
Made this tonight, the recipe turned out great! Even my non-vegan hubby thought it was delicious. Looking forward to noshing on leftovers tomorrow 🙂
Woot woot!! So happy you and your husband loved this Lindsay. I love when we are able to woo non-vegans to the green side with food. 😉
Oops, gotta post again to give it 5 stars! 😀
Haha! Thank you!!
I didn’t have a chance to make this until today. Sam, this is SO GOOD!!! I made it for lunch and my whole family devoured it. Yum!
Yay!!! So happy you and your family loved it Kristi! Thanks for coming back and leaving your awesome review! 😀
LOVE the pans! This dish looks well, DELISH! A great solution for a small crowd (because I would eat like half of it, you know?) I would eat this for breakfast in a minute – I LOVE dinner for breakfast!
Haha, yeah I could probably mow down half as well. Us vegans, being all classy. Haha!
This looks really yummy. I think my husband will even like it. (And the dishes are adorable, too.)
Yeah, I love having this colourful addition to my bakeware! I bet you’re right, your husband will like it. I served it up to both vegans and omnivores alike and everyone loved it! Enjoy!
This recipe is great. I added roasted acorn squash…I bet other veggie combinations and spice blends will be tasty too. I believe the cashew cream only works if you have a blend-tec or vitamix, though. It’s worth it for recipes like this!
Thank you Alicia! So happy you loved the recipe, the addition of acorn squash sounds super yummy and seasonal!
After I soak or boil the cashews, they should be drained before putting them in the blender, right? I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe and I’ve never had the guts to try a cashew sauce before. I want to make sure I get it right.
Hi Sue! Yes, you drain the cashews before putting them in the blender. I added that into the instructions just now, so that hopefully nobody gets confused, thanks for pointing that out! The secret to awesome cashew sauces it to make sure the cashews are very tender before blending, and blend until completely smooth and no cashew bits remain. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Oh my gosh Sam! I need this in my life ASAP. I already have dinner planned for the week, but may need to make a special weekend lunch. You are amazing. I am so excited when I see an email with a new blog post from you. 🙂 I’ll be back after I make it!
Hahaha! Yay!!!! That’s the best! I am so happy you are so excited to try this recipe and that you always look forward to more! I hope I continue to put out recipes you enjoy 🙂