Before we get to talking about Vegan Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni, I have to celebrate a little. You see, it's my blog's Birthday!! 4 Years ago I posted my very first recipe on It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken. Woot woot! I remember getting 3 views that day, which were all from my family. My blog now receives 10,000+ views daily.
I posted my dinner, which was spaghetti with tomato sauce, and jotted down the recipe which was written in no particular order, without any ingredient quantities, completely vague, and the photos were taken with my geezer of an iPhone at night under kitchen lighting, just before eating my meal.
Now, I'm completely nit picky about measurements and instructions, I write all my recipes during the day, test them multiple times, use natural lighting as well as professional photography lighting, a proper DSLR camera, and my food is always cold by the time I get to actually eating it.
I was working at a job I hated, was nervous about informing people I went vegan and hoped I could avoid the subject all together, and felt a little directionless in life. Who knew that in just 4 years I would be working full-time as a food blogger, that I would have finished writing and photographing my first cookbook, am the loudest and proudest vegan I know, and truly feel like I have my dream job that I didn't even know I was dreaming about. My oh my what a lot has happened in 4 years!
I feel like the luckiest person in the whole wide world and it's all thanks to YOU. Without you, my blog would have never grown, my recipes never made, and my dream job never found. So thank YOU for sharing this journey with me. <3
In celebration of 4 years, I thought I should make a pasta recipe, since that's how this whole journey started. Vegan Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni for the win!
Fresh spinach and basil mixed with creamy dreamy easy to whip up ricotta, stuffed into cannelloni pasta, and coated in tomato sauce. Oooeee! What can be more delicious than that? This is one of those recipes that you could serve to anyone and they would never know it was vegan. It's just all sorts of delicious, and that's just the way I like it. Perfect for a fancy occasion, but so yummy, you'll probably want to make this Vegan Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni more often than that!
To make Vegan Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni: heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add in the onion and garlic, sauté until the onion begins to soften but doesn't yet brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add in the spinach and cover. Check and stir the spinach every minute until the spinach has wilted, about 4 more minutes.
Add the cooked spinach and onions to the food processor with the ricotta. Add in the basil, reserving some basil leaves for garnish.
*I love my Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta in this recipe but my Vegan Cashew Ricotta or Macadamia Ricotta would both work wonderfully as well.
Pulse a couple of times, stopping to scrape the sides as needed until the ricotta is spotted with green throughout.
Scoop the ricotta mixture into a large sealable bag and cut off the corner. Alternatively, use a pastry bag. Fill the cannelloni noodles by squeezing some of the ricotta into one end of a noodle, flipping the noodle over and filling from the other side. Don't worry about these being perfect, they are going to get smothered in tomato sauce anyways, so any messes will be hidden.
Lay the noodle in the baking dish with the sauce in a single layer. Repeat with the remaining noodles until the dish is full and the ricotta is used up.
Cover with the remaining tomato sauce making sure each noodle is coated in sauce.
Bake until the cannelloni are tender and the sauce is hot. Remove from oven and garnish with basil leaves. Omnomnom!
Vegan Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni
Ingredients
- 1 batch Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta, (cashew or macadamia ricotta, see notes)
- 3 cups prepared tomato sauce (one 700ml jar)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 big handfuls fresh spinach (about 5 oz)
- 1 small bunch fresh basil leaves, (about 20g)
- 18 cannelloni noodles (maybe a couple more or less depending on the size of your noodles)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (180C).
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add in the onion and garlic, sauté until the onion begins to soften but doesn't yet brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add in the spinach and cover. Check and stir the spinach every minute until the spinach has wilted, about 4 more minutes.
- Add the cooked spinach and onions to the food processor with the ricotta. Add in the basil, reserving some basil leaves for garnish. Pulse a couple of times, stopping to scrape the sides as needed until the ricotta is spotted with green throughout.
- Prepare the cannelloni noodles according to package directions. Mine were the oven ready type, so there was no preparation needed. Spread about ¼ of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.
- Scoop the ricotta mixture into a large sealable bag and cut off the corner. Alternatively, use a pastry bag. Fill the cannelloni noodles by squeezing some of the ricotta into one end of a noodle, flipping the noodle over and filling from the other side. Lay the noodle in the baking dish with the sauce in a single layer. Repeat with the remaining noodles until the dish is full and the ricotta is used up. Don't worry about these being perfect, they are going to get smothered in tomato sauce anyways, so any messes will be hidden. Cover with the remaining tomato sauce making sure each noodle is coated in sauce.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes until the cannelloni are tender and the sauce is hot. (Alternatively, follow the baking directions on your pasta package, it may vary). Remove from oven and garnish with basil leaves.
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
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Chen says
This has been a staple in our house now for a long time my kids love it so much and are so excited when I serve it but we recently ran out of cannelloni shells and couldn't find any at the shop. So I made it as a lasagna and it was amazing and my kids gobbled it up put the red sauce at the bottom and then the lasagna sheets layered with tofu and spinach ricotta and topped with red sauce and some vegan cheese. delicious....100 ⭐ stars
Sam Turnbull says
Haha, amazing! So happy you love it!!
Kay O says
My family *loved* this recipe and asked me to make it again! I made the cashew ricotta from your cookbook (doubled). I’ve missed this dish since giving up dairy. It really hit the spot! Thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you love it, Kay!
Nico says
Hello! We are excited to try this recipe. How much is 1 “batch” of Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta? Could you measure that in grams? Thank you!! Greetings from Switzerland
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Nico, it is this recipe for vegan ricotta. So the entire recipe.
Laurie Lapointe says
Oh wow! Délicieux! 🙂
Rebecca says
This recipe is amazing, thank you! The tofu ricotta is delicious, and the whole family gobbled up the cannelloni 🙂 Everything was really easy to make and put together, looking forward to having it often!
Kari says
I used shells instead of cannelloni and still had some shells left after using all the ricotta so I stuffed them with the leftover spinach and artichoke dip I made from your cookbook. Both fillings were so delicious!
Sam Turnbull says
Amazing!!!
Amy Garrison says
I have not eaten animal products in 10 years...never liked the “vegan food” animal product replacements and don’t want to eat fake food anyway. I was reluctant to try this, cause how can tofu taste like ricotta? Ohmygoodness I can’t believe I waited so long!!! Such a comfort food and typically so unhealthy! This recipe is my new favorite. So excited and grateful to have found it! Thank you!!! I’ll be sharing will all my non-vegan friends and they won’t even know it’s good for them and vegan! ❤️
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!!! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Amy 🙂
Rosie says
Let me preface this comment by saying both my husband (omni) and I (vegan) absolutely HATE tofu. Hate the texture, hate the flavour, have tried it in all kinds of ways, and just have never been able to find a way to make it palatable. My husband literally gags when trying to eat it. HOWEVER, thanks to you I have finally found a way to prepare it that we both not only tolerated, but very much enjoyed! I decided to give it a chance because of the fantastic reviews, although I was a little worried that they were coming from already-converted tofu-enthusiasts. But there was no need to fear: the meal was a total success!!! I didn't tell my husband that we were eating tofu or he would never have agreed to even try it. It wasn't until he had nearly finished it that I admitted to what it was. Anyway, thanks again for this delicious recipe! I only used half the ricotta so far: the rest will be going on toast tomorrow 😀 I encourage other people who usually dislike tofu to try it. It's just so good!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww that's so awesome, Rosie! So happy you like tofu prepared this way 🙂
Cale says
This recipe is so awesome! Thank you so much for sharing it, my previous cannelloni recipes don't hold a candle to this one and yours is so much easier and has less ingredients. My son even finished his whole plate, I'm officially making your version of ricotta my new go to in recipes from now on. Thank you Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww wonderful, Cale! So thrilled you love it so much 🙂
Elizabeth Galloway says
We’ve made this a few times now and it never disappoints! The kids love it and even though the piping into the tubes can be messy, I just do it over a bowl and then scrape any dripping back into the bag at the end. Going to try the tofu ricotta in a lasagna next!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you loved it, Elizabeth 🙂
Martin says
Hello Sam!
I did this recipe last night and was amazing! the tofu ricotta taste so, so good.... I just added a sprinkle of nutmeg when mixing with the spinach and the other ingredients.
Thank you so much for this yummy recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
So thrilled you loved it so much, Martin 🙂
Ree says
Sam!! This recipe is AMAZING!!! I chose whole grain lasagna noodles over cannelloni noodles- this spinach tofu ricotta mix you make here is absolutely excellent as a lasagne base! I added chopped vegan "meat"-balls and BOOM- a vegan pasta so good I never would have guessed it was vegan just by tasting! You blog is AWESOME, keep doing what you do, your story and your approach to vegan cooking is a huge inspiration to me, both in my journey as a vegan, and as a home cook trying to feed my body better. ❤️ You rock!
Sam Turnbull says
That's so wonderful, Ree!! Thanks so much, so happy you are loving my content so much 🙂
Jen says
If I could give this 6/5 stars I would. One of the worst things about going vegan was giving up spinach and ricotta cannelloni, but this one is actually SO much better than the 'real thing'! I couldn't stop eating this for days. SO GOOD!!!! The tofu ricotta is unbelievable. I made my own tomato sauce with tinned tomatoes, garlic, red wine vinegar and sugar but prepared sauce would have been quicker. It took a long time for me to make but it was so worth it! Thank you for such an amazing recipe, I already can't wait to make it again! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!! That's so awesome, Jen! So very happy you loved this even more than the original!! 😀