This baked ziti alfredo from Vegana Italiana by Tara Punzone is a dairy-free version of a classic Italian-American dish. Baked ziti is a pasta casserole made with short tubes of pasta, creamy sauce, cheese, and sometimes vegetables, baked until golden on top. It’s comfort food that often shows up at gatherings because it can comfortably feed a small crowd with 12 servings per dish.

In this recipe, cashew ricotta and cashew mozzarella replace dairy, with a vegan alfredo sauce to tie everything together. Seasonal vegetables, like asparagus, add freshness, and pangrattato – crispy Italian toasted breadcrumbs – give the dish a crisp finish. Each step is simple, but the layers come together to make something rich and filling.

The recipe makes enough to serve up to 12 people. That makes it a practical choice for family dinners, potlucks, or parties. It’s also versatile, letting you swap in other vegetables depending on the season.

How to make the baked ziti alfredo

Golden, bubbling, and big enough for a crowd, this baked ziti layers pasta, creamy vegan cheeses, and vegetables into one comforting dish.

a dish of vegan baked ziti alfredo made with ziti pasta, vegan alfredo sauce, asparagus, mozzarella, and breadcrumbs

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Servings

Ingredients

¼ cup sea salt
2 pounds ziti
4 cups Alfredo Sauce vegan, of your choosing
6 cups Cashew Ricotta choose your favorite
5 cups Cashew Mozzarella same as above
4 cups roasted lemon asparagus cut into ½-inch pieces (or other seasonal vegetable)
3 cups Pangrattato breadcrumbs

Instructions

In a large pot, bring 4 to 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil.
Add the salt, then add the ziti and cook until al dente.
Drain and rinse the pasta under cool water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ziti, Alfredo sauce, cashew ricotta, 3 cups of the cashew mozzarella, and the asparagus. Using a large wooden spoon, gently mix the cooked ziti with the sauce and cheeses until all the ingredients are evenly combined. Transfer the pasta into a 9 by 13-inch baking pan.
Top the pasta with the remaining 2 cups of cashew mozzarella, spreading it evenly across the top of the pasta. You can add more sauce or cheese to taste if necessary.
Top with pangrattato, sprinkling it evenly across the pan.
Cover the pan with a lid or foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the mozzarella and pangrattato reach a light golden brown.

Excerpted from VEGANA ITALIANA by Tara Punzone. Copyright © 2025 by Tara Punzone. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Read more: Vegan Mushroom Calzone

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The Author

Tara Punzone

Tara Punzone is the founder of the award-winning Pura Vita restaurants in Los Angeles. Pura Vita is the first 100% Plant-Based Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar in the USA. A trailblazer in vegan Italian cuisine, Tara has been featured in Bon Appétit, Eater, and the Los Angeles Times. Chef Tara Punzone grew up in an Italian American home in New York, and has thrived on a vegan diet for over 35 years. Her passion for healthy southern Italian food has been evolving since her childhood when she made the decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle. It was then Tara began converting all her family’s traditional dishes to vegan versions of the same, without compromise. Vegana Italiana is her first book. Gene Stone – A graduate of Stanford and Harvard, Gene Stone (www.genestone.com) is a former Peace Corps volunteer and newspaper editor for such companies as the Los Angeles Times, Esquire, and Simon & Schuster. He has written more than a dozen books under his own name on a wide variety of subjects and has also ghostwritten or co-written another thirty-five books for a very diverse lot of people, many of which have been national bestsellers. However, for the past fifteen years he has concentrated mainly on writing or ghostwriting books about plant-based diets and their relationship to animal protection, health, and the environment. Among these books are such titles as Forks Over Knives, 72 Reasons to Be Vegan, How Not to Die, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life, Eat for the Planet, The Engine 2 Diet, and Animalkind.

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