Dairy-Free Venison Lasagna
Updated: Jan 23
This past fall, my husband shot his first deer during bow season. With his first deer, we sent it to a processor, not knowing how to cut it up ourselves (we learned with the 3rd deer). To save money, we mainly got ground venison mixed with pork so it wouldn't be too dry. After getting the venison back I realized I had to get to work! I found many different lasagna recipes, but one thing about lasagna is it is usually packed with high-lactose dairy products like ricotta. While I ADORE CHEESE coming from the diary state, it hurts my gut from being lactose intolerant. I've been exploring vegan cheeses, and so far, the vegan gouda has been my favorite. In my opinion it is the closest tasting to the real thing. Sometimes when I make this recipe I do opt for low-lactose cheeses. Some good l0w-lactose cheeses for this recipe are sliced muenster cheese and the traditional grated parmesan.
Dairy Free Venison Lasagna
Ingredients
1 pound ground venison (mine was mixed with ground pork)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
48 oz spaghetti sauce
18 slices vegan gouda cheese (approx. 14 oz)
7 oz vegan mozzarella
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon basil oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
12 lasagna noodles
1/4 cup water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F
In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the venison. Drain off and discard any fat. (if you have venison without pork, you may want to add a little olive oil to the pan.) Set the venison aside in a bowl.
In the same pan, add a a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, minced garlic, and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms are softened. Then add the meat back in the pan, as well as the spaghetti sauce to simmer for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix grated vegan mozzarella, dried parsley, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
To assemble, oil/spray a 9x13 baking pan.
Spread 3/4 cup on the bottom of the baking pan/dish.
Cover the bottom with three uncooked lasagna noodles.
Top with 1/4 of the sauce, 6 slices of vegan gouda, and 1/3 of the vegan mozzarella mixture.
Repeat those layers - noodles, gouda, mozzarella, and sauce.
Top it off with the last 3 noodles, the rest of the sauce. and the rest of the mozzarella.
-If you have a thick sauce, add 1/2 cup of water to the edges of the pan (so the noodles don't dry out).
Spray/oil a sheet of aluminum foil. Cover the pan with the greased side down.
Bake covered for 50 minutes. Then take of the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove the lasagna from the oven and let stand for 10-15 minutes to cool before serving.