Julie Clark
Posted: Updated:
Easy Lasagna Recipe
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This easy no boil lasagna recipe uses two meats and three cheeses for amazing flavor. Your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce keeps it simple!
Table of Contents
About two years ago we shared our family’s best lasagna recipe. It is 100% homemade (ok not the pasta, but the rest is homemade). It takes a little work, but it is so good and so worth it.
But what happens if you’re short on time and still craving that classic homemade lasagna flavor? This easy oven ready lasagna recipe comes to our rescue often. By using your favorite spaghetti sauce you can make this quickly and easily!
Lasagna with Ricotta or Cottage Cheese
When I was growing up, I always had lasagna with cottage cheese. I didn’t really eat any ricotta because I didn’t love the texture. We always put cottage cheese in lasagna in place of ricotta.
Now that I’m older, I can handle ricotta in lasagna. You can use either cottage cheese OR ricotta in this recipe. Use the same for either cheese you choose. Both are delicious, but ricotta is more authentic.
How to Make Lasagna
There are two steps you must start with in order to make the lasagna:
- prepare the meat sauce
- prepare the cheese filling
Here’s the details of each:
- In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef and sausage together. Drain off and discard any fat.
- Add the minced garlic and spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper. Mix well.
Do you have to cook noodles for lasagna?
In this recipe, we don’t boil lasagna noodles before we assemble the lasagna. The liquids from the spaghetti sauce should be enough that the noodles will cook beautifully in the oven as the lasagna bakes.
We don’t specifically use oven-ready lasagna sheets. Just use regular lasagna noodles and they should cook just fine.
Pro Tip
If your sauce is a thick, hearty sauce, add ½ cup water to the edges of the pan. If your sauce is runnier like Old World Style Ragu, you won’t need as much water
How to Layer Lasagna
Make sure you spray your baking dish with cooking spray so that the lasagna doesn’t stick. If you have a pan that is a little bigger than 9×13 or has deep sides, use that pan so that the lasagna doesn’t overflow.
- Spread ¾ cup of sauce on the bottom of the baking pan.
- Cover the bottom with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles.
- Top with ⅓ of the cheese mixture and then ¼ of the sauce.
- Repeat layers (noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce).
- Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
Do you cover lasagna when you bake it?
Some recipes may not require that you cover the lasagna while it bakes. However, it is important with our recipe to cover it so the sauce can get hot and soften the pasta. Cover the pan with a single layer of aluminum foil and bake covered for all but 10 minutes of the baking time.
**Pro Tip: Spray one side of the foil with cooking spray, then lay that side down on top of the lasagna and press the edges to seal. The spray helps the cheese not stick to the foil!**
How long do you bake lasagna?
Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. The top should get slightly golden brown and the edges should be bubbling.
Allow lasagna to sit for about 10 minutes before you cut into it. This will help you get clean slices.
Watch us Make It
Try our lasagna roll-ups, which takes our favorite lasagna recipe and makes it easy to serve. I suggest garlic bread to serve along side no matter which you choose.
Easy Lasagna Recipe
This easy no boil lasagna recipe uses two meats and three cheeses for amazing flavor. Your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce keeps it simple!
Servings 15
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound sweet Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 48 ounces spaghetti sauce (your favorite sauce)
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley or 4 tablespoons freshly snipped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 12 lasagna noodles
- ¼ cup water**
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef and sausage together. Drain off and discard any fat.
- Add the minced garlic and spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper. Mix well.
- To assemble, spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Spread ¾ cup of sauce on the bottom of the baking pan.
- Cover the bottom with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles.
- Top with ⅓ of the cheese mixture and ¼ of the sauce.
- Repeat layers (noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce).
- Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- **If your sauce is a thick, hearty sauce, add ½ cup water to the edges of the pan. If your sauce is runnier like Old World Style Ragu, you won’t need as much water).
- Spray a sheet of aluminium foil with cooking spray. Cover with the pan with aluminum foil (sprayed side down). This spray prevents the cheese from sticking.
- Bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Let the lasagna stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 15, with 1 serving being 1 slice of lasagna. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 898mg | Potassium: 534mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 754IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 256mg | Iron: 2mg
How to Reheat Lasagna
If you are wanting to heat leftover lasagna that is in a pan, cover it with foil and bake it in an oven that you’ve preheated to 350º Fahrenheit. You should bake it until the internal temperature reaches 165º F. This will take at least 30 minutes, but depending on how much is left, could take up to 50 minutes.
Can you freeze lasagna?
Yes! You can freeze lasagna both before and/or after you cook it. Either way works! Here are a few tips:
- Use a disposable aluminum pan to make your lasagna in. Then you can easily wrap it and freeze it.
- If you are baking the lasagna before freezing it, make sure you allow the lasagna to cool completely before wrapping it.
- Wrap the lasagna twice in plastic wrap and once in foil.
- Remove it from the freezer the day before you want to bake it. This will help it bake more quickly in the oven.
- Freeze for 2-3 months.
How to Cook Frozen Lasagna
Lasagna will cook the most evenly and have the best results if you remove the lasagna from the freezer the day before you want to cook it. This will help it to mostly defrost and bake more easily.
- Remove the wrappings, then cover with just one layer of foil.
- Bake in a 350º F oven covered for about 50 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- **If the lasagna was previously baked, you won’t need to bake it as long. Start at 30 minutes covered, then uncover and bake until heated through and bubbly on the edges.
What to Serve with Lasagna
Looking to bring the family together around the dinner table? Lasagna is almost an all-in-one casserole with lots of protein, so just a veggie or two on the side is all you need to make a complete meal. Here are a few favorite sides:
I’m a guy that just does not like to cook! I love to eat but just don’t have an enough of an imagination to make something good. But after making this everybody loved it. The taste was awesome but also just to look at it after it was done in the oven looked amazing! Believe me I never talk about something I’ve made like this but it truly was perfect.
Thank you
Jeff
Delicious! For people who are saying the pasta is still “firm” after an hour: Pasta isn’t supposed to be cooked within an inch of its life. I have never once cooked noodles for baked ziti, lasagna, etc and I have never once had an undesirable result. Pasta should have a little texture. It should talk back. It’s called ‘al dente’ and it means literally, “To the tooth”. As in, you should be chewing it, it shouldn’t just slide down your throat. GROSS! There’s no way, if this dish is prepared as directed, you’re getting undercooked noodles. You’re getting properly cooked… Read more »
First time making lasagna and I have to say this quite easy and I would definitely make again. Mine took about an hour and 10 minutes total (60 min covered, 10 min uncovered) and then the last few minutes I put on a low broil to crisp up the cheese. Turned out great!
I made this lasagna today. It looks delicious and it was easy to make. I just have a hard time judging “1/3 of cheese mixture ” and “1/4 of meat mixture “.I end up with to much or to little. It would be great if you could give us a specific measurement.
Easy and very delicious. Used a dish larger than 9x 13 and doubled the Ricotta cheese and added more meat to the sauce. Used up every bit of it in the layers. I like it really cheesy and love Ricotta ! Great recipe!
This recipe is easy and delicious. I made the sauce early in the day and put it in my slow cooker to simmer until I was ready to put it together. I doubled the recipe. One pan went to a friend recuperating from surgery. His family called and asked if I would share the recipe. The other pan my family shared as we were coming and going from sports. This was a big, big hit. I highly recommend it and I am going to try the other variations on here soon!
I made this recipe today and it was a terrific hit! My mother-in-law said it was the best lasagna she has ever tasted! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe
Great recipe! I used no boil noodles, cooked for an hour covered and 10 mins uncovered. It was delicious.
I made this last night and it came out very good. The only changes I made was to leave out the sausuage and I added zucchini and fresh mozzarella on top. I will make again.
Smells & tastes just like at maggiano’s.
I decided to season the ground beef and sautéed onions before adding with garlic and beef before adding the sauce. The recipe was easy to follow and it was absolutely delicious! Whole family loved it including my almost 2 year old. ☺️ Thank you for the recipe!
Should you use oven ready or standard lasagna noodles for this recipe?
Don’t use disposable aluminum pan as suggested; tomato sauce and aluminum don’t mix!
This is my first time ever making lasagna! It is so good that my husband, 4 year old daughter & 2 year old son all loved it! I put 3 cups of mozzarella in the cheese mixture & it was cheesy!
Fabulous recipe! I have made it twice now, and will be my “go to” for holidays, potlucks, and family gatherings. Thank you!