Homemade Lasagna is a classic recipe that every cook should have in their rotation.

Tender sheets of pasta, a creamy ricotta cheese filling, and a rich meaty tomato sauce are all topped with more cheese and baked until browned and bubbly.

While there are a few steps to this lasagna recipe, it’s easy to make and has so much flavor. This dish can be made ahead of time and freezes well either before or after baking!

a slice of baked homemade lasagna on a white plate

Homemade lasagna may have a few steps, but each step is easy – and I assure you it’s worth the time; the perfect Italian meal!

The best lasagna recipe is made with ingredients that you know, and it’s not difficult at all! All you’ll need for this easy lasagna recipe is one pan, one bowl, and a 9×13 baking dish!

Lasagna Ingredients

ingredients for lasagna on a wood board
  • Cheese Filling: For this classic lasagna recipe, the filling contains ricotta and parmesan with seasonings and a couple of tablespoons of parsley. No ricotta? No problem, cottage cheese works just fine in this recipe!
  • Meat: I use both Italian sausage and ground beef for great flavor. If using all beef, add a ¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds and some Italian seasoning to the meat mixture for flavor.
  • Sauce: To keep this sauce quick, I use pasta sauce or marinara sauce (it’s easy to make from scratch with crushed tomatoes and canned tomatoes if you’d prefer).

Spinach (variation): To make a spinach lasagna, squeeze out most of the moisture of defrosted frozen spinach and add it along with the cheese layer.

Lasagna ingredients don’t have to be limited to the ones you see here. Substitute meats or different cheeses, or try different meat sauce variations.

How to Make Lasagna

Homemade lasagna may have a few steps, but each step is easy – and I assure you it’s worth the time; the perfect Italian meal! This is a really easy lasagna recipe.

  1. Boil pasta: Cook in a large pot of salted water per the recipe below.
  2. Prepare meat sauce: Cook sausage and beef with onion and garlic. Drain well, add the pasta sauce & simmer it for a few minutes to thicken.
  3. Combine cheese mixture: Stir the cheese mixture together in a bowl.
  4. Layer & bake: Layer the meat sauce and cheese mixture with lasagna noodles and bake until browned and bubbly.

How to Layer Lasagna

  1. Spread about a cup of meat sauce into a 9×13 pan. Add a layer of noodles.
  2. Top the noodles with some of the ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat the layers, ending with a layer of noodles and sauce
  3. Cover with foil and bake. Remove foil, top with mozzarella and parmesan, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Once you have prepared the meat sauce and the cheese mixture, you’re ready to layer. This is the order of layers:

  • sauce – noodles – cheese
  • sauce – noodles – cheese
  • sauce – noodles – cheese
  • noodles – sauce (bake) – cheese
Easy Homemade Lasagna in a serving dish

How Long to Bake

Bake this lasagna recipe for a total of one hour. To get a perfect browned cheese topping, you’ll need to bake it in two stages.

  1. Layer and cover it tightly with aluminum foil to retain the moisture.
  2. Once cooked, and heated through, remove the foil, top with cheese, and return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, or until the top is browned and the lasagna is bubbling.

Important: Let the Lasagna Rest

Let the lasagna sit/rest for at least 15 minutes once removed from the oven (even 30-45 minutes is fine). This will keep it from becoming runny and help it to keep its shape when cut. Resting is not required when reheating.

Serve with a big slice of Homemade Garlic Bread and garnish with fresh basil or a couple of tablespoons of parsley.

Finish the meal with a Caesar salad or Italian salad.

pan of the best baked homemade lasagna on a white plate

Make Ahead

Lasagna can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 days before baking. It can also be frozen before or after baking.

To Freeze Lasagna

Lasagna is one of the best meals to make ahead and freeze. Double or triple the recipe and store it tightly wrapped in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake as directed. If the lasagna is cold from the fridge, it may need an extra 20 minutes or so of cooking time.

How To Reheat Lasagna

If you’ve frozen leftovers, pop them in the oven at 350°F covered until reheated. This should take about 30 minutes! Of course, leftovers are perfectly heated in the microwave too!

More Baked Pasta Recipes

Did you enjoy this Homemade Lasagna? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!

pan of the best baked homemade lasagna on a white plate
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Easy Homemade Lasagna

Homemade lasagna is a classic, delicious dinner that every family should have in their recipe rotation. 
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients  

  • 12 lasagna noodles uncooked
  • 4 cups mozzarella cheese shredded and divided
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded and divided

Tomato Sauce

  • ½ pound lean ground beef
  • ½ pound Italian sausage
  • 1 onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 36 ounces pasta sauce *see note
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Cheese Mixture

  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 egg beaten

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large pot of salted water, boil lasagna noodles until al dente according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.
  • In a large skillet or dutch oven, brown beef, sausage, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
  • Stir in the pasta sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.
  • In a separate bowl, combine 1 ½ cups mozzarella, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, ricotta, parsley, egg, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
  • Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce in a 9×13 pan or casserole dish. Top it with 3 lasagna noodles. Layer with ⅓ of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of meat sauce. Repeat twice more. Finish with 3 noodles topped with remaining sauce.
  • Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. 
  • Remove the foil and sprinkle with the remaining 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup parmesan cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Broil for 2-3 minutes if desired.
  • Rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Video

Notes

*Note on the sauce: In this recipe, each layer has about 1 cup of meat sauce. If you prefer more sauce in your lasagna, increase the pasta sauce to 48 oz. Salt needed may vary based on the brand of pasta sauce used. Taste and season after simmering.
Cheese Layer The cheese layers are thin; if you’d prefer a thicker layer of cheese, divide the cheese in half and put on the first two layers, and add just meat sauce to the third layer. We did test this with extra ricotta cheese and found it overpowered the lasagna. 
Time-Saving Tip:  Use fresh lasagna sheets found in the deli area and skip the boiling step! Fresh lasagna doesn’t need to be boiled first. 
Let the lasagna sit/rest for at least 15 minutes once removed from the oven (even 30-45 minutes is fine). This will keep it from becoming runny and help it to keep its shape when cut. Resting is not required when reheating.
Substitutions:
  • Ricotta cheese can be replaced with cottage cheese.
  • Use all beef (or even ground turkey) in place of sausage if needed. If using all beef, add ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning to the meat (and ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds if desired).
4.96 from 2321 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 377 | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 857mg | Potassium: 492mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 805IU | Vitamin C: 7.4mg | Calcium: 526mg | Iron: 2.2mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Casserole, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine Italian
slice of Easy Homemade Lasagna with a title
plated Easy Homemade Lasagna with a title
baked Easy Homemade Lasagna in the casserole dish with a title
Easy Homemade Lasagna baked in the dish and plated slice with a title

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About the author

Holly is a wine and cheese lover, recipe creator, shopping enthusiast and self appointed foodie. Her greatest passion is creating in the kitchen and making deliciously comforting recipes for the everyday home cook!
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Comments

  1. This is definitely a 5 recipe, per usual, I don’t leisure measure anything when cooking..but I did pretty close to what this calls for and yummmmmm5 stars

  2. I’m a simple cook. This recipe was simple and easy, it turned out yummy. I added garlic bread and a salad for a perfect meal. Thanks5 stars

  3. I am a 62 yo man who can cook, barely, and I always coveted my ex-wife’s and sister-in-law’s lasagna as it was fantastic. My favorite food is Italian and my favorite dish is lasagna. I didn’t want to bother the above cooks every time I wanted to have lasagna so I went looking for a great recipe. I saw your almost flawless reviews and figured that I would give it a try, Final result batch one; I made two large pans and kept one for my son and I and gave the other pan to my younger son and his family. The reviews for me were immediate and word spread fast amongst my friends and family. My second batch; three full pans and three half pans for the ex-wife, sister-in-law, son, best friend, work friend and his friends. I followed the recipe to a tee and it was absolutely fantastic !!! I will be making 5-6 pans for Christmas gifts and I am going to a very large New Year’s party and the hostess has asked me to make 2-3 pans of this dish. Even my ex-wife has been second guessing her own recipe that she has been making for 35 years, ” I must be missing an ingredient”. I never thought that my cooking “skills” would ever be in demand.

    Thanks so much for sharing this incredible recipe. It is a definite 10/10 in my book, as well as everyone else who has tasted it.

    Happy holidays to you and your family!!!!5 stars

    1. Hi Kate, you should be able to use a 7×10 dish, there will probably be enough extras for another layer. If your lasagna is a bit thicker/taller, it might need extra bake time. I hope that helps!

    1. Hi Rosemary, we have found that if you are using a “reader view” you may not see the site correctly. The second ingredient is 4 cups mozzarella, and the second to last ingredient under sauce is 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Hope that helps.

  4. It’s easy to see why it’s so well-rated, this lasagna is Excellent! I will make this again, for sure5 stars

  5. This is my go to lasagna recipe. It’s so easy and delicious. I get so many compliments on it and even special requests to make it.5 stars

  6. Very tasty ! But I used no boil lasagna and it disappeared into the dish as I kept it warm for 3 + hours for after school sports and the noodles weren’t visablr- next time the real deal noodles.5 stars