Homemade Lasagna is a family favorite and a great way to feed a crowd.
In this classic lasagna recipe, sheets of pasta are layered with a cheesy filling, a rich meaty tomato sauce, and more cheese and then baked until bubbly and browned.
While there are a few steps, this lasagna recipe is relatively easy to make and has so much flavor.
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This Is Our Go-To Lasagna Recipe Because…
- This recipe has been called the best by many and has thousands of 5-star reviews!
- It uses simple ingredients that you likely have on hand, and it packs big flavor!
- This is an easy lasagna recipe. It requires just one pan, one bowl, and a 9×13 baking dish.
- It reheats well and can be made ahead of time. You can freeze lasagna either before or after baking.
Lasagna Ingredients
- Cheese Filling: For this classic lasagna recipe, the cheese filling has ricotta and parmesan with seasonings. You can make homemade ricotta cheese or replace it with cottage cheese.
- Meat: I use both Italian sausage and ground beef for great flavor. If using all beef, add ¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds and some Italian seasoning to the meat mixture for flavor, or make my homemade Italian sausage.
- 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). If using store-bought sauce, I love Rao’s for flavor.
Spinach (variation): Spinach is optional but delicious in lasagna. For spinach lasagna, thaw 10oz of frozen spinach, squeeze out the moisture, and add it along with the cheese layer.
How to Make Lasagna
While homemade lasagna may have a few steps, each step is easy – and I assure you it’s worth the time; the perfect Italian meal!
- Boil pasta: In a large pot of salted water boil lasagna noodles per the recipe below.
- Prepare meat sauce: Cook sausage and beef with onion and garlic. Drain well, add the pasta sauce (I love this brand) & simmer it for a few minutes to thicken.
- Combine cheese mixture: Stir the cheese mixture together in a bowl.
- Layer & bake: Layer the meat sauce and cheese mixture with lasagna noodles and bake until the top of the lasagna is golden brown.
How to Layer Lasagna
- Spread about a cup of meat sauce into a 9×13 pan. Add a layer of noodles.
- Top the noodles with some of the ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat the layers, ending with a layer of noodles and sauce
- 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
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.
Holly’s Tips for the Best Lasagna
Here are my tips to ensure this is the best lasagna recipe you’ve ever had!
- Choose a quality pasta sauce.
- Bake this lasagna recipe for one hour.
- Cover it with aluminum foil for most of the cooking time so it doesn’t dry out.
- Add the cheese during the last 15 minutes of cooking so it becomes browned and bubbly.
- Let it rest at least 15 minutes before cutting.
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!
Ingredients
- 12 lasagna noodles uncooked
- 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Tomato Sauce
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound Italian sausage
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 36 ounces pasta sauce *see note
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt more to taste
Cheese Mixture
- 2 cups ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until al dente (firm) according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet or Dutch oven, brown the 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 slightly thickened. Taste and season with additional salt if desired.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, 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 1 cup 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 the top of the lasagna with 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered 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
- 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).
Nutrition Information
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© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This recipe did not make enough sauce to adequately cover the noodles. I don’t understand why nobody else had this problem. I spread it as thin as possible and there just wasn’t enough sauce. I used the 24 ounce jar of Bertoli sauce. Did I miss something?
Was your pan a 9×13? Perhaps your sauce simmered down a little bit more than mine did as I had enough sauce for this recipe. Hopefully it was still delicious!
I had the same problem
I had the same issue the first two times. Now I use a jar and a half!
Nice lasagna
Thanks Alex! :)
First of all it not noodles it’s pasta and second NEVER rinse pasta, obviously your not Italian.
Thank you for the tips!
We don’t need to be Italian to enjoy lasagna. Please keep your snarky comments to yourself. We’re just near to share recipes.
Can I use pasta if I don’t have lagsna sheets? And can I put frozen mixed vegetables in the meat?
Sure you can! I have a baked ziti recipe that is similar with shorter pasta.
Hi!! Can I just make it with one pound of ground turkey??
Thank you!
Sure you can, it’ll change the flavor a bit (and you might like to add a bit more seasoning) but it should work just fine!
Looks good
Thanks Audrey!
Where did she say to rinse? In fact, it states that one may skip the boil process and place noodles directly in the dish before baking.
Policing the wording of an author who writes recipes for at-home cooks is kind of silly. If she wrote an ITALIAN cookbook and used the terms noodles vs pasta or mentioned to rinse the noodles before baking, then I could see making a comment to correct her. But even then, doing so with grace, humility, and remaining kind in our delivery of such critiques goes a LONG way vs being crude, rude, and mean.
I hope you have a good day. It is obvious the terms being not “properly Italian” really bugged you back in October. I truly hope you’ve found something to seek joy from since that day. We all deserve joy, kindness, and understanding. Especially when we seem mean, rude, or unkind. Because it is then that one is struggling the most. So I do truly wish that for you ♡
And to the author: great recipe! We make lasagna most years on Christmas eve or Christmas day (we alternate years for when we have our celebration at my home with the family, to accommodate for the other side of our children’s family). My recipe is very similar to yours, and I love finding recipe tips to tweak my own recipe each year. I swear I’ve never made the same exact recipe once. I always add a new spin to my recipe to see how it affects flavor, texture, and kudos (or lack of) from the kids lol. Hoping you have a wonderful December and enjoy whichever holiday(s) you and your family celebrate ♡
Thank you KC Jo. I hope you were able to take some inspiration from this lasagna recipe! Happy Holidays to you and your family also.
I am a father of 4 and I’m scared. I used everything here including 2 lbs of hamburger. And there is zero leftovers and upset children that’s there’s not more lol. Guess I gotta make two pans next time. Excellent recipe will be making more next time. Wife also approved bluntly honest. Had literally told me I gave her poop on a plate one time haha. Thank you for this recipe will make again in larger quantity.
So happy they loved it Richard! Definitely need to make two pans next time.
Delicious.
Love stuffed shells
I hope you enjoy the recipe Joanne!
Thanks Michele! It’s such a delicious combination, so happy you loved it too!
I am reading this on an empty stomach and now wishing i had this beautiful lasagna, right now !
Oh man, I totally understand Analida! So delicious.
I’m confused because the recipe calls for 4 c. Mozzarella but then directions only call for using 1 1/2 c. Does that mean you top with a full 2 c. Mozzarella? I’m missing something and I’m in the middle of cooking this on Christmas Day.
In step 4 you mix in 1½ cups. In step 5 after baking you need to uncover, add remaining cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Broil 2-3 minutes if desired.
My mouth is drooling just reading through this recipe! I wish I could have it right now!!!
It is such a delicious recipe Leslie! We know you’ll love it.
Love seeing the different recipes and gaining 30 pounds per recipe
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes! This particular recipe has 377 calories per serving (cut into 12 pieces). If you’d like to lighten it up you could try ground turkey In place of beef and light cheeses. Hope that helps.
You’re welcome Aleta, it’s a great, easy lasagna for sure!
This was so good and such a great family dinner. The ingredient are easy to find and make it simple to make!
So glad your family loved this lasagna Eden!
I think lasagna is one of the best comfort meals on earth. I also love to prep two pans at one time so I can stick one in the freezer for later. I always forget to do as you suggest and pull it out a day early to thaw, so mine takes longer in the oven than yours does. I can’t wait to try your version of this recipe because I think there’s no such thing as too much lasagna on this earth!
What a great idea to make two at once Jenni!
My 7 year old recently has developed a taste for lasagna. Hence, I have been on a lookout for a nice recipe. I am definitely making this over the weekend.
I hope you love this recipe Gunjan!
Terrible. I followed this recipe exactly how it is and the proportions are completely wrong. Wasn’t enough cheese spread to even make 2 layers and that resulted in me wasting half my noodles. I’m stuck using random shredded cheese in my fridge to top it off with. I was hoping the “easy” part of the name was correct but it’s definitely not. This was my first time trying to cook homemade lasagne for a romantic dinner and it’s ruined. Waste of money and time.
How disappointing, I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you Jessica. I’ve made this countless times and I haven’t had issues with there not being enough cheese. Did you use a 9×13 pan?
I wouldn’t knock this well-liked recipe just because YOU messed it up. I followed every instruction and it came out great.
This is outstanding!! The only things i did different was to add spinich… mushrooms…and colby jack cheese on top with the mozzarella and parmesan… i then made home made garlic bread on texas toast
Those additions sounds delicious Steve! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the recipes! Do we brown sausage with beef in step 2 or do we use only one of the meats? Is mozzarella shredded? I use many of your great recipes! Please keep sharing.
Thank you Karin! Sorry for the confusion, I’ve updated the recipe. Yes, the sausage should be browned with the ground beef and the mozzarella is shredded.
Enjoy the recipe!
Excellent recipe and very easy