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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
Loved the recipe was a huge hit with my family. I did cook the noodles separately though and then layer the cooked noodles. It brought the cooking time down to only 30 to 35 min. Followed everything else.
I just made this and doubled the batch to freeze one. I used no boil noodles. I would suggest doubling the cheese mixture, in my case, quadrupling for two pans. I used the large aluminum pans. I would probably add more sauce as well. Its on the oven and cant wait for it to be done!
I am making 2 right now, how long will bake time be for a pre-made, frozen one?
As noted in the post Jann, defrost in the refrigerator overnight and bake as directed. Enjoy the lasagna!
I think there’s confusion about the term “pre-made.” Where the recipe says “bake as directed,” it sounds like she is referring to a lasagna that’s been pre-assembled and frozen before baking, as opposed to one that’s been completely pre-made through the baking step and then frozen – is that correct?
Hi Susan, hope this helps clarify. For a lasagna that has been assembled but not baked – you will want to let defrost in the fridge overnight and then bake as directed in the recipe. If the lasagna is premade and prebaked you will still want to let it thaw in the fridge and bake as directed or until heated through.
The recipe was very good thank you! I did exact but did add in some salt and pepper to the ricotta, egg, parsley mixture. ☺Will definitely make again!!
I’ve made these three times in less than a month. They are so easy and so delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
This by far was one of the easiest and best lasagna recipes! Just delicious!!
I used this recipe for making my first ever lasagna and it turned out really good! I made a couple changes to it:
Instead of shredded mozzarella, I used a log of fresh mozzarella and cut it into round slices.
Instead of using Italian seasoning (I didn’t have any), I used dried whole Oregano.
I made the mistake of putting all the mozzarella in the middle layer and putting shredded parmesan cheese on top. It made the top more crunchy and hard, but the middle was definitely a good mistake.
Finally, I used a 26 ounce can of crushed tomatoes with basil flavor and a jar of mushroom spaghetti sauce. To cut the acidity I sprinkled in a very small handful of sugar. I made this for my boyfriend and I and he’s a very picky eater but he actually had two big pieces of it with a lot of leftovers. Will definitely make this again!!
I would just like to say this recipe was awesome! I followed all the steps, this was my FIRST time making lasagna. My family complimented my cooking and the kids loved it! I would just like to note, i’m not sure if it was due to the pan size but I used more meat than the recipe and a lot more of the cheese mix because it wasn’t much.. I did use cottage cheese for this recipe. Also I used extra pasta sauce and a hint of salt for the meat. I sprinkled a lot more mozzarella on the last top layer and a bit more parmesan, that was the key to the recipe was the cheese and the extra sauce! Would recommend the extra 3 min broil it makes the golden crust !!! THANK YOU !! I would like to post the photo of the after math but not sure how to.
Hi Erika, So happy everyone loved it. We would love to see your finished photo too! Tag us on Instagram using @spendpennies to share!
Best lasagna recipe I have tried! Used only high quality ingredients, which made it more expensive, but well worth it. Put this one in my recipe folder.
Great taste
This isn’t much different than what I always make but it was so good! Thank you!
This recipe turned out well for me however, next time I would increase the amount of pasta sauce and use a pound of ground beef. It wasn’t ‘saucy’ enough for me. I also used the oven ready noodles. Great recipe though and I will make again!
Would like to try it.
Hi Tyron, the full recipe can be found at the bottom of the post or by using the Jump to Recipe button at the top of the page. Enjoy!
The first lasagna I have ever made and it tasted just like my mom’s. Wondering if she used this recipe before as well? A little worried that my lasagna would come out like soup due to the grease and liquid in the sauce but with stuffing it in the oven for 45 minutes it came out nice and not soggy.
That is great Flynn! Glad to hear this recipe worked out well for you.
This was the best lasagna I ever made! It has been years since I made one and I needed a new recipe. I used oven ready lasagna noodles and 2 jars of pasta sauce. I let it sit for about 30 minutes before I cut it. It was perfect!
I have been cooking for my family for 25 years. the lasagna never tasted so good. Thank you for teaching me how to brine!
This was so delicious!! I haven’t made lasagna for a few years and added mushrooms. Great recipe. I used lean ground beef. I have added spinach in the past but found this recipe missed nothing at all. Lovely and thanks for sharing!
Making this tonight! Can I use a 9×13 glass deep pyrex baking dish? Do I need to alter the cooking instructions? Thank you!
Hi Rebecca, we bake this in a 9×13 so that baking dish should be fine. We’d love to hear how it turns out for you :)
This was a hit. My kids loved it and my boyfriend who doesn’t like pasta had two helpings. We’ll definitely be making it again!
This recipe was amazing! As someone who doesn’t cook and can barely make a good meal, it turned out so good. I have been cooking everyday to help fight my depression and decided this was tonight’s meal. Every single plate was empty, my kids (14, 12, 5 & 20 months old) LOVED it. It took me 3 hours start to finish and I followed it to a T but substituted for cottage cheese, 2 jars of pasta sauce and fresh lasagna pasta! My husband works away and will be home tomorrow and I can’t wait for him to try it. We have enough left overs for another meal. Thanks so much!
So happy this recipe was such a hit Charity!
What brand pasta sauce do you use?
We love making a homemade marinara sauce for this lasagna, but whichever brand of pasta sauce that you prefer can be used.