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.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this lasagne tonight for my family and we all loved it!!! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes this fall!
This is hands down the best lasagna recipe ever. I’ve made quite a few different ones online but this will be the only one I use from now on!!
Thanks for the recipe! Quick question — when you say top with cheese for the final 15 min of baking, do you mean the cheese mixture or the Parmesan cheese / mozzarella cheese? For some reason I seem to have twice as much cheese mixture than what I seem to need!
1 ½ cups mozzarella and ¼ cup parmesan cheese are added to the ricotta mixture. The remainder is sprinkled on top for baking. Hope that helps.
Is look like easy I’ll try soon
Thanks for sharing this amazing homemade lasagna recipe with all of us. I found this recipe really easy to make and very delicious in taste.
I’d love to make this but am wondering about the pan size. There are more than a few comments mentioning 13 x 9 was too big/running out of ingredients, but no responses to any of those comments.
I’m making this for one person, so I’m not doubling the recipe. Should I use a smaller pan?
Thanks!
The pan that I used in both the video and the images is 9×13. Hope that helps.
I used a 9×13 pan – that’s the only size of larger pan I have in my house, and the measurements are all off. Good thing I doubled the meat sauce and had an abundance of noodles. I don’t understand how the measurements are off, but there’s not enough meat sauce, cheese mixture or noodles here for my 9×13.
Same!!! Except I didn’t double the meat :(
The lasagna was great. Thanks
Hello, I am about to make this but wanted to know if the egg is necessary.
The egg helps bind the cheese into a nice layer. It can be omitted, but it will change the way the cheese comes together. Enjoy Stephanie!
OK, Now my house smells like heaven. I haven’t tasted it yet, One of the best I’ve tasted
So yummy, but I did change a few things! I used fresh herbs like basil & oregano. I also double the meat sauce. 2nd time making it and everyone loves it!
I love your site and recipes. You are my go to site and everyone has loved what I have made from here. Your instructions are usually clear and easy to follow, however, this recipe needs some updating.
Typically, I don’t add mozzarella to my ricotta, egg and parm mixture. I add the mozzarella on top of the ricotta mixture on every layer and on top at the end of the 45 minutes then melt and lightly brown it.
Your recipe instructions don’t delineate if you need to add mozzarella on top of the ricotta mixture. I see that you add 1 1/2c of mozz into the ricotta mix, but do you also add additional mozzarella on top of the ricotta mix for every layer or does the remaining 2 1/2 c of mozzarella go only on the top layer at the end of the 45 minutes and then back in the oven to brown it?
I read all the comments and I think this is where most people are getting hung up.
Please specify if you need to add mozzarella in addition to the ricotta mixture for each layer.
Thank you!
Mindi
Thank you for your feedback Mindi.
1½ cups of mozzarella is added to the ricotta mixture. ⅓ of the ricotta mixture is added to each layer.
The remaining mozzarella cheese is added on the top once the foil is removed to become browned and bubbly.
Additional mozzarella is not added to each layer, only to the top.
There is a video just above the ingredients which shows the order of layering, I hope that helps! Enjoy!
We have much more time on our hands, I allotted my 14 year old son and 12 year old daughter to cook dinner once a week and they chose lasagna tonight. We ended up here because of the image and reviews. However, like you said, the recipe needs updated and it was a little confusing. We will see how it goes!
Hope your family enjoys it Charity.
The recipe is confusing. I’ve read it a couple times and can’t find what temperature it should be cooked at.
Step 1 says “Heat oven to 350°F.” Enjoy the lasagna Diane!
Anxious to see how this dish turns out…it’s in the oven now and smells great. I did add an addition 1/2 pound lean beef to mine.
I seen where someone posted this wasn’t a “cheap” meal to prepare. Had I made this from the recipe I’ve always used I would’ve spent $100. Using this recipe (and adding the extra beef) cost me $18.85 to prepare….that’s $1.57 each for 12 servings. Some of my supplies came from Sam’s, but the rest came from Publix.
Really? $100? Where do you shop? There is no way I came even close to spending this. Hope you enjoyed it!
First of all, the correct name is LASAGNE.
this is not original recipe, you know that right?
Lasagne doesn’t have ricotta but bechamel, this is a very important detail if you want to make the originals. And no no no parsley (we use that mostly with fish). no eggs. Just bechamel and ragù.
nice recipe though.
This is one of the ways that we enjoy making lasagna. You can definitely replace the ricotta with bechamel if you prefer.
First of all if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all… you know that right?She’s just adding her version of LASAGNE… on her website… which you chose to visit and then leave a unnecessarily comment on. Also she never called it original just homemade lasagna…. ooopppssss sorry LASAGNE. Anyways be better.
Thank you for voicing my sentiment as well. Some people just feel the need to spread their negativity in any way they can. Her comment was completely unnecessary!
Mines in the oven now and I’m cursing you because it smells so good but I can’t eat it yet! Also it’s amazing how many people missed the final step.. I almost did too and was thinking “there’s no way someone made a lasagna recipe with no cheese on top” so I looked again and there it was.
Enjoy Jamie!
Yum
I fought it said it was a money saving dish, however, all the ingredients are not cheap, is there a cheaper way ?
To make this dish cheep use: cottage cheese, spinach or any greens you have! Béchamels sauce also is very cheep to make!
Meats and cheese is expensive – but you will get less flavor without
This was off the charts! I have always been intimidated by making lasagna – this was my first attempt and even though I had to make a couple of substitutions, this was a SMASH! Easy to follow, and so delicious. I cant imagine how good it would be if I hadn’t substituted. I love your recipes. Thank you so much for this one! it’s going to be a staple
So glad you loved it McKenna!
This is the worst recipe ever. 4 cups of mozz, then only 1 1/2 cups used. You have no idea how to construct a recipe.
Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you, as you can see from the reviews, most readers have had great success with this recipe.
The 1½ cups is added to the cheese layer. The remaining is added on top.
In Step 6, Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. You may have missed step 7. Uncover, add cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Broil 2-3 minutes if desired.
Hope that helps!
Hi Holly,
I enjoyed the recipe and sure my Grant will enjoy. Thanks again
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was super confusing. It says to use 1/3 mixture of the cheese mixture per layer…yet you only would be using 2/3 of the mix and have 1/3 of it left for what?…nothing? Should be 1/2 of the mixture per layer…also says 4cups of mozzarella but you only use 1 1/2 cups in the cheese mix…so what do you do with the rest? There’s no way you’d be putting 2 1/2 cups on top of the lasagna…please fix this for others…other then those mistakes…it is good..
Per step 5, repeat layers (3 layers each with ⅓ of the ingredients) and this will use all of the ingredients. Yes, the remaining cheese goes on top of the lasagna.
Can I make this the night before and keep it covered in my fridge until ready to bake? Thanks!
Absolutely! I would suggest taking it out of the fridge about 30-40 minutes before baking. It might need a few extra minutes in the oven to cook through.
Recipe didn’t even match the video. It called for 12 sheets of lasagna noodles but it only uses 9.
Hi Kevin, not every layer of noodles is shown in the video for time sake, since but you will want to start with a little sauce and noodles, then continue to layer ⅓ of the cheese mixture and 1 cup of the sauce followed by the noodles are outlined in step 5. I hope that helps :)
I usually make homemade lasagna on the fly, but i loved the measurements in your recipe. i used a little more sauce and ricotta cheese (extra diced tomatoes (drained) and my ricotta came in 15 oz). Then simmered the sauce longer. I made this last night for my step-son and his girlfriend. She said it was the best she ever ate – his plate was clean – SUCCESS! I wanted it to turn out perfect and it did! i sent leftovers home with them. Thanks so much! This one is a keeper!
Yay! That is awesome to hear Suzanne!