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 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!
Easy Homemade Lasagna
Ingredients
- 12 lasagna noodles uncooked
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese shredded and divided
- ¾ teaspoon salt more to taste
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
Cheese Mixture
- 2 cups ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 large egg beaten
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 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 the top of the lasagna with the remaining 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 was awesome! I followed the recipe to a “t” and it came out perfect! I have baked bread but never a no-knead bread. We ate it without any butter, just plain – it was that delicious!
Holly
If I cook lasagne ahead of time and freeze it. What are your recommended reheating instructions.
Hi Betty. Let the lasagna defrost in the refrigerator overnight. If baked and just reheating, I would remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before baking and then bake at 350°F until heated through, about 30 minutes or so!
Very good lasagna.
Hi Holly,
I love your recipes!
Could I assemble the lasagna today, but not cook it until tomorrow? I have concerns over the raw egg in the cheese mixture, as two of my guests are pregnant.
Yes you can, the raw egg will cook along with the rest of the lasagna.
Can I use sour cream in place of the ricotta or cottage cheese?
You certainly can. It will change the flavor slightly but still be delicious. I would recommend still adding the egg and perhaps a little bit extra salt.
My family’s favorite lasagna recipe ! And my husband’s co-workers when he has leftovers.
Delicious! Everyone loved it! Do you know how many days I could make ahead and put in refrigerator and then cook when ready to eat?
I love to prepare this dish a day or two ahead of time. If it’s chilled from the fridge, it will need extra time to cook and I would suggest removing it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking.
I will be making this tonight for a dinner with family! I am wondering if I could use no boil lasagna noodles instead to make it one less step? :)
Yes, many readers have successfully made this with oven ready noodles.
Hi again! I took your advice on freezing your green bean casserole! :-) But now I’m curious if once baked could I freeze the whole casserole? Or maybe I should freeze it before baking? If so, do you have any recommendations on how to re-heat/bake when ready to serve it? Thanks again for your help!!
Are you looking for info on freezing the green bean casserole or this lasagna recipe?
For lasagna: 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.
This lasagne compared to some that we recently had in Italy! I made it with all ground beef and used a plain cup of sauce at the bottom of the pan instead of meat sauce. Excellent recipe!
Love this recipe. When I made the lasagna the 2nd time I doubled the recipe. It doubled all the ingredients but not the information in the text.
Followed the recipe to a tee, and used Raos marinara sauce as suggested. Family loved it! I’ve tried many other recipes for lasagna and this will now be my go to. Don’t skip the resting tip as it really helps firm it up.
This is the BEST lasagna I have ever made!! A couple of tweaks that I used were no boil noodles and I added chopped spinach. Everyone from my 2 year old grandson to my 95 year old dad with a couple of very picky eaters thrown in absolutely loved it! This will be my lasagna going forward. Thanks
Did you use fresh chopped spinach?
Did you change any other part of the recipe to use the no boil noodles? Not sure if I need to add water??
While I haven’t tried it, other readers have said there were no other changes needed (including adding water). I’d love to hear how it works out for you.
The best
Made this for halloween night for my family– everyone loved it! Followed the recipe; however only used beef and it was still so tasty. Thank you for this one! It’s a keeper :)
This was a huge hit with everyone! Absolutely delicious!! Followed the recipe without the sausage added and it was fantastic, but next time I will be prepared to make it with sausage. There’s only 4 of us so we froze the leftovers and were able to take it later out for a quick meal! Heated it in the oven and it was just as perfect and yummy.
greT
Great place to learn about cooking
So good and simple to make. All I had was ground beef and seasoned the meat before adding the sauce. Also I only had oven ready noodles, so I didn’t boil them, just added them to the dish and it was excellent. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m M-66, and make many of Holleys dishes for Sunday family diner with the kids and grandkids. Its a tradition now to come for dinner every Sunday for a different dish.
This a go to app to plan for Sunday dinner.
I love that tradition! I hope they enjoy this one.
Delish, Family absolutely enjoyed every bite.