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.
I have long been looking for the ideal lasagna recipe given that I am such a picky eater. This recipe fit the bill as I was able to tailor it to my tastes. I substituted Yves ground veggie instead of the beef, left out the carrots, added the sugar, used fresh noodles so no cook and it turned out absolutely delicious. While the prep did seem to be quite time intensive, part of that could be it was my first time making lasagna and, rather than use canned sauce, I used your marinara recipe and made my own. The payoff, however, was worth it. Additionally, next time I would ensure I print the recipe rather than scrolling up and down on my iPad trying to follow everything. I heartily recommend this recipe, probably some of the best I have ever had
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was a biggest hit with everyone. I used 48 ounces of pasta sauce, as you suggested, and ended up needing more cheese mixture. Also, I pre-made lasagna and refrigerated it for 24 hours, so it took more than an hour to bake. Absolutely Delicious! This one is going to my recipe book as Number 1 Lasagna!:)
If making ahead, it really helps to remove lasagna from fridge 45ish min to 1 hr BEFORE baking. It should be perfectly safe as long as you do not let it sit out more than 2hrs max.
One of the best Lasagne recipes I have ever tasted. I couldn’t buy enough Ricotta so I mixed it with a bechamel sauce to make the cheese mixture go further. It worked really well.
I have shared the recipe with my family and it is definitely my go to Lasagne from now on.
Delicious! I added the extra sauce like suggested but used a whole pound of ground beef and no sausage. My husband said it was the best lasagna he has ate! Will definitely make again.
I’m a single lady and desired homemade lasagna. I prepared the cheese mixture as stated but reduced meat (used half a pound of ground Turkey and sweet Italian sausage) and 6 noddles (It’s extremely hard to cook for one). It turned out AMAZING. More than enough to have now and for lunch for 3 days.
So glad this recipe turned out for you Dr. Jolanda!
How many people does this recipe serve?
Hi Ashley, this recipe is 12 servings.
It turned out so good. I did put extra sauce and an additional several tablespoons of Italian Spice and granulated garlic. I would make this again. It was my first time trying the Lasanga and everyone went for seconds. It works well with GF pasta noodles for a Spaghetti Bake too.
Super easy lasagna, the perfect balance of meat, sauce, cheese. Both husband and I went for seconds. Will definitely make this again!
Great easy recipe! Comes together quickly and the results can go head to head with any longer recipe I’ve tried. Some notes: jarred sauce works great!
– oven ready dried noodles work great for this! Just add half a cup water to the sauce.
– a splash of balsamic to the sauce really makes it bloom!
In conclusion, this recipe has cured me of stoffers for life! Wish I’d found it 30 years ago!
Thank you for sharing! Love that you’re converted to homemade!
My hubby brought home no cook lasagna noodles instead of fresh. Do I need to adjust the recipe if I use the no cook hard noodles?
You might need to add a bit of extra sauce or liquid if you don’t precook the noodles.
This is my first (ever) making a lasagna. I chose this recipe as it said it’s an “Easy Homemade Lasagna”. I’m so glad I tried this one! I used ground turkey with the other listed ingredients. My husband loved it and said the combination of ingredients are perfect. Thank you… I’ll make it again for others!
You’re welcome Ellen! So happy that you love this lasagna!
First time making lasagna and I am so impressed that I had a photo shoot with it lol! I suck at cooking but this was SO helpful. Just delicious. Some of the noodles around the edges on the outside pieces came out slightly hard, any tips on what I did wrong here?
So glad it worked out so well for you Shea! If the noodles on the edges were a bit hard, I’d suggest just adding a little extra sauce on the edges.
Hello! This looks delicious! Can I make this ahead of time and if so, would you suggest keeping it in the fridge or freezing until ready to bake?
It can be made ahead of time. It depends on how soon you are going to cook it if you plan on having it within two days keep it in the fridge, any longer and I would freeze it!
Haven’t made it yet but…for pasta sauce posted (when clicked on) do I still need to add the onion and garlic when cooking the actual meat itself? So would I need to get two onions and 5 garlic cloves?
That’s a great question Nae! If you are making the pasta sauce as well, then yes, you would require the ingredients for both recipes. Enjoy the lasagna!
Best lasagna EVER!!!
This was very easy and tasteful! My children (all teens) loved the lasagna and will definitely make more in the future.
My husband loves this recioe! I have made it three times and he likes it better than the first time. It was easy to make too. It’s even better the second and third day!
Never layered it this way I usually do noodles on the bottom and then so on but I’m going to try it this way tonight
Would it be ok to substitute cottage cheese instead of ricotta?
Cottage Cheese will work fine, enjoy!
I’ve made lasagna probably 100 times in my life but this was the best ever. The meat sauce to cheese ratio was spot on and the flavors were outstanding. The only thing I did different was use 4 noodles per layer instead of 3.I gave my neighbor some and he called me at 10 PM last night to rave about it.Thank you
You’re welcome Mark, thank you for sharing (with me and your neighbor ;)).