Homemade Lasagna is a classic recipe that every cook should have in their rotation.
Tender sheets of pasta, a creamy ricotta cheese filling, and a rich meaty tomato sauce are all topped with more cheese and baked until browned and bubbly.
While there are a few steps to this lasagna recipe, it’s easy to make and has so much flavor. This dish can be made ahead of time and freezes well either before or after baking!
Homemade lasagna may have a few steps, but each step is easy – and I assure you it’s worth the time; the perfect Italian meal!
The best lasagna recipe is made with ingredients that you know, and it’s not difficult at all! All you’ll need for this easy lasagna recipe is one pan, one bowl, and a 9×13 baking dish!
Lasagna Ingredients
- Cheese Filling: For this classic lasagna recipe, the filling contains ricotta and parmesan with seasonings and a couple of tablespoons of parsley. No ricotta? No problem, cottage cheese works just fine in this recipe!
- Meat: I use both Italian sausage and ground beef for great flavor. If using all beef, add a ¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds and some Italian seasoning to the meat mixture for flavor.
- 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).
Spinach (variation): To make a spinach lasagna, squeeze out most of the moisture of defrosted frozen spinach and add it along with the cheese layer.
Lasagna ingredients don’t have to be limited to the ones you see here. Substitute meats or different cheeses, or try different meat sauce variations.
How to Make Lasagna
Homemade lasagna may have a few steps, but each step is easy – and I assure you it’s worth the time; the perfect Italian meal! This is a really easy lasagna recipe.
- Boil pasta: Cook in a large pot of salted water per the recipe below.
- Prepare meat sauce: Cook sausage and beef with onion and garlic. Drain well, add the pasta sauce & 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 browned and bubbly.
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
How Long to Bake
Bake this lasagna recipe for a total of one hour. To get a perfect browned cheese topping, you’ll need to bake it in two stages.
- Layer and cover it tightly with aluminum foil to retain the moisture.
- Once cooked, and heated through, remove the foil, top with cheese, and return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, or until the top is browned and the lasagna is bubbling.
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.
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 mozzarella cheese shredded and divided
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded and divided
Tomato Sauce
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound Italian sausage
- 1 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
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large pot of salted water, boil lasagna noodles until al dente according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.
- In a large skillet or dutch oven, brown 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 thickened.
- In a separate bowl, combine 1 ½ cups mozzarella, 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 with the remaining 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup parmesan cheese. Bake 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 made this last night for my family of 4. Everyone loved it! I used sausage for all of the meat rather than a mix. And I got some lasagna noodles from Aldi that did not need to be boiled first. I just added 1/2 cup of milk to the lasagna before covering it with foil and baking.
I will definitely add this to our dinner rotation. Thank you for posting.
Yum
I prefer creamy as a posed to chunky, i stick with ricotta over cottage cheese
Very tasty
when do you put the crushed tomatoes in?
There are no crushed tomatoes in this recipe Glenna, did you mean pasta sauce?
You are going to need more than 12 noodles for this recipe. I also bolstered up the sauce with onion and celery (not just onion) which helped. 3 lasagna noodles is not enough for a layer the size dish she recommends. But the flavors are good! Good recipe overall with a few tweaks needed!
Directions for freezing if wanting to use this as a future meal?
Directions for freezing are in the post. To freeze tightly wrap 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.
Great recipe! Tried it out and my lasagna came out great :)
I followed this recipe to the letter, and… its honestly the best lasagna I’ve ever made or eaten. This is it.
I followed this recipe to the letter, and… its honestly the best lasagna I’ve ever made or eaten. This is it.
Can I use the ready to bake Lasagna? No cooking required?
I have and it still turns out great, Alma!
I have and it turns out great. I put the noodles straight from the box into the dish. The liquids from the sauce soften the noodles.
This turned out great! It is very easy to make and tasted really good. Will be my go to recipe for lasagna! Great way to feed a crowd.
Hi! If I am making a pan and want to freeze it, do I leave off the cheese you recommend adding on 45 minutes into cooking or do I put it all on before freezing?
Thanks
Sara
Hi Sara, when I freeze this lasagna I leave the cheese off until the final 15 minutes as directed in the recipe.
Made this for dinner tonight and my family loved it… it was easy to make and delicious!
This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for sharing it.
This lasagna is delicious.I made for a group gathering christmas dinner and everyone loved.I made it double and instead of italian sauceage and groud lean beef, I used beef and pork mince.Thanks.
I tried it delicious
I prepped and froze this so I’d have it ready for Boxing Day. It was such a time saver when I wanted to do nothing else but relax. We just popped it in the oven and had a delicious meal with no effort on the day!
So happy you were able to relax instead of spending the day in the kitchen!
This is the best lasagna I’ve ever had! Easy to follow recipe that doesn’t skimp on the flavor. This will be my go to from now on!
I doubled the recipe for a large family gathering. Everyone loved it.
Please update the recipe so that it includes all ingredients in the ingredient list. It is confusing to have some of the ingredients only listed in the instructions.
Hi Bill, we have found that if you are using a “reader view” you may not see the site correctly. Hope that helps.
Very easy to make and was absolutely delicious!!
This recipe is similar to My Grandmothers but she cooked the sauce all day .I lost it an couldnt find it anywhere :( I Made it alot around Holiday! Have not used it in a few years since the kids left home.. They are coming to dinner this year an Want Lasagna We shall see what they think of this recipe..
So Now I start somewhere else
Let us know if your family loves it, Deborah!