Easy Homemade Lasagna – an absolutely delicious, straight-forward homemade lasagna recipe with meat sauce!
An Easy Homemade Lasagna Recipe
A traditional lasagna recipe is made up of noodles, meat sauce, and cheese! If you have ever felt intimidated about making a lasagna recipe you have to try this one. It is a very simple and straight-forward recipe, perfect for a delicious family dinner or for feeding a crowd. A hearty main dish that can be baked right away or made ahead of time! Pair it with some delicious Garlic Bread and you will have an amazing dinner packed with great flavor.
Love Lasagna – try our Easy Lasagna Soup, this Lazy Lasagna or this lighter Zucchini Lasagna recipe!
What You Will Need
- ground beef + ground pork/italian sausage – a perfect combination of ground meat for the sauce – option to use ground pork or your favorite ground italian sausage!
- yellow onion & garlic – a classic flavor combo that gets the sauce party started.
- marinara sauce – you can grab your favorite store-bought sauce or make this amazing homemade marinara sauce.
- fresh basil – a generous amount of chopped fresh basil really brings some great flavor to this dish.
- ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, & parmesan cheese – the delicious base of the cheese mixture – option to use dairy-free cheeses.
- lemon juice – a splash to help amplify all of the flavor.
- dried parsley leaves, kosher salt, italian seasoning, fresh basil – an amazing combination of spices to bring this lasagna to life!
- egg – just one to help bind the cheese mixture together.
- lasagna noodles – use regular noodles, gluten-free noodles, or if you want to skip the boiling step you can use “ready to bake” lasagna noodles.
How To Layer Lasagna
This is one of the most common questions when it comes to making lasagna. You have all your pieces, meat sauce, noodles, & cheese… now how do they get layered together?
- First, you will want to grease your 9×13 pan and then put a small amount of sauce in the bottom.
- Then a layer of 3 lasagna noodles.
- Next, spread on 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture.
- You will follow this with more meat sauce and then 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Continue this process with noodles, ricotta mixture, meat sauce, noodles, and the last 1/4 cup of meat sauce.
- Finally, add a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese on top!
Tips For Making Ahead & Reheating
Before baking: This is a great recipe that can easily be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to bake. You can keep the unbaked lasagna in the fridge for 24 hours before baking. If you want to store it for longer you can wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and store it in the freezer for 2-3 months. To thaw, simply place it in the fridge the night before baking and then bake according to the instructions below.
After baking: Leftover lasagna is also very easy to store in the fridge or freezer. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months. You can simply reheat the lasagna by placing it in the oven at 350 degrees until heated through.
What To Serve With Homemade Lasagna
We love to keep it simple and serve this delicious lasagna with a small caesar salad or strawberry spinach salad. And, of course, a nice big slice of garlic bread!
How To Make Homemade Lasagna
You will begin by cooking up the meat sauce in a large skillet.
Option to add some chopped spinach or zucchini to the sauce for some added veggies.
In a medium mixing bowl you will combine the ricotta cheese mixture.
While you are preparing the sauce and ricotta mixture you can have your noodles boiling – best to keep them al dente or even slightly undercooked!
Now it is time to layer! Lightly grease your pan and spread a small amount of sauce in the bottom.
Place three noodles on top.
Then spread on 1/2 of your ricotta mixture.
Top with more sauce.
And then a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
Continuing the layering process with noodles, ricotta, meat sauce, noodles, and the last 1/4 cup of meat sauce. Finally, top it off with a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese!
Spray a large piece of aluminum foil and place it securely on top – bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
Let it cool for a bit and enjoy!!
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Italian Recipes You Might Like
Easy Baked Italian Meatballs
Stuffed Shells
Cheesy Baked Rigatoni
Pappardelle Bolognese
Easy Homemade Lasagna
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Description
Easy Homemade Lasagna – an absolutely delicious, straight-forward homemade lasagna recipe with meat sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb ground pork or ground italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 24oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce*
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh basil, divided and roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 15oz whole ricotta cheese (dairy-free or whole milk)
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/4 shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 1 egg
- 9 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bring a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add ground beef and ground pork (or Italian sausage). Move ground meat around the pan until it is fully cooked. Drain excess grease and return to pan.
- Add garlic and onion; allow to cook down 1-2 minutes.
- Add marinara sauce, 1/4 cup fresh basil and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine ricotta, 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, parmesan, lemon juice, parsley, Italian seasoning, basil, egg and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir to combine.
- Cook your lasagna noodles al dente according to box instructions; drain and set aside.
- Assemble Lasagna: Using a 9×13 pan add about 1/4 cup of the meat sauce and spread out evenly. Lay down 3 lasagna noodles. Top with half of the ricotta mixture followed by some meat sauce and then 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Continue by layering noodles, ricotta, meat sauce, noodles and then the last 1/4 cup of the meat sauce. Cover with 2 cups of shredded mozzarella (or as much as you want). Spray a piece of foil with olive oil and cover your pan (sprayed side down).
- Place in oven, middle rack, and let cook 45-50 minutes.
- Remove foil and let cook another 15 minutes.
- Let cool a bit before serving.
- Serve with homemade garlic bread.
Notes
- *Marinara Sauce: you can use store-bought or homemade!
- Ricotta Cheese: feel free to use regular ricotta or dairy-free.
- Veggies: you could easily add in some chopped spinach or even diced zucchini to add a little extra veggies to the recipe!
- Dairy-Free Cheese: you can use regular or dairy-free cheese.
- Gluten-Free: feel free to use gluten-free lasagna noodles or regular.
Laura says
I used the Jovial no-boil lasagna sheets and it turned out great. The ricotta mixture is very creamy and doesn’t dry out like some other recipes I’ve tried.
Erin says
So glad you enjoyed these, Laura!!