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This Homemade Lasagna Recipe is a family favorite filled with sheets of pasta, a cheesy filling and an easy from scratch meat sauce. This recipe is easy, delicious and a huge crowd pleaser!
Everyone needs to have a good lasagna recipe in their collection, and this recipe is a good one! I use no boil noodles, making it a cinch to prepare and it can be made ahead of time. Plus, it's super freezer friendly so you might as well make one for dinner and one for the freezer!
Homemade Lasagna Ingredients
- No Boil Lasagna Sheets
- Ground Beef
- Onion
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Crushed Tomatoes
- Italian Seasoning
- Dried Basil
- Dried Oregano
- Sugar
- Salt
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Ricotta Cheese
- Egg
- Grated Parmesan
- Shredded Mozzarella
Substitution Suggestions:
- No Boil Lasagna Sheets: You can substitute with regular lasagna sheets and either boil them for 2 minutes less than al dente or add the pasta to a large deep sided baking dish. Then either use hot water from a tea kettle or the hottest water out of your tap. Pour the water over the noodles. Let the noodles sit for 15 minutes, moving them a few times so the noodles don't stick together. After 15 minutes, you will see the pasta sheets have softened a bit, but are not completely cooked.
- Ground Beef: You can use ground turkey to lighten the dish up a bit or Italian sausage, or use half beef and half Italian sausage.
- Crushed Tomatoes & Seasonings: Feel free to sub a few jars of your favorite pasta sauce.
- Ricotta Cheese: My family and I prefer ricotta in our lasagna, but many people love cottage cheese. Feel free to use cottage cheese if that's what you like.
How to Make Easy Homemade Lasagna
- First, brown the ground beef over medium heat in a large sauce pan until no longer pink. Drain any grease.
- Add the olive oil to the beef along with the diced onions. Cook until onions are translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in the minced garlic and cook another minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Next, add crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, dried basil, dried oregano, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes and then remove from heat.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, egg, and grated Parmesan Cheese.
- In a large deep 9x13 casserole dish, add about 2 cups of the meat sauce to the bottom and spread it out in a even layer.
- Layer on 4 noodles.
- Spread ⅓ of the ricotta cheese mix on top of the noodles.
- Then sprinkle with 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat layers: 2 cups sauce, 4 noodles, ⅓ cheese mix, 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat layers one more time: 2 cups sauce, 4 noodles, last of the ricotta cheese mix and 1 cup mozzarella.
- Lastly, top with 2 cups of sauce and 4 more noodles. Then spread the remaining sauce over the noodles and sprinkle with the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and let the lasagna rest while the oven preheats to 375°F.
- Then, bake the lasagna covered for 30 minutes, uncover and bake another 15-20 minutes until cheese is starting to turn golden brown and the sauce is bubbly.
- Let lasagna rest for 20 minutes, then slice and serve.
What to Serve with Homemade Lasagna
My favorite thing to serve with lasagna is roasted vegetables, side salad and garlic bread or breadsticks. Here are some of our favorite recipes:
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Easy Peasy Garlic Bread
- Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower
- Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Broccoli
- Roasted Asparagus
- Garlic Parmesan Focaccia Bread
- Homemade French Bread
Tips for Homemade Lasagna
- The no boil noodles makes this recipe so much easier to prepare. The ricotta cheese mix spreads a lot easier over dry noodles.
- Shred your own mozzarella cheese. It will melt a lot easier.
- Let the lasagna rest before baking and after. Resting before helps the no boil noodles absorb some of the moisture and will make sure they are fully cooked. Resting afterwards helps the lasagna from being to runny and will help it hold together once you slice it.
Make Ahead Instructions
This is a great recipe to make ahead or freeze. Prepare the lasagna, cover it tightly, and store in the fridge up to 3 days. While the oven preheats, let the lasagna come to room temp. Bake according to recipe directions.
I almost always make 2 lasagnas when I make this recipe. One for dinner and one for the freezer for later. I like to make the freezer one in aluminum foil pans. Makes clean up a breeze and doesn't hog one of my casserole dishes in the freezer. Simply double the recipe and make two. Tightly cover the extra lasagna with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Label, date and freeze. When ready to use, thaw it overnight in the fridge. While the oven is preheating, let the lasagna come to room temp. Then bake according to recipe directions. You can bake this from frozen, bake covered for 1 hour, then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes or until completely warmed through.
Storing Lasagna
Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Leftovers can also be frozen. Freeze individual portions in small aluminum pans or freezer safe containers. When ready to use, thaw overnight, and then reheat covered in a 350°F oven or reheat in microwave until warmed through.
More Delicious Italian Dinners:
- Easy Skillet Lasagna
- Baked Chicken Parmesan
- Grandma's Meatloaf
- Baked Penne Casserole
- Chicken Spaghetti Bake
- Italian Sloppy Joes
- Easy Spaghetti Shrimp
- Baked Rigatoni Casserole
- Cheesy Spaghetti Bake
- Easy Zuppa Toscano Soup
- Crock Pot Beef Bolognese
- Manicotti with Meat Sauce
- Pasta E Fagioli
- Simple Spaghetti Meat Sauce
- Turkey & Zucchini Meatballs
- Homemade Pizza Dough
- No Cooke Pizza Sauce
Homemade Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 no boil lasagna noodles
Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 56 oz crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Cheese Layer
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, brown and crumble beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain any grease.
- Add olive oil and chopped onions. Cook until onions are translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in minced garlic and cook another minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Add crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, dried basil and oregano, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg and grated parmesan cheese.
- In a deep 9x13 casserole dish, add 2 cups of sauce and spread it out in a even layer.
- Top with 4 lasagna noodles.
- Spread ⅓ of the ricotta cheese mix over the noodles.
- Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
- Repeat layers: 2 cups sauce, 4 lasagna noodles, ⅓ ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella.
- Repeat layers again: 2 cups sauce, 4 lasagna noodles, remaining ricotta cheese and 1 cup shredded mozzarella.
- Top with 2 cups of sauce and 4 more noodles.
- Then add the remaining sauce on top of the noodles and the remaining mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce.
- Cover with aluminum foil and let rest while the oven preheats to 375°F.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is started to turn golden and the sauce is bubbling.
- Let rest 20 minutes, then slice and serve.
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