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This truly is the best homemade lasagna recipe—simple, cheesy, meaty, and absolutely delicious! It’s a comforting dish everyone loves, perfect for feeding a crowd or bringing to a potluck.
Layers of rich, savory meat sauce, a blend of cheeses, fresh veggies, and tender lasagna noodles combine to create a bubbly, golden masterpiece. It also freezes beautifully and reheats well.
This Is Hands-down the World’s Best Lasagna Ever!
I’m so excited to share this Homemade Lasagna Recipe with you today! Lasagna is one of the world’s most popular foods. It’s a classic Italian dish that can be served at any time of day or night to family and friends.
This recipe is simple, cheesy, and can be made ahead of time, or baked immediately. It comes out perfectly every time! It is neither dry nor soupy, cuts well, holds together well, and tastes fantastic!
As I previously stated, this is the homemade lasagna recipe that you must have in your recipe collection. Once you’ve made this, you’ll never need another lasagna recipe. It’s meaty, cheesy, decadent, and the ideal Italian meal.
If you’ve tried my skillet lasagna recipe, you’ll know what I mean!
Table of Contents
- This Is Hands-down the World’s Best Lasagna Ever!
- Recipe Overview
- Why You’ll Love This Homemade Lasagna
- Homemade Lasagna Ingredients
- Pro Tip
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
- Serving Suggestions
- Easy Substitutions
- Delicious Variations
- Recipe Tips
- Freezing Tips
- Homemade Lasagna Recipe Ingredients
- More Delicious Pasta Recipes You Must Try:
- The Best Homemade Lasagna Recipe Recipe
Recipe Overview
Cuisine: Italian
Cooking Method: Baking
Skill Required: Intermediate (requires layering, sauce preparation)
Signature taste: Rich, savory, cheesy with layers of hearty tomato sauce, melted cheese, seasoned meat, and vegetables
Diet Info: Can be adapted to be vegetarian, gluten-free, low-carb, or dairy-free with substitutions.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Lasagna
- Everything you want in one recipe: meaty, cheesy, and saucy. It’s rich, mouthwatering, and delicious!
- It’s perfect for meal prep: It’s the perfect dish to make on a weeknight, but you can also make it on the weekend and enjoy it all week. Even better? Double the recipe and freeze one lasagna for later.
- This is a family-friendly meal that everyone enjoys.
Homemade Lasagna Ingredients
Ground beef: You can use lean or extra lean beef so you don’t have to drain any fat. For a juicier lasagna, use 80/20 beef (20% fat content).
Lasagna noodles: The lasagna noodles should be cooked al dente; they will soften as the lasagna bakes.
Pasta sauce: You will need canned pasta sauce.
Onion: Both white and yellow onions work well for this recipe.
Olive oil: You will need some olive oil to sauté the onions.
Garlic cloves: Use as much or as little garlic as you want!
Seasonings: You can use dried thyme, Italian seasoning, fresh basil, oregano, garlic powder, and seven spices. Feel free to use any fresh herbs you like.
Cheese: An Italian cheese blend works, but I prefer mozzarella and ricotta cheese.
Peppers: Feel free to use any pepper color you like.
Mushrooms: Rimini mushrooms work perfectly with this recipe.
Baby Spinach: I recommend using fresh spinach for this lasagna recipe. However, you can use frozen spinach. Just be sure to thaw and drain all excess water from the spinach before using.
Egg: The egg helps bind the cheese mixture together.
Check the recipe card for quantities.
Ingredient Highlight: Lasagna Noodles
Lasagna noodles are the star of this classic dish, providing the structure and layers that bring all the flavors together. These wide, flat sheets of pasta are designed to hold up under rich sauces, creamy cheeses, and hearty fillings. Whether you use traditional boiled noodles or convenient no-boil varieties, they’re essential for achieving that perfect bite.
What’s great about lasagna noodles is their adaptability. From gluten-free versions to vegetable substitutes like zucchini or eggplant, you can easily tailor your lasagna to meet dietary preferences without losing the layered, comforting texture lasagna is known for.
Pro Tip
If you’re using no-boil noodles, ensure your sauce is slightly more liquid to allow the noodles to cook through during baking.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Lasagna is hearty and filling on its own, but a salad or vegetable side dish can help balance out the meal. A fresh garden salad, for example, will complement this dish. Vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower, make excellent side dishes for lasagna.
Allow to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container and storing in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Cover with foil, bake in an oven-safe dish in the oven, or pop it in the microwave until hot and bubbly
Serving Suggestions
To serve lasagna in a delicious and satisfying way, here are a few ideas:
Salads: Pair it with a fresh, crunchy side salad, such as a Cucumber Avocado Salad or a Caesar salad. The crispness and acidity of these salads balance the richness of the lasagna.
Vegetable Sides: Roasted or steamed veggies like boiled asparagus or a hummus veggie dip complement lasagna well.
Bread: A slice of olive bread or crusty Italian bread is perfect to mop up the delicious sauce from your lasagna plate.
Appetizers: Serve some light Mediterranean starters like tzatziki sauce or a layered hummus dip to start the meal on a fresh note
Easy Substitutions
While I enjoy this homemade lasagna as written, you may have other preferences! Here are some simple substitutions you could try.
Ground beef vs. ground sausage: You can substitute hot or sweet Italian sausage for ground beef.
Ricotta vs. cottage cheese: Ricotta, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese are commonly used in traditional Italian lasagnas.
If you dislike the taste or texture of ricotta cheese, you can easily substitute cottage cheese in its place. Everything else in the recipe will remain the same.
Delicious Variations
Customizing lasagna is enjoyable and adds more flavors and richness to this traditional lasagna recipe. There are numerous ways to modify or improve this lasagna recipe. These lasagna variations will be delicious no matter how you prepare them!
Meat: You can add more meat or substitute meat with diced chicken, turkey, or any type of sausage.
Spicy: For extra heat, add some red pepper flakes.
Noodles: Regular lasagna noodles are the best and are required for layering. However, there are various types of noodles available that work well for this recipe.
Vegetarian: To make a vegetarian lasagna, omit the meat and replace it with spinach, kale, or escarole.
Recipe Tips
You can add some sugar to cut through some of the acidity from all the tomatoes.
Another important tip is to simmer the sauce. A wet, thin pasta sauce is not ideal for any pasta. The sauce must be able to coat the wide lasagna noodles you will be using.
Let everything settle before you start digging in. It’s better to let your lasagna rest for 5-10 minutes. It will stay hot, but at the same time, it will soak up that moisture.
I don’t recommend using fresh pasta! This recipe has lots of liquid in the sauce, and fresh pasta will make your lasagna mushy.
Freezing Tips
This easy lasagna recipe can be frozen baked or unbaked. In either case, line the lasagna pan with foil so that you can easily remove the lasagna once it has frozen through. You won’t have to keep the pan in the freezer as well.
Unbaked lasagna: Assemble the lasagna as directed in the foil-lined pan, but do not bake it. Allow to cool before covering with foil. When it’s completely frozen, remove it from the pan, wrap it in foil or plastic wrap, and place it in the freezer for up to a month.
When you’re ready to bake, remove it from the foil and return it to the original pan. Cover the top with foil or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight to defrost. You might need extra time when baking it (10 to 20 minutes).
Baked lasagna: Assemble the lasagna in the foil-lined pan and bake as directed in the steps below. Allow it to cool completely before wrapping in foil and freezing until solid. Then lift it out of the pan, wrap it in foil again, and freeze for up to 1 month.
Unwrap it and return it to its original pan when ready to reheat. Cover the top with foil (you can reuse the foil from the wrapping) and place it in the refrigerator overnight to defrost. Reheat at 350°F, covered, until bubbly again.
Homemade Lasagna Recipe Ingredients
- Lasagna pasta
- pasta sauce
- onions, diced
- ground meat
- 7 spices, or all spice
- Italian seasoning
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- oregano
- peppers (any colors of choice)
- mushrooms/ sliced
- mozzarella shredded cheese
Lasagna Filling Ingredients
- baby spinach/ chopped
- ricotta cheese
- egg
More Delicious Pasta Recipes You Must Try:
- Easy Stovetop Lasagna Skillet
- Béchamel Pasta Bake (Macarona Béchamel)
- Gigi Hadid’s Viral Pasta Recipe (without the vodka)
- Italian Seasoned Tuna Pasta Salad
- Mediterranean Pasta
- Best Mac & Cheese Recipe
The Best Homemade Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
Lasagna Ingredients
- 1 box Lasagna pasta
- 2 24 ounces can pasta sauce
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1½ pounds ground meat
- 1 teaspoon seven spices or all spice
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup peppers, any color of choice
- 1 8 ounce can mushroom
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Ricotta Cheese Filling
- 1 cup baby spinach, chopped
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
Instructions
Prepare the Lasagna
- First, bring pot of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, and boil lasagna noodles for 7 minutes.
- Next, drain then add a drizzle of olive oil to prevent noodles from sticking.
- Then, in a pan add 3 tablespoons olive oil, sauté onions until translucent, add meat and 7 spices until cooked.
- After that, add peppers, mushrooms, the spaghetti sauce, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt, and garlic powder. Once the sauce boils turn heat off.
Prepare the Filling: Ricotta Cheese Mixture
- First, in a small bowl add ricotta cheese, the egg, chopped spinach and mix.
- Now, layer in a deep rectangular baking dish starting sauce on bottom and then repeat these layers of lasagna noodles (horizontally – 4 noodles per layer).
- Repeat the process! The top layer should be the hearty meat sauce then a thick layer of mozzarella!
- Then, bake at 350 covered with aluminum foil (spray with oil to prevent cheese from sticking) for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Finally, broil for a few minutes until cheese is slightly golden. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can add some sugar to cut through some of the acidity from all the tomatoes.
- Another important tip is to simmer the sauce. A wet, thin pasta sauce is not ideal for any pasta. The sauce must be able to coat the wide lasagna noodles you will be using.
- Let every thing settle before you start digging in. It’s better to let your lasagna rest for 5-10 minutes. It will stay hot, but at the same time it will soak up that moisture.
