Easiest Lasagna Ever
by Chungah
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
This classic homemade lasagna is so easy with a homemade meat sauce and layers of creamy ricotta! It’s also make-ahead and freezer-friendly.
Featured Comment
I don’t even know what it is about this recipe. It isn’t complicated, featuring an assorted variety of meats and cheeses, yet the taste and flavor are fantastic.
I feel that I can either make it the same, again and again, or occasionally tweak it for a change of pace.
Why you’ll love this easy lasagna recipe
- A classic dish. With such simple ingredients using pantry staples – we’re talking homemade meat sauce layered with a mixture of ricotta and mozzarella cheese with tender lasagna noodles – this cozy, comforting classic delivers on all levels every single time.
- Makes for a great gift. Lasagna is very easy to double (making two pans), freeze and gift to a new mom or neighbor. What’s the best way to gift lasagna? Assembled and uncooked.
- Reheats very well. Leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavors of the meat sauce and cheese continue to meld together. And an added bonus: it’s freezer-friendly!
How to make classic lasagna
- Cook the pasta. Boil the lasagna noodles in generously salted water until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain well and lay them flat to remove the excess moisture and to prevent them from sticking to one another. Skip this step if using no-boil lasagna noodles.
- Make the meat sauce. Brown the ground beef in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Drain the excess fat and stir in the crushed tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes until it is thick and has no watery run-off.
- Prepare the ricotta cheese mixture. Combine the ricotta, mozzarella and egg until smooth and well combined.
- Assemble the lasagna.
- Base: Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray, then spread 1 cup of the meat sauce evenly across the bottom. This will serve as a barrier to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom, helping them cook evenly.
- Pasta layer: Add a layer of 3-4 cooked lasagna noodles (or no-boil lasagna noodles) side-by-side, avoiding any overlap.
- Cheese layer: Spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the lasagna noodles in an even layer, then sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat: Spoon another layer of 1 1/2-2 cups meat sauce, then lasagna noodles, then ricotta and mozzarella cheese.
- Final layer: Add the last remaining lasagna noodles, covering with meat sauce, and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Bake. Bake for 35-45 minutes until bubbling, covering with foil if it browns too quickly. Remove the foil, then broil for a few extra minutes for that extra crispy golden top.
- Serve. Let cool 15 minutes, garnishing with parsley and serving warm.
pro tip
Make the meat sauce the night before and store in the fridge overnight.
The flavors will deepen even further, and the thick chilled sauce will make assembly so much easier!
freezing and storage
Prep
To make ahead, cover lasagna tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate up to 24 hours. To bake, let the lasagna sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and bake as directed.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheating
Reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 15-30 minutes.
Freeze before baking
Cover the lasagna tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Label, date and freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and bake as directed, adding a few more minutes of cook time as needed.
Freeze after baking
Let the lasagna cool completely; cover tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Label, date and freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 1 hour.
Tools For This Recipe
Easiest Lasagna Ever: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! No-boil lasagna noodles are a convenient shortcut to cut down prep time even more. They just need to be completely covered in sauce to cook through properly.
Not at all! Italian pork sausage or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef. Here is a turkey veggie version that I also love.
Yes! Feel free to use your favorite store-bought tomato sauce (I love Rao’s Roasted Garlic) in place of the crushed tomatoes and omitting the Italian seasoning.
The egg serves as a binding agent for the ricotta cheese mixture. You can certainly skip the egg if needed, leaving the ricotta a little runnier, but it should not compromise taste.
A well-structured lasagna starts with a protective layer of sauce, then noodles, then cheese, a repeat of layers (sauce, noodles, cheese), and then one final layer of noodles, sauce and a cheese-heavy top.
It’s important to remove the excess liquid from the ingredients before assembling the lasagna. For example, you’ll need to reduce the sauce, dry the lasagna noodles thoroughly, avoid fresh mozzarella, and allow the lasagna to rest prior to serving.
Yes, lasagna is very freezer-friendly! For the best results, we recommend assembling, freezing, then baking to help prevent any sogginess but if you’ve already baked your lasagna, no worries at all – it can still be frozen!
Easiest Lasagna Ever
Video
Ingredients
- 9 lasagna noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 (15-ounce) package whole milk ricotta
- 3 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and onion and cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drain excess fat.
- Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella and egg; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- Spread 1 cup tomato mixture onto the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish; top with 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat with a second layer. Top with remaining noodles, tomato mixture, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and Parmesan.*
- Place into oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until bubbling. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until top is browned in spots. Let cool 15 minutes.
- Serve, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Reduce the sauce. Gently simmer the meat sauce for 10-15 minutes (for a quick weekday version), stirring the pot occasionally to prevent sticking. The sauce should be thick, not watery. If it is too wet, the lasagna will be soggy. When time permits, simmer for 1-2 hrs, allowing the flavors to really meld and marry.
- Use no-boil lasagna noodles. To cut down on prep time even more, use no-boil lasagna noodles, making sure the noodles are completely covered in sauce prior to baking.
- Mix it up. This recipe uses ground beef for budget-friendly convenience but a mixture of lean ground beef and sweet Italian sausage should work very well here.
- Avoid fresh mozzarella. Use low-moisture, whole milk mozzarella cheese. Fresh mozzarella will have too much liquid, resulting in a watery lasagna.
- Cover with foil. If the lasagna is browning too quickly, cover with foil, spraying the foil with nonstick spray first so the cheese does not stick.
- Let it rest. Let the lasagna sit for 10-15 minutes. This will prevent the layers from sliding off, and will also make it easier to serve with less mess.
- Make ahead of time. Lasagna is a great dish to make ahead of time. Prep and assemble 1-2 days before, covered with aluminum foil and stored in the fridge.
- Freeze before baking. This will preserve the texture and prevent sogginess. Always use a freezer-safe baking dish, label, date and freeze up to 3 months.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Just made this using my homemade sauce and noodles! delish! Thank you!
may I ask how you record these videos without holding the camera or shaking? haha
Looks delish though!!
I am using a tripod.
Okay, how do you measure the small bowl of mixture that you’re saying before the tomatoes mixture? I’ve read it ten times and is still confused….
Hi Vicki. Sorry, I am a little confused by your question. Are you referring to this step?
4. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella and egg; set aside.
My first one is in the oven. We’ll see how it turns out because I had to substitute for gluten free noodles and they were not a standard lasagna shape, which meant breaking some in pieces. Not to mention that I’m constantly scatterbrained worrying about cross-contamination. 😉
I have to say though that it was frustrating starting to use my large skillet because by the time I was ready for the tomatoes, there was no room. I had to switch to a pot. The video was rather misleading about that. It really doesn’t look like a pound of ground beef was used. Also the recipe doesn’t mention whether or not it needs to be covered if you make and bake it fresh.
Heya, if it’s helpful to anyone, I’ve never been a big fan of ricotta and I found a recipe which replaces it with tofu – https://www.recipestroupe.com/recipe-vegan-tofu-and-spinach-lasagna-51076.html. I’m not vegan, but I was thinking of using tofu instead of ricotta in this recipe. Would it work ok?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I’ve made this several times now, and it’s a hit every time. My husband even says that it’s the best lasagna he’s ever had! Thanks for the great and easy recipe!
I already have a can of stewed tomatoes – could I substitute that instead?
Yes, absolutely.
If I cook one day ahead, do you mean I cover with foil and cook for 40 minutes? Then uncover the foil and cook 10-15 more??
Yes, that’s exactly right.
This recipe was excellent. It came out great and everyone loved it! Can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
I made the lasagna & I baked it accordingly & put it in the freezer-I took it out of freezer & did what it said to do,but worried that it would be Ok-,bcause I had planned on having it for dinner 7 days later. After you take it out of the oven,do you let it cool in room temperature before you serve it & then you shouldn’t have to warm it again in microwave before you serve it Is this alright? Hope so!
Can I use block mozzarella instead of shredded??
Yes.
Omg I am so in love with this recipe!!!! Thank u so much!! I was worried bc for one I have part skim ricotta… and my husband is a meaty guy so I used 2 lbs of beef..in which it turned out greasy. However it taste amazing!!!!
I reserved some of the pasta water from cooking the noodles and added it to the meat sauce. There’s never enough sauce ever, ever in anything. I love sauce.
I don’t have Italian seasoning so I also used salt, pepper, basil, oregano, a tiny bit of thyme, and a few good shakes of paprika.
If I made this dish again I’d probably use a little more pasta water and make more of the ricotta/mozzarella mixture. I also cooked more than nine noodles but in reality I actually only used 9. Good call. I didn’t realized how much the noodles would expand.
I can see why someone might want to not cook the noodles and instead have them cook in the sauce and I’d love to sometime try both methods side by side and do a taste test- however, I found it just as fine to reserve the water and cook the noodles simultaneously. The timing of the recipe is really good. Next time I might try garlic with the meat sauce. Thanks for sharing!
I cook the noodles for 7 minutes, assemble the lasagna, then bake the dish for 35 min @ 350. I like the extra firmness and chewiness of the finished product. The corners get nice and crunchy, but still chewable.
Pasta takes longer than 20 mins to boil/cook, the meat sauce looks rather bland, needs at least minimum 30 mins to absorb flavours and really have the dept… I can’t see how this dish takes 20 mins only.
This recipe has a 20 minute prep time with a 45 minute cook time.
Ya know.. this recipe is perfect. I’ve been trying so many of my own variations for years and, having found your blog, decided to begin anew with your basic recipe.
I make my own tomato sauce; not to be fancy shmancy, only because I have to control my sodium. This results in 210 mg per 1 of 12 of your servings – or 315 mg per 1 of 8 of my servings.. I like mine a bit larger.
The largest contributor to the lower sodium in my version is due to not using all the ground beef in one lasagna. I use the whole 1lb of ground chuck in making about 3 QTS of sauce, but only 3 Cups of that mixture in your lasagna recipe. This worried me at first, I wasn’t sure there would be enough of that tasty beef mixture to chew on, but it worked perfectly And I have enough sauce left over for two more lasagnas at least.
I had forgotten how much difference just a small amount of freshly grated Parmesan/Romano makes. The best topping.
Thank you!
_____________________________________
Here’s my recipe for the low sodium sauce – this will make about 3 QTS:
3 lbs Fresh Tomatoes – whatever’s on sale
2 6-oz Cans Tomato Paste
1 Head of Fresh Garlic
Olive Oil – not extra virgin
Pre- Heat oven to 400-F
Cut round tomatoes into quarters – plum tomatoes in half length-wise.
Separate garlic cloves – do not peel.
Completely coat tomatoes and garlic with oil and place all on shallow baking pan. Turn each tomato slice so the skin side is down.
Roast for 1 Hour on center oven rack.
Let cool for 5 minutes on top of stove.
Place half the tomatoes, half the garlic, 1 can tomato paste, and 2 Cups of water into blender. Start on low for a few seconds then high for 30 seconds. Add additional 1 Cup water if needed to thin so it will liquefy and spin into a vortex. Using fine mesh strainer, strain into large bowl, discarding the leftover pulp. Repeat.
How many people does this recipe serve? Thanks!
This recipe yields about 12 servings.
Amazing and easy. Second time I made it and came out perfect. Only lyrics difference is I added a little garlic with the onions. (I love garlic though) thanks for the great recipe!
Can I substitute ground turkey for the ground beef? If so, do I need to change anything? Thanks for posting this! Can’t wait to try it.
Yes – no need to change anything else! 🙂
I put this together saturday morning but don’t plan on cooking it till monday evening. Was not planning on freezing it. Is that ok?
Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
My brother hates all lasagna but I made him this and he loved it!! First meal that I got no complaints from!! Thank you so much for this recipe!