Layers of noodles, the most delicious meat sauce, ricotta cheese filling and lots of mozzarella make up this classic Homemade Lasagna dish. Completely from scratch, easy to make, make-ahead and freezer friendly.
Who doesn’t love a good homemade lasagna with its layers of creamy ricotta filling, bubbly mozzarella cheese and mouthwatering meat sauce? Mmm, I just might have to add lasagna to next week’s menu. I honestly don’t know of anyone that doesn’t love this hearty dish.
It does take a little time, being that each layer is made from scratch, but I promise you, it isn’t hard to make. It is easily customizable and perfect for freezer meal prep.
Homemade Lasagna Ingredients
- Meat: I use ground beef most of the time. When I have italian sausage I will mix the two, equals parts italian sausage and ground beef.
- Cheese Filling: I love making my cheese filling with ricotta cheese, grated parmesan cheese and romano cheese. If you don’t have either of the grated cheese, you can certainly leave them out. I also add an egg, salt, pepper and fresh parsley to the filling. This filling is AMAZING!!
- Sauce: The sauce in this recipe is made completely from scratch with tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and a typical mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery) minced garlic and a few herbs and spices.
- Noodles: I like to use dry pasta that has to be cooked before layering the lasagna, but you can use the ready to bake kind if you like.
- Mozzarella: No lasagna is complete without loads of shredded mozzarella!
How to Make Homemade Lasagna
Homemade Lasagna does some time to make, but each step is easy to do and once you make everything, assembling the lasagna takes no time at all. The next time you make lasagna you’ll be an expert!
Here are the steps I follow to make the most of my time.
The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Boil the Pasta: In a large pot of salted water boil the pasta until al dente. Reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
- Cook the Meat: In a large pan brown the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Strain and set aside.
- Make the Sauce: In the same pan, sauté the onions, celery and carrots until softened. Add in the garlic and continue sautéing for 1 more minute. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and the remaining herbs and spices. Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Add the cooked meat to the sauce. Add in some or all of the pasta water, depending on the thickness of your sauce.
- Make the Cheese Filling: Mix together all of the filling ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- Assemble and Bake: Layer the lasagna starting with sauce, noodles, cheese filling, sauce, shredded cheese and repeat. Bake until bubbly. Enjoy!
How to Layer Homemade Lasagna
If you are wondering what the layers should look like, here ya go!
- Sauce: A thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. This helps prevent the noodles from sticking.
- Noodles: Next layer 3 noodles, side-by-side on top of the sauce.
- Cheese Filling: Spread an even layer of the cheese filling, about 1/3 of the filling, over the noodles.
- Sauce: Spread 1/3 of the remaining sauce over the cheese filling.
- Shredded Cheese: Sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese over the meat sauce.
- Noodles: Add another layer of noodles.
- Cheese Filling: Repeat the same as before.
- Sauce: Repeat the same as before.
- Shredded Cheese: Repeat the same as before.
- Noodles: Layer the remining 3 noodles over the shredded cheese. Press down gently to make sure everything fits in the pan and fill in the gaps.
- Cheese Filling: Spread the remaining cheese filling over the noodles.
- Sauce: Spread the remaining sauce over the cheese filling.
- Shredded Cheese: Sprinkle over the remaining 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese.
Variations
You can certainly customize this lasagna dish in many different ways.
- Add in different vegetables. Mushrooms, zucchini, squash and leafy greens like spinach or kale work perfectly in this recipe.
- Make it vegetarian! Omit the meat and add all of your favorite vegetables for a delicious variation.
- Don’t have the time to make the homemade sauce. Use a jar of pasta sauce and add the cooked meat to it.
- Don’t like ricotta? Use cottage cheese or completely omit the cheese filling.
How to Bake Homemade Lasagna
Cover the lasagna with foil and place in a 350° F oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly. Remove the foil and turn the heat up to broil. Bake for a few minutes longer to get the cheese lightly browned. Remove from the oven.
Cooling:
Don’t skip this step, yes, I know you are ready to dig in, but the lasagna is SUPER hot and will make a complete mess if you try to serve it now. Allow it to cool for several minutes, like 15 minutes, before cutting into it and serving it.
But if you cannot wait, we’ve all been there, be prepared for the lasagna layers to fall apart. It still tastes just as good, it’s just not as pretty.
Make-Ahead/Freezing Homemade Lasagna
If you are wanting to prepare this homemade lasagna in advance as a make-ahead meal or freeze it, simply stop here and allow the lasagna to cool completely. Once the lasagna has completely cooled wrap with plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. You can now place the finished lasagna in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to cook from the refrigerator bring the lasagna out of the refrigerator 30-45 minutes before you are wanting to cook it. Remove the foil and plastic wrap. Discard the plastic wrap and place the foil bake on. After 30-45 minutes place in a 350° F oven and bake for 45-1 hour, or until lightly browned and bubbly. Enjoy!
When ready to cook from the freezer simply thaw the lasagna in the refrigerator overnight and follow the “from refrigerator” directions above.
More Delicious Recipes to Try!
Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Tried This Recipe?
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Homemade Lasagna
Layers of noodles, the most delicious meat sauce, ricotta cheese filling and lots of mozzarella make up this classic Homemade Lasagna dish. Completely from scratch, easy to make, make-ahead and freezer friendly.
Ingredients
Cheese Filling
Instructions
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In a large pot of salted water cook the lasagna noodles to al dente. Since the noodles will continue cooking when the lasagna is baked, cooking them to "al dente" will prevent them from getting over-cooked. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
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In a large skillet over medium-high heat brown the ground beef, crumbling it as it cooks. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Remove from the heat and strain off the fat. Set aside until needed.
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In the same pan, over medium-low heat add in the olive oil, onions, celery and carrots. Sauté until softened. Add the garlic to the pan and continue cooking for 30 seconds. Pour in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine.
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Turn the heat down to a simmer. Add in the remaining seasonings. Keep at a simmer, stirring occasionally for at least 30 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick add in some or all of the reserved pasta water. Add in the meat, remove from the heat and set aside.
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In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients for the cheese filling. Mix until fully combined. Set aside.
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Assembling the Lasagna
Preheat an oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
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Add a thin layer of sauce to the bottom of the pan. Just enough to cover the bottom. This helps prevent the noodles from sticking.
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Next layer 3 noodles, side-by-side on top of the sauce. Now spread an even layer of the cheese filling on top of the noodles.
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Pour 1/3 of the meat sauce on top of the cheese filling then sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat these steps until you reach the last noodle layer. Press down gently to make room for the remaining sauce and cheese.
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Spread the remaining cheese filling over the noodles, top with the remaining meat sauce and 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and place in the oven.
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Bake for 45 minutes. At this point the lasagna should be nice and bubbly. Remove the foil, turn to broil and continue cooking for a few minutes to lightly brown the cheese.
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Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
This has become mine and my families favorite Lasagna recipe! The meat sauce is so flavorful, and easy to make.
That is wonderful to hear, Stephanie!