Description
Easy lasagna is a classic comfort-food dish featuring layers of pasta, savory meat sauce, rich cheese filling, and melty mozzarella. It’s indulgent yet simple, perfect for family dinners, gatherings, potlucks, or cozy nights in. Adaptable for gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, or low-carb diets, this recipe delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort.
Ingredients
Scale
Cheese Filling
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Meat Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- ¾ lb ground beef
- ¾ lb ground Italian sausage
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 40 oz marinara sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Pasta
- 12 lasagna noodles (plus extras for breakage)
Topping
- 2.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Make cheese filling: In a bowl, combine ricotta, egg, mozzarella, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Make meat sauce:
- Heat olive oil in a skillet.
- Sauté onions until softened.
- Add ground beef and sausage; cook until browned.
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken broth, marinara sauce, tomato paste, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer.
- Cook noodles: Boil lasagna noodles to al dente, drain, and let cool slightly.
- Spread 1 heaping cup of meat sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Layer in this order:
- 4 noodles
- ⅓ cheese filling
- 1½ cups meat sauce
- Repeat layers two more times.
- Spread remaining cheese filling and meat sauce on top.
- Add 2.5 cups mozzarella over the top.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake 35 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more until bubbly.
- Let rest 15 minutes before serving to set the layers.
Notes
- Use high-quality marinara for best flavor.
- Freshly shredded cheese melts much better than bagged.
- Letting the lasagna rest ensures clean slices.
- Make it gluten-free with GF noodles and sauces.
- Make it vegetarian with plant-based proteins or extra veggies.
- For low-carb: use thinly sliced zucchini or eggplant instead of noodles.
- Add-ons: spinach, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, basil, paprika, chili flakes.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Main Dish / Casserole
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 560
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 1,020 mg
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated Fat: 15 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 34 g
- Cholesterol: 125 mg