Traditional Lasagna Recipe

Traditional Lasagna Recipe

This Traditional Lasagna Recipe is loaded with layers of homemade meat sauce, oodles of cheese, and plenty of chewy lasagna noodles. Pro tip: Pre-cut the lasagna before baking for easier, cheesier, slices.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings servings

Calories 497kcal

Author Meggan Hill

Ingredients

For the noodles and cheese filling:

Salt
1 box lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese (see note 1)
1 large egg
2 teaspoons dried parsley

For the meat sauce:

2 pounds ground beef (see note 2)
1 medium onion chopped (about 1 cup)
4 cloves garlic minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons granulated sugar or to taste (see note 3)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (see note 4)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For assembly:

1 pound mozzarella cheese shredded
1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
fresh parsley minced, or basil leaves, for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the noodles and the cheese filling:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large stockpot or Dutch oven, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to boil.
Add lasagna noodles and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking (this also removes the starch so the noodles won't stick to each other).
In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and chill until assembling the lasagna.

To make the meat sauce:

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add beef (or sausage) and onion, and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper). You should have about 2 quarts of sauce.

To assemble and bake the lasagna:

In the bottom of a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups meat sauce. Arrange a single layer of noodles over the meat sauce (I do 3 full-size noodles lengthwise and then a partial noodle crosswise).
Spread with a heaping 2/3 cup of the ricotta mixture. Top with about 1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) of mozzarella. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.
Spoon 2 cups meat sauce over the cheese. Make another layer of noodles, ricotta mixture (heaping 2/3 cup), mozzarella (1 1/2 cups) and Parmesan (1/3 cup). Repeat layers 1 more time, for a total of 3 layers (you will have extra sauce which you can pass separately).
Cut lasagna into twelve pieces (this makes it much easier to serve later; you can remove a piece without pulling the melted cheese off the entire lasagna). Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick spray and cover baking dish.
Bake, covered with foil, for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes longer. Cool 5 minutes, then garnish with parsley or basil if desired.

Video

Notes

Ricotta cheese: Make your own ricotta with just 4 ingredients: Milk, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt.
Ground beef: This recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground beef, but doing 1 pound each of ground beef and ground Italian sausage is delicious, too.
Sugar: Even a tablespoon is too much for some people. If you don’t like the sound of sugar in your meat sauce, please leave it out. In my family, people add ¼ cup or even up to ½ cup.
Italian seasoning: It’s easy to make your own homemade Italian seasoning with dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.
Yield: As written, the lasagna is made in a 9” x 13” baking dish, enough for 12 servings.
Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutrition