Lasagna is a meal that screams comfort food to me. This particular recipe is a great freezer meal and you don’t even need to boil the noodles ahead of time. Jump to Recipe
Lasagna is a universal comfort food. If you’re taking a meal to a new mama, a friend who is grieving, a potluck, etc., lasagna is always welcomed. It’s cheesy, meaty, full of sauce and pasta, it’s like eating a hug. Ha! One tip I’ll say when taking a meal to a friend is to use an aluminum foil pan. I normally don’t use them since I try to stay as low waste as possible but if you have a friend who just had a baby or is grieving, the last thing they need to worry about is washing and returning your pan.
If you need a great glass lasagna pan, go to Target. I’ve looked everywhere for great glass pans and the ones at Target get the blue ribbon from me! I’m used to using the more expensive brand but on a whim I bought one to try. It’s great. It freezes well and makes a great lasagna pan. I’ve bought a couple for making freezer meals. I’ll be buying a few more too!
GOOD HOMEMADE LASAGNA STARTS WITH GOOD SAUCE
This easy lasagna recipe is best made ahead. If you make it at least a few hours ahead, I usually make it the night before, you don’t have to boil the noodles or buy the no boil lasagna noodles. They’re more expensive and unnecessary. When you use the regular, dry noodles and let it sit, it will soak up some of the sauce and soften the noodles to perfection. I prefer to use my homemade red sauce for this recipe. I just pull enough out of the freezer ahead of time and let it thaw. This recipe uses about 2 1/2 quarts of sauce. You might be able to get by with a little less but we like lots of sauce with ours.
I’m going to let you in on another little secret with this recipe. I don’t add meat and cheese to every later. Gasp! I know. I love cheese but when there’s cheese in every layer, it becomes a little too much. Having just one really meaty layer helps balance it out. Don’t get out your pitchforks 🙂 Just trust me on this one and try it.
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
1) Gather all your ingredients. You’ll need:
- 1 box of lasagna noodles
- 32oz of ricotta
- 2 cups mozzarella, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 quarts of pasta sauce
- 1lb ground beef
2) Brown your ground beef, seasoning with a little salt and drain. I like to let mine cool since it’s going in the fridge to sit overnight.
3) Mix up the egg and cheeses. Reserve a little of the shredded mozzarella for your topping.
4) Add some sauce to the bottom of your lasagna pan. I suggest 2 cups per later. Since I freeze my homemade red sauce in pint jars, I just dump 1 pint jar per layer. Then add your first layer of noodles.
5) Add your first later of cheese. I used 1/2 of the cheese mixture because this pan will hold 3 well filled layers. My favorite thing to use is a pastry bag to fill my cheese layers because they keep it much neater. I prefer a refillable one but they have disposable ones, I don’t even add a metal tip.
6) You could go from there but I like to even out the cheese mixture with a spatula. Again, not necessary but I like the way it looks.
7) Next add another layer of noodles, ground beef and then a layer of sauce.
8) Then, add another layer of noodles and your last cheese layer. Add your final layer of noodles.
9) Top it off with the rest of your sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.
10) At this point you can add the lid to your pan and put it in the fridge overnight or stick it in the freezer for another time. If from the fridge, remove lid and bake at 350 for 1 hour. If you’re baking from frozen, bake for 2 hours.
My Best Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box lasagna noodles
- 32 oz ricotta cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1.5 cups parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 egg
- 2.5 quarts pasta sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
Instructions
- Brown your ground beef, seasoning with a little salt and drain. I like to let mine cool since it's going in the fridge to sit overnight.
- Mix up the egg and cheeses. Reserve a little of the shredded mozzarella for your topping.
- Add some sauce to the bottom of your lasagna pan. I suggest 2 cups per later. Since I freeze my homemade red sauce in pint jars, I just dump 1 pint jar per layer. Then add your first layer of noodles
- Add your first later of cheese. I used 1/2 of the cheese mixture because this pan will hold 3 well filled layers. I like to use a pastry bag to fill my cheese layers because they keep it much neater. I prefer a refillable one but they have disposable ones, I don't even add a metal tip
- You could go from there but I like to even out the cheese mixture with a spatula. Again, not necessary but I like the way it looks
- Add another layer of noodles, ground beef and then a layer of sauce
- Add another layer of noodles and your last cheese layer. Add your final layer of noodles
- Top it off with the rest of your sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese
- At this point you can add the lid to your pan and put it in the fridge overnight or stick it in the freezer for another time. If from the fridge, remove lid and bake at 350 for 1 hour. If you're baking from frozen, bake for 2 hours
Let me know what you think!
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