Easy Layered Lasagna Recipe: this is a great make-ahead, and it freezes well. Easy to put together, and sure to be a family favourite.
My mom’s been making this easy layered lasagna recipe ever since I can remember. It’s simple, delicious, a crowd pleaser, and a great make ahead. Tick, tick, tick, ticking all the boxes. It’s perfect for these cold days of winter when everyone is longing for hearty, delicious comfort food.
Make Ahead
It’s great as a make-ahead, and favourite of hers for company, since she can make it in the morning or the day before and not have to worry once the company arrives.
This lasagna also freezes great. Just put it together, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it un-baked. When you want to have it, pull it out of the freezer and into the oven, adjusting the cooking time to a little longer if cooking from frozen lasagna.
What's The Order For Layering Lasagna?
This classic lasagna recipe has two layers. It starts by adding a layer of savory meat sauce with vegetables to the bottom of the pan. The next layer is the pre-boiled 3-4 lasagna noodles. On top of that is grated mozzarella cheese, and the the layer of cottage cheese. Then the process repeats for the second layer with the meat and vegetable tomato sauce, and final layer of pasta and mozzarella cheese. There is no second layer of cottage cheese, and the dish is finished with the last layer of parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.
The cottage cheese is layered into the middle of the lasagna. And the top layer is a the noodles covered in mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese, so that it melts and browns on top perfectly.
This is the best lasagna recipe with the perfect ratio of meat and vegetable tomato sauce to the layers of noodles and different cheeses, and the cottage cheese in the middle adds creaminess and texture to the dish.
Noodles
We like to pre-boil the noodles for this dish before layering them into the lasagna for this classic recipe. It does add another step to boil noodles, instead of using the no boil lasagna noodles for your layers of pasta. We've tried both ways and found the no boil noodles are never as tender, and tend to dry the lasagna out. It only takes about 10 minutes to pre-boil your noodles for this dish and is definitely worth the effort when you're making homemade lasagna from scratch. You can use the no boil lasagna noodles in this dish if you prefer, but we prefer to use the regular lasagna noodles and cook the pasta in boiling water first for more tender noodles.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in a airtight container, or cover the baking dish with tightly with plastic wrap for the next day.
The smell of my Mom’s easy lasagna cooking last night brought back lots of childhood memories, and anticipation of a great dinner. We love to serve this dish with a big salad and some homemade garlic bread and little sprinkle of fresh basil. Everyone always loves the corner pieces. It's perfect for the next time you have a special occasion to celebrate. We love that it's easy to put together and doesn't take a whole day to make, but is still so delicious.
Recipe
Mom's Easy Layered Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 8 oz. package of mushrooms sliced
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 650 mL jar spaghetti sauce
- 28 oz can of tomatoes drained
- 3 bay leaves
- 7 lasagna noodles
- 400 g package mozzarella shredded
- 500 g container cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot of salted water, boil lasagna noodles for about 9 min. until they are al dente. And then drain the cooked pasta in a strainer and set aside.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat.
- Remove the beef from the pan, and sauté the onions, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic in a olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until the onions are transparent and peppers and mushrooms are softened.
- Add the beef back into the pan with the sauteed vegetables, along with the jar of spaghetti sauce, drained tomatoes, and 3 bay leaves. Stir to combine, and then remove from the heat.
- In a 9 x 11 baking dish, add half of the meat mixture as the bottom layer of the lasagna, to begin the layering process.
- Next add a layer of lasagna noodles. Then grate half of the mozzarella cheese as the next layer.
- Spoon the cottage cheese in an even layer as the next level.
- Repeat the layers with the rest of the meat mixture, another layer of noodles and the second half of the grated mozzarella cheese layer. Finish my sprinkling the parmesan cheese over the top of the lasagna.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven, for 40 - 60 min. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 30 min of baking, then remove for the last 10-30 min. of cooking so that the cheese gets browned and bubbly. (Remember to not eat the bay leaves -you should find three.)
Nutrition
With my Mom’s easy lasagna recipe, life really is a party!
More Recipe Inspiration
You might also like Gnocchi with and Italian Sausage.
Also check out our Unstuffed Zucchini recipe here.
You might also enjoy our Butter Chicken Pizza recipe here.
Andrew Hopkins says
Haha. I have made it.
But now i have a new recipe.
I will try to make it.