Easy Lasagna

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A cozy, from-scratch lasagna layered with homemade meat sauce, a seasoned cottage cheese filling, and melty mozzarella. Easy enough for a weeknight, good enough for company.

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 377kcal

Author Jennifer

Equipment

1 9x13 baking dish

Ingredients

Meat sauce

1 lb 85/15 ground beef (or lean ground turkey, or half beef and half Italian sausage)
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic minced
4 cups spaghetti sauce divided (a good jarred sauce is perfect; homemade if you have it)

Cheese filling

2 cups cottage cheese lactose-free if you like; ricotta works as a swap
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried
1 tsp garlic minced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Pasta and Cheese Layers

6 no-boil lasagna noodles plus 1 or 2 extra in case any break
3/4 cup water to steam the no-boil noodles tender
2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded and divided in half, lactose-free if you like
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese grated for the top

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. (No need to boil the noodles; they soften in the oven.)
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic over medium-high heat, letting it pick up good color before stirring. Drain off the extra fat.
Stir in all but about 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce (reserve that 1/2 cup for the pan). Warm through for a few minutes, adding a splash of water if the sauce is very thick.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg, then stir in the cottage cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Lightly grease a deep 9x13 baking dish. Then build the lasagna in these 9 layers, from the bottom up:
Layer 1: reserved 1/2 cup plain spaghetti sauce (not the meat sauce), spread across the bottom
Layer 2: Three (3) noodles
Layer 3: half the cheese filling
Layer 4: half the meat sauce
Layer 5: 1 cup mozzarella
Layer 6: Three (3) noodles
Layer 7: rest of the cheese filling
Layer 8: rest of the meat sauce
Layer 9: rest of the mozzarella (about 1 cup)
Finish by sprinkling grated parmesan over the top. Make sure every noodle is fully tucked under sauce or cheese with no edges exposed, or those bare edges will bake up crispy.
Slowly pour about 3/4 cup of water around the edges of the assembled lasagna. Cover tightly with foil (spritz the underside with cooking spray so the cheese does not stick) and bake for 40 minutes (the trapped steam is what softens the no-boil noodles). Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes, until bubbling and the cheese is melted. For a golden top, broil 1 to 2 minutes, watching closely.
Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before slicing so the layers can set.

Notes

Make two: Double the recipe and freeze one pan unbaked and tightly wrapped. Bake from frozen at 375°F, covered, about 1 to 1.5 hours, then uncover for the last 15 minutes.

Lighter version: Use lean ground turkey in place of the beef.

Make it taller: If you like a big, pasta-forward lasagna, add a third noodle layer. Use about 9 no-boil noodles instead of 6, and make roughly half again as much cheese filling, meat sauce, and mozzarella so every layer stays generous. Just be sure your pan is nice and deep, because a taller stack likes to bubble over.

Prefer boiled noodles? Use traditional noodles instead. Boil them a minute shy of the package directions, layer as usual, skip the water, and reduce the covered bake time to 25 minutes.

Nutrition