Best Lasagna with Meat Sauce Recipe

This lasagna is made with a delicious and rich meat sauce for an easy, traditional and comforting main meal. This Italian layered pasta dish is loaded with flavor and only takes 20 minute prep time. Perfect for a weeknight meal and fancy enough to serve to guests.

Cheesy Lasagna

I honestly don’t think there’s a better comfort food than a cheesy lasagna layered with a rich and flavorsome meat sauce.

It’s one of my favorite Italian recipes. It’s so hearty and filling and it’s a dish the whole family will love!

How to Make The Best Lasagna with Meat Sauce

You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!

• Layer the ingredients in the baking dish, repeating the process for all the layers.
• Sprinkle with lots of cheese.
• Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 30-45 minutes.
• Let cool for 15 minutes.
• Serve and enjoy!

Can you make lasagna ahead of time?

Lasagna with meat sauce is a great dish for meal prep and make ahead meals, and you have several options:

• Assemble and bake the lasagna, let it cool to room temperature, cover and place in the fridge. It will keep well for around three days.
• You can freeze the baked lasagna and it will keep for several months. Wrap the whole dish in plastic wrap and foil and place in a freezer bag. Thaw the dish in the fridge over night and reheat in the oven. Here are some more tips for freezing meals.
• You can assemble the lasagna the day before and keep covered in the fridge to bake the next day.

Why is this the best lasagna recipe?

This lasagna recipe is incredibly cheesy, as any lasagna should be. Just like the traditional Italian recipe, ricotta cheese is layered with the meat sauce, rather than béchamel which is often used.

The meat sauce is incredibly rich, but it doesn’t take hours of cooking to achieve the flavor, so it’s great for a weeknight meal.

What to serve with lasagna

This pasta dish is honestly pretty perfect on its own, but I do like to serve it with a simple side salad, vegetables or garlic bread.

Any of these side dishes will be perfect to serve alongside this lasagna with meat sauce:

Be sure to check out these other pasta recipes:

• Pasta Pomodoro Recipe
• Pesto Pasta Salad
• Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake Recipe
• Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
• Vegetarian Pasta Bake

If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.

Recipe

Best Lasagna with Meat Sauce

4.68 from 40 votes

Author: Becky Hardin

Prep: 20 minutes minutes

Cook: 45 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Serves10 people

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Ingredients

For the Sauce:

• ▢ 2 pounds ground chuck
• ▢ 1 pound sweet Italian sausage; if not bulk sausage remove casings
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 medium yellow or white onion diced
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 28 ounces San Marzano crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes, crushed
• ▢ 30 ounces tomato puree 2 cans
• ▢ 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup hot water
• ▢ 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• ▢ 1½ teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves or ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil

For the Cheese and Pasta Layers

• ▢ 15 ounces whole-milk Ricotta cheese
• ▢ 1 large egg lightly beaten
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ▢ 1¼ cups grated Parmesan cheese divided
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 pound whole milk Mozzarella (4 cupshredded
• ▢ 9 ounces no-boil lasagna noodles 12-15 noodles

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350°F and adjust oven rack to middle position. Spray a 9×13-inch casserole or lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray.

For the Sauce:

• In a large Dutch oven set over medium heat, cook the beef and sausage until no pink remains. Strain the cooked meat and set it aside (in a separate bowfor later.
• Return the Dutch oven to the stovetop and heat the oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent and has softened. Add garlic, stir and cook an additional 30 seconds.
• Add tomatoes and tomato puree, stir and reduce heat to medium-low.
• In a small bowl, combine the sugar and hot water – stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the sugar water to the tomato mixture and stir well.
• Add salt, black pepper, parsley, oregano and basil. Stir well.
• Add the cooked meat mixture and cook 15 minutes or until sauce is hot and has thickened a little.

For the Cheese and Pasta:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together Ricotta, egg, basil and ½ cup Parmesan.

To Assemble the Lasagna:

• Pour ¼ cup meat sauce into the prepared baking dish and spread it over the entire bottom surface.
• Place 3 to 3½ noodles, side-by-side, across the top of the sauce and slightly press the noodles into the sauce.
• Place 1-teaspoon-dollops, about 2 inches apart, of the Ricotta mixture over the noodles.
• Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese evenly over the Ricotta layer.
• Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the Mozzarella layer.
• Pour 1½ cups sauce evenly over the Parmesan layer.
• REPEAT the process, beginning with the noodle layer, 2 more times.
• For the top layer, place 3 noodles on top, spread with the remaining sauce, and sprinkle with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
• Spray a piece of aluminum foil (large enough to cover the lasagnwith nonstick cooking spray and cover the lasagna.
• Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, then remove the foil. Continue cooking the lasagna 30-45 minutes or until the cheese is toasty brown in spots and the lasagna is bubbling and gorgeous.
• Transfer lasagna to a cooling rack and cool 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.
• Enjoy!

Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 841kcal (42%) Carbohydrates: 37g (12%) Protein: 48g (96%) Fat: 56g (86%) Saturated Fat: 24g (150%) Cholesterol: 184mg (61%) Sodium: 1622mg (71%) Potassium: 1127mg (32%) Fiber: 4g (17%) Sugar: 10g (11%) Vitamin A: 1232IU (25%) Vitamin C: 18mg (22%) Calcium: 532mg (53%) Iron: 6mg (33%)

Did You Make This?I want to see! Be sure to upload an image below & tag @thecookierookie on social media!

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