This homemade easy lasagna recipe is comfort food at it’s finest.
A week ago I caught a nasty virus for the second time in a month. My husband came home every night and without a complaint he let me stay in bed resting while he handled the kids, cleaning and even pulled out some of my freezer meals for dinner. He was a real trooper. I was very touched…and grateful for him letting me rest!
While I was in bed I was thinking about when I met my husband and how one night I made my easy Lasagna recipe for him and his roommates. I think this Lasagna might have helped him fall in love with me…yes people it’s that good! 🙂
My Easy Lasagna recipe is my ultimate favorite, and I am one of the pickiest people on the planet (my poor mom). So if you have picky kids they might just eat this one too. Well, maybe.
EASY LASAGNA RECIPE
The first thing you want to do is boil your lasagna noodles till they are al dente. I have tried some of these no-boil noodle recipes and they just don’t work well for me – ever. So we do this the old fashioned way..boil them noodles.
While your noodles are boiling, its time to brown your ground beef. Add the lb. of ground beef, the onion, salt and garlic powder in a large skillet and cook until browned and tender. Drain. Put the ground beef back into the skillet. Add your jar of spaghetti sauce then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
In a separate bowl mix together the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Mix it up well.
When the noodles are done boiling, I just bring the pot over to the sink, pour out as much hot water as I can and let it fill back up with cold water for a while to cool the noodles. I don’t want to burn myself when I am layering, so I make sure the noodles are all cold and sitting in the cold water pot before I begin.
Usually, if I am going to the trouble of making a lasagna, I figure I might as well make 3-4 of them as freezer meals for later. So you can see how it all looks.: I like to get everything out and ready to go. I have my spaghetti sauce, my cottage cheese mix, mozzarella cheese and the noodles all nicely laid on the table with either foil or metal pans.
And then it’s GO TIME. The FUN part. Here is how I layer my Lasagna:
First I always add a layer of sauce to the bottom to prevent the noodles from sticking. So SAUCE first. 🙂
Then carefully take the cooled noodles out and layer them over the sauce.
Add a layer of spaghetti sauce over the noodles.
Then 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese over that spaghetti sauce.
Then I dab or sprinkle some of the cottage cheese mixture over that cheese layer.
Then we start over – another layer of noodles followed by a layer of sauce, then cheese, then cottage mixture.
Repeat again with noodles, sauce, cheese, and cottage. At the end, I like to make sure and top it all with extra mozzarella cheese so it bakes nicely.
And that is it. If using foil pans, this Lasagna can be quite heavy so make sure and put a cookie sheet underneath of it before you bake. You can bake at 350 degrees oven for 40-45 minutes right away thawed. Or if you pull one out of the freezer un-thawed you can cook it at 350 degrees for around 1.5-2 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into it. Enjoy!
Easy Homemade Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 15 oz spaghetti sauce (I use traditional Ragu)
- 1 pint cottage cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp dried parsley
- 10 oz lasagna pasta (cooked to al dente and cooled in cold water)
- 12 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese (about 1 ½ cups)
Instructions
- Combine ground beef, onion, salt and garlic powder. Cook under med-high until browned and tender. Drain and put back into skillet. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a separate bowl combine cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and dried parsley. Mix well.
*Layering Lasagna*
- First add a small amount of spaghetti sauce mix to the bottom of your 9x13 pan.
- Layer a single row of noodles
- Layer 1/3 sauce
- Layer 1/3 Mozzarella Cheese
- Layer 1/3 Cottage cheese mixture (dotting it all over)
- Layer single row of noodles
- Layer 1/3 sauce
- Layer 1/3 Mozzarella Cheese
- Layer 1/3 Cottage cheese mixture (dotting it all over)
- Layer single row of noodles
- Layer 1/3 sauce
- Layer 1/3 Cottage cheese mixture (dotting it all over)
- Layer 1/3 Mozzarella Cheese last so it bakes really nicely
- Cover and bake in 350 degrees oven for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly all over. Let stand 10 minutes. Enjoy!
I want to make this for my elderly mom so she can just pop in microwave. (I don’t trust her not to forget that something is in oven.) So, can I bake this and then chill and cut into portions and freeze for just warming in microwave?
Yes you can, absolutely!
What would be the best way to freeze the lasagna for single servings? I live alone and am having surgery, so trying to prepare to make my life easier for a month or so.
Just make into individual sized portions in oven-safe baking dishes and you’ll be fine! You can use mini foil loaf pans or smaller round baking dishes, anything that is oven safe.
Just a note to you concerning the no cook ahead noodles. I had a faiure only once and then I learned a trick…add an extra 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water and then put foil on top and seal firmly. My recipe is almost exactly like yours. Its the steam that aids the cooking and the water is gone when finished. Never failed since learning this.
Oh forgot to ask can I make ahead the night before and just keep in the frig?