The Best Classic Lasagna Recipe – Homemade lasagna full of pasta, ricotta, a homemade meat sauce, and tons of cheese. This is the world’s best lasagna recipe!
I’ve been working on this meat lasagna recipe for over a year.
I set out to make the best traditional lasagna recipe. Every time I made it, I’d make little tweaks here and there until I thought it was just right.
I think I finally nailed it!
How to make lasagna:
- Make the meat sauce
- Make a ricotta cheese mixture
- Boil the pasta
- Assemble the lasagna
- Bake
- Cool
- Enjoy
How to layer lasagna:
- Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce in the bottom of a baking dish
- Make a layer of cooked lasagna noodles
- Spread an even layer of the ricotta cheese mixture
- Spread an even layer of meat sauce
- Repeat those layers two times
- Top it with a final layer of noodles, sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese
How to bake lasagna:
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes
- Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes
- Let the lasagna rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing
Wondering what to serve with this amazing lasagna recipe? Try these.
- Cream Cheese Italian Pinwheels from Amanda’s Easy Recipes
- Salad with Homemade Garlic & Herb Vinaigrette
- Zesty Tomato Broccoli Salad – From Inspire a Creation
- Homemade Garlic Bread – From Recipe Tin Eats
You may also like:
- The Best Classic Meatloaf Recipe
- The Best Classic Chili Recipe
- The Best Classic Buttermilk Banana Bread Recipe
Watch the step by step video for The Best Classic Lasagna recipe below.
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Best Classic Lasagna Recipe
The Best Classic Lasagna Recipe - Homemade lasagna full of pasta, ricotta, a homemade meat sauce, and tons of cheese. This is the world's best lasagna recipe!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion -chopped
- 2 garlic cloves -minced
- 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons salt -divided
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning -divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves -divided
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley -divided
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese -divided
- 15 oz. (1 ¾ cups) whole milk Ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese -divided
- 1 large egg
- 12 lasagna noodles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Make the meat sauce. Add beef and sausage to a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until meat is browned, about 6-8 minutes. Drain the fat from the meat. Return the meat to the skillet.
- Add the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon basil, and the black pepper. Stir until well combined. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the minced parsley.
- As the sauce cooks, make the ricotta mixture. In a large bowl, add 1 cup mozzarella, the ricotta, ¼ cup parmesan, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and ½ teaspoon basil. Stir until well incorporated.
- Cook the pasta al dente, according to it’s package directions.
- Assemble the lasagna. In a 13x9 inch baking dish, add a very thin layer of meat sauce (about ¼ cup). Layer 3 lasagna noodles, ⅓ of the ricotta mixture, and 1 ½ (level) cups of meat sauce. Repeat the layers twice.
- Add a final layer of the remaining noodles, meat sauce, 1 cup mozzarella, and ¼ cup parmesan.
- Cover with foil that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil. Bake 15 more minutes.
- Let the lasagna cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/12th of the recipe | Calories: 463kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 1420mg | Potassium: 812mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1115IU | Vitamin C: 14.9mg | Calcium: 274mg | Iron: 3.7mg
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
My 83 year old father enjoyed this dish so much he cried, I dont think it was his dementia because he asked for another helping.
That is so cool. He was sooo happy. I’m going to make this tonight and i doubt the kids will cry but i’m sure they’ll love it. Thanks for sharing!!
I made this tonight. My store didn’t have 15oz cans of crushed tomatoes, only 28oz, so that’s what I used. I had the perfect amount of sauce, per the instructions. My impression is that if I had used a 15oz can like the recipe calls for, I believe there would have been not enough sauce for the last layer. I cooked the noodles to just shy of al dente and now the lasagna is relaxing in the fridge to bake tomorrow. The sauce is delicious (I did adjust seasoning and salt per my taste-as-I-go, but doesn’t everybody?) and I’m looking forward to sharing it with a group tomorrow night! Thank you for the great recipe!
Made this tonight for Christmas Eve dinner and everyone LOVED it! Amazing recipe.
I’ve made this recipe a few times. Instead of a full puns of hamburger, I use 1/2lb hamburger, 1/2lb veal and 1/2 lb of the sweet Italian sausage. Best recipe ever!! I definitely suggest adding a little more sauce so you have a little extra for the last layer.
Made this today and it was a big hit! Great recipe, will use again and again!
Good morning! I am getting ready to make this but wondered if I can assemble it today for company tomorrow?
I see you posted this question a few days ago so I guess I’m a little late. However I always make my lasagna a day in advance and bake it the following day. In my opinion, as well as my family, it tastes even better!! It gives all the flavors time to blend together for a delicious meal with the added bonus of all the pots used to prepare it were washed after it was prepped!
This was absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and the only problem I had was that a regular baking dish is not deep enough to do all of the layers…you need a deeper lasagna dish. Also, although I baked it five minutes longer than recommended, it was not quite hot enough for me….certainly cooked and everyone raved about it but it could have used another five minutes.
Followed this recipient and it came out perfect! What a great aroma this dish left throughout the house as it was baking in the oven. After it rest for 25 minutes the taste was awesome!
IT turned out great! I did a few things according to taste and preference but this was a great recipe!
You can never go wrong with a classic lasagna. Served with some garlic bread and a Cesar salad – does it get any better? Love the homemade meat sauce!
You ain’t lying. That is a great combination with a red wine.
It’s been a while I made some Lasagna. This looks delish. Full of flavors and textures.
Looks so yummy! A hearty meal the entire family will surely love.
There is nothing like classic lasagna! Love it. I am a fan of using the flat noodles that you can put in without boiling first, though. Just one less pot to clean.
You know, generally speaking the best recipes are the classics. This looks amazing! I love the mix of hamburger and italian sausage.
Good, except that if you follow the recipe and use 1-1/2 cups sauce for the first, second and third layers, there’s none left for the top layer. Zero. Just came back here to see if maybe I missed something, but I didn’t. I’ll salvage the top layer with some Newman’s Own I have in the fridge and bury it with enough mozzarella and parm that probably nobody will notice, but be forewarned, and additional 8oz or so of tomato sauce would do this recipe good. Otherwise, quite tasty.
Agreed. I thought the original amount wasn’t enough. Instead of 15oz of crushed tomatoes I used 28 oz San Marzano crushed tomatoes. Lots of sauce left over. 🙂
There was an old version which used UNCOOKED lasagna noodles which I loved at the time, and wonder if this can be tweaked to make it without cooking noodles? Such a nice shortcut. The meat sauce looks very familiar and tasty, with added fennel seed.
I added 1 1/2 cups of milk to my ricotta mix to compensate for the uncooked noodles.
I went to target and bought oven ready lasagna noodles to avoid the extra time of cooking them
Great tip!
You can if there’s enough liquid in the dish and you don’t fill it to the very top so that the dry pasta can expand. I do it and add about a half a cup more crushed tomatoes to the sauce bi also don’t add the cheese to the top and nail the lady 15 min.
Made this tonight…. a total hit! Thank you!!
Everything about it was delicious! Totally adding this to the rotation.
Just delicious! What a classic comfort food.
I love this recipe! It’s simple enough a newbie like me can make it and my kids and husband love it
Love a good hearty lasagna recipe – This one is so perfect for a tasty weeknight dinner!