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.
Amazing recipe…..need to increase the amount of the ricotta cheese though
Can I use no boil noodles?
I usually just cover Noodles with boiled water,let stand 30 minutes and blot with Bounty.
Plz clarify if I use dry noodles do I still need to soak in water
I prefer not to what r ur suggestions ? Thx u
Amanda. Did you use no-boil noodles? If so, any tricks and how did it turn out. I’m going to make this with the kids tonight.
Great recipe! plan on making this my go to lasagna recipe THANKS!
Excellent recipe! Made it as directed last time. Using diced tomatoes and dried parsley tonight because I can’t find crushed tomato or fresh parsley right now. I also read through the comments and I’m making a bigger batch of the ricotta Parmesan mixture.
It was the best recipe I ever made following these instructions then only thing I didn’t have was the Italian seasoning. But it was the best
I followed this recipe and it came out super delicious!
This is by far the best lasagna recipe I have ever made. The meat sauce is just the right blend of flavors.
Thank you Amanda for spending the time you did to develop the recipe. I won’t be using any others from now on.
Can’t wait to try your meatloaf too.
The meatloaf recipe was really good my family enjoyed it and that’s what brings me over to this lasagna recipe..
The best lasagna ever! I did add shredded zucchini to the meat mixture once the meat was browned. Also I used diced roasted tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes. I was told that this lasagna rates right at the top with my meatloaf! I make REALLY good meatloaf…
Good lasagne, but skip the salt. I added salt as listed in the recipe and it was too much.
Excellent and easy to make. We substituted Italian Sausage spaghetti sauce for the Italian sausage and tomato sauce.
How much jarred sauce did you use? I was thinking of simplifying it and using jarred sauce too. Two regular sized jars?
Made this for mother’s day yesterday and my family loved it. I didn’t use sausage but it tasted wonderful. My new go to recipe.
Where does the egg go?
Add egg to ricotta mixture.
I LOVED this recipe. I skipped the Italian sausage because I didnt want to go to the store during the peak of the pandemic and I put in fresh herbs from the garden in the sauce. This was so delicious! It was eaten completely. Then my family said, “you HAVE to make that again.” And I did. A week later because we could not stop thinking about this lasagna! Thank you for sharing!
Cant and would not make this up. I can confirm after making this and so can many others in my household that this is the best lasagna they have ever had. MUST TRY!
Could you tell me the size of the baking dish you used ?
Thank you.
Instructions say 9×13
Is ricotta 1 3/4 cups or just 3/4
My very first lasagna. I had rave reviews from my family and neighbors.
Thanks. I guess this is, indeed, the BEST classic lasagna recipe.
Just made it tonight for Easter dinner
It is the Best lasagna)))
I never made lasagna by myself before, but this recipe is so easy to make and it’s amazing !!!
Thank you so much!
I just finished making this sauce! I have tried many recipes…..this one is by far THE BEST! Thank you !!!
Used this recipe tonight and loved it! My husband is a lasagna lover and this was perfect for him. Our only change next time is going to be doubling up on the ricotta mix because there seemed to be not enough to do all the layers and have a sufficient amount on each layer.
I agree on the ricotta mix amount also. I tried to be as liberal as possible on the layers and it wasn’t enough. I’d boost it to 2 1/4 ricotta and 1 1/4 mozzarella at least. Cheeser the better! 😉
I agree and it is yummy
Lasagna is a perfect make ahead dish. If you chill it in the refrigerator on Thursday, you can bake it on Saturday for company. You can also freeze it (baked or unbaked) up to a month or even A little longer, and then reheat/bake whenever.
Hello, do you prepare it and leave in the fridge and then not put in oven until 2 days later? Did not know you could do this??
Anyone else do this?
Yes, make two days ahead and leave in refrigerator until ready to bake!
How many days ahead, can you make this recipe before baking?Thank