Classic Lasagna
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My go-to lasagna recipe features oven-ready noodles, a rich meat sauce, and four types of cheese.
I love this lasagna recipe because it combines the familiar taste of the lasagna I grew up on with the sophistication of a restaurant-style dish. It’s also easy to make, thanks to the use of oven-ready or no-boil lasagna noodles, which not only save time and effort but also taste remarkably similar to fresh homemade pasta. The noodles are layered with a flavorful meat sauce made with Italian sausage, vegetables, crushed tomatoes, and cream, as well as creamy ricotta, gooey mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. Baked until bubbly and golden, it’s the perfect cozy dish for a crowd, and it reheats and freezes well, too. This is definitely my go-to lasagna recipe!
What you’ll need to make lasagna
No-boil lasagna noodles are a wonderful product available in the pasta section of most supermarkets. I like the Barilla brand. They do not need to be boiled before using, which means you don’t have to worry about them slopping around and sticking together, which is always an issue when using regular lasagna noodles to prepare lasagna.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Make the Sauce
Begin by placing the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in a food processor. You need to give them a rough chop first, otherwise, they won’t chop evenly.
Pulse until minced but not puréed, so that they melt into the sauce.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, and add the sausage.
Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking the sausage into small pieces, until slightly browned but not cooked all the way through, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the partially cooked sausage to a plate. Set aside.
Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and add the minced vegetables.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
Add the wine and continue cooking, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the wine is mostly absorbed by the vegetables, a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes, cream, salt, pepper, sugar, thyme and bay leaves.
Stir and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes.
Add the sausage back to the pot.
Continue simmering until the sausage is fully cooked and the flavors all meld together, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Fish out the bay leaves and discard.
2. Make the Ricotta Filling
Combine the ricotta, cream cheese, egg, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
Process until evenly combined, then add the basil.
Pulse until the basil is finely chopped.
3. Assemble the Lasagna
Spread about 1-1/2 cups of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.
Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce, and dollop a third of the ricotta filling over the noodles.
Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles.
Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese.
Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, ricotta filling and mozzarella 2 more times. Top with the remaining 3 noodles. Spoon the remaining sauce over the noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the lasagna tightly with the foil, sprayed side down. Bake for 40 minutes in a 375°F oven. Carefully uncover and increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Bake, uncovered, until the noodles are tender, the sauce is bubbling, and the edges are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
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- Baked Ziti with Sausage
- Julia Turshen’s “Nice Lasagna”
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Video Tutorial
Classic Lasagna
My go-to lasagna recipe features oven-ready noodles, a rich meat sauce, and four types of cheese.
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1½ pounds Italian sausage (bulk or removed from casing)
- ¾ cup dry red wine
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
For the Ricotta Mixture
- 1 (15 oz.) container whole milk ricotta (about 1¾ cups)
- 3 oz. cream cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
For Assembling
- 12 oven ready (no boil) lasagna noodles (such as Barilla)
- 16 ounces shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
For the Sauce
- Place the onions, garlic, carrot and celery in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade; pulse until finely minced but not puréed.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage into the pan and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking the sausage into small pieces, until slightly browned but not cooked all the way through, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the partially cooked sausage to a plate. Set aside.
- Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and add the minced vegetables. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
- Add the wine; continue cooking, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the wine is mostly absorbed by the vegetables, a few minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, cream, salt, pepper, sugar, thyme and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, transfer the sausage to a cutting board and chop into smaller pieces (big chunks don't work well in lasagna).
- Add the sausage back to the pan and continue simmering, covered, until the sausage is fully cooked and the flavors meld together, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Fish out the bay leaves and discard.
For the Ricotta Mixture
- Combine the ricotta, cream cheese, egg, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until evenly combined. Add the basil and pulse until finely chopped.
For Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Spread about 1½ cups of sauce in the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce. Dollop a third of the ricotta filling over the noodles, then spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle with ¾ cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, ricotta filling and mozzarella 2 more times. Top with the remaining 3 noodles. Spoon the remaining sauce over the noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.
- Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the lasagna tightly with the foil, sprayed side down. Bake for 40 minutes. Carefully uncover and increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Bake, uncovered, until the noodles are tender, the sauce is bubbling, and the edges are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The lasagna can be assembled and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead of time.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The lasagna can be frozen for up to 3 months. If freezing it prior to baking, before cooking defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then proceed with the baking instructions in the recipe. If the lasagna is already cooked, you can put the leftover piece in a freezer-safe container, or you can cut into individual servings and wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and then foil. Reheat the lasagna, covered with foil, in a 325°F oven until hot.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 776
- Fat: 45g
- Saturated fat: 23g
- Carbohydrates: 47g
- Sugar: 9g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 46g
- Sodium: 1812mg
- Cholesterol: 158mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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Jenn,
I’m longing to make this recipe for guests coming this week. The thing is some are vegetarian. I’ve read your responses about not leaving out the sausage and switching to a different recipe. Do you think I could stick with this recipe and use plant-based Italian sausage?
Thanks so much for fabulous recipes and for your quick responses to folks like me who are trying to put a delizia square peg into a round hole.
Hi Barb, Happy to help! I’ve never used plant-based sausage, but because it’s likely to have plenty of seasoning, similar to sausage, I think it should work. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Jenn, it turned out great. Even the meat lovers took seconds. So glad vegetarians get to enjoy this fabulous recipe.
Yay – thanks for reporting back!
I have been searching for the perfect lasagna recipe and this is it. Absolutely delicious.
This version shows how amazing Lasagna can be.We were intrigued by use of sausage,sofrito and cream cheese since we have never used them in Lasagna, until now.What a great combination of flavors,the use of cream in the sauce is also an ingredient that was a welcome addition.We used fresh thyme and parsley from the garden, the basil was purchased.Also added half of a left over fennel bulb to the sofrito.This one goes into the do again file.
Hey Jenn,
Found your wonderful website just the other day, while I was looking up recipes for a homemade lasagna. Made this recipe yesterday for family dinner. It was very delicious of course, however found the sauce to be not as thick as I would’ve liked. When adding the diced tomatoes, is it required to strain them first? I didn’t think so since not mentioned in recipe.
I will definitely be making again. Just curious about if diced tomatoes need to be strained first?
Thanks for the great recipe! Cannot wait to try others from you.
Hi Maggie, The sauce is made with enough liquid to ensure the no-boil lasagna noodles cook through (by absorbing some of the sauce) in the oven. However, it sounds like you may have used the wrong type of tomatoes. The recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, which are much thicker than diced.
i’ve tried several different lasagna recipes and i’ve researched (watched vids/read comments/compare ingredients) *several* recipes. i questioned the cream cheese in this and also was not familiar w the no bake noodles…but followed the recipe to a t, and holy mother of lasagnas. this is the BEST.lasagna.ever. exceptionally delicious. if you’re comparing recipes, you’ve found *the one* right here.
Overall a very good recipe but we were not a fan of the thyme – it felt overpowering to the flavor. Ours was also a little salty so next time I will omit thyme (maybe substitute an Italian seasoning blend?) and reduce salt. Thanks for another great recipe, Jen!
Made this for guests – amazing! I had been trying different lasagna recipes and this one is the winner. Followed the directions with the addition of some red pepper (I like a bit of spice). Had the Lemon Poppyseed Cake for desert.
I’m making this recipe for guests and need to prep in advance by two days. I made the sauce yesterday. Can the filling be made two days ahead to assemble lasagna the day of serving? Thanks for your advice.
Sure, Jan – that’s fine. Enjoy!
Thank you for your prompt reply. Filling is made!
Funny as I’m having guests gifts for four days. I’ve chosen several of your recipes. Classic tomato soup, classic lasagna, crustless broccoli quiche and smoked salmon dip, which is phenomenal by the way. Can’t wait to try the lasagna. I would never serve guests a dish without trying it first, but I know any of your recipes (and I’ve made many!) are always five stars. We will raise a glass in your honour! 🥂🇨🇦
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Really great flavour! For those who lived at higher altitudes, I would check the lasagna every 5 minutes when it’s cooking uncovered. Mine lost quite a bit of sauce during that time!
Outstanding!!!! Many, many compliments on this recipe. Thank you for bringing smiling faces to our table after our guests first bite.
Delicious and very worth the effort in termS of time! I do prefer this recipe over the other lasagna recipe on this site.
This was the closest to my mom’s famous lasagna- the ratio of cheese, meat and ricotta was perfect- I was never able to replicate before! However for us the sausage flavor was too overpowering- I will follow everything else exactly with well seasoned ground beef instead.
ima cheese queen… do you think it would still come out okay if I skipped the sausage?? should I add something to the sauce instead to keep its flavor? (I’m not vegetarian or anything – just craving a cheese lasagna). I was gonna make a meatball to go on the side, so didn’t want meat overload.
also literally love every one of your recipes I’ve ever tried, you are a never fail staple in my book. <3
Hi Bridget, I wouldn’t recommend making this without the sausage as it adds a ton of flavor. If you’d like the skip the sausage, I’d recommend this recipe instead — it’s delicious!
Hi Bridget, I would make this lasagna instead. So glad you like the recipes!
You were right, Jenn, the sausage size was just fine.This was the BEST lasagne we’ve ever made/tasted. Delicious!
Oh No . . . I didn’t chop my sausage into smaller pieces on a cutting board. I think they’re fairly small. I hope I didn’t ruin this beautful meal; I’ll find out in a few hours.
No worries, Mary – it’ll be perfectly fine!
If I’m allergic to Thyme what is another better alternative to use?
Hi Erryl, Oregano would work nicely in place of the thyme. Enjoy!
Basil
What brand of Italian sausage did you use for this recipe? (sorry for annoying question)
Not an annoying question! If I’m at Harris Teeter, I buy their store brand or if not, at get Premio at other stores. Hope you enjoy the lasagna!
I baked this for New Year’s Eve but with my own spaghetti sauce recipe as my son-in-law does not eat pork. Everyone said it was absolutely delicious. I don’t usually make lasagna because of the pain and time involved in preparing the noodles, keeping them separated, etc. This was so easy! I will definitely be making it again. Just love the ricotta mixture with the fresh basil and garlic. Served it with a salad and a baguette of buttered cuban bread. Hot milk cake with a blueberry sauce/whipped cream for dessert. Yum!! I rate this 5 stars (it won’t let me click on the stars!)
I’ve made many lasagnas in my life, this one is my new favorite!
Turned out really good – everyone loved it!
Followed the instructions exactly for hosting friends. This is the best lasagna I’ve ever had and everyone raves about it! Thanks again for another wonderful recipe!
Served this at a dinner party last night. AMAZING. Everyone raved over it. Best lasagna they ever had eaten, even in a restaurant. it does take some time to put this together, but it was worth it.
Hi Jenn, I plan to make this for the first time tonight, but I do not have a food processor. I do have a bullet for smoothies – will that work to combine everything? Thanks!
Hi Chris, I don’t have a bullet but from the little I know about them, I don’t think it would be appropriate for chopping veggies. Sorry! You can chop the veggies by hand — it will just be a bit more time-consuming/labor-intensive. Hope you enjoy if you make it!
Thanks so much for the quick reply Jenn! I just chopped everything super fine and the end result was delicious!
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Best Lasagna recipe – ever !
And that includes those prepared in notable Italian restaurants.
I kid you not …
Conversation at the dinner table was reduced to sighs of delight and the utterance of an occasional OMG or YUM.
Thank you Jenn.