Classic Lasagna
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Learn how to make a homemade lasagna that rivals the best Italian restaurants, with layers of savory meat sauce, creamy ricotta, and gooey mozzarella. It’s the kind of make-it-again-and-again dish that’s worthy of becoming a family tradition.
I love this classic lasagna because it has all the cozy, familiar flavors of the lasagna I grew up with, but it tastes like something you’d get at a great Italian restaurant. It’s also easier than you’d think, thanks to oven-ready noodles that save time and effort—while still delivering that delicate texture you’d expect from homemade pasta.
The layers are packed with a flavorful meat sauce made with Italian sausage and vegetables, plus four types of cheese. Baked until bubbly and golden, it’s the perfect cozy dish for a crowd—and it reheats and freezes beautifully, too. This lasagna is a longtime family favorite, right alongside other crowd-pleasing dishes like baked ziti, stuffed shells, and manicotti. After all, everyone loves Italian!
“Best lasagna recipe—ever! Served with your fab Caesar salad. Conversation at the table was reduced to sighs of delight and an occasional OMG or YUM.”
What You’ll Need To Make Lasagna
- Onion, Garlic, Carrots & Celery: These aromatic vegetables form the base of the sauce, adding sweetness, savoriness, and depth of flavor.
- Italian Sausage: Adds richness and bold flavor. You can substitute ground beef—just amp up the garlic and Italian seasoning to compensate.
- Crushed Tomatoes, Red Wine & Heavy Cream: The tomatoes provide body and tang, the wine deepens the flavor, and the cream rounds it all out for a rich, well-balanced sauce.
- Ricotta, Cream Cheese, Egg & Parmigiano-Reggiano: These combine for a creamy, flavorful filling that bakes up smooth and rich (the cream cheese keeps the ricotta from getting grainy, and the egg helps it set).
- Oven-Ready (No-Boil) Lasagna Noodles: No need to pre-cook—these absorb the sauce as they bake. I like the Barilla brand best.
- Mozzarella: Melts into gooey, cheesy layers throughout the dish. Pre-shredded is fine—just go for whole milk for the best melt.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Prep the vegetables. Place the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in a food processor. Give them a rough chop first so they blend evenly, then pulse until minced but not puréed—they should melt into the sauce. (You can also chop by hand if you prefer.)
Step 2: Brown the sausage. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into small pieces, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pro tip: Browning the meat first builds deep flavor in the pan, which carries through to the rest of the sauce.
Step 3: Cook the vegetables. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, then add the minced vegetables. Cook until very soft, 6 to 8 minutes. They will blend into the sauce and thicken it naturally.
Step 4: Deglaze with wine. Pour in the wine and stir, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot—they’re packed with flavor. Let it simmer for a few minutes until mostly absorbed.
Step 5: Simmer the sauce. Add the tomatoes, cream, salt, pepper, sugar, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until thickened.
Step 6: Add the sausage. Stir in the sausage and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes so everything melds together. Adding the sausage at this stage keeps it tender and lets the flavors mingle without overcooking the meat.
Step 7: Make the ricotta filling. In a food processor, combine the ricotta, cream cheese, egg, garlic, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth, then add the basil and pulse until finely chopped.
Step 8: Assemble the lasagna. Spread about 1½ cups of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. (Starting with a layer of sauce prevents the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the dish and helps everything cook evenly.) Lay down 3 noodles, then spread with one-third of the ricotta filling and sprinkle with ¾ cup mozzarella.
Step 9: Repeat. Repeat these layers two more times. Top with the final 3 noodles, the remaining sauce, mozzarella, and ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Don’t worry if the layers look tall—lasagna settles a bit as it bakes and rests.
Pro tip: You store the assembled, unbaked lasagne in the fridge overnight or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Step 10: Bake and rest. Bake the lasagna until bubbling and golden, about 1 hour. Let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing so it sets up.
Video Tutorial
You May Also Like
Classic Lasagna Recipe
Rich, hearty, and packed with flavor, this classic lasagna delivers everything you want in a homemade Italian dish.
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 (there will be a bit of space between the noodles; they expand as they cook). 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 before baking. Allow a few extra minutes in the oven if baking from cold.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The lasagna can be frozen for up to 3 months. If you choose to freeze it before baking, ensure it is thoroughly defrosted in the refrigerator for 24 hours before you follow the recipe's baking instructions. For already baked lasagna, place any leftovers in a freezer-safe container, or cut it into individual servings. Each serving should be tightly wrapped first in plastic wrap and then in foil. To reheat, cover the lasagna with foil and warm it in an oven preheated to 325°F until it is heated
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I look forward to making this recipe; however, I’ll need to use gluten free noodles. Will I still be able to make it according to your directions or should I boil the noodles?
Hi Kathy, I think it really depends upon the brand you buy (I’d check the box) as I believe that some gluten-free lasagna noodles are no-boil. One reader mentioned that she used Catelli gluten-free no-boil lasagna noodles if you can find those. Hope that helps!
This was by far the best lasagna I’ve ever made. However, it’s a little misleading to be labeled under “quick and easy.” It definitely wasn’t quick. It took me a good hour to prep, there are just a lot of steps and moving parts. Was worth it though!
Hi Jacque, Glad you enjoyed this! And I completely agree that it should not be in the quick and easy category – – just updated it. Thanks!
I made this tonight for the first time and it was incredible! I used ground beef instead of sausage based on the family request and I used pecorino romano cheese and a mix of mozzarella and a five cheese Italian blend since that’s what I had in the fridge. I used a red wine blend for the sauce since I had a bottle open on the counter. The smell of the sauce simmering on the stove was enough to make me want to hide in the closet and eat the whole lasagna myself! The finished dish was everything that I’ve come to expect from Jenn’s recipes… exceptional! It’s perfect the way it is, but it’s also so easy to tweak each time based on what you have on hand. This is now my go to lasagna recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
P.s. I’m hoping that you have plans for a second cookbook.. Im hoping all the recipes I’ve come to love on your blog will make their way to paper!
Hello. I just came across your website and your recipes look fabulous. I am planning on trying this recipe this weekend and was wondering if cherry tomatoes would work as the “crushed tomatoes” component or is the canned variety better? I have a ton of cherry tomatoes from the garden but if that would be too sweet, I’ll just pick up a can at the market. Thanks in advance!
Hi Dinah, I think canned will work best here. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi Jenn! Can I use zucchini instead of noodles? Thank you!
Hi, I haven’t tried this with zucchini in place of the pasta, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would work. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Wonderful! Made this and a butternut squash for my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner and it was loved by all. My old recipe was not done with a bolognese, so this will be my go to recipe from now on. So much more flavor with the carrots and celery.
As with all of your recipes, this did not disappoint! Made this and a butternut squash for my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner and it was loved by all. My old recipe was not done with a bolognese, so this will be my go to recipe from now on. So much more flavor with the carrots and celery.
I had given up on finding a lasagna recipe that was delicious and didn’t take all day to make. This is now my go-to lasagna recipe. It still takes a little time, but is so worth it. Everybody loves lasagna and this recipe makes a lot (think leftovers and even a couple of portions in the freezer). Add a simple salad of mixed greens and it’s a complete meal.
This is the best lasagna I have ever tasted. I have prepared it three times with some minor variations from the original recipe because of what is available in the pantry or refrigerator. If you follow the recipe exactly as written, you will not be dissapointed. I am sure many of us, don’t always have everything on hand so here are some of my variations.
For the meat sauce:
I don’t usually have celery so I left it out twice.
The way sausage is packaged, and what I had available, I have been using one package (little over a pound) sweet and the balance spicy. Our family likes spicy, so I will continue making it this way but I would be reluctant to use too much spicy.
I have been using half and half.
I have been using more noodles than the recipe because of the way my pan is shaped. The first time, the lasagna was a tad dry. The next time I added some good quality premade sauce to supplement the recipe and it was perfect.
I use the food processor with short pulses to break the cooked sausage up into smaller pieces.
The bolognese sauce is really good. (I would never omit the wine) I have been making the sauce the day before I assemble and bake. This helps me with time management and I think gives the sauce some extra time to develop especially if I have added some jar sauce.
For the ricotta mixture:
I have been making this exactly as written. I think the fresh basil is really important. I love my food processor, I splurged on a Breville with all the attachments.
For the assembly:
Three noodles don’t fit the bottom of my pan perfectly so I have been arranging the noodles long ways for one layer, cross ways for another layer (as the pan widens) breaking some noodles to make them fit. (they are difficult to break without shattering) I have also been using most of the 9 oz box of noodles. The no boil noodles, I have been using the Barilla, are excellent. Making lasagna takes some time so not having to boil the noodles saves a step and another pot to wash.
Freezer-Friendly Instructions:
I have not tried freezing before baking, but always freeze individual cooked pieces according to the the instructions. So good.
This is the best lasagna recipe ever. My whole entire large family agreed on this. Thank you so much!