Classic Lasagna
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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
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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
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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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Hello. Im making this for the first time today for Memorial day. I would like to bake the lasagna
this morning then reheat it for dinner. I’m a little nervous about the noodles cooking properly and how it will come out since it’s my first time. Is that ok? And how do I reheat it?
Thank you Very much
Hi Amy, It will be fine! Just warm it in a 325-oven, covered, til warmed through. I would start checking it around 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can prep the lasagna early in the day, keep it in the fridge, then bake it right before dinner. Either way will work. Enjoy!
No food processor – work by just mincing everything finely?
Hi Carla, It’s fine if you chop everything by hand – it will just be a bit more time-consuming/labor-intensive. Hope you enjoy!
I don’t review recipes but felt compelled to leave my 2 cents here. I made this for a wake and I think every person who tried it came to me to rant and rave about how amazing it was. People saying it was the best lasagna they’d ever had, the depth of flavor was amazing, should be on a fine dining restaurant menu, so on and so forth.
I made it exactly as written except omitted carrots due to an allergy. Used Joel Gotta cab sauv and San Marzano tomatoes and some quality Italian ricotta. I doubled everything and used a 13×9; all ratios worked out perfectly except I had a bunch of extra sauce (yay because OMG was it good). Best part? It was honestly *easy*! Food processor made for light work 👍🏻
I love everything I’ve ever made of Jen’s so I knew I could count on this without ever having tried it. And I got to tell all the New Jerseyites the recipe was from a local chef (we also live in Montgomery County, MD) 🙂
Hi Jen. If I bake this and freeze it, should I thaw it before reheating it?
How long do you think it will take to reheat? Thank you for all your recipes and for your support ❤️
Hi Corinne, yes, I’d give it a generous 24 hours in the fridge to thaw. I honestly don’t know how long it will take to reheat — I’d guesstimate 45 minutes give or take. Just check it in the middle to make sure it’s heated through. (Make sure you keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out.) Hope that helps!
I’ve made this a few times when having guests over. Every time they’ve said it was the best lasagna they’ve ever had… And I have to agree!
Recipe is quite forgiving. Have forgotten the cream cheese or messed up the layers. Fine every time.
Hi Jenn! This lasagna is THE dish my son’s friends always request that I make when they come over. 😁 For the first time today, I was unable to find whole milk mozzarella at the store. I bought part skim mozzarella and fontina as possible substitutes. Which would you recommend I use? Or maybe a blend?
So glad this is a hit with your son and his friends! I’d go with a combo of the mozzarella and fontina. 😊
This recipe is SO good! It’s become a staple in our house, and we also freeze individual portions which make busy weeknights feel like we’re having something restaurant quality. The homemade meat sauce is excellent — I like to do 1 lb mild Italian sausage, 1/2 lb hot — and amazing on its own with spaghetti, too. Another winning dish from Once Upon a Chef!
Good, but really, really time consuming. Long prep. Long cook time. More of a special occasion type dish. I would have to shave at least and hour off of this during the week. Over 2 hours is not everyday practical. Also, as to the flavor, I probably won’t make it again. It’s not that it isn’t good. It’s just not good enough to spend this much time. Stauffer’s is good, too. The best I can say is that it is homemade with fresh veggies. Otherwise it’s just too long.
Maybe stick to stauffers then
Can you please link the best baking dish that you would recommend for this lasagna?
Hi Heather, if you’re looking for something pretty (it will be on the table for company) you could go with something porcelain or ceramic from Sur la Table or Emile Henry. If you don’t care about the aesthetics, a simple Pyrex glass pan would work.
Jenn, I am assuming I will love this but I have a question before we make it. Can I use fresh pasta noodles? My daughter gave me a pasta roller for Christmas and thought it would be fun to make this dish with fresh pasta. I would take any recommendations if you think this is a good idea.
Thanks,
Heidi
Hi Heidi, Fresh pasta should will work here. As long as you don’t cook it first, the bake time should be the same. Enjoy!