Mom's Easy Homemade Lasagna
The best homemade lasagna! Made with layers of an easy homemade meat sauce, a mix of mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan cheese, and TONS of flavor! This recipe can be scaled up or down to feed whatever size crowd you have and it's always a hit!
Servings 9 slices
Ingredients
For the Meat Sauce
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1/4 lb ground beef
- 1/4 lb ground pork
- 3/4 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 3/4 tsp oregano
- 3/4 tsp basil
- 14 oz canned whole tomatoes
- 9 oz tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 to 1 tsp salt start with less, add more to taste
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp pepper start with less, add more to taste
For the Rest of the Lasagna
- 12 lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions
- 1 lb part skim ricotta cheese
- 15 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 oz grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Make the Meat Sauce: Add olive oil to a dutch oven and add the onions and meat. Cook, stirring to break up the meat, until onion is tender and translucent and meat is browned through. Add garlic and cook a minute more. Break up the whole tomatoes some with clean hands or cut them with a knife. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, oregano and basil to the pot. Simmer over low heat 60 minutes. While it simmers, cook your lasagna noodles. Make 2-3 extras in case some tear. Once they're cooked and drained, lay them out flat on a cutting board or some other clean surface so they don't all stick together.
- Assemble Lasagna: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Reserve 1 ounce each of mozzarella and parmesan for the top of the casserole.Spray a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Lay 3 lasagna noodles side by side in the bottom of the pan, so it's covered completely. Add 1/3 of the sauce, then 1/3 of the ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. (Add the ricotta in small spoonfuls since it's hard to spread). Repeat this two more times.
- Bake: Bake the lasagna for 40-45 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted and slightly browned. You may need to add a pan underneath the dish to catch any sauce drips. You can turn the broiler on for 1-2 minutes to get the cheese nice and golden at the end, but watch it carefully so it doesn't burn.
- Serve + Store: Let the lasagna set 10-15 minutes before cutting. You can pop a piece of foil over it during this time to keep it nice and hot. Enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge, tightly covered, for 5-6 days.
- Make Ahead + Recipe Yield Adjustment Tips: You can make the meat sauce a day ahead and store it in the fridge until ready to assemble and bake the lasagna. You can double this recipe and make it in a 9x13 pan. You can also make the full batch of meat sauce and freeze half for later, while using the other half now in the 8x8 size that this recipe yields.