When you’re craving comfort food and don’t have time to make it, this easy weeknight lasagna recipe with meat sauce is for you. It’s the perfect Italian meal that is kid friendly and baked in just one dish. Add a few sides dishes and this easy lasagna is quickly a family favorite!
Weeknight Easy Lasagna Recipe with Meat Sauce
My mom never cooked very much growing up. I don’t know if she just didn’t like to, didn’t have time to or all of the above.
Once I got married, I knew I needed to learn to cook. And while I liked good food, being a newlywed I didn’t have the budget to eat out every night. Besides, who wants to go out every night anyway?!
While my mom and her mom before her never put much time or effort into cooking, I try. I’m no chef by any stretch of the imagination but I try.
As the mom of girls, I want to teach them the importance of cooking. Not only for independence and self-sufficiency but also as a way for them to make memories in the kitchen. And so far, they love cooking with me!
The kitchen is the heart of the home, so making sure that there’s good food and everything is in order is always a priority. When the kitchen is in chaos, the home is in chaos too.
Did you know the one meal that I do remember my mom making? Her easy lasagna recipe with meat sauce. If anything took too long she was out. I’ve been able to take her recipe and add a little more effort (making the sauce from scratch instead of from a jar…although you could do that too) and make it my own.
Do I need ricotta for lasagna?
Definitely not! I swapped cottage cheese for my mom’s lasagna in this recipe. It’s cheaper and in my opinion, is more flavorful.
What ingredients do I need for lasagna?
Before you take your first bite, this is what you’ll need from the store:
- No-boil lasagna noodles…doesn’t get much easier than that!
- Italian Sausage…for the meat sauce
- Onion
- Garlic
- Basil
- Oregano
- Ricotta cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Eggs
- Crushed tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Toppings! I like parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes!
How do you make a simple lasagna?
You can make a simple lasagna by making things easier. First, making a simple lasagna starts with using a no-boil lasagna noodle. Ain’t nobody got time for boiling.
And instead of using sausage links or making a meatball, make a meat sauce instead. You could also use a jarred sauce if you want to save even more time.
What do you serve with lasagna?
The best things to serve with lasagna are wine, garlic bread/breadsticks, a green veggie, or this easy salad that goes with lasagna!
Easy Lasagna Recipe
Here is my Weeknight Easy Lasagna Recipe with Meat Sauce. You’re going to love it! Make sure to print the recipe card and pin this to your must make meal board on Pinterest.
Easy Lasagna with Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
- 1 medium white onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup basil
- 1/4 cup oregano
- 2 tubs ricotta cheese 15-oz
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 eggs
- 2 cans crushed tomatoes
- 2 cans tomato paste 12 oz.
- 3 cup water
- 12 no-bake lasagna noodles
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and eggs in a bowl. Then set aside.
-
Spread marinara sauce evenly in the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking or lasagna dish. Layer with 4-6 uncooked noodles then spread an even layer of marinara (approx. 3/4 cup) and 1/2 of the cottage cheese mix; 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese; repeat sauce and cottage cheese levels and then top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
-
Bake in preheated oven covered with foil for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake an additional 10-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
But maybe the most important lasagna question of all…
How do you clean a lasagna pan?!
I don’t want to waste any more time than I have to cleaning. I want to get back to spending time and making everyday memories with my family.
Cleaning a lasagna pan is not for the faint of heart. Or it didn’t use to be. It’s all in choosing the right dish soap. I use Palmolive® Ultra Strength to easily cut through grease and stuck on stains without a residue. And if you forget to do the dishes right away, Palmolive still has you covered as it lifts away 24-hour stuck on food like those stubborn sauces and gooey cheeses from this lasagna with meat sauce.
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