Kate’s Meat Lasagna
Poppy and Grey
When I first told people I would make lasagna the responses were like:
“Oh man! That’s so labor intensive!”
“Wow, that takes a while, doesn’t it?”
And I was always surprised becuase this is on of the simplest, and mindless, meals I make. And it fills our fridge with leftovers!
We like meaty lasanga at our house, but feel free to just do cheese or even add some veggies!
1. Saute ground beef and iltalian sausage in a pinch of salt and a 1 teaspoon of garlic until brown.
2. While the meat is being browned, mix all the cheeses in a plastic bag.
3. Grab your “No-Boil” noodles–this takes about 25 minutes off the total prep time! You use these noodles straight out of the box and they soften while they are cooking.
4. Find a 9×13 pan, or an intense 1,000 lb Emeril Lasagna Pan that you registered for when you got married.
5. Mix the drained and browned meat in with the sauce in a seperate bowl, and cut the end off of your plastic bag full of the cheese mixture.
6. Start with a layer of noodles, scoop several scoopfulls of the meat sauce on top, then finish this layer with cheese, a sprinkle of salt, and some torn up basil.
7. Repeat until you have reached the top, and pile on the mozzarella!
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes covered, and 15 minutes uncovered. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving!
The Recipe
8 ounces ground beef round
8 ounces italian sausage links, removed from casings and crumbled
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups marinara sauce
8 ounces ricotta cheese
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup (2 ounces) grated parmesan cheese
1 package “no-boil” lasagna noodles
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 9-by-13 inch baking dish with vegetable-oil cooking spray. Combine the ground beef and sausage in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Season with the kosher salt. Cook until meat it lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a medium bowl. Add the marinara sauce to the meat and stir to combine. Set aside.
Mix the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese in a plastic bag. Set aside.
Arrange a single layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (3 sheets) at the base.Cover the noodles with the meat sauce. Add some of the cheese mixture by “piping” evenly over the meat sauce, then scatter a few the torn basil leaves on top. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat in layers until you fill the dish.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
comments
I never thought of bagging the ricotta! That would be so much easier.
Sounds delicious!! Thank-you….I can’t wait to try it!! 🙂
What marinara sauce do you recommend?
Totally making this! I’ve always thought lasagna would be hard but this looks so easy… and so good!
Yum! Do you know if you can freeze this one? Thanks!
That looks delicious!!
This sounds delicious! There’s nothing better than not having to cook the noodles! I do the same thing with regular noodles, but the cook time is longer.
Which marinara sauce do you prefer?
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We never cook our noodles, either — but we don’t buy special noodles. Any noodles will do the trick! 🙂 {Just thought I’d throw that out there in case you were paying more for your “no boil” noodles!}
Like Beth said, you can buy any noodles and you don’t need to cook them ahead of time! Just make sure the noodles are all covered with sauce and they will cook just fine. Also, if you had any issues with the bottom layer sticking, I usually put a layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan to prevent that. Great idea with the cheese mixture in a bag!
Yes, be sure that regular noodles are completely covered by the sauce and cook for longer (55-60 minutes)
I can’t wait to try your recipe, adding a few jalapenos of course to satisfy my southwestern cattleman’s taste buds! Thanks!
affectionatelytornadoaly.blogspot.com
I make a very similar meat lasagna quite frequently also and I totally agree with you, it’s pretty simple and the fact that you have leftovers for quite a few days makes it totally worth it. I’ve never used the no boil noodles so that adds time but I think I need to try them, I’ve always been skeptical of them. Like your idea of adding basil and Italian sausage for a little kick, I only use ground turkey. Thanks for sharing!
Wow that looks good! Defintely going to have to try this.
Oh my gosh! You have just made my life so much easier!! LOVE LOVE the bagged cheese idea. Thanks so much! <3
This sounds so easy! I can’t wait to try this. I’m all for simple, quick – but delicious meals to try at home.
this looks amazing and easy — and now I want lasagna!! xo
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My secret for the most amazing lasagna is spreading cream cheese on each layer of noodles. So good!
I’ve honestly never made lasagna- because of the aforementioned reasons.
Thanks for proving it’s not crazy hard! 🙂
Eat Cake
If you use a metal 9×13 pan, put some sauce on the bottom before the 1st layer of noodles or they WILL definately stick. 😉
I never cook my noodles either. I let them boil with the sauce. I like the idea of adding sausage. I use ground turkey which needs to be pepped up, but if I add spicy chicken sausage, it should do the trick.
Lasagna is one of my go-to meals as well – once I tried it for the first time, I realized how easy it was. You can even get by without a recipe!
We use the “fake” beef crumbles from Morningstar in our “beef” sauce and use soy cheese from Galaxy foods because my husband and I are vegan. Soooo good!
THANK YOU KATE! I have been wanting to try a lasagna recipe with sausage added in (you know, like the fancy-restaurant-kind). Can’t wait to try it. One question…could I leave out the ricotta cheese? (My family of boys is “picky”.) And I’ve never heard of including cream cheese. Mmm…yay!
sure! Maybe substitute with extra parm or mozz!
Great! Will do! Thanks!
I love it when you post your recipes, Kate! Despite the fact that I LOVE to cook, believe it or not, I’ve never attempted homemade lasagna. I’m going to give your recipe a try, but may make one minor adjustment to substitute my spicy Italian sausage and mushroom marinara in place of the meat sauce in the lasagna. Hope you don’t mind my experimenting…that’s the fun of it, right? Thanks for posting your recipe and the delicious looking pictures!
https://spinthemeal.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/spicy-italian-sausage-pasta-sauce/
I used to make lasagna all the time, and I’ve always thought it was pretty easy, but you have some cool tips that I definitely want to try next time! In place of lasagna, I usually do baked ziti, but I think I’ll make lasagna next time so I can try not cooking the noodles before hand….that just sounds so wrong! 🙂
That looks amazing! I’m just a college student so I’d live off of that for literally a month. Do you know if it freezes well?
I have frozen it – and it was great!
Mmmm this looks delicious! I really like making lasagna. It’s a great meal to make for a friend who has recently had a baby or something like that because it can be frozen and popped into the oven!
This looks scrummy! We all love lasagna in our family so a regular family meal. I do avoid the pre grated cheeses though because of the amount of mould inhibiters and preservatives they can have in them – prefer to grate my own! Great recipe !! Xx
I’m making this for dinner tonight, you made me so hungry for lasagna! Sending my husband to the store now for sauce and cheese!
I love making lasagna. It really is such an easy dinner and I love that I have leftovers for a few days!
you can use regular noodles and not cook them before putting them in. I never buy the boil noodles anymore. just make sure all noodles are completely covered in sauce. saves time…and money!
Love all of the tips – it makes lasagna actually look easy! Maybe I’ll give it a whirl 😉
Kristina
Kristina does the Internets
You make it look sooo easy! Look forward to trying the recipe. Looks delish!
This is a dish my family loves and I hate to boil the noodles, have them cool, pick them and layer, etc. This looks so fast and great idea on the cheese. I love it and will try it this weekend. Thanks for a great post.
Yummy! Pinning this recipe so I can make it later 🙂
http://www.daisyraeboutique.com
http://www.kacieskloset.blogspot.com
Made this tonight. Sooooo good! Thank you!
this looks unbelievably yummy! i’ve gotta keep this recipe in my back pocket for the coming Winter.
I, too, learned the “sauce and regular noodle” trick for a quick no-boil way to make lasagna from my mother-in-law just a few years ago. She makes it each year for our Christmas get-together and I was thanking her for the hard work each year when she shared the secret. I had been making it the old fashioned way for nearly 30 year and when she told me the trick I couldn’t believe it! I’ve replaced the ricotta in my recipe with low-fat cottage cheese and it’s just as good, but cheaper and healthier than the ricotta. And I’ve NEVER heard of anyone using cream cheese – definitely going to give this a try!! I also use beef and sausage, but sometimes add pepperoni, too for an extra kick.
Thanks for sharing, Kate!
I am curious what brand of marinara sauce you use.
I’ve never heard of “no boil” noodles…that’s great! Will look for, as this recipe sounds way easier than lots of lasagna ones.
-Best, Brittany
http://suburbchicblog.blogspot.com
Looks great! Just a tip put a little sauce on the bottom of the pan under your layer of noodles vs spraying it with cooking oil. Makes the noodles not stick too!
On the grated Parmesan……1 cup = 2 oz?
I made this last night and it was DELISH! I did add some extra..onion while meat was cooking and a can of petite tomatoes when mixed the marinara in.
Made this recipe (with a few family-favorite extras – i.e. peppers, onions, and pepperoni)…it was a bit hit! We loved the cream cheese…super flavor! Thanks for the fun updates on an old classic! ~ Michelle
Pretty cool Blog.All the pictures are very tempting.This is exactly the kind of information i was looking for, great info,would like to bookmark it,thanks for putting
up!!!
Made this tonight and it was sooo good!!! Thanks for the great recipe!!! ~Sarah Jane
Trying this tonight. I can’t wait!
First of all… how did I miss this post?!? (Thank goodness I took the time to stalk your blog today) And BRILLIANT idea for the cheese… I make lasagna and one of the things I hate is how messy it gets. Bag the cheese & use no cook noodles… my husband will be a happy man if I can make lasagna more often 🙂
This was really good, but I didn’t have the pics when I was making it and for some reason put no boil noodles on top with nothing covering it. Lol They were charred, obviously. I just pulled them off and served it. Was a bit messy looking but ill know for next time. Duh!
Made this tonight! Minus the Italian sausage, it was so good and so easy! Great tip on pipping the cheese mixture, makes you think, “why didn’t I think of that?!” It’s so simple and clever!
Wow this actually looks to die for. Thanks so much for this recipe. Will be making this on the weekend..
Simon
How many layers do you do? 2 or 3?
I love this recipe so much. I’ve been making this since you first posted in 2012 (with the exception of 2014-2015, because I dropped a full glass Pyrex pan of this lasagna on my toe, ended up in urgent care and couldn’t bring myself to make it again…until tonight 😂!) Haha anyway, long story short, it is so delicious and easy! Thank you!:)
Yum! And I see absolutely nothing wrong with the photography in this post. It’s great.
Oh yum. Thx Kate.
Embarrassed to say this, but at 35 years old I finally made lasagna that didn’t turn out like soup! Thanks for the recipe Kate, it was a winner for my husband and 7 year old! 🙂
Sorry Kate but this recipe is not very good. The no boil noodles become mushy and the cream cheese does not go with the tomato sauce. My family was not impressed. I followed the directions exactly and did not overbake.
Did you mix the cream cheese with the sauce? The recipe says to mix the cheeses together but not with the sauce! Sorry the first attempt didn’t work for you!
Sounds lovely!!!! I never have added cream cheese before, soooo trying:).