When I was a kid I always loved the nights my mom would make her homemade lasagna recipe. I thought hers was the absolute greatest. Or at least I did up until I totally perfected it! Actually, I pretty much changed all of it. Not to toot my own horn but TOOT TOOT MFs!!
The taste of homemade lasagna is so much better than anything you’ll find in a restaurant or the freezer section of your local grocery store.
You and your friends will be blown away by this recipe. I have friends that when we get together at each other’s house for dinner they request my homemade lasagna. And get upset with me if I decide to make something other than that HA!
On a serious note, this is not a hard recipe to make. The only downside I would have to say is it may be a little time-consuming but it’s definitely worth all that time it takes to make. This is by far the best homemade lasagna recipe you will ever eat!
Homemade Lasagna
Take me straight to the recipe card.
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb sausage
- 3 cans tomato sauce (8oz each)
- 2 cans tomato paste (6oz each)
- minced garlic
- sugar
- Italian seasoning
- salt
- pepper
- eggs
- parsley flakes
- 24oz small curd cottage cheese
- 8oz ricotta cheese
- parmesan cheese
- 6 slices provolone cheese
- 4-6 shredded cups of mozzarella cheese
- 1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles
- 9 x 13 deep baking dish OR foil tray
Time To Start Throwing It All Together
When I plan on having lasagna for dinner I make sure I pick a day that I have plenty of time to put it together and bake it (from start to finish is about 3 hours). Otherwise, I split the time by putting it all together one day and then baking it the next day. If I want to sit down and eat dinner by around 6:00 then I start the prep work around 3:30ish. Like I said earlier you can always put together and then stick it in the freezer for baking later but that’s not how I roll (no judgment to those who do).
First things first,
In a large skillet on medium heat brown your hamburger meat and sausage until no longer pink; then drain the grease. Brown together or brown separately, whatever you like. Either way, it all ends up together in the end.
After draining the grease; in the same large skillet with your hamburger and sausage add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, minced garlic, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Turn down the heat and allow it to simmer, uncovered, for one hour, stirring occasionally. If you have a gas stove top as I do then watch it carefully and stir more often, you could burn the bottom of your sauce. I try to stir it more often.
Do Not Skip The Simmering Step
It is very important you do not skip the simmering step. I know. I’ve skipped it before. And I will never do it again! If you skip the simmering and move on to layering then your sauce will be runny. You want it to be thick and hearty like in the picture below. It seriously makes a difference in the taste.
While your sauce is simmering, in a separate bowl combine your cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, and parsley flakes. Mix well and put in the fridge until it’s time to layer everything together. This is what I do, I go ahead and get this step out of the way. You can do it that way or you can wait until the sauce is almost finished and then mix it together. Whatever works for you.
Let’s Get Our Layer On
Our meat sauce is finished, our cottage cheese concoction is mixed, and it’s finally time to layer and bake the best lasagna you will ever eat!
First things first, preheat your oven to 375° degrees.
Take one cup of your sauce and spread it all over the bottom of your 9 x 13 deep baking dish (do not grease or spray with pam).
Take 3 to 5 of your oven-ready lasagna noodles and layer that on top of the sauce you just spread. When I use the Pyrex deep baking dish, you see above, I start out with 3. Then add more as I go along (you will see shortly). When using the deep lasagna foil pan I can actually fit 4 across and one at the end. If you can’t tell I like lots of noodles in my lasagna. However, if you don’t so much then only do about 3 on every layer.
On top of your noodles layer 6 slices of provolone cheese evenly across the top.
Measure out two cups of your cottage cheese concoction and spread it evenly across the top of the provolone cheese.
Here comes my favorite part, a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. I could tell you to sprinkle about 1 cup but I’m going to say measure with your heart. I say cover the whole damn top of that cottage cheese concoction with mozzarella cheese. Who doesn’t love cheese? If you are one of those people then this recipe is not for you, just sayin.
Do another layer of oven-ready lasagna noodles. Again I will do as many as I can fit.
Spread 2 cups of your meat sauce evenly across that last layer of noodles.
Whatever is left over from your cottage cheese concoction, spread evenly across the top of your meat sauce.
Sprinkle even more mozzarella cheese on top of the cottage cheese concoction. Again, measure with your heart or be boring and just do 1 cup.
Add what noodles you can on top of all that cheesy goodness.
Spread evenly whatever is left of your meat sauce on top of the noodles.
And lastly, top it off with more mozzarella cheese. If you are lactose intolerant you’re gonna want to be sure and take a pill.
It’s time to bake your homemade lasagna!
Once you get to this point your dish is going to be very full. I like to put the dish on top of a cookie sheet when it goes in the oven. That way if anything bubbles over it won’t get all nasty in the bottom of your oven.
Now carefully cover your lasagna with tin foil. Don’t go too tight because you will be removing it towards the end to bake a little more uncovered. Plus you don’t want all that delicious cheese to come up with the tin foil at the time it calls to remove it.
Place your beautifully homemade lasagna in the oven at 375° and bake for 50 minutes. Once the timer goes off carefully peel the tin foil off and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
On a side note, you can also assemble and freeze the lasagna for baking at a later date. All you have to do is either thaw out the entire thing before baking or go straight to the oven from the freezer adding an additional 15-20 minutes to the bake time while it’s still covered.
Your homemade lasagna is DONE!
It’s finished! Your dish of awesomeness is finally finished. Most people who post recipes will then tell you to let it stand for 15 minutes before serving. If you are a perfectionist and believe serving lasagna is an art go ahead and wait for that 15 minutes. I, however, am not and therefore we never wait cause we are usually starving and too impatient to wait, HA. We dig right in within five minutes of it being out of the oven stretching cheese all over the place. And it’s still fanfuckingtastic.
Here are a few other one-dish family favorites you may want to try. The Baked Ziti is very similar to this Lasagna recipe only a little less time-consuming but just as delicious.
Traditional Homemade Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork sausage
- 3 8oz cans tomato sauce
- 2 6oz cans tomato paste
- ½ tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp parsley flakes
- 24 oz small curd cottage cheese
- 8 oz ricotta cheese
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 box oven ready lasagna noodles (not the thin ones)
- 6 slices provolone cheese
- 4-6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet on medium heat cook ground beef and sausage until no longer pink. Drain grease.
- Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, minced garlic, sugar, italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined. Reduce heat and let simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- In separate medium size bowl, combine cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, and parsley. Mix until well combined. Set aside or place in the fridge until your sauce is ready.
- Once meat sauce is finished spread 1 cup of the sauce in an ungreased 13×9 deep baking dish. Then layer as follows:3-5 lasagna noodles, provolone cheese, 2 cups cottage cheese mix, 1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, 3-5 lasagna noodles, 2 cups meat sauce, remaining cottage cheese mix, 1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, remaining lasagna noodles, remaining meat sauce, finish by topping with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with tin foil and bat at 375° for 50 minutes. Then uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and slightly turning brown.
- Enjoy!