The ultimate in one-pan comfort meals, Cheese Lasagna is the perfect marriage of bubbly cheese, tangy tomato sauce and lasagna noodles. This Easy Lasagna Recipe couldn’t be any simpler or tastier!
Meatless Lasagna
Oh, how I adore lasagna! It reminds me of my mother’s kitchen, when she’d make big pans of her cheesy homemade lasagna for all occasions.
Someone had a baby? Make a lasagna. Someone is sick? Make a lasagna. A Saturday night meal with the whole family? That’s right, lasagna.
A helping of lasagna with a bubbly cheesy top is still one of my ultimate comfort foods, with or without meat. With Ricotta, Parmesan, AND Mozzarella cheese, this meatless lasagna recipe is vegetarian friendly and so satisfying that you won’t miss the meat at all.
Did you know you can make a lasagna in one pan WITHOUT using no-boil noodles?
I made this recipe with plain old standard lasagna noodles and it turned out perfectly. No-boil noodles are not required at all. With this recipe, the sauce does the job of cooking the noodles as it bakes.
Feel free to use a differently shaped noodle as well! The goal is to cover most of the bottom of the pan with noodles but not every centimeter of the dish has to be completely covered.
I included two 24 ounce jars of spaghetti sauce in this recipe, however you likely won’t need the entirety of both jars. The sauce should cover everything but you don’t want the noodles totally drowning in it. I used about 40 ounces of sauce in mine.
Save any remaining sauce to dip bread into or store in the fridge to add to reheated lasagna leftovers.
Cook’s note: I love my Easy Marcella Hazan Tomato Sauce in lasagna but this time I used a favorite jarred spaghetti sauce. Just be sure sure to choose a sauce you love eating! It plays a major part in the flavor of the lasagna.
Easy Lasagna Recipe
I kept this lasagna recipe as simple as possible. Cheese lovers will go wild for this super easy and kid-friendly meal!
Ingredients:
- Lasagna Noodles – they do not need to be the “no boil” variety
- Ricotta Cheese
- Spaghetti Sauce -make sure you are using a kind that you like, it will play a big part in the flavor
- Parmesan Cheese
- Eggs
- Parsley
- Mozzarella Cheese
How to Make Lasagna
In a large bowl, combine the cheeses with the eggs and parsley, reserving one cup of the mozzarella for later.
To assemble the lasagna, place about 1 and 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Gently place four lasagna noodles onto sauce. Most 13×9 inch pans will fit three noodles length (13″ side) wise, and a shorter, broken noodle width (9″ side) wise.
Add about one third of the cheese mixture to the top of the noodles, and gently spread across noodles. Top cheese with 1 cup of sauce, then noodles, then cheese again. Repeat one more time, finishing with a final layer of sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese evenly over the sauce.
Reserve about an hour for lasagna cook time. After baking covered with foil for 45 minutes, uncover the pan and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
Need an even quicker spin on lasagna for tonight’s dinner? Try this Easy Ravioli Lasagna.
Sides for Lasagna
Lasagna can be a full meal in and of itself if you like. It’s delicious paired with a side of Garlic Knots, Cheesy Garlic Rolls and a Simple Italian Salad as well.
How to Freeze Lasagna
Lasagna makes an ideal freezer meal! You can either assemble the lasagna and freeze it before baking or freeze it after cooking. This recipe is easy to double to make more than one pan of lasagna at a time. Make one for dinner tonight and stick the other in the freezer for those busy nights when you don’t have the time or energy to cook.
Freeze a whole lasagna by covering the dish with a lid or wrapping the whole pan in heavy duty foil before freezing.
To freeze a COOKED lasagna, allow it to cool completely at room temperature first. You can also divide the lasagna into airtight individual serving size containers to freeze. This is a great option for make-ahead lunches!
How to Reheat Lasagna
When reheating a lasagna from frozen, allow it to thaw in the fridge before baking. Individual portions of cheese lasagna can be reheated in the microwave. Add a teaspoon of water or leftover sauce to the top of the serving before microwaving to prevent drying out.
To reheat a whole lasagna, add a few spoonfuls of water or sauce to the top of the lasagna and cover with foil before reheating in the oven. Heat for about 20 minutes or until the cheese gets bubbly.
If you like this recipe, make sure to check out my Instant Pot Spaghetti, Ricotta Stuffed Shells and my Homemade Spaghetti Sauce.
Easy Lasagna
Easy Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 48 oz Jar Spaghetti Sauce
- 30 oz Ricotta Cheese
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp parsley dried or finely chopped
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- 12 lasagna noodles do not need to be "no bake", regular are fine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, eggs, parmesan cheese, parsley and one cup of mozzarella cheese. Mix until well combined.
- To assemble lasagna, place 1 and 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Gently place four lasagna noodles onto sauce. Most 13×9 inch pans will fit three noodles length (13" side) wise, and a shorter, broken noodle width (9" side) wise.
- Add approximately 1/3 of the cheese mixture to the top of the noodles, and gently spread across noodles. Top cheese with 1 cup of sauce, then noodles, then cheese again. Repeat one more time, finishing with a final layer of sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese evenly over the sauce.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for ten minutes prior to serving.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
- says
A good recipe but parmesan cheese is NOT VEGETARIAN!! It contains animal rennet. Please do your research before you carelessly label your recipes as vegetarian.
Christi Johnstone says
Hello “-” (come on, if you are going to complain, leave a name, lol!). This recipe is listed as “Vegetarian Friendly”, and I’m pretty sure that you could figure out a solution if that ingredient doesn’t work for you – like say just leaving it out or replacing it with a cheese that works for you. Such an easy way to solve the problem!
As someone with anaphylactic food allergies, who has to watch all of the ingredients I consume for actual medical purposes, not personal preference, I’ve always felt that it’s up to me to make sure ingredients work for me, and swap them accordingly when they don’t. It’s my responsibility to fine tune recipes to meet my needs, not someone else’s. But that’s just me, you do you, -.
AQ says
I have made this a bunch of times. Always comes out great. Thanks!
EPearson says
Few modifications for our style, but this was easy and the results were hands down the best lasagna we’ve ever had. 2nd time for our four year old (had a Costco at Uncle’s as first experience, and it was pretty good for a heat and eat) who begged for it every meal until it was gone. Thanks for sharing!! 10 out of 10 will be eating again! (tonight actually) And we can’t wait to try the easy ravioli version.
Will Caban says
This ended up being a great recipe. Made it last night and here are a few suggestions to make it top notch.
1- Dont skimp on the sauce, make sure to buy a premium sauce with lots of flavor. The author made the recipe inexpensive enough to not feel guilty spending the extra coin. Follow the recipe to the “T”. I ended up using Tomato Plum Sauce and it was great.
2- After removing the foil you may notice watery/oily excess on the top surface. Continue to cook for the remaining 10 minutes. When you take it out and have it sit, you can take a napkin and lightly place it over the lasagna to absorb any excess liquid. This was most likely due to me using almost all 48 oz’s of the sauce (which the author recommends not to do, so if you do not have this issue you just saved yourself a step.
3- Right before serving, place the broiler on high, and place it on the top rack about 4 inches away from the broiler for 2-3 minutes – the presentation and crispiness add a nice little pop to the lasagna and help to seal in the flavor.
I had the toughest critics come by yesterday – my in laws – and they LOVED it , seconds and thirds went around!
Christi Johnstone says
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Skylar says
Very good recipe. My top layer of lasagna was very chewy, not totally cooked. The others were fine. I think I’ll boil or get no-bake for next time. Otherwise will def make again!
Hank says
Going to try this for my wife. Might add spicy turkey breakfast sausage. The rating is before making.
Samantha says
Delicious. Made for my family for dinner tonight added a little more cheese on top, sprinkled with Italian seasoning, and added about 3-4 extra minutes of broiling on high to golden-brown the top some more. Will be adding recipe to my book! Thank you!
- Ken says
No boiling required
I’m old school, so I par boiled mine and didn’t need so much much sauce.