Easy Beef Lasagna

Easy Beef Lasagna – easiest lasagna ever without the need to boil noodles or slave hours over the sauce. Perfect meal for a busy weeknight dinner.

Oh hi there! I so glad you came to join me in my culinary adventures because I have a super easy recipe to share with you. If you’re like me, you’re probably scared to make lasagna because of all the work it takes, boil the noodles, make the sauce, assemble the lasagna and bake it. This recipe is a lot simpler and it makes for a fabulous weeknight dinner.

So let me start by saying that I’m not a lasagna virgin. I’ve been making lasagna for a long time now and every single time, although I love the end result, I’m so tired at the end because of all the work involved.

However, I always look for shortcuts in the kitchen, because who wants to slave in the kitchen all day long.

So let me tell you what shortcuts I took this time. I got the brilliant idea to not boil the noodles. At first I was scared that the noodles wouldn’t cook through. I also used store bought marinara sauce. But don’t let me stop you, if you want to make your own marinara sauce, feel free.

Because I was worried about the noodles being not cooked enough, I added some water to my sauce, I knew the noodles would absorb some of that juice while in the oven cooking. Let me tell you, this was the best lasagna I have ever made. Because the noodles weren’t precooked the lasagna wasn’t mushy at all, the noodles stayed firm, al dente, and super delicious.

From now on this is the only way I’ll ever make lasagna. I understand if you’re skeptical about making lasagna with uncooked noodles but trust me and give it a try. I know there are no boil lasagna noodles, but I used the regular kind, because I heard those noodles are just not the same.

Have you ever tried making lasagna with uncooked noodles? If you have I’d love to hear from you and how your lasagna turned out.

Do you love lasagna as much as I do? Try my other lasagna recipes:

• Chicken Lasagna alla Bolognese
• Zucchini Lasagna
• Taco Lasagna
• Skillet White Chicken Lasagna
• One Pot Hamburger Helper Lasagna
• Lasagna Soup

If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

4.74 from 15 votes

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Easy Beef Lasagna

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 20 mins

 

Easy Beef Lasagna - easiest lasagna ever without the need to boil noodles or slave hours over the sauce. Perfect meal for a busy weeknight dinner.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 12

Calories: 333 kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 tbsp oregano dried
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste
• 24 oz marinara sauce (1 jar/680 g)
• 1 cup water
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
2. In a sauce pan or skillet, cook the ground meat until no longer pink. Add chopped onion, 1 tbsp of the oregano, salt, pepper and continue cooking until onion is cooked through and translucent.
3. Add the marinara sauce to the skillet and the cup of water. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a small bowl combine the ricotta cheese, 1 tbsp oregano, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. In a baking dish that's about 9x13 inches, start assembling your lasagna. I usually start with a couple ladles of the sauce at the bottom, this is especially necessary now that the noodles aren't cooked. Lay 3 lasagna noodles over the meat sauce. Next layer with ricotta mixture and about 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Add another 3 lasagna noodles, meat mixture, ricotta mixture, mozzarella. Repeat until you have 4 layers of noodles, and end with ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake in the oven for about an hour. It will take the entire hour for the noodles to cook. You may try with a fork to ensure noodles are cooked.

Recipe Notes

Store leftovers in a covered airtight container for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator or 2 to 3 months in the freezer. Refrigerate within two hours of cooking.

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

 

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Originally published April, 2014.