This Easy Beef Lasagna is the easiest lasagna ever! There’s no need to boil noodles or slave away for hours over the stove for this recipe. It’s the perfect meal for a busy weeknight dinner.
If you’re like me, you’re probably scared to make lasagna because of all the work it takes. You have to: boil the noodles, make the sauce, assemble the lasagna and bake it. That may not sound like too crazy of a list but traditional recipes usually focus on a sauce left to simmer so it takes quite a while. Not today! This recipe is a lot simpler and it makes for a fabulous weeknight dinner.
What’s So Special About Lasagna?
This is a classic Italian dish, one that is known nearly all over the world due to its addicting popularity. It’s warm and comforting with a savory rich sauce, ooey gooey cheese, and al dente layers of noodles.
I don’t want my readers to fear attempting this dish because it’s so good, so I’ve made it nice and easy for all of you today. I love the way these leftovers turn out too so it’s perfect the next day as well! What a bonus!
Ingredient Notes
- Beef – Ground is what we’ll use today. Because I used lean there’s no need to drain the oil after its cooked.
- Onion – A small onion diced up that will cook well like white or yellow.
- Seasoning – We’re just using dried oregano and salt and pepper today.
- Sauce – A jar of marinara sauce will do just fine and it’s the key to cutting down on the cook time of this beef lasagna recipe.
- Cheese – Ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan are needed for richness and a good melty texture.
- Egg – We’re going to use this as a binder for our ricotta sauce so be sure to pick some up.
- Noodles – Clearly we need lasagna noodles! Their sheet structure are needed for those definable layers.
How To Make Beef Lasagna
- Preheat the oven: Set to 375 F degrees.
- Brown the beef: 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.
- Prepare the sauces: Add the marinara sauce to the skillet and the cup of water. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside. In a small bowl combine the ricotta cheese, 1 tbsp oregano, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Stack the lasagna: In a baking dish that’s about 9×13 inches, start assembling your lasagna. 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. Repeat until you have 4 layers of noodles, and end with ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese.
Tips For Making The Best Lasagna
- Believe it or not, it’s not required to boil the noodles first, even though many recipes call for it. There is plenty of sauce in the recipe to cook the noodles while the lasagna is baking. Plus this way you end up with a firmer lasagna and no mushy noodles, but perfectly al dente.
- Don’t be afraid to mix your ground meat for the sauce. This time I used ground beef, but if you’re feeling adventures, combine beef with pork or chicken and turkey.
- Be sure to use lots of sauce to cook those noodles fully!
- Use cottage cheese for even more creaminess.
- Crumbled sausage is a nice addition to the ground beef if you want an even meatier sauce.
Leftovers
Properly cool the beef lasagna before storing it, so that it will freeze and store evenly. It will stay fresh for 3 – 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Frozen lasagna will last for 2 – 3 months, just be sure to allow to thaw fully in the fridge before re heating.
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Easy Beef Lasagna
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 tablespoon oregano dried
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 24 ounce marinara sauce (1 jar/680 g)
- 1 cup water
- 15 ounce ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
- 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.
- Add the marinara sauce to the skillet and the cup of water. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the ricotta cheese, 1 tbsp oregano, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- In a baking dish that’s about 9×13 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.
- 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
- Be sure this dish is properly cooled before being stored so that it will freeze and store evenly. It will stay fresh for 3 – 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Frozen lasagna will last for 2 – 3 months, just be sure to allow to thaw fully in the fridge before re heating.
- Believe it or not, it’s not required to boil the noodles first, even though many recipes call for it. There is plenty of sauce in the recipe to cook the noodles while the lasagna is baking. Plus this way you end up with a firmer lasagna and no mushy noodles, but perfectly al dente.
- Don’t be afraid to mix your ground meat for the sauce. This time I used ground beef, but if you’re feeling adventures, combine beef with pork or chicken and turkey.
- Be sure to use lots of sauce to cook those noodles fully!
- Use cottage cheese for even more creaminess.
- Crumbled sausage is a nice addition to the ground beef if you want an even meatier sauce.
I love this recipe!! Super delicious and very easy to make! Thank you so much for sharing!! The hubby and my favorite dinner meal 🙂
So happy you guys like it! 🙂
Very good! I added all the oregano by mistake to the meat but it turned out okay. I will use more than 24 oz of marinara next time and more spices. My husband loved it!
This lasagna never fails!! 😋 I replace beef with sweet italian sausage and add mushrooms. So easy and delish!!!
Does this need to be covered with foil?
No it doesn’t. 🙂