Homemade Lasagna Recipe

With a homemade meat sauce, a cottage cheese layer with sautéed spinach and copious amounts of cheese (4 varieties), this homemade lasagna recipe is straight up comforting. You’re gonna love it!

Hi friends!

I can’t tell you enough how excited I am to be sharing this homemade lasagna recipe with you all. Beyond excited, I tells ya!

If you are looking for a quick lasagna recipe, then this is not it.

Nope. Turn away now.

Just like my vegetable lasagna, this meat lasagna recipe takes time. It’s a labour of love.

But, you know what?

It’s totally worth it!

There’s no bottled sauce here. No shortcuts. Every component in this homemade lasagna recipe plays a part and is jam-packed with flavour.

You know what happens when you make this recipe for someone?

It’s like you’re saying, “Here, enjoy this. I made it with love because I love you.” Yep. It’s like a little bit of love in every single bite. What are ya waiting for? Let’s make it, shall we?

Ingredients for a Homemade Lasagna Recipe

• Meat Sauce: Which includes yummy ingredients, like finely chopped celery, carrot, onion, mushrooms (for extra beefiness), plenty of fresh garlic, ground beef, ground pork, Italian sausage (meat removed from casings), San Marzano canned tomatoes, tomato paste, as well as fresh and dried herbs.
• Cottage Cheese Layer: Which includes cottage cheese (of course), sautéed spinach with nutmeg, Parmesan, shredded mozzarella, salt, pepper and egg.
• Lasagna Noodles: I used fresh, but use whatever you prefer.
• Fresh Mozzarella: For the very top of the lasagna. Ooey gooey deliciousness right there!

When you look at the ingredient list for this lasagna recipe, you may be thinking it’s a lot, but seriously (though it takes time), it’s easy.

If you are using store-bought fresh pasta, it’s basically a matter of stirring together the cottage cheese mixture and making a meat sauce. See, it’s practically made already!

How To Make Lasagna

Full details on how to make this homemade lasagna recipe are in recipe card below, but here are the basics:

Make the cottage cheese layer

I love cottage cheese for lasagna. Firstly, because it tastes delicious, especially with wilted spinach and nutmeg. Secondly, it’s just so dang easy to prepare.

1. Heat olive oil in a pan, and then add spinach and nutmeg. Cook until the spinach wilts. (I used 10 ounces of spinach; it’s going to look like a lot, but it wilts down to so very little.)
2. The next step is important: squeeze all that extra moisture out of the spinach. Just when you think you’ve squeezed enough, squeeze a little more. You definitely don’t want a watery lasagna layer. Chop the spinach. Tip: Squeeze excess moisture from spinach by pressing against a sieve or placing cooked spinach in a clean tea towel and squeezing out water that way. Note: The spinach isn’t actually going through the sieve (only water). We’re just using it to press the moisture out.
3. Place cottage cheese in a bowl, along with spinach, mozzarella, Parmesan (real Parmesan, not the powdered stuff), parsley, egg, salt and pepper.
4. Stir to combine and set aside. Easy, right?

Homemade lasagna sauce

If you have a food processor, I highly recommend using it here to break down those veggies. Otherwise, get going with your knife skills and chop finely.

1. Heat some olive oil in a large pot and add the carrot, celery and onion (these veggies provide a lovely aromatic base to the sauce). Cook for a little until softened.
2. Add finely chopped mushrooms and garlic and cook a little. Then season with some salt and pepper.
3. Add ground meat, ground pork, sausage and seasonings and cook.
4. Add tomato paste.
5. Stir in and cook tomato paste for a little.
6. Finally, stir in tomatoes, basil and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer so it’s gently bubbling/cooking. Cook for 50 to 60 minutes until the sauce reduces/thickens and the flavour really intensifies. When the lasagna meat sauce has reduced, you’ll be left with about 7 to 8 cups of sauce.

Tip: Rinse out your empty can of tomatoes with a little water to get every last drop of goodness and pour that into the sauce (about ½ cup in total).

Tip: Amp up that flavour! For an extra punch of flavour and beefiness, add star anise when you add the bay leaves. Star anise is a spice that kinda looks like a star and is quite popular in Chinese cooking.

Star anise is a main flavour booster in pho, or Vietnamese soup. Many years ago, hubby and I were watching British chef Heston Blumenthal on one of his cooking shows. He was making bolognese and used star anise because it boosts the “meaty” flavour.

You can typically find star anise in the bulk food section of your grocery store where other spices are found.

Wrap it in some food grade cheesecloth so you can easily remove when the sauce is done

If you don’t have star anise, can’t access or couldn’t be bothered, no worries. I’ve made this lasagna with and without it and it’s delicious either way!

I opted to stir in some balsamic vinegar when the sauce was finished, but that’s totally optional. I happen to really love the flavour it adds. You do what makes you happy!

Layer and bake

Now for the super fun part (because we soon get to enjoy): assembling and baking this scrumptious homemade lasagna recipe!

So, to layer lasagna, start with a little sauce on the bottom of your baking dish (to prevent things from sticking) and then there are 3 whole layers. The final layer gets a whole bunch of fresh mozzarella. It seriously bakes up beautifully!

1. Spread just a little meat sauce over top so the noodles don’t stick when baking.
2. Then it’s a layer of noodles. Note: I used fresh noodles here and just made it fit. Use what you have on hand or prefer. If using dried noodles, cook according to package instructions before layering in the lasagna recipe.
3. Spread ⅓ of the meat sauce on top of noodles.
4. Then dollop ⅓ of the cottage cheese mixture. I like to dollop rather than spread over the meat sauce because it’s thick and I don’t want to muddle those layers too much.
5. Top with 1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella. Then repeat two more times (noodles to mozzarella, but the last layer, don’t spread on shredded mozzarella).
6. Spread on fresh mozzarella.
7. Stick 6 to 8 wooden toothpicks (soaked in water first before using and mostly stuck out so you can easily remove later). This helps prevent the aluminum foil from sticking to the cheese. Ain’t nobody got time for lost cheese, am I right? Cover with aluminum foil, place on a baking tray (to catch any spills) and bake. Remove aluminum foil partway through (along with toothpicks) and continue baking until the cheese gets all nice, golden brown and bubbly.
8. Once done, you’ll want to let the lasagna cool a little before digging in. This gives the lasagna a chance to settle. Then you can garnish with some fresh herbs, like basil and parsley.

Type of Cheese To Use

Besides the cottage cheese layer (which also includes Parmesan), I love to use a combination of shredded mozzarella and fresh mozzarella.

The fresh mozzarella is simply reserved for the top layer. If you don’t have fresh mozzarella on hand (or prefer not to use), just use all shredded mozzarella and things will still be delicious!

Should I Cover Lasagna?

Yes! This helps to prevent things from drying out so don’t skip this.

As mentioned above, stick 6 to 8 wooden toothpicks (first soaked in water) into the lasagna (stuck out so you can easily remove).

Cover with aluminum foil, place the casserole dish on a sheet pan and bake. Remove the aluminum foil partway through (along with the toothpicks) and continue baking until the cheese gets golden brown and bubbly.

How Long Lasagna Should Rest After Baking

I know it’s temping not to dig into this bad boy right away, but please let it rest! I can’t stress this enough.

Firstly, it’s hot as, well, just super hot. Secondly, by letting it cool a little you’re kinda giving things a chance to calm down, and firm up a little so you can cut out nice square (non messy) pieces. Nobody wants a runny lasagna!

I like to let cool for about 30 minutes after removing from the oven.

Tips for Making This Recipe

• Don’t skip squeezing excess moisture from the spinach! This helps prevent a watery cottage cheese layer.
• Most times, I like to make lasagna with fresh noodles. However, if you don’t have fresh store-bought lasagna noodles, no worries! Use “no boil” or just regular noodles (drain well before using). The fresh lasagna noodles I used were larger than the typical boxed dried variety, so I used about 6 sheets or 360 grams. If you are using a smaller dried lasagna pasta (that has been cooked), you will probably need up to 10 sheets.
• Have a rind of Parmesan leftover? Throw it into your meat sauce and it will add so much flavour. Just discard after the sauce is made.
• I love to use San Marzano tomatoes (whole) for rich tomato sauces like this lasagna meat sauce. They’re so delicious! If you can’t find, no worries. Get the best canned tomatoes you can get your hands on.
• Allow the lasagna to cool a little before garnishing with fresh herbs (so they don’t wilt or turn brown from the heat).

What To Serve With Lasagna

Homemade lasagna is quite substantial on its own, but if you want to add some sides, it goes great with any of these:

• Mixed green salad
• Caesar salad
• Garlic bread
• Roasted broccoli or broccolini

More Comfort Food Recipes

• Chicken and Sausage Recipe With Peppers
• Homemade Meatballs With Tomato Sauce
• Chicken and Sausage With Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce

Hope you love this homemade lasagna recipe as much as we do! Hubby happens to this it’s the best lasagna recipe!

If you make this meat lasagna recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!