The Best Lasagna is here! Layered with a rich, tomato sauce, a creamy parmesan white sauce and topped with fresh mozzarella, you’ll be craving this lasagna every weekend.
A traditional lasagna has to be one of the most loved comfort foods in the world. Hailing from Italy before making its way through the world and taking on many different forms, lasagna has to be one of the most popular pasta dishes of all time.
Even some of our most popular pasta dishes like our Creamy Shrimp Pasta, Creamy Mushroom Chicken Pasta and our Fiery Lamb Ragu on Parpadelle pale in comparison to this incredible lasagna recipe.
A big warm comforting hug within layers of pasta, tomato sauce, white sauce and melted cheese, my family love this wholesome Best Lasagna recipe.
THE BEST LASAGNA
My mama’s famous lasagna recipe is hands down the best lasagna I have ever had in my life. She learnt this interpretation from her Italian friends while living in New York City. She has adjusted the recipe throughout the years to perfect it, and every single person that tries her recipe comes back for seconds, thirds and leftovers!
Just LOOK at that CHEESE!
This recipe is not exactly ideal to look at while on a diet but if you’re willing to sacrifice some calories for the sake of this ooey-gooey, decadent lasagna, we promise we’ll make it worth your while.
Naturally, we’re going to need someone to blame for breaking our diets so feel free to point your fingers directly at my mother!
Why do I blame her? Long story short, she made me do it:
“Karina!”
“WHAT?!”
“You don’t have a lasagna recipe on your blog! WHY?”
“Ummm, I don’t know? But I can’t do one right now because I can’t eat it. Don’t make me suffer.”
“So? What does that have to do with your blog?”
“Ugh. OKAYYYY FIIIINE. You cook, I’ll shoo…” banging and clanging going down in my kitchen, wooden spoons flying around everywhere, fridge door screaming to be closed before I could finish my sentence. Ah…the chaos. The rest is history.
HOW TO MAKE LASAGNA SAUCE
To make this the best lasagna you’ve ever had, you need to perfect the sauce:
- Our sauce is made with a mix of ground beef and pork. This is OPTIONAL. If you don’t like pork you can definitely use beef to replace it, but the pork does add a traditional lasagna flavour to the sauce.
- Most sauces use crushed tomatoes as a base, however we love mixing in a bottle of Passata (or American tomato sauce) to add richness.
- Using tomato paste results in a thick and rich sauce. Don’t skip this ingredient! We love using a paste with garlic and herbs, but plain is also fine.
HOW TO MAKE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE FOR LASAGNA
This is where things go from yeah, it’s okay TO oh-my-god-this-is-so-good! We don’t use any ricotta cheese in our lasagna. Not because we don’t like ricotta (mmm….could go a Spinach and Ricotta Grilled Cheese right about now), but because white sauce makes it so much more flavoursome. Especially parmesan white sauce. I’m not exaggerating when I say the sauce is SO GOOD, you’ll want to put this Béchamel on EVERYTHING!
You need only 4 ingredients to make this Béchamel happen:
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
- Parmesan cheese. If you don’t like parmesan, replace it with Gruyere, Romano, Asiago, Manchego, or more Mozzarella.
ARE FRESH LASAGNA SHEETS BETTER THAN DRIED?
We prefer fresh lasagna pasta sheets which are found in the refrigerator section of most grocery stores. If you can’t find or don’t have access to fresh, you can use dried.
No Cook or Instant Noodles can be used without pre-boiling (check the packet instructions first). You can assemble as normal. To ensure the pasta has enough liquid to cook through while the lasagna is baking, we normally add about ½ cup of water to our sauce when using INSTANT.
Pre Boil Or Pre Cook Pasta Sheets need to be boiled first before assembly. Follow the instructions on the packet. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into the water to prevent the sheets from sticking together and stir them occasionally with a wooden spoon. Transfer each cooked lasagna sheet carefully into a large bowl or pot filled with cool water to help stop the cooking process. Leave them in there until ready to use. This helps prevent them from sticking together or drying out. You can do this while the meat sauce is gently simmering away so all elements are ready at the same time.
HOW DO YOU LAYER A LASAGNA?
Once you’ve layered your lasagna, you need to make sure your last layers (or top layers) finish with pasta > meat sauce > white sauce > mozzarella cheese. Yeah, that order results in a golden, crunchy and cheesy top with a layer of juicy meat sauce underneath.
Crispy edges, a gooey, cheesy centre, perfectly cooked fresh lasagna pasta sheets in between a creamy parmesan white sauce and an abundance of cheese.
Lord, help me.
For more lasagna variations, you might like these: Easy Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup | Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats | Easy Lasagna Stuffed Burritos | Beef And Pumpkin Lasagna | Chicken Pumpkin and Ricotta Lasagna!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH THE BEST LASAGNA
Every tomato based Italian pasta should have a buttery piece of Cheesy Garlic Bread to sop up the leftover sauces. If you’re looking to add some greenery to your plate, try this Caprese Salad with Avocado.
Mama’s Best Lasagna
Ingredients
Meat Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic cloves minced
- 24 ounces ground beef mince
- 10 ounces ground pork mince or beef
- 24 ounces Passata
- 14 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 3 tomato paste heaped tablespoons. I use garlic and herb flavoured.
- 2 beef bouillon cubes or vegetable, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon sugar if desired
- ¼ teaspoon salt season to your tastes
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper season to your tastes
White Sauce (Béchamel):
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup flour all purpose or plain
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 cup shredded parmesan fresh
Lasagna:
- 13 ounces fresh lasagna sheets
- 17 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
Instructions
Meat Sauce:
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add in the onion and carrots and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until softened. Add in the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add beef and pork (if using) and cook while breaking it up with the end of your spoon, until browned.
- Pour in the Passata, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, crushed bouillon and dried herbs. Mix well to combine and bring to a gentle simmer. Season with desired amount of salt and pepper (I use about ¾ teaspoon each) and sugar if needed. Cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes, occasionally mixing, until the sauce has thickened slightly and meat is tender.
- Adjust salt, pepper and dried herbs to your taste.
Parmesan White Sauce:
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from hot plate; add the flour and whisk for about 30 seconds, or until well blended.
- Place pot back onto stove, reduce heat down to low and slowly whisk in 1 cup of the milk until well combined. Once well blended, add the remaining milk in 1 cup increments, mixing well after each addition, until all the milk is used and sauce is free from lumps. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk until it turns into a nice and creamy consistency.
- Increase heat to medium and continue cooking sauce while stirring occasionally until it thickens (about 6-7 minutes) and coats the back of your wooden spoon.
- Add in the parmesan cheese and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and mix until the cheese is melted through.
To Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 350°F | 180°C.
- Spoon about 1 cup of meat sauce on the base of a 9×13-inch baking dish, then cover with lasagna sheets. (Trim sheets to fit over the meat if needed.) Layer with 2 cups of meat sauce (or enough to cover pasta), 1 cup of white sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers (leaving the remaining cheese for the top).
- Pour the remaining meat sauce and white sauce over the last layer of lasagna sheets and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
- Garnish with parsley and let stand for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.ENJOY!
stumbit.com says
Melting cheese in mouth and starving to taste this lasagna recipe. I have ricotta cheese at home and thus i hope replacing parmesan with ricotta will also do best.
Dr Bettan says
Excellent recipe. I only would like to comment on the recommendation of adding olive oil to cooking water for pasta. This does not work due to basic chemistry. Oil does not mix with water and will only float on the surface.
Me says
Oil in the boiling water does work. I do it when I make rice,spaghetti and linguine noodles.
Tammy says
Delicious! This is at least the second time my husband made this lasagna. Another reviewer also said there should be 3 layers of noodles. We only did 2 as well but I think that’s my mistake! However, use a deeper pan if you have it
Frenchie says
Just made this
Everyone loved it
Tara Nelson says
Best lasagna ever. I grew up kinda hating lasagna. Loved all other pasta bakes. This recipe was a game-changer. And for tomorrow’s Christmas dinner, it’s Mama’s Best!!
Thank you for so many amazing recipes. Merry Christmas!!
Diana says
I have loved all your recipes so far excited to try this lasagna! Can you make ahead and freeze? If so, do any of the directions change?
Brett Ylioja says
just an FYI you have in your preheat oven 350ºF and 180ºF instead of 180ºC
Karina says
Thanks Brett!
Kaila says
I just made this recipe and LOVED IT!! My white sauce seemed soupy and I’m not sure how thick the sauce should be. I let it sit after baking and when I cut into it was messy and didn’t keep its shape. Is this supposed to happen or should I have baked it longer?
Terri Bright says
Hands down, the BEST lasagna!!! Thank you!!!
Meredith says
I never rate recipes. I had to here. So I’d never actually eaten or made lasagna before. I’m a pasta-holic but I HATE ricotta cheese. My mother in law made a lasagna for my kids and my husband and I had dinner envy from the smell so I went on a search for ricotta free lasagna recipes. Stumbled on this one. At first I was a little hesitant because of the lengthy ingredient list. But with the exception of the meats and cheese, almost all the ingredients were either already in my pantry or super inexpensive. So I made this for Sunday dinner. Between four of us, it was gone on Monday. With one piece that I hid to take to work. This was absolutely amazing. I’m actually making it again tonight. Lol. I learned though and will be making two pans. One for now and one for the freezer. And now I can finally eat lasagna!!! Thank you for the wonderful gift of this recipe!!
Karina says
Hi Meredith, I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the lasagna and that it provided a ricotta-free option for you! It sounds like it was a big hit with your family, and I love the idea of making an extra pan for the freezer. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and I’m honored that the recipe could be a part of your Sunday dinner tradition!