Homemade Lasagna

Step 1

Start boiling a large pot of water for the lasagna noodles. Cook noodles according to the directions on the box. Once lasagna noodles are cooked drain water and set aside.

Step 2

In a large skillet (I used a 12 inch cast iron) brown 2 lbs of ground beef over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Drain any grease from the ground beef. Once browned add minced garlic and 2 jars of pasta sauce. Let simmer on low.

Step 3

Mix together the cheese mixture in a large bowl by adding the container of ricotta, container of cottage cheese, 1 egg, Parmesan cheese, and dried parsley. Stir well.

Step 4

Spray pans with cooking spray and start building lasagna layering together all ingredients. This recipe makes two lasagnas. I use aluminum foil pans from Sam’s club that are about 12x10 size.

Step 5

Starting in the bottom of one of the pans, add a ladle of the meat sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, a couple of spoonfuls of the cheese mixture, and top with some shredded mozzarella cheese. Add more meat sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, more of the cheese mixture, and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. For the last layer, add the meat sauce, lasagna noodles, cheese mixture, more of the meat sauce, and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat these steps to make the freezer lasagna!

Step 6

Once the lasagna is made, bake at 375 degrees covered with foil for about 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. At the end you can broil for just a couple of minutes if you want the cheese to get nice and browned! Top with dried parsley, Parmesan cheese, and serve!

Step 7

The other lasagna gets covered well with aluminum foil and put in the freezer! When we are ready to eat the frozen one it’s best to thaw in the refrigerator at least 24 hours before baking it, otherwise it will have to bake for at least a couple of hours from completely frozen.

Step 8

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it out!