make ahead lasagna

The best Make Ahead Lasagna has a homemade meat sauce with beef AND sausage as well as THREE kinds of cheese. No need to boil the noodles ahead of time, either! Freezer-friendly.

The Best Make Ahead Lasagna

beef

onion (chopped (about 1 cup))

garlic (minced)

(28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

(15 tomato sauce

tomato paste

granulated sugar (or

basil

Italian seasoning ((see note 3))

fennel seeds ((see note 4))

Salt and black pepper

(15 ounce) container ricotta cheese ((see note 5))

parsley

salt

lasagna noodles (NOT no-boil (see note 6))

mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Parmesan cheese (grated)

parsley (for garnish)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add beef, sausage, and onion and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper). You should have about 2 quarts of sauce.

To make the meat sauce:

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and salt. Chill until the sauce is finished.

To make the cheese filling:

In the bottom of a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups meat sauce. Arrange a single layer of uncooked noodles over the meat sauce (I do 3 full-size noodles lengthwise and then a partial noodle crosswise). Spread with a heaping 2/3 cup of the ricotta mixture. Top with about 1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) of mozzarella. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Spoon 2 cups meat sauce over the cheese. Make another layer of noodles, ricotta mixture (heaping 2/3 cup), mozzarella (1 1/2 cups) and Parmesan (1/3 cup). Repeat layers 1 more time, for a total of 3 layers.

Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick spray and cover baking dish. Refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight.

To assemble the lasagna:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake, covered with foil, for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes longer. Cool 5 minutes, then garnish with parsley before serving if desired.

To bake the lasagna:

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/kzZqQhaf.mp4

My favorite recipe, possibly ever. The best Make Ahead Lasagna uses three kinds of cheese, two different meats, one fantastic homemade tomato sauce, and oodles of real noodles that require absolutely zero boiling. It all adds up to an award-winning, freezer-friendly recipe I’ve been making (and loving) for over a decade.

The Best Make Ahead Lasagna-Culinary Hill

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The Best Make Ahead Lasagna

The most viewed make ahead lasagna recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine