No-Boil Lasagna Using Regular Noodles
I’m sure this tip is well known, but once I discovered it, making lasagna was never the same. It’s true that regular noodles can be used to make lasagna without having to be boiled beforehand. It’s pretty amazing.
I’ve only ever made traditional lasagna once, and I immediately concluded it was too difficult for me to do again. I just didn’t think it was worth it to fiddle with boiling a big pot of water and burn my fingers on hot lasagna noodles.
My entire perspective was altered when I discovered that you could still make delicious lasagna without boiling the noodles. This method makes cooking lasagna a snap. Try it. I know you’ll feel the same.
I should point out that I only used homemade tomato sauce for this recipe, which has a tendency to be a little runnier than tomato sauce from the store. Although I don’t think it matters much, if you think it might, you can add 1/4 cup of water to your sauce to give the noodles a little extra liquid to absorb while they cook.
Lasagna with Ricotta or Cottage Cheese?
Growing up, cottage cheese and lasagna were a constant in my diet. Because I didn’t like the texture of ricotta, my mother would always substitute cottage cheese in lasagna.
These days I’m more tolerant of ricotta in lasagna. In this recipe, you can use ricotta or cottage cheese. Use the same amount for either cheese you choose. You can even mix cottage cheese and ricotta cheese together. Both are delicious, but ricotta is more authentic.
The majority of the basic ingredients for this lasagna are pantry staples.
A few notes:
- Ground beef and Italian sausage. A combination of these two meats give the best flavor. If you’d like, you can use our homemade Italian sausage seasoning to season ground pork.
- Spaghetti sauce. This tastes great with a premade spaghetti sauce or a store-bought sauce like Rao’s marinara.
- Lasagna noodles. We don’t specifically use oven-ready lasagna noodles. If you follow our instructions, you can use regular lasagna noodles and they should cook just fine.
✨ See the recipe cardfor the full ingredient list. ✨
How to Make this Easy Lasagna
To prepare, preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- The sausage and ground beef should be browned together in a big skillet over medium heat. Drain off and discard any fat. Add the minced garlic and spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Combine the ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, eggs, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt, and ground black pepper in a big bowl. Mix well.
- Before assembling, coat the bottom of the baking pan with ¾ cup of sauce. Cover the bottom with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles. Place a ¼ of the sauce and ⅓ of the cheese mixture on top. Repeat layers (noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce).
- Add 3 noodles, the remaining sauce, and the last cup of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese to the top layer.
- Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Cover with the pan with aluminum foil (sprayed side down). This prevents the cheese from sticking. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Ten minutes should pass before slicing and serving the lasagna.
If your sauce is thick and hearty, brush the pan’s edges with ½ cup water. You won’t need as much water if your sauce is runnier, like Rao’s marinara or Old World Style Ragu.
