Ultimate Meat Lasagna

12 Servings
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ultimate Meat Lasagna with four cheeses, homemade marinara and a few chef tricks tastes like it’s from your favorite Italian restaurant.

Easy and comforting baked Italian Recipes will fill your home with an amazing aroma, and feed a crowd of hungry bellies too! Once you’ve mastered this Ultimate Meat Lasagna, try other kid-friendly favorites like Baked Million Dollar Spaghetti, Cheese Beef Pasta Bake, or Cheesy Manicotti.

Meat Lasagna on plate.

This easy lasagna recipe has been in development since my 7th grade home economics class. Over the years the recipe has been changed probably over a hundred times, but in the last 5 years it has not changed a single time. It’s finally gotten to a place that it is truly the Ultimate Meat Lasagna.

This recipe contains some restaurant tricks to take this lasagna to the next level. Homemade Quick and Easy Marinara may not be a real “secret” but it is going to make the biggest difference in the flavor of your lasagna. You can use most levels of quality of cheese and sort of get away with it, but use a sauce that isn’t full of delicious flavors? You’ll immediately notice the difference.

Ultimate Meat Lasagna Collage of meat and sauce cooking

This recipe also uses all beef, but the sausage flavor in most restaurant lasagnas is easy to duplicate. To do that easily here without using sausage, you’ll add in some fennel seeds when browning the beef and brown it in larger chunks. This gives the distinct sausage flavor and the larger chunks of beef help mimic the sausage texture.

Lastly, adding an egg and seasoning the ricotta cheese will up the richness of it and makes it taste a little less grainy than ricotta normally tastes. Serve this Ultimate Meat Lasagna with some your favorite Olive Garden Salad and some delicious and easy Garlic Bread for a complete Italian feast!

Ultimate Meat Lasagna Collage of assembly

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best noodles for lasagna?

Classic noodles are favored for recipes where you boil the noodles, but this recipe calls for the no boil noodles for ease and for the look. The noodles resemble handmade noodles more and serve in a neater way.

How do I serve the perfect slice of lasagna?

When serving, let the lasagna cool for an hour or more, cut the slice with a very sharp knife. Remove with two spatulas to ensure no breakage. Top with additional marinara, additional cheese and brown in a 425 degree oven until browned and bubbly. This makes each slice feel like their own “order” with its own set of bubbly cheese and overflowing with marinara sauce.

What size baking pan should I use for Meat Lasagna?

This baking pan will give you the perfect edges and handle more filling. Glass pans won’t cut it for this recipe.

Ultimate Meat Lasagna sliced in baking dish

How to Store Ultimate Meat Lasagna

  • Serve: Do not leave Meat Lasagna at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
  • Store: Once cooled, cover tightly and store in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
  • Freeze: Make the lasagna and let it cool completely (put it in the fridge). Then slice the lasagna and freeze in single serving quantities. To reheat, add additional sauce on the top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Ultimate Meat Lasagna slice on plate with salad

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Ultimate Meat Lasagna

Ultimate Meat Lasagna with four cheeses, homemade marinara and a few chef tricks tastes like it's from your favorite Italian restaurant.
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 6 cups marinara sauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 box lasagna noodles , (flat no boil noodles)
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 pound Provolone cheese , sliced
  • 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese , sliced
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • In a large pot, brown the beef in one large piece until it is browned on the bottom, 2-3 minutes, breaking apart the beef into slightly larger chunks.
  • Cook until the beef is browned and add in the basil, oregano, 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, crushed red pepper flakes and fennel seeds.
  • Stir until you start to smell the fennel seeds starting to toast then drain the fat and add in the marinara sauce.
  • In your ricotta container, if you have space, add the egg and ½ teaspoon Kosher salt and mix well.
  • Add your no boil noodles to the meat sauce (you are not looking to cook them, just coat them in the sauce to ensure they don't get dry in the oven).
  • Put 1 ½ cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan (use one with straight sides for easy assembly and for added height. If you are using a glass baking pan with curved sides it may not be large enough to fit this quantity of food).
  • Add the dried no boil noodles in an even layer, for this pan it was 5 noodles per layer, four across and one broken in half lengthwise to go down the side of the pan.
  • Add ⅓ the provolone slices, another 1 ½ cups of the meat sauce, ¼ of the mozzarella, ¼ of the parmesan and ⅓ of the ricotta in spoonfuls dotting across the pan.
  • Repeat with the same noodle/cheese/meat sauce process.
  • Finally, add a top layer of lasagna noodles and cover with remaining Parmesan and mozzarella. Cover with foil.
  • Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional ten minutes to brown the cheese.
  • Let cool for 20-25 minutes before serving.
  • Garnish with parsley.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 1626mg | Potassium: 771mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1115IU | Vitamin C: 8.6mg | Calcium: 444mg | Iron: 3.8mg
Keyword: Ultimate Meat Lasagna
Ultimate Meat Lasagna Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post:

meat lasagna collage of pictures
four cheese and meat lasagna
slice of meat lasagna on plate

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. If you make it the night before and refrigerate it, how long and at what temperature does it need to be reheated?

    1. I would place it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Make sure to cover with foil and you may even want to add a bit of water or extra marinara to the top before covering so it doesn’t dry out upon reheating. Enjoy!

  2. Hi Sabrina, Making your lasagna in few days…is the provolone and mozzarella thin sliced, normal deli sliced or a little thicker?
    love the tips!

  3. I’m really excited to make this recipe tonight but I’m a little confused by dipping the no boil noodles in the sauce because then in step 8 it says dried noodles? Should I be dipping them in the sauce and then patting them dry? This is my first time making lasagna! Thank you!

    1. Sorry if it seems confusing. There’s no need to cook the noodles. You just want to place them in the sauce to coat them and then you can start to assemble the lasagna. Hope this helps! Good luck!

  4. I am planning to make 2 lasagnas for my family for Thanksgiving week. How many batches of the marinara sauce should I make to have enough for 2?

  5. What’s poppin, Sabrina?
    In our period three culinary class, we are having a lasagna bake off. Any words of advice for us???

    1. Yes!! Add more mozzerella cheese as the topping. Tent foil on top during baking so it doesn’t stick to the cheese. If you want a good brown color on the top, put it under the broiler for just a bit at the end but watch it very carefully (watch it like a hawk!). While under the broiler, leave the oven door open to watch. At the end, top it with shaved parmesan instead of shredded. I’m so excited for you!! Good luck!

  6. I pre-made this tonight for a gathering tomorrow and have a question. I made your marinara first, but the recipe made 4 cups. Then the lasagna called for 6 cups marinara, so I had to go back to the store and get more ingredients! Should it be doubled? I also had to end the layers with meat sauce on top of the last noodles (with mozzarella on that) since there was maybe 1.5-2c left. Should the recipe have been only 4c sauce?

    1. I typically make it with just the 4 cups, so doubling is more than I’ve ever used. That being said I think you’ll likely be just fine for a couple of reasons. First lasagna is beyond forgiving on ratios in general because of the pasta. Pasta is basically a sponge and additional liquids will soak right up. Second if you made it for tomorrow you will absolutely see that the level of liquids in the lasagna is not in excess.

      Either way you’re good to go. Sometimes I even add a bit of water if i find the sauce is just shy of where i want it to be, so more sauce isn’t a bad thing.

      Hope you enjoy the lasagna!

  7. This recipe is amazing!!! Best lasagna recipe I’ve EVER tried. I seasoned the beef differently per my own tastes but the recipe itself is just incredible. My family polished off the whole pan in one sitting!!

  8. This looks sooo good,my kids just love lasagna in restaurants so hopefully this will be as good, it sure looks like it!! I wonder if there is a how-to video as well?? I’m no genius in the kitchen and I love seeing how I’m supposed to do it..

  9. Red pepper flakes are in the list of ingredients, but you never tell us when to add them.

    Also, you should add the step where you cover the pan with foil. I get this is a no brainer, but an idiot like me will forget, read the instructions that say to uncover it, PANIC because it’s been in the oven for 10 minutes already, lift the heavy pan with one hand, realize their flimsy wrist can’t handle all this weight, and then watch in horror as the pan falls from their hand and the contenst spill out ALL OVER THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN.

    1. Not sure if it’s a glitch or if I was having a glitch when this was written, haha!
      I added in the missing red pepper flakes and made it clear to cover before putting it in the oven.
      Thanks for catching that!

  10. My in laws were visiting from Korea and wanted lasagna one night. I hadn’t made it in 5 years so I searched the web and found this easy recipe. I used some Korean pepper flakes instead of crushed pepper to add a tiny twist. They loved it so much I had to make another batch! Thank you!

  11. I LOOOOVE your blog and your wonderful recipes! Thank you so much for all your time and dedication to be one of the best food blogs ever!

  12. I agree, I think making your marina sauce is a huge part of a great tasting lasagna, this is a great recipe loaded with so many amazing flavors…..some really great tips too!

  13. I just made lasagna the other night, but this looks so good that I can’t wait to try your recipe. Love that you add fennel!

  14. This sounds delicious! I really like you marina recipe. I also LOVE the tip about how to serve it. I bet that makes all of the difference.

  15. Hi! We are making this right now and I see in the list of ingredients there is red pepper flakes and fresh parsley – both which I have but it doesn’t say in the directions when to use them. Just curious if and when they should go in . lol. Thank you

    1. Opps, sorry about that. You can add the red pepper flakes and half of the parsley in with step 4. At the end, garnish the lasagna with the rest of the parsley. Enjoy!!

    1. Yes, this can be made and frozen ahead of time. I would thaw it in the refrigerator the night before and just know that the cooking time may need to be extended. Enjoy!

  16. Your lasagna looks amazing ! Im gonna make it tonight .I already know it will be so delicious.my husband will be humming thru dinner . lasagna is one of his favs cant wait .thanks for sharing your love.

    1. Yes, this can be made and frozen ahead of time. I would thaw it in the refrigerator the night before and just know that the cooking time may need to be extended. Enjoy!

  17. Your recipes looks amazing.  My question is my son in law wil not eat beef and I was wondering if substituting sausage would hurt the recipe too much?  

  18. I love a good meat lasagna. I just posted a recipe for a vegetable lasagna that I love, but sometimes I just want that nice meaty, cheesy taste! This looks like a great recipe, I’m excited to give it a try. Can you tell a difference between the no-boil noodles and the ones you have to cook>

    1. Absolutely! Freeze in portions for easiest defrosting and sprinkle with some water and cover with wet paper towel in the microwave or with foil in the oven. The extra water (1-2 tablespoons) will help tremendously.

  19. This sounds absolutely delicious!
    One question, on step 12, provolone is listed twice. Should one of those be parmesan?
    Thanks

  20. Lasagna is seriously one of my favorite foods of all time! This seriously does look like the ultimate!

  21. What a gorgeous lasagna! Love that you’ve added a bit of crushed red pepper flakes to it. Beautiful photos, I want to dive right in!

  22. I want to take a big bite of this lasagna, it looks so gooey and cheesy and absolutely delicious! Love it.

  23. Wow this looks delicious. I have not made lasagna in for ever but I think i should soon after seeing this one! Looks fantastic.

  24. Very seldom I serve lasagna for my family since it would come out big portion for us…. But yours is sssooo provoke me to make it cause I’m sure will finish soon…looks awesome Sabrina!

  25. I love how you included your “secrets” tips and tricks like this is what is really missed in some recipes. Great job. I love lasagna.

  26. My husband would love this 😀 He’s always asking for lasagna – I’ll be making this recipe the next time he asks!

  27. You have some clever tricks in here–the fennel seed especially is one I should have thought of! My husband would adore this lasagna!

    1. I used regular sliced, anything more won’t really add to the overall flavors which are predominantly the meat and sauce. The cheese mixture is just more of a salty creamy counterpart to the pasta, meat and sauce.

  28. My parents used to have an Italian restaurant when I was younger and the lasagna was my favorite comfort food. They always made it the day before so it could meld together the flavors and then heated it up, sliced it, and topped with cheese. Under the broiler it went and that little bit of extra gooey cheese on the top was the best! I am going to have to try the fennel seed trick when I am making my beef mixture! Thanks for some great tips:)

    1. Yes!! It was one of my favorite tricks for making each slice look pretty for clients too. Everyone wants as much browned gooey cheese on top as possible. 🙂