Lasagna is one of those meals that feels like it should be complicated.
Boil the noodles. Drain them without tearing them. Try to keep them from sticking together. Don’t burn your hands. Make the filling. Layer everything. Dirty half the kitchen.
Except…I don’t boil my lasagna noodles.
And I don’t buy special oven-ready noodles either.
I use regular lasagna noodles straight from the box, put the lasagna together like normal, pour a little water around the edges, cover it tightly with foil, and let the oven do the work.
It’s one of those little kitchen shortcuts that makes me wonder why I ever bothered boiling them in the first place.
Even better? Lasagna is a perfect make-one, freeze-one meal. If I’m already making the mess and pulling out all the ingredients, I’d much rather make two - - or even three.
One for supper.
One for the freezer.
And maybe another for one of those weeks when life gets especially busy.
❤️My Easy No-Boil Lasagna Recipe❤️
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef or sausage
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce, about 24 ounces (Like it saucier? Use more sauce.😊)
- 1 box regular lasagna noodles - - not oven-ready
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup water
I’m a big believer that it is ok to use the store-bought sauce your family already loves. There’s no prize for making dinner harder than it needs to be. If you have a batch of your homemade sauce…use that!
How I Make It:
Brown the ground beef or sausage and the chopped onion in a skillet. Drain any excess grease, then stir in your pasta sauce & seasonings.
In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta or cottage cheese with the egg, about half of the Parmesan, and a little Italian seasoning.
Spread a small amount of meat sauce over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Place a layer of dry, uncooked regular lasagna noodles over the sauce. You can break a noodle if needed to fit the pan.
Layer with part of the cheese mixture, meat sauce, and mozzarella.
Repeat the layers until your pan is full, finishing with sauce, mozzarella, and the remaining Parmesan.
Now comes the trick.
Carefully pour 1/2 cup water around the outside edges of the lasagna.
Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. You want to keep that steam inside because that’s what cooks and softens those noodles.
Bake at 375°F for about 45–50 minutes covered.
Remove the foil and bake another 10–15 minutes, or until everything is hot and bubbly and the cheese is nicely melted.
Let the lasagna rest for about 10–15 minutes before cutting. It slices much better after it has had a chance to settle.
And that’s it.
No pot of boiling water.
No slippery noodles.
No extra step.
Make Two While You’re At It
This is one of my favorite ways to keep the freezer stocked without having a big designated “freezer cooking day.”
If I’m making one lasagna, doubling the ingredients takes very little additional effort.
Farm Wife Tip: I use disposable aluminum pans if I’m making extra batches.
These are the ones I use:
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Double Batch — Serve 1 + Freeze 1
Use:
- 2 pounds ground beef or sausage
- 2 small onions
- 2 jars pasta sauce (or more)
- 2 boxes regular lasagna noodles
- 30 ounces ricotta or cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups mozzarella
- 1 cup Parmesan
- Seasonings as desired
- 1/2 cup water for the lasagna you’re baking now
Assemble two 9x13 pans.
Bake one for supper.
Freeze the second one uncooked.
I do not add the 1/2 cup water to the freezer lasagna before freezing. I add the water around the edges when I’m ready to bake it.
Triple Batch — Serve 1 + Freeze 2
If you have the freezer room, making three is even better.
Use:
- 3 pounds ground beef or sausage
- 3 small onions
- 3 jars pasta sauce (or more)
- 3 boxes regular lasagna noodles
- 45 ounces ricotta or cottage cheese
- 3 eggs
- 6 cups mozzarella
- 1 1/2 cups Parmesan
- Seasonings as desired
Assemble all three pans at the same time.
Bake one for supper and freeze the other two uncooked.
That means one evening of prep can give you three separate family suppers.
That’s my kind of meal prep.
How I Freeze Lasagna:
I assemble the lasagna completely, but leave it uncooked.
Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and then foil, or use a freezer-safe pan with a secure lid.
Label it with:
Lasagna — Uncooked
Date:________
Add 1/2 cup water around edges before baking
Freeze until needed. Frozen meals maintain their best quality if used within 3 months.
For best results, move it to the refrigerator the day before you plan to bake it and let it thaw.
Then remove the plastic wrap, add 1/2 cup water around the edges, cover tightly with foil, and bake as usual. A cold lasagna may need a little additional baking time, so make sure the center is completely heated through before serving.
Farm Wife Favorite Tip:
While I love a good freezer cooking session, you don’t have to spend an entire Saturday making twenty freezer meals to make freezer cooking worthwhile.
Sometimes it’s as simple as this:
Make the recipe you were already making - - just make more of it.
Brown two or three pounds of ground beef instead of one.
Set out two or three pans instead of one.
Layer them assembly-line style.
Bake & serve one tonight and put the extras in the freezer.
Those little habits add up, and before long you start building a freezer full of meals without feeling like you spent your whole life meal prepping.
And when one of those days rolls around?
You’ll be very glad there’s a lasagna waiting for you.
From my kitchen table to yours,
Kelley ~ Farm Wife Favorites 🤍
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