The Best Lasagna Recipe You'll Ever Make

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 0.75 pound lean ground beef
• 0.5 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 0.5 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 1.5 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1.5 teaspoons salt, divided, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 0.5 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 0.25 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg egg
• 0.75 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 0.75 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Prepare all of your ingredients beforehand.
2. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, diced onion, and minced garlic over medium heat until the meat is thoroughly browned.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water to the pot. Season generously with sugar, 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, dried basil, 1 teaspoon of salt, Italian seasoning blend, fennel seeds, and black pepper. Cover and simmer for approximately 1 ½ hours, stirring every so often.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook lasagna pasta noodles in the boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes until al dente. Drain the noodles completely and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking.
5. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine ricotta cheese with a beaten egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
6. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
7. To assemble the lasagna, spread 1 ½ cups of the prepared meat sauce evenly in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 lasagna noodles lengthwise over the meat sauce, slightly overlapping each other. Spread 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon another 1 ½ cups of meat sauce over the mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
8. Repeat these layers once more, then top the lasagna with the remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. To prevent sticking, either spray the foil with cooking spray or ensure that the foil doesn't touch the cheese directly.
9. Bake the lasagna in the preheated oven for 25 minutes with the foil on. Then, carefully remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
10. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition

• Calories: 448 kcal
• Fat Content: 21 g
• Fiber Content: 4 g
• Sugar Content: 9 g
• Sodium Content: 1400 mg
• Protein Content: 30 g
• Cholesterol Content: 82 mg
• Carbohydrate Content: 37 g
• Saturated Fat Content: 10 g
• Unsaturated Fat Content: 0 g