Make a delicious cheesy lasagna with mildly spicy Italian sausage. This homemade lasagna sauce is 100% better than using jarred marinara sauce because the texture is better and it has so much more flavor. This will be the only layered lasagna recipe you need!
Why You’ll Love This Layered Lasagna
- Flavor: This lasagna has hearty meat sauce, layers of cheese and layers of pasta. It’s not a classic bolognese sauce, there is no ground beef and no milk in the sauce. The lasagna is layered with so much cheesy goodness! This
- Nutrition: Good source of calcium, protein and vitamin A.
- Notable: Great meal to make ahead and freeze or bring to a friend who needs a meal.
TRY THIS NEXT: Try this Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup Copycat recipe.
Ingredients
For a full printable Italian sausage lasagna ingredients list and instructions are in the recipe card below.
Lasagna Sauce Ingredients
- 1 pound ground mild Italian pork sausage
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed (1 teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 28 ounce crushed tomatoes, do not drain
- 28 ounce tomato sauce
Ricotta Cheese Mixture Ingredients
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
Additional Lasagna Ingredients
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2.5-3 cups low moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded (I don’t recommend fresh mozzarella cheese for this recipe)
- 12 dried lasagna noodles
Optional Garnish
Fresh parsley or fresh basil
Variations and Substitutions
Spices: Substitute spices in the pasta sauce with Italian seasoning. Use 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning instead of dried parsley and dried basil. In the ricotta cheese mixture use 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning instead of the dried parsley and dried oregano.
Sausage: Substitute ground beef or hot Italian sausage for the mild sausage. You can also substitute ground chicken or ground turkey.
Noodles: Substitute no boil lasagna noodles.
Tomatoes: Substitute diced canned tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes if you prefer.
Tools Needed
This easy lasagna recipe requires:
- Large baking dish (9×13-inch casserole dish)
- large pot for boiling noodles
- Large skillet or pot for making lasagna sauce
- Medium or large bowl for cheese mixture
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Cheese grater or food processor with cheese grating attachment
Instructions
Full step-by-step meat lasagna recipe instructions are in the recipe card below. You can print or save to Pinterest for later.
Prep (5 minutes): Measure spices and ricotta cheese, dice onions and shred cheese.
Make Lasagna Sauce (55 minutes): Heat a large pot over medium heat. Cook ground sausage, onion and garlic until sausage is cooked and the onion is translucent. Break up the sausage as it cooks into small pieces. Scrape the bottom of pan to prevent the meat and onions from sticking and get all those cooked brown bits off the pan and into the meat sauce. Drain the grease.
Add in 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil, 1 teaspoon sugar, 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes and 28 ounce can of tomato sauce. Then stir until combined.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom. Sauce will begin to thicken.
Boil noodles and make ricotta mixture while sauce is cooking.
Make Ricotta Mixture (5 minutes): In a large bowl or a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese (15 oz), ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese, 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley, and 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano. Mix until combined.
Boil Noodles (20 minutes): If you are not using no-boil noodles, fill a large stock pot about half full of cold water, add a dash of salt. Bring salted water to a boil. Follow package instructions for cooking noodles al dente. You want tender noodles but not mushy noodles. Drain noodles and lay flat on parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together while you layer the lasagna.
Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 350°F.
Layer Lasagna (5 minutes):
- Spread 1 cup of meat sauce on the bottom of a 13×9-inch baking dish.
- Top with 3 lasagna noodles.
- Spread ⅔ cup of ricotta cheese mixture over the lasagna noodles.
- Spread 1 cup of meat mixture over ricotta.
- Sprinkle ⅔ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese over the lasagna sauce.
- Repeat with 3 lasagna noodles over the lasagna sauce.
- Spread ⅔ cup of ricotta cheese mixture.
- Cover with 1 cup sauce mixture.
- Sprinkle with ⅔ cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Top with 3 more lasagna noodles.
- Spread ⅔ cup of ricotta cheese over the noodles.
- Spread 1 cup of sauce mixture over the ricotta.
- Sprinkle with ⅔ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Top with 3 final lasagna noodles.
- Spread remaining sauce over noodles.
- Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Finally for the last layer, sprinkle remaining shredded parmesan cheese over the layered lasagna.
Bake: Cover with foil, making sure the foil doesn’t touch the cheese or it will stick to the cheese when it melts. Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the lasagna is hot and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let baked lasagna stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
Tips For The Best Layered Lasagna
- Do not skip the simmer stage of the lasagna sauce. Simmering helps deepen the flavors and thicken the sauce.
- Use mildly spicy or spicy Italian sausage. Do not use sweet Italian sausage.
- Cover the noodles with sauce. Whether your noodles are boiled or no-boil noodles, make sure they’re completely covered with the sauce layer. This will prevent them from becoming dried and chewy once cooked.
- Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before cutting. This gives the layered lasagna time to settle, cool and the sauce to thicken so it isn’t runny.
What To Serve With Lasagna
Serve lasagna once it’s cooled for 15 minutes. While I love to eat lasagna on it’s own, try serving it with one of these:
Side Salad: Make a Green Greek Salad or other side salad. Fun fact, eating a salad before your carbs helps prevent glucose spikes. (citation)
Bread or Rolls: Make a crusty french bread or some Lion House Rolls.
Steamed Veggies: Steam your favorite veggies or cook some broccoli in the Instant Pot, broccoli in the air fryer or broccoli roasted in the oven.
Wine: Lasagna pairs well with a red wine.
TRY THIS: If you love lasagna, try this Lasagna with Cottage Cheese.
Storing
Save leftover lasagna in the refrigerator. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating
Cover lasagna with aluminum foil in a baking dish and reheat in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes. Check the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer to make sure it’s heated through before removing from the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cook lasagna at 350°F for 30 minutes covered then 15 minutes uncovered.
If you freeze a homemade lasagna, cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350°F for 1 hour. Uncover and cook for 15 minutes until internal temperature is 165°F and cheese is melted.
Most American lasagnas have 4 layers due to the size of the lasagna noodle box in the United States.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Greek Salad: Make this as a meal or a side salad.
- 15 One Pot Pasta Recipes: Use just one pot to make your pasta dinner.
- 13 Homemade Mac and Cheese Recipes: Everything from simple to complicated. These are delicious!
- Cheesy Garlic Rolls With Bacon: Spend 15 minutes making some delicious dinner rolls.
- Lasagna Recipe with Cottage Cheese: I hate cottage cheese but LOVE lasagna with cottage cheese!
Layered Lasagna with Italian Sausage Recipe
Ingredients
Lasagna Sauce Ingredients
- 1 lb ground Italian pork sausage
- 1 small yellow onion sliced
- 1 clove garlic 1 teaspoon
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 ½ tsps dried basil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz tomato sauce
Ricotta Cheese Mixture Ingredients
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 ½ tsps dried parsley
- 1 ½ tsps dried oregano
Additional Lasagna Ingredients
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 3 cups low moisture mozzarella cheese shredded
- 12 lasagna noodles
Instructions
- Place sausage, onion and garlic n a large pot over medium heat. Brown ground pork sausage, breaking it into pieces as it cooks. Cook until pork is cooked through and onions are translucent.
- Add dried parsley, dried basil, sugar, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stirl to combine.
- Bring to a boil then turn heat to low and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Boil noodles and make ricotta cheese mixture while sauce cooks.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, 1 ½ tsps of dried parsley and 1 ½ tsps dried oregano. Stirl to combine.
- Boil noodles according to package instructions. Drain and lay flat on parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spread 1 cup lasagna sauce in a 9×13-inch pan.
- Make layer 1 of the lasagna. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, ⅔ cup ricotta cheese mixture, 1 cup sauce and top with ⅔ cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat 2 more times.
- Layer last 3 noodles on top. Spread remaining meat sauce on top of noodles and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with foil, making sure the foil doesn't touch the cheese on top.
- Place in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
- Remove from oven. Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting into 12 pieces.
Notes
Tips For The Best Layered Lasagna
- Do not skip the simmer stage of the lasagna sauce. Simmering helps deepen the flavors and thicken the sauce.
- Use mildly spicy or spicy Italian sausage. Do not use sweet Italian sausage.
- Cover the noodles with sauce. Whether your noodles are boiled or no-boil noodles, make sure they’re completely covered with the sauce layer. This will prevent them from becoming dried and chewy once cooked.
- Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before cutting. This gives the layered lasagna time to settle, cool and the sauce to thicken so it isn’t runny.
What To Serve With Lasagna
Serve lasagna once it’s cooled for 15 minutes. While I love to eat lasagna on it’s own, try serving it with one of these: Side Salad: Make an Italian salad or other side salad. Fun fact, eating a salad before your carbs helps prevent glucose spikes. (citation) Bread or Rolls: Make a crusty french bread or some Lion House Rolls. Steamed Veggies: Steam your favorite veggies or cook some broccoli in the Instant Pot, broccoli in the air fryer or broccoli roasted in the oven. Wine: Lasagna pairs well with a red wine.Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Jamie says
One of my all-time favorite comfort food! This lasagna looks absolutely delicious and yummy! The texture and juiciness it gives make it so an enticing and tempting dish!
Ann says
Lasagna is such a staple recipe in any house! This lasagna recipe was delicious! I did have to substitute for the ricotta cheese – I couldn’t find! But it still turned out so flavorful!
Dennis Jun says
They look so fat and delicious. Probably would be a better choice for breakfast than dinner. In the evening I usually enjoy a little dessert, some drinks and play hill climb racing.
April Nelson says
Mama mia this was tasty. I want to use the sauce for a baked ziti or something too. It is really good.
Suzanne says
Tastes like my moms lasagne. She used to make it every sunday when I was growing up.
John says
Can you add vegetables?
John says
I made 2 of these and froze one. So yummy. Great tips.
Madeline says
New favorite recipe. Putting it into the monthly rotation along with your enchiladas, which are also delicious!
JJ says
I simplified things a bit by using a jar of marinara. Still really good!