If you’re looking for a comforting homemade lasagna that’s packed with flavor, this Classic Beef Lasagna is a wonderful place to start. Layers of tender pasta, rich meat sauce, creamy ricotta, and melted mozzarella come together to create a family favorite that’s perfect for weeknight dinners or special occasions.

One of the things I love most about this recipe is how easy it is to customize. Once you’ve mastered this classic version, you can add your favorite vegetables, extra herbs, or different cheeses to make it your own.

If you’d like to make everything from scratch, pair this recipe with my Homemade Lasagna Sheets and Homemade Ricotta Cheese recipes. Both are surprisingly easy to make and add an extra homemade touch to your lasagna.

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While Testing This Recipe

These tips helped me get the best results:

• Don’t let the meat sauce become too dry. It should have enough moisture to cook the pasta while baking.
• If using homemade lasagna sheets, there’s no need to overcook them before assembling.
• Let the lasagna rest for 10–15 minutes after baking so the layers hold together when sliced.
• Freshly grated mozzarella melts more evenly than pre-shredded cheese.
• Homemade ricotta gives the filling an even creamier texture.

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Classic Beef Lasagna

Classic Beef Lasagna is made with layers of tender pasta, rich beef and tomato sauce, creamy ricotta, and melted mozzarella cheese. It's an easy homemade lasagna that's perfect for family dinners, meal prep, and special occasions.

Course Main

Cuisine Italian

Dish: Classic Beef Lasagna

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Muna Kenny

Ingredients

• 8 Pre-boiled lasagna sheets to fit 9×9” pan

Tomato with beef sauce

• 400 gram ground beef
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ cup marinara sauce
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 celery stick finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

Ricotta layer

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Mozzarella layer

• 2 cups shredded mozzarella

Instructions

• In a hot pan, add the ground beef and cook until water from the beef dries. Add the onion and garlic, stir until onion is translucent.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the beef and cook on medium low until the beef is completely cooked. If the sauce looked dry add water, let it come to a boil, turn off heat, and keep it aside.
• In a mixing bowl, add all the ricotta layer ingredients and whisk well.
• Pre-heat the oven to 375F/190C.
• Grease a 9×9” baking pan and spread around 1/3 cup of beef sauce in the bottom of the baking pan.
• Add lasagna sheets to cover the bottom, spread a layer of ricotta mixture, then sprinkle mozzarella cheese, and top it with some of the beef sauce. Repeat this step, let the last layer be the lasagna sheets.
• Spread Marinara sauce on the lasagna sheets, and sprinkle more mozzarella cheese on top.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

Notes

• Don’t let the meat sauce become too dry. It should have enough moisture to cook the pasta while baking.
• If using homemade lasagna sheets, there’s no need to overcook them before assembling.
• Let the lasagna rest for 10–15 minutes after baking so the layers hold together when sliced.
• Freshly grated mozzarella melts more evenly than pre-shredded cheese.
• Homemade ricotta gives the filling an even creamier texture.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Serving | Calories: 541kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 725mg | Potassium: 545mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 706IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 338mg | Iron: 3mg

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🥖 Perfect with

Garlic Knots

Olive Garden Breadsticks

Olive Bread

Avocado Chicken Salad

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