Pasta is one of our family’s favorite meals — pretty much any type of pasta.
The kids love it, Dave and I love it, it’s usually pretty quick and easy to make, it freezes well, and it uses relatively inexpensive ingredients.
Win, win, win, win… win!
One of our favorite pasta dishes is lasagna. I know some people don’t care for ricotta or cottage cheese, but our kids LOVE it (Dave and I like it too)… so lasagna regularly shows up on our weekly meal plans.
I used to think lasagna was SO much work and I dreaded making it. Often, I’d make 2 or 3 at a time and put 2 in the freezer for later. However, the frozen lasagna always seemed to take forever to defrost, and then forever to bake so the top and edges would often get slightly burnt or dried out before the middle was fully heated through.
In lieu of more time-consuming lasagna, I started making this Lasagna Pasta Bake a couple years ago, as it makes a smaller batch. However, I still needed to boil the noodles and make the sauce ahead of time.
As we add more children to our family, the time I have available for dinner prep continues to get shorter and shorter. So over the summer, I tried a few new ways of making our family favorite lasagna in an effort to find the most simplified, least time-consuming recipe that still tasted great.
THIS is what I came up with — and yes, I really can have it oven-ready in 10 minutes or less!!
For me, the best part about this recipe is that I can use regular lasagna noodles but I don’t have to boil them first (that’s my most hated part of making lasagna)! It speeds up the process considerably, it’s one less pan for me to wash, and it almost eliminates the possibility of broken noodles.
My 10-minute lasagna recipe is so quick and easy, I ALMOST listed it as a “Kids in the Kitchen” recipe… however, Nora didn’t want her pictures taken, so I didn’t push the issue.
That said, if you’re looking for a recipe to make with kids, or just a quick meal for a busy weeknight, this lasagna should definitely go on one of your upcoming menu plans.
Recipe for 10-Minute Lasagna
Serves 6 (makes a 7″ x 11″ pan)
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 regular lasagna noodles
- 1.5 to 2 jars (24 oz.) pasta sauce, or approximately 4 to 5c. homemade sauce
- 1 container (24 oz.) cottage or ricotta cheese
- 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian cheese blend (divided)
- 1 egg
- 1 t. dried basil
- 1 t. dried oregano
- 1 t. garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lb. cooked ground beef or sausage (optional)
- 1 c. water
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 375*F
- Grease a 7″ x 11″ baking dish and pour 1/4 c. sauce in the pan to cover the bottom
- In a medium bowl, mix together cottage cheese, 1 c. mozzarella cheese, egg, and seasonings
- Place 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. (there is no need to boil the noodles first!)
- Cover lasagna noodles with half of the cottage cheese mixture
- Pour 1/2 the remaining sauce over the cheese mixtures and sprinkle all the cooked meat over sauce
- Layer 3 more lasagna noodles over sauce
- Top with the remaining cottage cheese mixture and remaining sauce
- Pour 1 c. water over the sauce
- Sprinkle remaining 1 c. mozzarella cheese over the top
- Bake for 45-50 minutes in preheated oven
I was very skeptical the first time I tried my recipe because I had never tried not boiling the noodles first… however, Dave and I were both thrilled with how well it tasted — and Nora and Simon each had a full piece!
And since I made it in a 7″ x 11″ pan, we had just enough left over for one more meal and then everything was gone (no more eating lasagna for a whole week anymore!)
I have made this lasagna recipe many times since my first trial run — and every time, it continues to taste great.
As with all my recipes, please feel free to mix up the ingredients based on your family’s references. The only thing you need to make sure of is that there is PLENTY of sauce. Since the noodles are dry, they will absorb a lot of the sauce, and if you don’t have enough, the noodles will not get soft enough.
What is your go-to pasta recipe?
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Christine says
Made this again today! It’s so easy and delicious!
Andrea says
thanks so much for taking the time to let me know! I love it when other people also love our family’s favorite recipes!
Joy Eckstein says
I usually pour 1/4 cup of water around the edges of my lasagna. I use 1.5 jars of sauce + the water for a 9×13. A 7×11 doesnt feed us all anymore!
Andrea says
yeah, the 7×11 pan is a great size for us — it feeds us for one full meal with usually 1 piece leftover for Dave’s lunch. Sometimes I make more if I specifically want to have leftovers though 🙂
Allie says
I use egg roll wrappers instead of noodles. They cook quickly and taste great, especially the leftovers. The unbaked lasagne with egg roll wrappers even freezes perfectly. I also cannot tolerate the texture of ricotta or cottage cheese so I use a mixture of gouda, mozarella, and a little parmesan.
Andrea says
interesting — I’ll have to try this sometime!
Shannon Combs says
I have an easy peasy lasagne recipe too even thought it takes a little planning ahead.
My husband makes a killer homemade meat sauce for spaghetti, so evertime he makes it I have him double the recipe. (OK it’s not technically a recipe, he just kind of throws it together) and I freeze half.
When I want to make Lasagne I layer the sauce in a pan with frozen cheese ravioli and mozzerella and bake at 350 for 45min- 1hr. If I remember to make it the day before and let it thaw in the fridge overnight it only takes about 30-45 minutes to bake. I’ve even put this in the crockpot ( with one of those liners) for about 2-3hrs on high and it turned out ok, but the cheese doesn’t brown like it does in the oven.
Anyway, thought you might like this option too.
Andrea says
YUM!! Thanks for sharing Shannon!
Neka says
Hi, I just tried your recipe today and it turned out great. The only adjustment I made was to not pre-cook the meat still came out delicious, everyone enjoyed it. Thanks so much.
Andrea says
wow — good to know that even if I don’t have meat already cooked up, i could still get this meal in the oven fairly quickly! Thanks for sharing!
ShellyL says
I tried this last night for my family. I let it overcook a little because we were headed to church but it tasted delicious. My bunch loves it. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. This is definitely going into our meal rotation. Thanks for another winner. I love your simple recipe for us busy moms.
Andrea says
yay — glad you guys liked it!! and yes, it is SOOOOO easy!
Karynz says
Andrea,
Is that your garlic bread, on the plate, to the left of your lasagna? It looks delicious.
Andrea says
yes — we love garlic bread 🙂
Karynz says
I have also been making this recipe for years. My little secret! I use the Barilla no cook noodles mostly because of the size. They are smaller and I can use a 9×9 square pan. For two people, it is plenty for several meals. My family is not fond of Ricotta, so I use cottage cheese. as well. I have not been adding the egg to it but after reading you recipe, I might try it. Also, I was nervous about the liquid, so I add 1/2 can “Fire Roasted” diced tomatoes with the juice. The noodles are nice and moist. My family loves this recipe and I can put it in the oven in 10 minutes!
Stel says
I also thought that is how lasagne IS made ? 😀
I learnt about using ricotta or cottage or creme cheese last year – how brilliant is that! Never again will I slave over a bechamel sauce .
Arlene says
did you add frozen cooked meat or does it need to be defrosted first? Thanks!
Andrea says
you can do either — Mine is usually still frozen when I add it in 🙂
Kimi Graham says
Hey Andrea, just curious why you don’t use the “no boil” lasagna noodles? That’s all I use….
Your lasagna sure looks deeeelish!! 🙂
Andrea says
well, the main reason is because they are quite a bit more expensive at my grocery store… and also, they are much smaller so I’d need to use more noodles (making them even more expensive). Also, the only no-boil noodles at our grocery store are very flat and thin (they don’t have the bumps on the edges like regular lasagna noodles) and for some reason, I don’t like the taste/texture as much — but maybe it’s all in my head!
Shannon says
Sounds like a winner! At 48 I still can’t cook really well but I’ll be trying this for sure!
Andrea says
Haha — well if you can dump sauce from a jar and mix up the cheese mixture, you should be good to go!
Allison says
Why are you using cottage cheese and not ricotta?
Andrea says
You can use either (as I stated in the recipe). I just use Cottage Cheese because it’s less expensive!
JJ says
I can’t wait to try that when my daughter outgrows her dairy allergy! =)
Emily says
Looks delicious!!! Thanks for another great recipe to add to my list. Wondering if you have done any no pre-cooking freezer meals? I loaded up our freezer before baby. They were so easy to put together!!
Andrea says
No, I’ve never done “no pre-cooking freezer meals” but I would LOVE to learn more about them. Maybe I’ll have to google them. Thanks!
Kris says
My Mom has been making it this way for as long as I can remember (I am 43). It’s the best kept secret in my opinion. I haven’t boiled noodles in ages and I love it. Glad your family liked it. It makes life simpler and it makes it easier for kids who like to cook with Mom/Dad to help.
Andrea says
Yes, I’m so glad I know I don’t have to boil the noodles anymore. I might just have to start making all my pasta “casseroles” this way!
Shelly Smith says
Yup, once I “discovered” that I could use regular noodles without cooking them first (just add more liquid to the recipe, either more sauce or a little water) I have never gone back!! My least favorite part of making lasagna (boiling noodles) now eliminated! Yay!!
Andrea says
exactly… that’s my least favorite part too!