This post may contain references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Oh Sweet Basil may receive compensation when you click on links to such products.
Guess what is totally awesome about my husband? He cooks. And he does a dang good job at it. For mother’s day this year Cade busted out his own lasagna recipe for me and while I was a little hesitant when I saw him adding aged cheddar from Kerry Gold I chose to not say anything and just appreciate what he was doing for me. And then I had his easy homemade lasagna and good mercy it was good! In fact I’d say it is tied with my hearty meat lasagna!
In fact, are you following me on instagram, @ohsweetbasil? I posted about how I had dumped the pan of leftovers into a huge pot with broth and we had “lasagna soup” the next night. That was just as blasted delicious as the original recipe. When he knocks out a recipe he seriously kills it. Sometimes I’m convinced that men are secretly much more amazing cooks than what we give them credit for. I think a lot of them just don’t try.
Which kind of makes me wonder about my dad. The man made awesome oatmeal raisin cookies growing up and to this day he makes my favorite omelets, but that was pretty much it. Now that all 5 of us kids (ok, who just had a heart attack? Yes, there are 5 of us) are all grown up and gone I actually see him in the kitchen with mom quite a bit more, but those were the two things I loved for him to make. And his omelets, well just put a tack in that one because I think I’m going to be brave enough to post the recipe because A. it’s delicious and still my preferred recipe, and B. the secret ingredient will never be guessed by any of you. Ever.
And if you’re smart you’ll whip up a batch of this famous lasagna for fathers day with some delicious, crusty, garlic bread because who eats lasagna without sopping up the sauce with bread?!
Can Lasagna Be Frozen Before it is Baked?
You can freeze lasagna before it is baked.
Make sure you assemble the lasagna in a freezer-safe container, and then place in the freezer.
Lasagna can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Do You Thaw Frozen Lasagna Before Baking?
Freshly prepared lasagna that is then frozen to be eaten later will need to be thawed first before baking.
Frozen lasagna that was purchased in a store is made to be baked frozen.
How Long Will Lasagna Keep In The Refrigerator?
Left-over lasagna will keep for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
It should be covered well or kept in an airtight container.
Easy Homemade Lasagna with Sweet Cheddar
Easy Homemade Lasagna with Sweet Cheddar
Ingredients
- 1 Package No Boil Lasagna Noodles
- 5 Cups Whole-Milk Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- 3 Cups Sweet Cheddar Cheese, grated
For the sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Medium Onion, chopped fine
- 8 Cloves Garlic, minced or pressed
- 2/3 Pound Ground Beef
- 1/3 Pound Italian Sausage, ground
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 2 teaspoons Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 Tablespoon Basil, chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried)
- 2 teaspoons Parsley, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 2 Cans Pureed Tomatoes, 28 oz each
- 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes, drained (28 oz each)
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
for the ricotta layer
- 15 Ounces Part Skim Ricotta
- 2 1/2 Ounces Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, chopped
- 1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Heat the oil and butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking.1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 Tablespoon Butter
- add the onion and cook stirring occasionally for about 2min.1 Medium Onion
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 min.8 Cloves Garlic
- Increase the heat to med-high and add the meat, salt and pepper; cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon.2/3 Pound Ground Beef, 1/3 Pound Italian Sausage, 2 teaspoons Salt, 2 teaspoons Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- cook until the meat has lost its raw color, but has not browned, about 4 min.
- Add the cream and simmer, stirring occasionally until the liquid evaporates and only the fat remains, about 4 min.1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
- Add the herbs, pureed, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste, and bring to a simmer; reduce to low and simmer slowly until the flavors blend, about 3 min.1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, 1 Tablespoon Basil, 2 teaspoons Parsley, 2 Cans Pureed Tomatoes, 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
- set aside. (the sauce can be cooled and stored for 2 days and then reheated and assembled.)
for the layers
- In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 cup of the parmesan, basil, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl with a fork until well combined.15 Ounces Part Skim Ricotta, 2 1/2 Ounces Parmesan Cheese, 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, 1 Large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon Salt, 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- set aside.
- Cover the bottom of a 9x13 with 1/2 cup of the meat sauce (avoiding large chunks of meat) place 3-5 noodles on the bottom of the dish, depending on the noodle size.1 Package No Boil Lasagna Noodles
- Spread 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture down the center of each noodle, pressing down with the back of a spoon.
- cover with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup of the cheddar.5 Cups Whole-Milk Mozzarella Cheese, 3 Cups Sweet Cheddar Cheese
- Spoon 1 1/2 cup of the meat sauce evenly over the cheese.
- repeat the layers ending with the cup of mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan and the extra sweet cheddar if there is any.
- Spray some foil with nonstick spray and place over lasagna.
- bake 15 min then remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbly and spotty brown, about 25 min.
- cool 10 min and serve!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just got this in the oven and am super excited to try it (took so much longer to prep and make than I estimated!) Just curious if anyone else has about 2x as much meat sauce and sweet cheddar as they need. Even reviewing the recipe, which calls for 3 cups of sweet cheddar, but only uses 1/3 cup per layer. Are there supposed to be 9 layers? 🙂 Same with the meat sauce. 56 oz of tomatoes plus other stuff, enough to fill a large dutch oven as it calls for, was wayyyy more than I could ever fit into 3-4 layers of lasagna. Ran just a little short on the ricotta, so I’m confused.
Happy to have leftover sauce for spaghetti in any case 🙂
AHA! I was convinced that we ended up with WAY more layers in ours every time than our other recipes (although the ricotta is always sparse as we like it barely there). I say just dump on each layer and move on then set aside leftovers for a baked skillet dish. 🙂 Sorry!
This lasagna is GORGEOUS! I was all like “whaaa? cheddar in lasagna?” but ya know what? That actually sounds FANTASTIC!
OMG!!!! This is comfort food at its best!!!!! And Lasagna soup??????????? I am DROOOOLING already!!!!!
That darn soup is one thing I can never turn down!
This looks incredible!
wow, that does look good. I’m trying this one!
hope you like it!
This lasagna recipe looks amazing and something that we would all enjoy.
This looks incredible!!
The recipe looks wonderful. Where would I find the sweet cheddar cheese for this recipe? Thanks.
We got ours at Costco!