Hearty Meat Lasagna

3 from 2 votes

We have been long overdue for an update to this hearty meat lasagna recipe! I have been working on making it the BEST classic lasagna recipe ever, and this is finally it!

Prep Time30

Cook Time55

Total Time1 25

Course: 100 + BEST Easy Beef Recipes for Dinner

Keyword: beef, cheese, italian, lasagna, meat, sauce

Servings:

Author: Sweet Basil

Ingredients

Click for Meat Bolognese Sauce

Bechamel Sauce

4 Tablespoons Butter
4 Tablespoons Flour
2 1/2 Cups Whole Milk
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon Pepper or to taste
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Lasagna Ingredients

1 Box Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles or 12 cooked lasagna noodles- see notes
1 1/2 Cups Fresh Parmesan
2 1/2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Meat Sauce

Prepare the bolognese sauce and set aside.

For the Bechamel Sauce

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
4 Tablespoons Butter
Sprinkle the flour in while whisking and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour paste cooks and bubbles a bit to cook out the flour taste.
4 Tablespoons Flour
Slowly add in the milk while whisking continuously. Bring this mixture to a boil and then turn to a steady simmer on medium low to allow the sauce to thicken. Add in the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Reduce to low heat, and cook, stirring, 2–3 minutes more. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2 1/2 Cups Whole Milk, 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt, 1/4 teaspoon Pepper, 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

For the Lasagna

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pulse the parmesan in a blender or food processor until you have 1 1/2 cups. Set aside 1/4 cup for the topping.
1 1/2 Cups Fresh Parmesan
Cover the bottom of a 9x13 with 1 cup of the meat sauce (avoiding large chunks of meat).
Place 3 noodles on the bottom of the dish, two vertical and one horizontal at the end usually works best.
1 Box Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
Spoon 1 1/4 cups of the meat sauce evenly over the noodles followed by 1/4 of the bechamel sauce. Use an angled cake knife or spoon to spread the two sauces evenly over the pasta.
Top with a heaping 1/3 cup fresh parmesan and repeat the layers 4 times.
On the top layer, add the sauce, bechamel, smooth everything out and add the mozzarella.
2 1/2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese
Spray foil with nonstick spray and place over lasagna.
Bake 25 min then remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbly and spotty brown, about 25 min.
Sprinkle with leftover parmesan cheese, allow to rest 10-15 min and serve!

Notes

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water to they don't stick together and keep cooking.
The bolognese can be made up to 4 days in advance or made and frozen.
The bechamel can be made up to 3 days in advance or frozen.
The entire lasagna can be assembled 1 day in advance.
The no boil noodles are so easy to use, however they will absorb a bit more of the sauce so make sure you add a little more if you're using those noodles.

Nutrition