Classic Lasagna with Meat Sauce

11 Reviews
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Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Claire Spollen    
Hands-on Time
16 Mins
Total Time
1 Hour 6 Mins
Yield
Serves 6 (serving size: 1 piece)
By Ann Taylor Pittman
October 2014
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

This simple lasagna is perfect for when you're short on time, but craving a comforting meal. Ready in just over an hour, it requires only 50 minutes of cooking in the oven.

Extra-lean ground beef (which sometimes cooks up dry) works well here because it's combined with marinara to keep it moist. For a quick and easy variation, feel free to use 9 whole lasagna noodles instead of 6 broken noodles, using 3 noodles per layer. You also can sub fresh basil leaves for the parsley sprinkled on at the end.   

 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups fat-free ricotta cheese
  • 6 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, divided
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced and divided
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 12 ounces extra-lean ground beef (93% lean)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 (25-ounce) jar lower-sodium marinara sauce (such as Dell'Amore)
  • Cooking spray
  • 6 lasagna noodles, cooked
  • 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup)

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 378
  • Fat 15.3g
  • Satfat 6.8g
  • Monofat 6.3g
  • Polyfat 1g
  • Protein 27g
  • Carbohydrate 30g
  • Fiber 3g
  • Cholesterol 92mg
  • Iron 1mg
  • Sodium 591mg
  • Calcium 395mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°.

Step 2

Combine ricotta, 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) mozzarella, 2 tablespoons parsley, butter, oregano, 1 garlic clove, and egg; set aside.

Step 3

Place ground beef in a large non­stick skillet over medium-high heat; sprinkle with peppers and remaining 4 garlic cloves. Cook for 9 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble; drain. Return beef mixture to pan; stir in marinara sauce, and remove from heat.

Step 4

Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce in bottom of a broiler-safe 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cut bottom third off each noodle to form 6 long and 6 short noodles; cut short noodles in half to form 12 pieces. Arrange 2 long noodles along outside edges of dish; arrange 4 short noodle pieces along center of dish.

Step 5

Top noodles with 1 cup meat sauce. Top with 2 long noodles and 4 short noodle pieces, all of ricotta mixture, and 1 cup meat sauce. Arrange remaining 2 long noodles and 4 short noodle pieces on top. Spread remaining meat sauce over top noodles. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 4 ounces (1 cup) mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray.

Step 6

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until bubbly.

Step 7

Preheat broiler to high. (Keep lasagna in oven.)

Step 8

Broil lasagna for 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley; cut into 6 pieces.

Chef's Notes

MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov

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Ratings & Reviews

steponme's Review

MaryEliz
January 17, 2015
Great taste; you have to really try hard to mess up lasagna! I used 1 pound of ground beef, no boil noodles (skipping the noodle cutting) and put in a 9x13 inch baking pan (2 layers of noodles); came out great. Served with tossed green salad and wheat garlic bread.

CookinInColo's Review

thelinz5
November 14, 2014
This was a very good lasagna recipe. I agree that the noodle instructions were confusing. I tried to follow them but then didn't have enough noodles, so had to boil more. I'm glad I assembled the night before. I would just boil enough noodles for your pan.

corlearbay's Review

jane2346
November 08, 2014
Excellent! Rather than follow the noodle instructions, I trimmed the noodles and layered them as in a regular lasagna recipe. Worked well! Used 1 tsp dry oregano and 1 tsp parsley as fresh were not at hand. Also worked well! I did put a long piece of foil under the baking dish as some sauce liquid boiled over.( I always make my own sauce). I question the 16 minutes hands-on time...took quite a bit longer but worth the effort. Will certainly prepare again!

very good!

daneanp
October 20, 2015
not a big lasagna fan, but i thought this was the best one i've made!  used an opened pkg with 10 noodles in it.   i think everyone has their own way of laying the noodles…. fit a 10x10 dish.   added 3T pesto (didn't have parsley) to the ricotta mixture, and put fresh spinach between the layers.   i layered the ricotta too, didn't want one big blob in the middle.  put the mozz cheese on top after 30 min baking.   i let it set for 10 min post oven and it was perfect for cutting into squares.   this will probably be my "go to" from now on.  

Great basic lasagna

corlearbay
December 10, 2017
I used 9 lasagna noodles and didn't mess with the cutting part.  Fairly easy recipe here that could be 5 stars with some additions.  I did sprinkle some dried basil on the top with broiling and used a little more cheese.  I also added some salt to the ricotta mixture.  Next time I will double the garlic and use more herbs or pesto.  A spinach or zucchini layer would be great too.

BarbDodd's Review

Vhopper
October 18, 2014
We love this lasagna. It is very flavorful and tastes as good as the high calorie version! Instructions are detailed but well worth it.

MaryEliz's Review

Lori
January 05, 2015
Good taste, but took much longer than 16 minutes. And noodle instructions were confusing. I will make again, though as it was quite flavorful.

thelinz5's Review

BarbDodd
September 23, 2014
I made this exactly as described except I doubled the red pepper since we like spice. It was really good! The noodle thing was a little confusing - I wasn't 100% sure where they went though I understood the reasoning. Definitely don't skip the fresh vs dried herbs or broiling at the end. I also normally use no boil noodles but didn't this time.I'm guessing this will be even better as leftovers! Thank you for such great comfort food that let's me stick with my weight loss efforts!

Pretty Good

steponme
April 19, 2015
This is a decent recipe. I am not a fan of ground beef so I used turkey Italian sausage instead. I thought the ricotta filling was a bit bland but I think it may have been the brand I used.

Made as written

strongirl
March 05, 2016
 Made this recipe exactly as written, and I turned out perfectly.  I loved the fact that the noodle pattern cut down on the amount of noodles I traditionally use.  I will use that trick again!  We had leftovers that made it into lunch boxes the next day, and I was told that it reheated well and tasted just as great the next day.