Lasagna can be a pretty big undertaking. It’s a meal that I don’t really put on our menu all that often. Mainly because it takes a veritable army of pots, pans and ingredients to go from kitchen to table. I am a work at home mom of a 3 year old and a 2 year old. I don’t have time to:
- Brown the meat, while simultaneously not overcooking the pasta noodles.
- If I’m really doing lasagna right, of course I’ll be making my own sauce. Generally taking up burner #3, simultaneously simmering away while my meat browns and my pasta overcooks.
- Now to assemble the lasagna, I need to set up an assembly line worthy of Ford Motor Company. No less than 3 cheeses…oh and remember those lasagna noodles we overcooked? Somehow we need to pry those apart without burning the fingerprints off of our fingers, or haphazardly turning them into thin spaghetti noodles (this is lasagna right? I forgot. Because you know, the baby needed some attention about 2 hours into the lasagna prep and with no end in sight, I finally just threw everything into the casserole dish and hoped for the best!)
Okay, it’s not quite that dramatic, but I am sure you get the picture.
So when I saw a recipe for an Easy Weeknight Lasagna, my first reaction was just to scoff at it. I’m no culinary expert, but short of using jarred meat sauce and those weird no boil noodles…weeknight lasagna would not be happening in my household.
I read through the ingredient list though, and it did not call for no boil noodles. It called for regular lasagna noodles…but get this, you don’t boil them. I was intrigued, and I admit I didn’t think the recipe would work. Plus, it has cottage cheese in it! Isn’t that like…NOT lasagna?
Pssst….it’s also healthy.
This lasagna was on my hit list before I even began making it.
Until the prep time took less than 30 minutes.
Until I realized that those unbaked lasagna noodles actually softened in the oven. (seriously, prying lasagna noodles apart is the #1 reason why lasagna and I don’t get along)
Until I tasted this lasagna that was so amazing it is now a regular weeknight mainstay on our menu plan. Now, it is lasagna, so it still does take some time to cook. Most of that time is hands off though (and theoretically you could make the sauce early and just assemble the lasagna quickly at night).
Do me a favor, make this lasagna. Don’t eat it all that night though. Eat some leftovers the next day.
Come back and thank me for it later.
***Weeknight Lasagna***
Adapted from The Comfort Food Diet
Ingredients:
- 1 lb lean ground beef (you could use turkey as well…or even crumble some italian sausage.)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 6 oz can of tomato paste
- 1 envelope of spaghetti sauce mix OR see below this recipe for a way to make your own!
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups (16 oz) fat free (I used low fat) cottage cheese
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 6 uncooked lasagna noodles
- 1 cup (4 oz) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
Directions:
- Spray a bit of cooking spray (or a small amount of olive oil) onto a deep sautee pan and add the onions. Heat until just about translucent, then add the ground beef and brown.
- Drain the browned meat and onion mixture. Add in the tomatoes, water, tomato paste and spaghetti sauce mix. Bring to a boil. Let simmer about 15-20 minutes.****NOTE: I have started doing up to this point in advance. Than I refrigerate the sauce until the evening I am ready to make the lasagna. This means the evening we want to eat lasagna, all I have to do is assemble it…and bake it!
- Meanwhile, combine the egg, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl.
- Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Spread 2 cups of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the baking dish. Lay 3 noodles on top of the sauce. Add 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture to the top of the noodles. On top of the cottage cheese mixture, add 1/2 of the remainder of the sauce mixture. Repeat (Hint: Your top layer when you complete your prep should be sauce mixture). *NOTE: You could potentially freeze it at this point. You would need to increase the baking time obviously.
- Cover and bake for about 50 minutes. Uncover and add mozzarella cheese. Place back in the oven uncovered for around 15 minutes. Let stand for around 15 minutes before eating.
It is so so yummy. It is the best lasagna I’ve ever eaten, which I have to admit really really surprised me!
Don’t want to purchase spaghetti sauce mix? Make your own!
- 1 lb lean ground beef (you could use turkey as well...or even crumble some italian sausage.)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 1¾ cups water
- 1 6 oz can of tomato paste
- 1 envelope of spaghetti sauce mix OR see below this recipe for a way to make your own!
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups (16 oz) fat free (I used low fat) cottage cheese
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 6 uncooked lasagna noodles
- 1 cup (4 oz) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- Spray a bit of cooking spray (or a small amount of olive oil) onto a deep sautee pan and add the onions. Heat until just about translucent, then add the ground beef and brown.
- Drain the browned meat and onion mixture. Add in the tomatoes, water, tomato paste and spaghetti sauce mix. Bring to a boil. Let simmer about 15-20 minutes.****NOTE: I have started doing up to this point in advance. Than I refrigerate the sauce until the evening I am ready to make the lasagna. This means the evening we want to eat lasagna, all I have to do is assemble it...and bake it!
- Meanwhile, combine the egg, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl.
- Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Spread 2 cups of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the baking dish. Lay 3 noodles on top of the sauce. Add ½ of the cottage cheese mixture to the top of the noodles. On top of the cottage cheese mixture, add ½ of the remainder of the sauce mixture. Repeat (Hint: Your top layer when you complete your prep should be sauce mixture). *NOTE: You could potentially freeze it at this point. You would need to increase the baking time obviously.
- Cover and bake for about 50 minutes. Uncover and add mozzarella cheese. Place back in the oven uncovered for around 15 minutes. Let stand for around 15 minutes before eating.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if so be sure to check out the other frugal recipes available here on Family Friendly Frugality. And as usual, if you liked it…use the buttons below to share it!
Loved that the prep time is under 30 minutes! Easy AND unbaked lasagna noodles! I included your Easy Weeknight Lasagna in a Mr. Food blog post about kid-friendly ground beef recipes:
http://www.mrfoodblog.com/kid-friendly-ground-beef-recipes/
Let me know what you think 🙂
Thanks,
Sarah at Mr. Food
Thank you so much for including my recipe in your round up!
Looks delish! I just made/posted “Lasagna Bowls” on my blog today. Kids loved having their own little lasagna bowl.
Those no bake lasagna noodles are awesome. I avoided them too for a while and then tried them once and have never gone back to boiling lasagna noodles since. I too had issues with that step so it’s a real time saver.
I made the lasagna on Friday evening and it was so great that we ate it on Saturday night too! The only change that I made (because of what was in my freezer) was using ground beef and ground pork. Thanks again for all of the help in getting the recipe to me when the website was slow!
Oh that’s awesome! I’m once again so glad you emailed me about it. Did you reheat Friday’s on Saturday or make another one? I’d argue it tastes even better reheated!
Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how you liked it!
If you cover the pan with foil for baking, you will be able to put the cheese on the top right away and then just take the foil off for the last 15 minutes. This is how I always do my lasagna. Also you could substitute ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese if that is what you like.
I actually prefer the cottage cheese in this one! I typically use ricotta and was hesitant to use the cottage cheese, but it’s so good! Thanks for the tip on the foil!
Love it! Lasagna is my go to meal when I don’t know what else to cook because it is so easy! I throw in whatever veggies I have on hand. Sometimes I sauté them sometimes I don’t. Spinach, broccoli, carrots and onions are so good in it. I always use cottage cheese because my mom never liked ricotta. I do use jar sauce because my mom does so it reminds me of hers.
I need to throw veggies in next time for sure!
I am so going to try this — it looks delicious!!
Enjoy it!
About how much sauce should I use if I’m substituting it for the water, puree and sauce packet?
Julie…hmm…depends on how liquidy your sauce is. You might want to add a jar and then add some water as well. I’ve never made it with jarred sauce so it might take some trial and error. If your sauce is very thick, the pasta might not have enough water to absorb.
Super interested in the freezing option. Any idea how long you’d extend the baking time if you froze it and then baked it? Also, dumb question but do you have to let it sit out so the cold pan doesn’t crack in the oven if you freeze it first?
When I freeze, I freeze either in those disposable foil casserole dishes, OR I use this method: https://www.familyfriendlyfrugality.com/make-your-own-freezer-containers-in-a-pinch/ As far as the time to extend when you freeze, 30 minutes longer generally works for me. I admit though, I generally thaw slightly in the fridge the day I plan to make it. I would cook it for an hour and than just start checking it. When you are convinced it’s cooked through, take off the foil and let it brown a bit.
Awesome, Heather. Very helpful! Am going to use the Lactaid cottage cheese to lower the lactose content and do the rest as you recommend (after we move) and check back in with results.
Thanks again!
Anne
Yes let me know!