Easy Weeknight Lasagna-Yes, Really

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:

1. Brown the meat, while simultaneously not overcooking the pasta noodles.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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!
3. Meanwhile, combine the egg, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl.
4. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees
5. 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.
6. 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!

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!