Freezer Lasagna Recipe
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
2 hrs 17 mins
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Total Time
2 hrs 47 mins
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Servings
10 servings
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Calories
511 kcal
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Course
Main Course
Freezer Lasagna Recipe
Description
This recipe starts by browning lean ground beef with onions, garlic, and seasoning, then simmering with heavy cream, crushed and diced tomatoes, Italian herbs to create a robust meat sauce. A mixture of ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, salt, and pepper is prepared separately to provide a creamy layer. No-boil lasagna noodles are layered with meat sauce, ricotta mix, shredded mozzarella, and repeated three times, finishing with noodles and remaining sauce and cheese.
The layering technique balances the rich tomato-meat sauce with creamy cheeses and tender noodles, resulting in a lasagna with moist, cheesy layers and a savory tomato base. It can be assembled in advance and frozen, making it convenient for meal prep or feeding a crowd.
Using whole-milk ricotta helps reduce graininess after freezing. Ground Italian sausage is a suggested alternative to ground beef. The recipe is cheese-forward, but mozzarella amount can be adjusted. Several cans of crushed tomatoes scale linearly for larger batches.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef lean
- 1 white onion finely chopped, or yellow onion
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 56 ounces crushed tomatoes 2-28 ounce cans
- 28 ounce diced tomatoes drained, canned
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
- 1¾ cups ricotta cheese whole-milk
- 1¼ cups Parmesan Cheese divided, grated
- 2 egg lightly beaten, large
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 12 lasagna noodles no-boil
- 5 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in Dutch oven. Drain, and set aside.
- Add onion to the now-empty Dutch oven and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
- Add garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add cream and simmer until liquid cooks down by half, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in cooked meat, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and seasonings. Bring to simmer.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer until flavors blend, about 3 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat, cool sauce until it reaches room temperature.
- Mix ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan, eggs, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
- Spread 1/4 cup meat sauce over bottom of 9- x 13-inch baking dish.
- Place 3 noodles crosswise on top of sauce, evenly space 9 tablespoons ricotta mixture over noodles, and sprinkle evenly with 1¼ cups mozzarella; spoon 1½ cups sauce over cheese.
- Repeat layering of noodles, ricotta mixture, mozzarella and sauce two more times.
- Place 3 remaining noodles on top and spread with remaining sauce.
- Cover with remaining 1¼ cups mozzarella and remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.
- Let cool to room temperature.
- Wrap with plastic wrap, and cover tightly with a layer of foil.
- Freeze.
- To serve, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375F.
- Remove plastic wrap, and re-cover lasagna with foil.
- For a thawed lasagna: Bake 30-40 minutes, then remove the foil. Continue baking until the cheese is golden brown in spots and the sauce is bubbling, about 20-30 minutes.
- For a frozen lasagna: Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, then remove foil. Continue baking until cheese is golden brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Depending on how cold your freezer is and how long the lasagna has been in the freezer, you may find that you need to increase the covered baking time.
- Let lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Use 85-90% lean ground beef or substitute with ground Italian sausage for variation.
- Whole-milk ricotta cheese provides better texture after freezing compared to part-skim.
- Adjust the quantity of mozzarella cheese if a less cheesy lasagna is preferred.
- Scale crushed tomato quantities proportionally when doubling or tripling the recipe.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 10servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 511 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1serving | |
| Calories | 511kcal | 26% |
| Carbohydrates | 25g | 8% |
| Protein | 36g | 72% |
| Fat | 30g | 46% |
| Saturated Fat | 17g | 85% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1g | 6% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 9g | 45% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 157mg | 52% |
| Sodium | 1036mg | 43% |
| Potassium | 518mg | 11% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 4g | 8% |
| Vitamin A | 929IU | 19% |
| Vitamin C | 9mg | 10% |
| Calcium | 568mg | 57% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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