Lazy Day Lasagna includes no-boil noodles, cheesy ricotta filling, and a simple homemade meat sauce. This flavorful and easy lasagna recipe is perfect for when you’re craving lasagna but not all the work or time involved to make it!
Don’t miss my delicious twists on classic lasagna, including skillet lasagna, lasagna soup, and lasagna roll ups.
Easy Lasagna Recipe
Who doesn’t love lasagna! It’s one of my favorites. What I don’t love, though, is all the steps involved and time it takes to make it.
This lazy day lasagna is my solution. It’s very similar to a traditional lasagna recipe – the 2 differences are the homemade meat sauce only simmers for a short period of time and it uses no-boil lasagna noodles which eliminates the need to pre-cook noodles, waiting for them to be done and also dirtying up another pot.
Instead of lasagna being a chore, this easy lasagna recipe gets made all the time – it freezes nicely too for a great make-ahead meal.
Why You’ll Love This Lazy Day Lasagna
- Quick and easy. This lazy day lasagna recipe is fuss-free compared to most lasagna recipes. The meat sauce simmers for a very short period of time, there’s no need to boil the noodles, and layering the dish is super easy.
- Simple meat sauce. This lasagna doesn’t skimp on flavor. The meat sauce is made with ground beef, aromatics, seasonings, and tomato paste. Simple yet super flavorful.
- Freezer-friendly. It freezes beautifully for a great make-ahead meal on busy weeknights or lazy weekends.
Ingredients Needed
This lazy day lasagna uses many of the same ingredients as a classic lasagna recipe.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Olive oil – For sautéing the beef and veggies. Adds richness and moisture.
- Ground beef – Use a lean beef, such as 80/20 or 90/10.
- Onion & garlic – Adds flavor to the ground beef and aromatics to the dish.
- Brown sugar – Cuts through the acidity of the tomatoes in the sauce.
- Seasonings – Italian seasoning, salt, pepper flavor the meat sauce.
- Tomato paste – Enhances the tomato flavor in the dish.
- Tomato sauce – Make sure it’s plain tomato sauce and not flavored spaghetti sauce.
- Eggs – Gives the cheese filling structure.
- Cheese – You’ll need ricotta cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella. Freshly grated and shredded parmesan and mozzarella are best.
- Lasagna noodles – Part of what makes this lazy day lasagna recipe so easy is that we’re using oven-ready/no-boil lasagna noodles so you don’t need to boil them separately and dirty up another pot.
- Parsley – For garnish.
How To Make Lasagna With No Boil Noodles
Here’s an overview of how to make this easy lasagna recipe.
(Scroll to the bottom for our easy printable recipe with the complete directions and don’t miss the video below.)
- Cook the beef. Cook the beef and onion in the olive oil, breaking the meat into tiny crumbles. Once the beef is browned, stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Drain off the grease.
- Add the sauce. Reduce the heat then stir in the brown sugar, seasonings, and tomato paste. Once incorporated, add the tomato sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Make the filling. Combine the eggs and cheese in a mixing bowl.
- Assemble the lasagna. Spread a cup of the meat sauce on the bottom of the pan. Add 4 no-boil noodles in a single layer, spread the ricotta mixture on top, add half of the remaining meat sauce, top with the last 4 noodles, and top with the meat sauce. Finish with a cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 55 minutes. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Tips & Variations
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when making lasagna with oven-ready noodles.
- Simple swaps. The ricotta can be replaced with cottage cheese and ground turkey works great instead of ground beef, if preferred.
- Use your favorite meat sauce. If you want to use a jarred meat sauce, that’s totally fine. I like to use this homemade version since it takes just a few simple steps and the flavor is fantastic.
- It’s okay if the noodles overlap a bit. They’re quite wide so if you need to overlap them a bit to fit all 4, that’s fine. I like to position them horizontally from one end to the other, instead of in rows of 2 (see above picture for reference.)
- Let stand before slicing. Always let your lasagna stand for 10-15 minutes before you try to slice it. This gives the cheese filling time to solidify so you can get actual slices.
Video: Easy Lasagna Recipe
Serving Suggestions
My go-to when serving lasagna is a simple side salad and garlic bread for a complete meal. A Caesar salad or breadsticks would also work.
Proper Storage
- Fridge. Store leftover lasagna in the fridge for up to 4 days, either covered with foil or in an airtight container.
- Freezer. Let cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic and also foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat.
- Reheat. Reheat the entire casserole dish of lasagna in the oven, covered, at 350F until heated through. Individual servings can be reheated in the microwave.
More Easy Pasta Recipes To Try
- Boursin Cheese Pasta
- Baked Feta Pasta
- Chicken Tetrazzini
- Mushroom and Zucchini Pasta
- Chicken Pot Pie Noodles
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Lazy Day Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large onion , diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cans tomato sauce (15 ounces each)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 & 3/4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese , divided
- 12 oven-ready/no-boil lasagna noodles
- Fresh chopped parsley , for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9×13 casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Once shimmering, add in the ground beef and onion. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into tiny crumbles, stirring constantly, until the meat is browned and no pink remains and the onion has softened. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Drain off the grease.
- Reduce heat to medium; add in the brown sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and tomato paste. Stir until incorporated. Pour in the tomato sauce, combine and gently simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup of the mozzarella until combined.
Build the Lasagna
- Spread 1 cup meat sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Place 4 no-boil noodles on top in a single layer (see note below.)
- Spread the ricotta mixture over the noodles.
- Add 4 additional noodles.
- Spread HALF of the remaining meat sauce.
- Add the last 4 noodles.
- Spread the remaining meat sauce.
- Top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the casserole dish tightly with greased foil and bake for 55 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.
Made this exactly to recipe and loved it. I froze leftovers which were easy to reheat. Just bought ingredients to make another one!
This lasagna is so easy and delicious! I had it tonight for dinner, will have it again tomorrow, and have two huge portions saved in my freezer!
This was PERFECT. I only had the sauce simmer for 5 minutes and it still had great flavor. On days when I have more time I’ll let the sauce simmer for much longer. I was concerned the dry no-boil noodles weren’t going to cook and soften (I’ve never used them before) but they absolutely did. My family loved everything about this. My new favorite lasagna recipe!
So easy and delicious! The only lasagna recipe I need.