This Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna is a quick, cozy, and delicious meal for your busiest of nights! Spicy, cheese, and saucy: everyone’s favorite!
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The Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna
When it comes to foods that could be designated a “favorite food” I would wager that lasagna is a category in and of itself for many people. The bubbling cheese, rich red sauce, hearty meat mixture…. It’s one of those dishes that is hard to not fall in love with. Lasagna also has a poor reputation of being a labor-intensive “reserved for the weekends” type of dish. This couldn’t be further from the truth!
With a few smart hacks, you can have this mouthwatering dish ready in no time – even on your busiest week nights. Read on to learn more about my Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna!
How To Make Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna
I absolutely love lasagna, so I have a few go to recipes that I make on a rotation. I find it therapeutic to layer the ingredients in such a way that allows for that perfect bite in every inch of the pan. In my Hearty Vegetable Lasagna recipe, I feature step-by-step instructions for how to layer the ingredients. Check it out for a visual of how each ingredient is layered!
For this Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna, the following ingredients are layered in a large baking dish and baked until bubbling golden brown:
- Lasagna noodles
- Rich red marinara sauce
- A cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese mixture
- Ground beef and spicy Italian sausage
- Lots of mozzarella cheese!
Ways To Make Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna Your Own
Although I urge you to make this Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna recipe as I wrote it, you can also swap out ingredients to make it your own! I already mentioned my Hearty Vegetable Lasagna, which features layers of tender veg, but here are a few other ideas to make this recipe your own!
- Swap in your favorite meat. Try ground turkey or chorizo!
- Try different cheese. Using ricotta cheese is classic, and they sky is the limit with shredded cheese options out there.
- Use white sauce instead. A rich and creamy base would be absolutely delicious.
- Make your own homemade sauce!
What To Serve With Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna
If you’re reading this article because you’re looking for fast and easy weeknight meals that are convenient and delicious, here are a few shortcut suggestions to round this dish out as a quick meal!
- Marinated olives from the store for pre-dinner hunger pangs
- Bagged salad
- Toasted baguette or store bought garlic bread
- Gelato for dessert
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Ultimate Weeknight Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground Italian Sausage
- 2 24 oz jars marinara or your favorite pasta sauce
- 1 package lasagna noodles oven ready or pre-boil
- 16 oz cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Set a large saute pan over medium heat. Add ground beef and Italian sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat as it cooks until almost cooked through (it will continue to cook in the lasagna). Remove from heat as you prepare the other ingredients.
- Mix together cottage cheese and parmesan. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Add about 1 cup of marinara to the bottom of a 13 inch baking dish. Layer lasagna noodles to cover, followed by 1/4 of the ground meat mixture. Spoon on half of the cottage cheese mixture, then repeat layers, ending with a layer of marinara.
- Top lasagna with torn fresh mozzarella and shredded mozzarella. Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove tin foil from pan and cook an additional 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
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