RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

Small book

My cookbook "Dinner" now available!

Home Collections Winter Warmers

Lasagna!

By:Nagi
695 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

One of the most loved foods in the world is finally here! This is a beautiful Italian Lasagna with layers of slow cooked Ragù Bolognese and Besciamella cheese sauce.  Though patience is required, it is quite straight forward to make as you will see in the recipe video!

This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!

A homemade Lasagna is a thing of beauty! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made with a Bolognese Ragu and cheese sauce / béchamel sauce. No ricotta in sight! recipetineats.com

Traditional Italian lasagna

Lasagna, lasagna. How I love thee! It is possibly one of the most loved foods in the whole wide world, and understandably so. There is just something so sentimental about lasagna, so comforting. It evokes images of of gatherings with family and friends all around the world. It is the sort of food that is like a big warm hug, and so more-ish you want to keep digging in until you burst.

Lasagna just rocks. Full stop.

And if you’ve never tried a homemade one before, that needs to change! If you can make spaghetti bolognese, you can make lasagne. It just requires a wee bit more patience.

OK, bit more than a wee bit more patience. But it’s totally worth it. A real homemade Lasagna is epic.

A homemade Lasagna is a thing of beauty! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made with a Bolognese Ragu and cheese sauce / béchamel sauce. No ricotta in sight! recipetineats.com

Homemade Lasagna – three parts

There are 3 components to making lasagna:

  1. The meat sauce;

  2. The white sauce – creamy and thick, but no cream required!

  3. Assembling and baking.

What goes in lasagna

The Meat Sauce is basically just like Bolognese. You need:

  • Onion, garlic, carrot and celery – for the flavour base, a soffrito;

  • Beef

  • Canned tomato and tomato paste

  • Red wine – for extra flavour!

  • Seasonings – beef bouillon cubes (stock cubes), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce

For the white sauce, you need:

  • butter

  • flour

  • milk

  • cheese

For assembling, you need:

  • lasagna sheets – preferably fresh (from the fridge section of grocery stores) but dried works just fine too

  • cheese!

How to make lasagne

See? I told you the meat sauce is just like making Bolognese! Though here, we cook that meat sauce long and slow, to develop incredible rich flavours and make the beef melt-in-your-mouth tender.

A homemade Lasagna is a thing of beauty! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made with a Bolognese Ragu and cheese sauce / béchamel sauce. No ricotta in sight! recipetineats.com

Layering up!

And here’s how you layer it up:

  • Smear a bit of meat sauce on the base first – stops the lasagna sheets from sliding around;

  • Layer 1 – top with meat sauce, bit of white sauce

  • Layer 2 – lay out more lasagna sheets, then top with more meat sauce and more white sauce

  • Layer 3 – repeat again, lasagna sheets, meat sauce then white sauce; and

  • Topping – cover with lasagna sheets, pour over remaining white sauce then sprinkle with cheese.

A homemade Lasagna is a thing of beauty! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made with a Bolognese Ragu and cheese sauce / béchamel sauce. No ricotta in sight! recipetineats.com

Pop it in the oven, and THIS is what comes out….

A homemade Lasagna is a thing of beauty! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made with a Bolognese Ragu and cheese sauce / béchamel sauce. No ricotta in sight! recipetineats.com
A homemade Lasagna is a thing of beauty! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made with a Bolognese Ragu and cheese sauce / béchamel sauce. No ricotta in sight! recipetineats.com

That moment when you cut into the golden bubbly cheesy top and you serve up a piping hot, oozy, meaty slice of lasagna….

That’s a little bit of food heaven, right there.

Lasagna first timers, the recipe video below will be super helpful. ❤️ Trust me, you got this.  – Nagi xx

PS Also happens to be one of the nicest food gifts you can make for someone. Freezes 100% perfect, and is a huge step up from the usual simple casseroles. Right? 😉

Watch How To Make It

This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Piece of hot Lasagna on a plate, ready to be eaten

Lasagna

Author: Nagi
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 4 hours
Total: 4 hours 20 minutes
Mains
Italian, Western
4.94 from 286 votes
Servings10
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. One of my signature recipes! This is a lasagna made the traditional Italian way, with a slow cooked ragu and a béchamel sauce ("Besciamella"). No ricotta – that's the American-Italian version. Though it requires patience to make, it is worth every minute. The ragu bolognese is melt-in-you-mouth tender and the sauce is rich and thick.
Makes 8 giant or 10 normal servings. This lasagna has 4 layers of lasagna sheets with 3 layers of meat and cheese sauce, then finished with a cheese sauce topping. You could stretch it to 4 ragu layers. If making 5 layers, scale up the recipe by 25% (click on servings and slide) and use a very deep pan!

Ingredients

Ragu Bolognese:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion , finely chopped (white, yellow or brown)
  • 1 medium carrot , peeled and very finely diced
  • 1 celery stick , very finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 kg / 2 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
  • 800g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 cup pinot noir red wine , or other dry red wine (Note 2)
  • 3 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled
  • 2 bay leaves , dried or fresh
  • 1/2 tsp EACH dried thyme and oregano
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 – 2 tsp sugar (if needed – Note 3)
  • 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper

Cheese Sauce (Besciamella):

  • 60g / 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 cups milk , preferably full fat but low fat ok
  • 2 cups gruyere or Colby cheese , shred yourself (or cheddar, Monterey Jack, OR 1 cup / 100g shredded parmesan) (Note 4)
  • Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
  • Salt and pepper

Lasagna:

  • 350g/ 12 oz fresh lasagna sheets (or 250g/8oz dried) (Note 5)
  • 1 1/2 cups (tightly packed) mozzarella cheese , shred yourself (Note 4)
  • Finely chopped basil or parsley , for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Ragu:

  • Heat oil in a large heavy based pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes until softened and sweet – they should not brown (if they do, turn heat down).
  • Add beef, turn heat up and cook the beef, breaking it up as you go.
  • Once the beef has all turned brown, add the remaining Ragu ingredients EXCEPT the sugar.
  • Stir then adjust the heat so it is bubbling very gently. Place the lid on and cook for 1.5 – 2 hours, stirring every now and then, then remove the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
  • The ragu is ready when the meat is really tender and the sauce has thickened and is rich – see video for consistency (Note 6). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, and add sugar if required (Note 3)

Cheese Sauce:

  • Warm milk up in a saucepan (optional – just makes sauce thicken faster).
  • In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and mix constantly for 1 minute.
  • Pour about 1 cup of the milk in, mixing as you go to incorporate into the flour mixture. Once mostly lump free, add remaining milk. Use a whisk if needed to make it lump free.
  • Turn heat up to medium high. Stir occasionally at first then regularly after a few minutes until sauce thickens – about 5 – 8 minutes. It should coat the back of the wooden spoon.
  • Remove from heat, add cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix until the cheese is melted. The Sauce should be thick but still easily pourable – the consistency of heavy cream (you need to be able to drizzle it over the Ragu when layering – see video). If it’s too thick, add a splash of water or milk.

Assemble:

  • Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
  • Use a 33 x 22 x 7 cm / 13 x 9 x 2.5″ baking dish.
  • Smear a bit of Ragu on the base, then cover with lasagna sheets. Tear sheets to fit.
  • Spread over 2 1/2 cups of Ragu (enough to cover sheets), then drizzle over 1 cup of Cheese Sauce.
  • Top with lasagna sheets (Note 7). Spread with another 2 1/2 cups of Ragu, then 1 cup of Cheese Sauce. Top with lasagna sheets then repeat 1 more time.
  • Top with a 4th layer of lasagna sheets, then pour over the remaining Cheese Sauce.
  • Sprinkle with Mozzarella, then bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
  • Stand for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving, garnished with basil or parsley if desired.

Recipe Notes:

1. Pork addition – Some traditional versions use a combination of pork and beef because pork is a more tender meat while beef provides the beefy flavour. To do this, use 250g/8oz pork and 750g/1.5lb beef. I do not (usually) do this simply because I feel like the sauce is so beautifully rich anyway (especially with the cheese sauce).
2. For non alcoholic, use a no alcohol red wine or more beef broth/stock.
3. Sugar – add this only if you think your sauce has a tinge of sour which can happen because not all canned tomatoes are created equal (economical tend to be more sour).
4. Cheese for sauce: Use any eating cheese that melts like cheddar, colby, Monterey jack, gruyere. SHRED YOUR OWN for silky smooth sauce, packet shredded contains anti-caking agents which can make your sauce grainy. Australia: I steer clear of tasty cheese because some brands don’t melt nicely into cheese sauce, some are oily and some go a big grainy. 
Mozzarella is recommended for the topping for its melting qualities, and doesn’t go greasy. Again, shred your own! It melts better – spreads better (often store bought shreds are too chunky so you don’t get good coverage).
5. Fresh vs dried lasagna sheets: I like using fresh because I feel that it “melds” better with the filling and doesn’t buckle (ie go wavy), sold in the fridge section of grocery stores.
DRIED Lasagna sheets, check the packet to see if it needs to be cooked before using. If it’s labelled “Instant” or “No Cook”, then you can use it without pre-cooking. If it needs to be cooked in boiling water (like pasta), follow the packet directions but regardless of what the packet says, I would recommend adding a good glug of olive oil in the water before adding the lasagna sheets (extra assurance they won’t stick together).
If you use instant dried lasagna sheets, the surface probably won’t stay nice and flat, like you see in the photos, as it tends to get “waves” on the surface once cooked. No effect on flavour, it’s just visual. ⚠️ IMPORTANT If using instant dried sheets, must ensure the ragu has enough liquid to hydrate the sheets in the oven, see note 6.
6. Ragu Consistency & Making ahead: The Ragu shouldn’t be watery and there shouldn’t be an excessive amount of sauce. However, if you are using instant dried lasagna sheets (ie layer dried), you must make sure there is enough liquid to rehydrate the sheets in the oven. See video to see how saucy my ragu is – this is saucy enough for dried lasagna sheets.
If you aren’t using a heavy based pot, you may find you need to add a splash of water during the cook time (heavy pot = heavy lid = clamps down better = less water evaporation).
Making ahead: If you make the sauce ahead (I often do), reheat the ragu gently and you will need about 1/4 -cup water (60 ml) to loosen the sauce a touch. Add a little more if using instant dried sheets (see note 5).
7. SHEET PLACEMENT: If you watch the video, you will see I place the sheets in one direction for one layer, then the next time I place them 90 degrees the other way. This just helps the sheets stay in place a bit better when cutting – but it’s not a big deal!
8. Authenticity note: There is no single version of Lasagna in Italy though one might consider very traditional ones to be made with pancetta and milk and with no tomato paste, bouillon cubes or Worcestershire sauce and often made with white rather than red wine. Quite different to mine!
The main reason is because (speaking very frankly) mine is a version that I make using produce I get from everyday grocery stores, not using the quality of produce you can get from weekend markets in the cobblestone streets of little Tucson villages! Even the quality of canned tomatoes makes such a difference on the end product.
Make my lasagna with grocery store ingredients, and everybody is going to swoon and fall in love with it – and that was my baseline. Make this using Italian grown San Marzano tomatoes DOP or DPO (authenticity mark), high quality beef from your local butcher, organic vegetables, homemade beef stock and handmade fresh lasagne sheets – it’s going to blow your mind.
9. MAKE AHEAD: Lasagna is brilliant for making and and freezing. Cover with foil and reheat in the oven at 180C or microwave it (this is my preferred because I feel like it keeps it more moist). If frozen, defrost before heating. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.
Alternatively, assemble then bake later. Just let the sauce cool a bit then assemble the lasagne and bake later – up to about 24 hours is fine. 

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 398gCalories: 594cal (30%)Carbohydrates: 40g (13%)Protein: 39g (78%)Fat: 29g (45%)Saturated Fat: 15g (94%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 146mg (49%)Sodium: 979mg (43%)Potassium: 922mg (26%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 11g (12%)Vitamin A: 1885IU (38%)Vitamin C: 10mg (12%)Calcium: 375mg (38%)Iron: 5mg (28%)
Keywords: Lasagna
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life Of Dozer

He just sprawls across the floor when he sleeps. No curling up cutely, chin on paw, like all those cute doggy pics you see all over the internet. Nope, this one just collapses and sprawls out right in my line of path (straight line from kitchen to table is over him – of course).

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Related Posts

Sausage ragu pasta sauce with pappardelle in a bowl ready to be eaten

Sausage Ragu with Pappardelle Pasta

Making Fondant potatoes

Fondant potatoes

Freshly made pot of Kuku Paka (African chicken curry)

African Chicken Curry – Kuku Paka

More Winter Warmers

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




695 Comments

  2. Betty says

    5 stars
    I just made the ragu bolognese and it is so delicious. I am up to the bechamel cheese sauce and wondered if I read it correctly; I.e., 1 cup of Parmesan OR 4 cups of the other cheeses? I don’t expect an answer that quickly so I will assume 1 cup of Parmesan is all that is needed….

    Reply

  3. Dani says

    5 stars
    Hands down the best lasagne recipe I’ve ever tried… and I love my lasagne!!! This is the only one I use now and I’m always guaranteed a lasagne that tastes better than a restaurant!! Thank you Nagi for all your yummy recipes ❤️🥰

    Reply

    • Dani says

      5 stars
      Making this again tonight!!! (I’ve lost count of how many times, I think easily 20+ probably more 😂) this is the best recipe!!! Thank you once again Nagi 🫶🏻 you make me enjoy cooking and eating amazing food (I can’t remember the last time one of my family’s meals wasn’t a RTE recipe 🤭) Lots of love to you, Dozer, JB and the rest of your amazing team! X

      Reply

  5. Alice says

    5 stars
    Love this recipe. Tastes delicious, and I don’t change it at all (except I don’t top it with extra cheese!) For the bechamel sauce, I use a mix of Parmesan and vintage (freshly grated of course, as per Nagi’s instructions!!)

    Reply

  10. Mandy says

    This was a perfect rainy Sunday morning recipe to make a start with.
    Amazing lasagna. Worth every second. Made one to eat now & one for freezer.
    Made a couple of times now. Just perfect.

    Reply

  11. Sharon says

    5 stars
    Delicious every time! Easy to follow recipe, just needs a bit of time and patience to reduce the ragu sauce.

    Reply

  12. Russ says

    5 stars
    giving this a go today. I have a pork/veal/beef mix mince I’m using. hope it goes well.
    (pre-giving it 5 stars) and your doggo is super cute.

    Reply

  14. Karyn says

    This is perfection but for those that have commented about it being to sloppy and too wet, here are my thoughts. Your mince is going to produce fat that doesn’t cook off and every batch is going to be different. In saying that (and it works for me every time), when you go to stir the pot, skim the fat off the top first each time. Furthermore, leave the lid off for the last 30-60 mins if it’s still looking too loose.

    Reply

  16. Anita says

    I’m going into hospital shortly for my second knee replacement. Currently filling the freezer with Nagi “no fails” – lasagne, pasta bake, vegetable frittata. I’m ready!

    Reply

  17. Erin says

    5 stars
    Wow! Made this lasagna last night. I couldn’t believe how good it tasted. I actually felt like I was eating it from a restaurant. Top quality and amazing flavor. Thanks Nagi. God bless you

    Reply

    • Siphesihle says

      5 stars
      I will never make any other lasagna again. This was thee most delicious lasagna I’ve EVER had… Thank you Nagi❤️

      Reply

  19. IRENE G says

    5 stars
    My 13 year old made a small portion of this one day. I’ve always liked lasagna so I thought that if my daughter could do it, I can, too.

    It is very yummy!! Only thing is that my casserole dish tray is not big enough. I only had 3 layers and it overflowed in the oven. I had to put a baking tray under it.

    I saw in your video, you put pork and beef mince and I got worried because I only bought beef mince per your recipe. Then I read your notes and you did mention that it’s possible to use both. Phew!

    Reply