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The Best Make-Ahead Lasagna recipe is made with a rich sausage sauce and loads of cheese. It’s also freezer-friendly and guaranteed to become your go-to lasagna recipe!
Few things are more deliciously comforting than a plate full of delicious hearty cheesy lasagna. And this lasagna recipe is what dreams are made of. It’s rich, saucy, cheesy, and easy to put together.
This lasagna recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen cookbook The Complete Make-Ahead Cookbook. I love this book because there are 500 recipes you can make ahead of time and many of them are freezer-friendly (just like this one).
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s the perfect classic lasagna recipe.
- Easy to make for guests because it can be made ahead of time (thanks to canned tomatoes and no-boil lasagna noodles).
- It’s great to make for bringing a meal to a friend in need.
Recipe Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil: For sauteing the onion before adding the ground meat.
- Onion
- Garlic: Can use minced garlic in a jar to save yourself some time mincing.
- Italian sausage: Or you could use a meatloaf mix.
- Heavy cream
- Tomato puree
- Diced tomatoes
- Fresh basil: Can use dried basil but fresh is best.
- No-boil lasagna noodles: Barilla makes great ones called “Oven Ready.”
- Mozzarella cheese
- Ricotta cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Egg
- Salt and pepper
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make The Best Make-Ahead Lasagna
Step #1. Cook onions and garlic in olive oil. Add meat, cook until browned, then stir in cream and tomatoes. Simmer, season with basil, salt, and pepper.
Step #2. In a bowl, mix ricotta, Parmesan, basil, egg, salt, and pepper.
Step #3. Layer sauce, noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, and repeat 2 more times. Top with the remaining sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
Step #4. Cover with greased foil, bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 25-35 minutes until bubbly. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe makes a big lasagna so make sure you have a 9×13 inch pan. I like to keep these foil pans in my pantry if I’m making a lasagna for the freezer. I don’t have to worry about tying up my dishes or getting them back if I take the lasagna to a friend.
Follow the recipe through assembly and then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and then cover it in aluminum foil. It can be frozen for up to a month. Be sure to thaw it completely in the refrigerator before baking it according to the recipe card below.
Yes! Fresh basil in this recipe is SO good. Splurge on it if you can, but dried works well, too.
Expert Tips
- Make a double batch – one to bake in the next day and one to freeze to make in a few weeks. Cook once and eat twice!
- Use one of these foil pans if you are giving away this lasagna or don’t want to tie up one of your pans.
- You can substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese if you want to add some extra protein to this lasagna.
- Let the sauce simmer longer for a richer flavor.
- When making ahead, wrap the lasagna tightly in plastic wrap and foil to prevent freezer burn.
How to Store Make-Ahead Lasagna
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Follow the recipe through assembly and then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and then cover it in aluminum foil. It can be frozen for up to a month. Be sure to thaw it completely in the refrigerator before baking it according to the recipe card below.
More Pasta Recipes to Consider
Pasta Dishes
How to Make Homemade Noodles From Scratch
Pasta Dishes
The Best One Pot Baked Ziti
Pasta Dishes
Kid Friendly Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
The Best Make-Ahead Lasagna (freezer-friendly too!)
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- Salt and pepper
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound meatloaf mix OR Italian sausage
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 can tomato puree, 28-ounce
- 1 can diced tomatoes, drained, 28-ounce
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried
Lasagna
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 pound whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (4 cups)
- 24 ounces 3 cups whole-milk or part-skim ricotta cheese
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- For the sauceHeat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add meatloaf mix and cook, breaking up the meat with wooden spoon (until no longer pink) about 5 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer until liquid evaporates and only the fat remains, about 4 minutes. Stir in tomato puree and tomatoes, bring to simmer, and cook until flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- For the lasagnaAdjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan, basil, egg, salt, and pepper in bowl.
- Spread 1 cup of sauce over bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish (avoiding large chunks of meat). Lay 3 noodles in dish, spread 1/3 cup ricotta mixture over each noodle, then top with 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup sauce (in that order). Repeat layering process 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining 1 cup mozzarella, and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan.
- Cover dish tightly with greased aluminum foil, place on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until the top is spotty brown and the lasagna is bubbling around the edges, about 25 to 35 minutes. Let the casserole cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Ground Italian sausage or a meatloaf blend are both really good options, but you could use any ground meat that you wanted.
- To make lasagna ahead, prepare it through step 3, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, cover it with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to a month.
- When baking a lasagna that you’ve made ahead, be sure to remove the plastic wrap and cover with foil before baking according to the instructions.
- This lasagna recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen cookbook The Complete Make-Ahead Cookbook.
I have made this so many times and it’s always so good. Usually make it when we rent a home with family members because I can make it ahead and freeze it and just let it defrost in the fridge when we get to the rental house. If I am in a rush, I just used jarred spaghetti sauce. The sauce in the recipe is awesome. I always get complements. Made it with and without sausage! Just yummy and easy!
I assume it’s diced tomatoes not iced tomatoes??
Updated, thanks for letting me know…
Thank you so much!
I had a large group of family and needed a great flavorful recipe
This is exceptional! What a delicious meal
And it freezes beautifully
Everyone absolutely loved it
I must say getting through all the ads isn’t fun trying to read this article. But no doubt it will be worth it reading all info and comments. Making this for a guys trip group fishing up in North east peninsula of Michigan. Looked for recipe you can freeze then bake. Sounds like a winner! I’m using half ground beef (we get meat from a farm butcher) other half Italian sausage. Can’t wait to make it then send sit with my hubby for a meal I’m sure they’ll enjoy. Thanks for sharing recipe and all details. BTW will be ordering the cookbook you rave about! 😊
Lynn, thanks for wading through the ads. I try to keep them to a low level but they are the way I make an income for my family of 7 and am able to provide free recipes. I appreciate your support and hope that helps you to understand their purpose!
I doubled the recipe, and made 4 8×8 trays. 2 for us (1 to eat right away and one to freeze) and 2 frozen for friends who just welcomed a baby. I used 1 lb ground beef, and 1 lb mild Italian sausage. I also used 3 24 is jars of Rao’s Tomato Basil sauce, 2 wasn’t quiet enough. The “Oven Ready” pasta was incredibly easy and worked like a dream. The ricotta mixture was so flavorful! What an easy way to make impressive dinners! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there! This sounds (and looks!) delicious and I am planning to make it here in a few hours for tomorrow’s dinner. Just want to make sure I have this right, I just use uncooked noodles? No need to boil them before? Thank you!! 🙂
Yep, isn’t that the best??
It is!! And it was delicious! Thanks so much 🙂
Making this lasagna 24 hours ahead of time does not make the noodles be mushy when you serve it? I’d be afraid they would have absorbed too much sauce Nd gone mushy. I have run into mushy pasta way too often over last few years
If I make this in Sunday for Dinner on a Monday and only refrigerate it, how long should i heat it up in oven?
It’ll be actually close to the full cooking time. I’d probably just assemble it and stick it in the fridge and then bake it the full time on Monday.
Great make ahead recipe for a crowd!!
So you bake it throughly, cool it & then refrigerate overnight or do you assemble & cook next day? Thx
Assemble and bake the next day! You’ll just cook it when you are ready to serve it.