Make-Ahead Lasagna

This Make-Ahead Lasagna has a meaty sauce full of Italian sausage and ground beef as well as 3 kinds of cheese. Made with no-boil noodles, this lasagna can be assembled a day in advance and popped in the oven an hour before dinner.

Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods, but it is so labor intensive.

What Makes This Make-Ahead Lasagna So Easy To Make?

No need to boil the noodles. Using no-boil noodles saves tons of time.
The whole thing can be assembled ahead of time.
A jar of spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce make for a super easy and flavorful sauce. No need to simmer the sauce. The flavors are already there.

To me, a great sauce is what makes a really good lasagna. The sauce for this lasagna is so thick and flavorful. I’ve made a lot of tomato-based sauces and this sauce is one of my favorite and it really could not be simpler to make. It’s full of browned Italian sausage and ground beef, some onion, a jar of marinara sauce and a jar of pizza sauce. It’s the pizza sauce that really gives the sauce a robust tomato flavor.

I love the extra flavor that comes from using a combination of Italian sausage and ground beef, but you could use all gound beef if you wish.

Variations

Use ground turkey and turkey sausage if you don’t want to use red meat.
Make it spicy. Add half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.

How Long Can I Keep Make-Ahead Lasagna In the Fridge?

You can keep the assembled lasgana in the refrigerator without baking it for a max of 48 hours. Once baked, leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days.

This lasagna can be frozen once assembled. Defrost it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before baking.

What To Serve With Make-Ahead Lasagna

I love to serve it with a green salad with Creamy Italian Dressing and Pepperoncini Garlic Bread or Easy Garlic Knots for a full Italian meal. Marinated Cucumber, Tomato, and Onion Salad also goes well with it.

More Lasagna Recipes

Make-Ahead Lasagna

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Italian

Keyword ground beef recipes, meat lasagna

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Servings

Calories 536kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 cup diced onion
1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (15-ounce) jar pizza sauce
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12 no-cook lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions

In a large nonstick skillet, cook and crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage until no longer pink. Add onion when it is about halfway cooked.
Drain off grease and add marinara sauce and pizza sauce. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, garlic powder, and pepper.
Spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a greased 9×13-inch pan.
Arrange 4 noodles in the pan and top with half of the ricotta mixture, spreading it evenly.
Top with a cup of meat sauce and 1 cup of mozzarella.
Place another layer of noodles, the remaining riccota mixture, another cup of meat sauce, and then another cup of mozzarella.
Finish off with the remaining layer of noodles and the remaining sauce.
Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top. Spray the underside of a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray and cover the lasagna.
Refrigerate until ready to bake.
Place lasagna on counter and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Bake for 45 minutes covered. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.