Learn how to make lasagna from scratch! A perfect comforting dish with silky sheets of pasta, a tender Béchamel sauce, a rich Bolognese sauce with minced meat, and melted cheese on the top and in the filling. This traditional lasagna recipe will definitely become your family’s favorite dish.
Making homemade lasagna may seem intimidating. However, believe me, when I say that it is the first impression. It will be easier to divide the cooking process into several separate steps. We have here two sauces that you will make in two skillets. One of them is classic Italian ragù – Bolognese sauce – a rich meat-based tomato sauce that is traditional served with pasta.
Béchamel Sauce is here to add creamy tender texture to the dish, which pairs perfectly with melted cheese layer. Just make the sauces in advance to reduce the time spent in the kitchen when you decide to make lasagna. If you are not making pasta sheets yourself then you are only left with grating cheeses and assembling the dish.
I love lasagna for its incredible depth of flavor and unique mix of textures. I hope you will appreciate this all-time favorite comfort food!
Traditional Lasagna Ingredients:
- 8 lasagne sheets, uncooked;
- 170 g hard cheese, grated;
- 50 g parmesan cheese, grated.
Ragù – Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:
- 380 g ground beef;
- 1 onion;
- 1 carrot;
- 2 tbsps. olive oil;
- 1 tomato;
- 35 g tomato paste;
- 100 ml water;
- 1 tsp. Italian mixed herbs;
- Salt to your taste.
Béchamel Sauce Ingredients:
- 400 ml milk;
- 25 g butter;
- 25 g all-purpose flour;
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg;
- Salt to your taste.
How to cook a lasagna from scratch:
- Let us make Béchamel sauce, first. Chop onion into small pieces and sauté it in the skillet smeared with olive oil over medium-high heat until soft and translucent.
- Grate peeled carrot, add it to the skillet with onion and continue sautéing until carrot softens.
- Add ground meat to the vegetables in the skillet. Give mixture a nice stir and cook for 10 more minutes. Try breaking ground meat into the smallest pieces (use a fork or a spatula).
- Peel a tomato and cut it into the smallest pieces (or grate/grind it). Add it to the skillet together with tomato paste. Pour water and mix.
- Add herbs and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the skillet with a lid and take the skillet from the stove.
- Cook lasagna pasta al dente according to the instructions on the package. First, I let the water boil in a pot and then add only two lasagna sheets at a time. Cook them for 2-3 minutes. Rinse under cold water and set them aside to dry.
- Meanwhile, make Béchamel sauce. Melt butter in a skillet or a saucepan on low heat. Add all-purpose flour. Keep stirring the mixture until the flour becomes golden. Pour warmed milk in small portions, so that it will be easier to mix it with flour and butter and to get rid of the lumps. Add ground nutmeg and salt. Cook the sauce for 2 minutes until it thickens while constantly stirring. Set it aside.
- Preheat oven at 350ºF/180°C.
- Now is finally the time to arrange our lasagna. Take a casserole dish and smear the bottom with béchamel sauce. Layer two boiled lasagna pasta sheets.
- Divide Bolognese sauce into three parts and top the first layer of lasagna noodles with the first part. Even out the mixture, that it covers the entire surface.
- Pour Béchamel sauce over so that it covers the layer of Bolognese sauce.
- Spread out one-third of the grated hard cheese over the sauce.
- Repeat the layers twice: lasagna sheets + Bolognese sauce + Béchamel sauce + grated hard cheese. End with the final two lasagna sheets. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese for a final step.
- Bake lasagna in the oven for 35-40 minutes until top layer browns.
- Let it cool down before serving!
If you liked Homemade Meat Lasagna Recipe , I would appreciate it so much if you would share it on Pinterest or you could give the recipe a star review!
Meat Lasagna Recipe – How to make lasagna step by step
Ingredients
- 8 lasagne sheets uncooked
- 170 g hard cheese grated
- 50 g parmesan cheese grated
Ragù - Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:
- 380 g ground beef
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
- 1 tomato
- 35 g tomato paste
- 100 ml water
- 1 tsp. Italian mixed herbs
- Salt to your taste
Béchamel Sauce Ingredients:
- 400 ml milk
- 25 g butter
- 25 g all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- Salt to your taste
Instructions
- Let us make Béchamel sauce, first. Chop onion into small pieces and sauté it in the skillet smeared with olive oil over medium-high heat until soft and translucent.
- Grate peeled carrot, add it to the skillet with onion and continue sautéing until carrot softens.
- Add ground meat to the vegetables in the skillet. Give mixture a nice stir and cook for 10 more minutes. Try breaking ground meat into the smallest pieces (use a fork or a spatula).
- Peel a tomato and cut it into the smallest pieces (or grate/grind it). Add it to the skillet together with tomato paste. Pour water and mix.
- Add herbs and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the skillet with a lid and take the skillet from the stove.
- Cook lasagna pasta al dente according to the instructions on the package. First, I let the water boil in a pot and then add only two lasagna sheets at a time. Cook them for 2-3 minutes. Rinse under cold water and set them aside to dry.
- Meanwhile, make Béchamel sauce. Melt butter in a skillet or a saucepan on low heat. Add all-purpose flour. Keep stirring the mixture until the flour becomes golden. Pour warmed milk in small portions, so that it will be easier to mix it with flour and butter and to get rid of the lumps. Add ground nutmeg and salt. Cook the sauce for 2 minutes until it thickens while constantly stirring. Set it aside.
- Preheat oven at 350ºF/180°C.
- Now is finally the time to arrange our lasagna. Take a casserole dish and smear the bottom with béchamel sauce. Layer two boiled lasagna pasta sheets.
- Divide Bolognese sauce into three parts and top the first layer of lasagna noodles with the first part. Even out the mixture, that it covers the entire surface.
- Pour Béchamel sauce over so that it covers the layer of Bolognese sauce.
- Spread out one-third of the grated hard cheese over the sauce.
- Repeat the layers twice: lasagna sheets + Bolognese sauce + Béchamel sauce + grated hard cheese. End with the final two lasagna sheets. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese for a final step.
- Bake lasagna in the oven for 35-40 minutes until top layer browns.
- Let it cool down before serving!
Notes
If you’ve tried the recipe then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
