This sausage lasagna with ricotta is made even easier thanks to the no-boil noodles used in this recipe. Leftovers reheat well and can be frozen for later!
Homemade Lasagna with Ricotta & Sausage
Lately I’ve been a whirling dervish in my choices of what I’m craving to eat. Cravings all over the place, and most of them leaning toward the ethnic side of food. Thai one night, Korean the next, Middle Eastern and as always one of my faves: rich sausag-ey Italian pasta. Lasagna, that’s what I need.
I’ll chalk it up to the fact that ever since I came home from Mexico I can’t quite get the flavors of other countries out of my system. I think its a sign that I just want to travel. It’s true! The night we got home I was on the internet stalking new travel adventures for me, my Smudge, and my man, new places to create new memories.
This past week definitely resulted in a trove of memories I’ll be happy to reflect back upon. Converting online relationships to real life with talented foodie bloggers who traveled to Salt Lake City to attend Alt Summit was the highlight.
Showing off the best of SLC to Melissa, Kathryne, Erin, Jeanine and Kelsey with my local SLC blogging buddies Maria and Becky included dining at our favorite tapas restaurant—the only place I’ll eat Brussels Sprouts—plus a quick lunch date in Sundancing Park City to meet up with Kelley. It also gave us plenty of quality time to swap stories not just about our blogging biz tips and tricks and all the minutia food blogging entails, but about real life beyond the blog, even divulging and discovering a few secrets along the way. Change is in the air, my friends!
Life in front of our screens and keyboards made our original connection, and luckily led to what I hope are continuing real life relationships. It’s not so far fetched these days to say you met online and it seems like blogging is kind of like an online dating site, but you get to know a whole lot more about the blogger than from just one personal profile. At least that’s what I’ll surmise since I was married before the dating site surge, but I liken it still.
Probably the best part of the weekend was a somewhat impromptu dinner party at my house, introducing local Utah food bloggers Annalise, Deb, and Dara to our out of town guests. And I said I’d be serving dinner. To a bunch of food bloggers.
Now, you might be thinking, “Heidi! What the hell are you doing? Whoa lady, you’re feeling pretty bold, eh? You think you’re going to make dinner for a bunch of food bloggers? FOOD BLOGGERS? These ladies do this for a living! It’s their passion!” Not to mention the combination of vegetarians, lactose intolerant, and meat lovers ready to fork up to the table.
But I had my secret weapon recipe of Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushroom Lasagna in my back pocket and the local foodies contributed a few of their specialties as well.
This was a forgiving group and all hands were on deck. As my mom says, “Many hands make light work.” I mean, what else were we going to do but eat, drink and be merry? Plus I had seen Sandy do it with ease and grace so I knew it could be done. Erin did a grand job capturing the night in her photos, and shared the links of all the tasty vittles on the menu.
Plus you’d hate to miss out on seeing how my photo-bombing dogs mysteriously appeared in nearly every shot. Oh right, there was food around. They’re dogs. That explains it.
So basically it all comes back around to lasagna. Whether it’s butternut squash or this cheesey, sausage Italian, lasagna is just good basic food for the soul. Yep, food for the soul, just like the relationships we choose to care for and cultivate.
What’s in This Sausage Lasagna with Ricotta?
To make this homemade lasagna recipe with ricotta cheese, you’ll need:
- Sweet Italian pork sausage
- Ground beef
- Garlic
- Yellow onion
- White wine
- Whole milk
- Diced tomatoes
- Tomato sauce
- Dried herbs and spices
- No-boil lasagna noodles
- Eggs
- Ricotta cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley
- Shredded mozzarella
How to Make Sausage Lasagna with Ricotta
This sausage and ricotta cheese lasagna starts with an irresistible homemade sauce. Ground beef and sausage is browned alongside garlic and onion, then it’s doctored up with a little wine, whole milk, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and various spices.
The sauce needs to simmer for a good 30 minutes to develop its flavors. Then, all that’s left to do is mix together the ricotta filling and begin assembling your lasagna!
Be sure to sprinkle a healthy amount of cheese on top of the lasagna just before baking it. It then needs to go into the oven for roughly 40 minutes, or until golden around the edges and bubbly.
Can I Freeze Lasagna?
Yes! Leftovers of this sausage lasagna with ricotta cheese can be frozen for later. Wrap slices tightly in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze. Reheat the lasagna from frozen in a warm oven (I recommend covering it with foil to prevent the noodles from drying out).
Tips for Making Sausage Lasagna with Ricotta
If you like a thicker lasagna, bake the day before, refrigerate and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees F for a half an hour.
No boil noodles need more sauce than cooked noodles since they absorb the moisture from the sauce. Don’t be shy when ladling your portions.
Add in spinach, kale, or zucchini for an extra veggie vitamin punch and a touch of green.
If time is an issue, substitute the homemade sauce for a great quality jarred sauce added to the meat mixture. If ricotta is hard to find, my mom always uses creamy cottage cheese instead.
My Go-To Side Dishes for Lasagna
- Roasted Asparagus
- Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons
- Italian Chopped Salad with Marinated Chickpeas
- Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
- Baked Balsamic Vegetables and Roasted Garlic
- Killer Garlic Knots
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Sausage Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese
Ingredients
For the meat sauce:
- ¾ pound sweet Italian pork sausage
- ½ pound ground beef
- 3 cloves pressed garlic
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ⅓ cup white wine
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 1 28- ounce can diced organic tomatoes
- 1 15- ounce can organic tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
For the lasagna:
- 1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 egg
- 1 15- ounce container ricotta cheese
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
- 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Make the meat sauce:
- In a large pot or dutch oven, cook pork sausage and ground beef over medium high heat just until meat is no longer pink.
- Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add onion with salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes or until onion becomes translucent.
- Add wine and cook for 3 minutes or until nearly evaporated, then add milk and cook until absorbed.
- Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano and kosher salt, bring to a boil then reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced.
Make the lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl whisk egg and add ricotta cheese, parmesan and parsley and mix well.
- Spoon a generous portion of tomato sauce mixture on the bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch baking dish or lasagna pan. Add a single layer of 4 lasagna noodles, spread half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then ⅓ of the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
- Repeat with 4 more noodles, remaining cheese mixture, ⅓ sauce mixture and 1 cup cheese. Top with 4 more noodles, the remaining sauce and top with cheese.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes until bubbly. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting. Add extra parmesan for serving.
Nutrition
More Easy Lasagna Recipes to Make
- The Cheesiest Spinach and Cheese Lasagna
- Turkey Bolognese Lasagna Toss
- Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups
- Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup
- Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Squash & Shiitakes
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