I have been making lasagna for so many years. Fun fact, it’s actually the first “casserole” I ever learned to make. I made lasagna for my little brother’s Garfield birthday party soooo many years ago — I was probably 13 or 14. I love lasagna and I can’t get enough of it.
It can be intimidating and honestly, I’m pretty surprised at the number of people who haven’t attempted it because of the intimidation. It’s really so easy…so naturally, that’s why I called it my favorite easy lasagna with white sauce.
I’m a convert to the white sauce instead of the ricotta. I’ve had a bit of an evolution when it comes to lasagna. When I was younger, we did not eat ricotta — I didn’t know such a thing existed in middle America. So, we used cottage cheese to make lasagna. I’m not going to lie, I still think it tastes amazing with cottage cheese, but some people have a weird thing about cottage cheese, so I’ve gotten away from using it.
I do not like ricotta lasagna – I’m not exactly sure why. Probably because my family doesn’t like it.
But the white sauce…wow, it’s so good. It melts into the lasagna noodles and creates the creamiest texture!!
This is a regular on the menu in our house. It takes almost no time to prep it and then I get it in the oven and I can either go work on something else (usually cleaning up the kitchen), or I make a side.
Speaking of sides, here are some ideas!
- My Favorite Spinach Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
- Classic Caesar Salad (without anchovies)
- Apple, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
These are some of my favorite salads of ALL time. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love salad. I love everything about a salad and have one almost everyday.
I hope you try this lasagna and if you like meals like this, check out my new cookbook for more great recipes: Live to Eat Well!
My favorite easy lasagna with white sauce
Lasagna can be intimidating, but don’t let it. Follow these step by step instructions and you can’t go wrong.
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Ingredients
Filler:
1 pound lean ground beef (or pork sausage…or finely diced mushrooms)
White Sauce:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Remaining Ingredients:
1, 24 ounce jar of marinara sauce (whatever is your favorite)
1, 9 ounce box of oven ready lasagna noodles (I use Barilla)
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, preferably not the pre shredded, you want a little bit of the moisture from using a block.
Instructions
1. Cook your Meat (or saute mushrooms)
Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat and brown your beef or sausage until brown and cooked through. Drain, rinse off extra grease and set aside.
2. Make the White Sauce
Run a paper towel over your skillet to remove excess grease and return it to the stovetop and add the olive oil to the skillet over medium heat and heat until it shimmers, about 1 minute. Add the flour and whisk together until it starts to get light brown. Add salt and pepper.
Whisk in the milk, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing the sauce to heat back up and start to thicken. Continue adding and whisking until all the milk is gone. Turn off the heat and set the white sauce aside.
3. Assemble the lasagna
Heat your oven to 375°F
In a 13×9 pan or similar, add 1/2 cup marinara sauce to the bottom and lay one layer of noodles on the bottom (it’s okay to break a few to get them to fit). Spread 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white sauce on the noodles, top with 1/2 cup ground beef or sausage, and add 1/2 cup marinara sauce. Do this 2 more times for a total of 3 layers.
On top of the third layer, add one more layer of lasagna noodles and top with the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Tent the baking dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Take the foil off and continue to bake for another 15 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour