The Best Homemade Lasagna
This classic lasagna recipe is made with an easy meat sauce as the base. Layer the sauce with noodles and cheese, then bake until bubbly! This is great for feeding a big family and freezes well, too.
Everyone loves a good lasagna, right? It's a great way to feed a crowd and a perfect dish to bring to a potluck. It freezes well. It reheats well. Leftovers will keep you happy for days.
Simply Recipes reader Alton Hoover sent me his favorite recipe for lasagna which he has been cooking since his college days. Alton's original recipe created enough lasagna for a small army so I halved it. What is posted here will easily serve eight people.
How to Make the Best Lasagna
The Secret Behind This Classic Lasagna Recipe
From what I can tell, the secret behind Alton's lasagna is the addition of a little sugar to the sauce and using a bit more cheese than most other recipes.
There are a few minor tweaks to his original recipe that I found necessary, for example adding a dash of wine vinegar to the sauce and changing the amount of Parmesan cheese.
Side view of a piece of lasagna on a plate.
Cambria Bakes
How to Make Lasagna
For this recipe, we are essentially making a thick, meaty tomato sauce and layering that with noodles and cheese into a casserole. Here's the run-down:
Start by making the sauce with ground beef, bell peppers, onions, and a combo of tomato sauce, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes. The three kinds of tomatoes give the sauce great depth of flavor.
Let this simmer while you boil the noodles and get the cheeses ready. We're using ricotta, shredded mozzarella, and parmesan -- like the mix of tomatoes, this 3-cheese blend gives the lasagna great flavor!
