One of the most loved foods in the world is finally here! This is a traditional Italian Lasagna, made the Italian way with layers of slow cooked Bolognese ragu and cheese sauce. No ricotta – that’s the American-Italian version. Though patience is required, it is quite straight forward to make as you will see in the recipe video!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Traditional Italian lasagna
Lasagna, lasagna. How I love thee! It is possibly one of the most loved foods in the whole wide world, and understandably so. There is just something so sentimental about lasagna, so comforting. It evokes images of of gatherings with family and friends all around the world. It is the sort of food that is like a big warm hug, and so more-ish you want to keep digging in until you burst.
Lasagna just rocks. Full stop.
And if you’ve never tried a homemade one before, that needs to change! If you can make spaghetti bolognese, you can make lasagne. It just requires a wee bit more patience.
OK, bit more than a wee bit more patience. But it’s totally worth it. A real homemade Lasagna is epic.
Homemade Lasagna – three parts
There are 3 components to making lasagna:
The meat sauce;
The white sauce – creamy and thick, but no cream required!
Assembling and baking.
What goes in lasagna
The Meat Sauce is basically just like Bolognese. You need:
Onion, garlic, carrot and celery – for the flavour base, a soffrito;
Beef
Canned tomato and tomato paste
Red wine – for extra flavour!
Seasonings – beef bouillon cubes (stock cubes), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce
For the white sauce, you need:
butter
flour
milk
cheese
For assembling, you need:
- lasagna sheets – preferably fresh (from the fridge section of grocery stores) but dried works just fine too
cheese!
How to make lasagne
See? I told you the meat sauce is just like making Bolognese! Though here, we cook that meat sauce long and slow, to develop incredible rich flavours and make the beef melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Layering up!
And here’s how you layer it up:
Smear a bit of meat sauce on the base first – stops the lasagna sheets from sliding around;
Layer 1 – top with meat sauce, bit of white sauce
Layer 2 – lay out more lasagna sheets, then top with more meat sauce and more white sauce
Layer 3 – repeat again, lasagna sheets, meat sauce then white sauce; and
Topping – cover with lasagna sheets, pour over remaining white sauce then sprinkle with cheese.
Pop it in the oven, and THIS is what comes out….
That moment when you cut into the golden bubbly cheesy top and you serve up a piping hot, oozy, meaty slice of lasagna….
That’s a little bit of food heaven, right there.
Lasagna first timers, the recipe video below will be super helpful. ❤️ Trust me, you got this. – Nagi xx
PS Also happens to be one of the nicest food gifts you can make for someone. Freezes 100% perfect, and is a huge step up from the usual simple casseroles. Right? 😉
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Lasagna
Ingredients
Ragu Bolognese:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped (white, yellow or brown)
- 1 medium carrot , finely diced
- 1 rib / stick of celery , finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 kg / 2 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 800g / 28 oz crushed tomato
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup (250ml) red wine , bold not light (Note 2)
- 3 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled
- 2 bay leaves , dried or fresh
- 1/2 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 – 2 tsp sugar (if needed – Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper
Cheese Sauce (Besciamella):
- 60g / 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup (75g) flour
- 4 cups (1 litre) milk (I use low fat)
- 2 cups (200g) shredded cheese (Colby, Gruyere, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, OR 1 cup shredded parmesan) (Note 4)
- Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
Lasagna:
- 350g/ 12 oz fresh lasagna sheets (or 250g/8oz dried) (Note 5)
- 1 1/2 cups (150g) shredded mozzarella cheese
- Finely chopped basil or parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Ragu:
- Heat oil in a large heavy based pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes until softened and sweet – they should not brown (if they do, turn heat down).
- Add beef, turn heat up and cook the beef, breaking it up as you go.
- Once the beef has all turned brown, add the remaining Ragu ingredients EXCEPT the sugar.
- Stir then adjust the heat so it is bubbling very gently. Place the lid on and cook for 1.5 – 2 hours, stirring every now and then, then remove the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
- The ragu is ready when the meat is really tender and the sauce has thickened and is rich – see video for consistency (Note 6). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, and add sugar if required (Note 3)
Cheese Sauce:
- Warm milk up in a saucepan (optional – just makes sauce thicken faster).
- In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and mix constantly for 1 minute.
- Pour about 1 cup of the milk in, mixing as you go to incorporate into the flour mixture. Once mostly lump free, add remaining milk. Use a whisk if needed to make it lump free.
- Turn heat up to medium high. Stir occasionally at first then regularly after a few minutes until sauce thickens – about 5 – 8 minutes. It should coat the back of the wooden spoon.
- Remove from heat, add cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix until the cheese is melted. The Sauce should be thick but still easily pourable – the consistency of heavy cream (you need to be able to drizzle it over the Ragu when layering – see video). If it’s too thick, add a splash of water or milk.
Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Use a 33 x 22 x 7 cm / 13 x 9 x 2.5″ baking dish.
- Smear a bit of Ragu on the base, then cover with lasagna sheets. Tear sheets to fit.
- Spread over 2 1/2 cups of Ragu (enough to cover sheets), then drizzle over 1 cup of Cheese Sauce.
- Top with lasagna sheets (Note 7). Spread with another 2 1/2 cups of Ragu, then 1 cup of Cheese Sauce. Top with lasagna sheets then repeat 1 more time.
- Top with a 4th layer of lasagna sheets, then pour over the remaining Cheese Sauce.
- Sprinkle with Mozzarella, then bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
- Stand for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving, garnished with basil or parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life Of Dozer
He just sprawls across the floor when he sleeps. No curling up cutely, chin on paw, like all those cute doggy pics you see all over the internet. Nope, this one just collapses and sprawls out right in my line of path (straight line from kitchen to table is over him – of course).
Made this for the first time today. Only thing I didn’t have was celery. I halved the recipe as there are just two of us, but I will get six servings as it is rich and delicious. Can’t remember the last time I made lasagne ….. but I will definitely make this one again. Would be great to feed a crowd.
My Lasagna is going to be dry! The recipe that I printed out only had 400g of crushed tomatos – online its 800g. Not going to be nice I dont think
Best lasagne I have made.
The first time I made it, it was fabulous! This time it came out way too runny. After browning the meat, do you try to remove some of the grease? I don’t recall what we did the first time, but this time there was quite a bit of grease but didn’t remove it as the recipe doesn’t specify. I’m thinking that must have been the issue? Thoughts?
Thank you Nagi! All the family love this absolutely divine lasagne recipe and it freezes great.
Turned out perfectly. Perfect balance of cheese and meat sauce. Balanced flavour. Hearty and rich. We added some bacon when frying off the veggies. Might try adding mushrooms next time. Thanks for a great recipe. Will make this one again.
Hey Nagi,
I love you and all of your recipes. I’m a cook and have been for a very long time now. I have teenage children and are teaching them to go to you for anything! I have your new cookbook and it’s amazing. I made Your mushroom lasagna last night for a group of 10, some vegetarian, no one could even tell it didn’t have any meat. So so good, Thankyou. Just a suggestion going forward, my daughter helped me and I’ve always taught my kids to read the recipe in its entirety as sometimes a step may be missed or needed earlier, this might sound silly but you never explain/state to remove bay leaves??? I understand they need to be, but someone literally following your recipe wouldn’t know too.
Hi Nagi, I live in Australia like you so, can you tell me what beef stock cubes you use in this recipe ? This is my new go to Lasagne recipe. LOVE the book use it all the time.
Great recipe! When I make the bolognaise sauce I halve the quantity of meat and make it up with veggies: extra carrot, onion, celery and whatever I have in the fridge: diced zucchini, mushrooms, fennel, etc. I keep salt on the low side as I have small kids.
For the cheese sauce, I halved the recipe quantities suit the pan size I use. I make sure to buy a block of cheese to grate into the sauce as for some reason the pre-shredded cheese I bought (cheddar -apparently!) did not melt at all.
Best Lasagne on earth!,
I had the family for dinner and it was a big hit with everyone including the fussy grandsons.
Perfect quantity and detailed instructions made preparation a breeze. Thank you Nagi ❤️
The best lasagne I’ve ever made! I didn’t quite have time to simmer as long as I should have but it was still perfect & delicious.
I didn’t have enough or either sauce to make the third layer but didn’t affect taste, just amount of pasta used.
Other than that, husband loves it and I’ll definitely make again.
Thank you Nagi and team for the super fabbo recipe. This is the first time I have cooked your recipe. Not the last😋. Kiss for Dozer from my Labrador Buster x
Wow! Just made this for the first time: well worth the effort! It was deliciously meaty and creamy and it looked very professional. Thank you for this recipe, Nagi!
Hi Nagi, I love your lasagne and I currently have the pot of ragu bubbling away on my stove. I really would love to try your authentic version too if you ever find time to post it. Love to Dozer xx
Best lasagna I’ve made!!! I ended up using 500g each of pork and beef because that’s what I had and needed to simmer for longer as there was excess liquid but oh my goodness, the white sauce, the flavour of the ragu, all of it!!! Just delicious.
In fact, every single recipe I’ve made (from the website and your cookbook) my 4.5 year old has at least tried or actually enjoyed which is no small thing!!! Thank you thank you!
Best lasagna ever!!! Sooo much flavour in the mince, definitely worth simmering for the time stated, it makes such a huge difference! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Omg. Just made this for Christmas eve dinner and it is amazing!!! Everyone loves it! My first attempt at making lasagna! I substituted beef for 1.7 lbs ground turkey (1 pack) and used dried instant lasagna noodles. Already getting requests to make it for next year! Thank you, Nagi! Your recipes are always the best!
Hi. I’m about to make your lasagne. But I noticed the quantities of butter and flour were different from the recipe in Dinner. 100g butter and 100g plain flour. Which quantities should I use? 😀
Gail, what quantity of flour and butter did you end up using? I guess I’d go with the cookbook version as it’s the newest version. I’m sure it was delicious either way.
Hi Nagi, love your recipes! But it’s not American-Italian’s who started to to use Ricotta in the lasagna — I’m southern Italian (from Naples) and we use ricotta. Northern Italians use the cheese sauce.