I rush in from school and ask my mom, “What’s for dinner.” I’d hold my breath praying it would be one of my favorites and oh my, she did not disappoint.
You must understand, I grew up in a “sticks, twigs and roots,” kind of a house hold. That’s the description we give people now, just so they fully understand how healthy her meal choices were on a regular basis.
No chocolate chip cookies for her little dumplins, it was carob and honey, my friends. So when tuna was bypassed for dinner, and her Best Homemade Lasagna declared its presence, the angels sang on Woodlawn Drive, that’s for sure.
Yes, I close my eyes and once again I’m transported back to the dinner table where I wait “Oh so patiently” as my mom dishes out our much anticipated dinner.
My Mom’s Best Homemade Lasagna can be a dinner choice that people save only for company. I mean why spend so much time on something when Stouffers creates something so delicious, right?
Wrong! Homemade Lasagna is SO much better than store bought and this base recipe of my mom’s taught me the pleasure of this meal.
It’s Pure Comfort Food in our family. I never go by a recipe anymore, since I have such fun playing around with it. Not only do I add minced garlic and grilled onions to my batches now, but I play around with seasonings – a little more garlic salt, onion powder and if I want a little kick of spice, a dash of red pepper flakes. If you like ground pork or turkey, feel free to mix and match meats. Again, any amazing lasagna recipe is a bit forgiving, and I’ve even developed a Whip It Up Quick 10 Minute Dinner version here.
I think that everyone should creative homemade Lasagna absolutely from scratch a few times in their lives, and that means homemade sauce as well. It’s one of the meals that I require my kids to master before they leave the nest. If they learn to play around with spices while layering meat, sauces and noodles, they are set in the kitchen.
Who says that lasagna is just for dinner anymore? I caught our sweet daughter snagging some for breakfast and just had to snap a quick picture. Yes, she heated that baby up right in the microwave all on her own. 😉
While making Homemade Lasagna from scratch takes a bit more time, I’ve come up with a whole slew of short cuts that will enable you to get that meal in the oven in less than ten minutes. Now that’s what you wanted to hear, right?
Make this one first, and enjoy the full flavors and time spent. Then you can fully appreciate the other.
Check out How to Make Easy Homemade Lasagna over at 10 Minute Dinners .
Remember that lasagna is just as good, if not better, heated up the next day, so make sure you make extras to freeze or share.
Recipe: My Mom’s Homemade Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1/2 Pound of Ground Chuck
- 1 1/2 Pound of Hamburger
- 1 Tablespoon of Basil Flakes
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
- 1 – 16 oz. can of Tomato Sauce
- 12 oz (1 1/3 cup) Tomato Paste
- 10 oz Lasagna: Wide noodles
- 1 1/2 pounds Creamy Cottage Cheese (cheaper and lower in fat than Ricotta, but Ricotta is the traditional first choice)
- 1/2 cup grated Parm. Cheese
- 2 Tablespoon Parsley flakes
- 2 beaten eggs
- 2 Teaspoons of salt
- 2 Teaspoons of pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds of Mozzarella sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.
- Brown meat slowly.
- Drain off excess fat.
- Add next 4 ingredients.
- Simmer uncovered 30 minutes.
- Stirring occasionally.
- Cook noodles in large amount boiling salted water until tender; drain; rinse.
- Combine remaining ingredients , except Mozzarella cheese.
- Place 1/2 the noodles in 13x9x2 baking pan.
- Spread with 1/2 cottage cheese filling
- Add 1/2 the mozzarella cheese and 1/2 the meat sauce.
- Repeat layers (adding meat sauce before mozzarella this time)
- Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
- *(or assemble early; refrigerate. Allow 15-25 minutes longer in oven)
- Let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting in squares; filling will set slightly.
- Makes 8-10 servings.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods as well. I never follow a recipe and as complicated as it may seem, it is so easy.
I am totally craving lasagna now. I think I will actually make some tonight!
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Hi! Homemade lasagna is one of my favorite childhood memories too! My dad is a builder, and when I was a kid, that was the one and only thing he cooked. He liked to build the lasagna. He had to have a spatula and smooth out the cottage cheese just so, spread the sauce just so, all level and even. 🙂 It was amazing and I still make it the same way. Mine only has a few ingredients, but if you use about 3 lbs. of cheese, you really can’t go wrong, even without lots of spices, right? 🙂
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In the lasagna recipe, number 8 says to combine remaining ingredients. Combine with what? The noodles? Because the egg is moist, I am a little lost. Thx for clarifying.
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Jen Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Ok, I will go clarify since that could definitely be confusing. You combine the remaining ingredients just with themselves. So these ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds Creamy Cottage Cheese (cheaper and lower in fat than Ricotta, but Ricotta is the traditional first choice)
1/2 cup grated Parm. Cheese
2 Tablespoon Parsley flakes
2 beaten eggs
2 Teaspoons of salt
2 Teaspoons of pepper are all combined to make the cheesy mixture (minus the Mozzarella) that you will layer.
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That is so much like my recipe!! Everyone loves it and begs for it, I rarely make it as it is so very painful to my arthritic spine, etc. Have you ever done it with no-boil noodles? That would take some strain off. I”ve always made 2 when I made it. If I’m going to do that much work, it’s no different to do it double and it is better later, just like stew.
Janet
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Jen Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 10:07 pm
I am sure it is such a sacrifice of love when you make it and that they appreciate it that much more. So sorry to hear about your pain.
Yes, no boil noodles are great and when I post my 10 minute quick recipe, I’ll mention them, but I have found I can do the same trick by just using regular noodles and adding a tiny bit extra liquid. 🙂 Love that.
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I hardly make lasagna because mine always falls apart. What’s the trick to getting it to stay together?
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Jen Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 10:05 pm
The key is letting it stand and cool a bit before you cut in and serve it. Do you do that and it still falls apart? My guys are always too impatient, so if they dig right in, ours falls apart too. 🙂
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Who doesn’t like lasagna?! I love trying out all different lasagna recipes like lasagna cupcakes and more. Thanks for this post, I will hopefully be trying it at home this weekend!
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Yum! This looks good. As an FYI, Hunts just came out with a canned “Lasagna Sauce” to make a totally EFFORTLESS lasagna! Its ground beef with 2 cans of their sauce, no boil lasagna noodles, ricotta or cottage cheese plus mozzarella.( I add parmesan) It makes an 8 inch pan, can easily be doubled. It is very meaty-1 lb. ground meat for 1 8 x 8 pan. Next time I think I will try it with less meat. SUPER quick..thought I’d pass along the info.,.
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Jen Reply:
May 5th, 2015 at 3:47 pm
Yum!! Sounds so great. Thanks for passsing this tip along. 🙂
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