This juicy, flavorful lasagna saves you prep time by using regular, uncooked lasagna noodles. You get to enjoy your favorite dish with less work! It makes a great freezer meal too.
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I’m all about saving time and being efficient in the kitchen. I mean really, who’s not?
So when I discovered this no-boil lasagna recipe soon after we were married, I was pretty delighted.
I love that I can make a delicious lasagna and not have to bother with boiling the noodles. Plus it freezes well, so I can make it ahead of time and pull it out to use as a meal for guests or for “one of those days”.
I also want to point out that you don’t even have to use no-boil lasagna noodles for this recipe- that is unless you are super funny about noodle texture. I almost always use the regular noodles and honestly can’t tell a bit of difference.
But then while I’m funny about many things related to food, noodle texture is not one of them. So do whatever you think is best!
Update: Reader Alex left this comment on my Facebook page. “Ok, I made this tonight for dinner! I didn’t notice, nor did my family, that the noodles weren’t boiled. Thanks, Lydia, I sure will be making it like this from now on!!!” So if you are on the fence as to which kind of noodles to use maybe that will help you.
Oven Ready Lasagna Recipe
Oven Ready Lasagna (a quick, no boil lasagna recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cups spaghetti sauce
- 1 tsp. garlic salt
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 8 oz. lasagna noodles (can use oven ready if you want)
- 16 oz. cottage cheese
- 3 to 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Grease 9×13 baking dish.
- Brown beef and onion, drain fat.
- Stir garlic salt and oregano into spaghetti sauce. Spread one cup of sauce on the bottom of baking dish.
- Add ½ the noodles then top with 1 cup sauce. Add all of the meat and cottage cheese and ½ of the cheese. Add Parmesan cheese if using.
- Top with ¾ cup sauce then add remaining noodles.
- Top with the rest of the sauce and then the remaining cheese.
- Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Fatima
Can you make this the night before and refrigerate and bake it the next day using the unboiled lasagna sheets?
Lydia Beiler
Yes, that should work fine!
Tony
If I cut this down to an 8×8 pan, would the baking time still be the same?
Lydia Beiler
I’ve never made just half a recipe, but I would think that the baking time would be the same. You could always check it at 50 minutes and make sure the edges and top aren’t getting browned/burnt. If they are fine, then you should be good with the full hour.
Ann
A fast, easy to make lasagna recipe the whole family will enjoy!
Lydia Beiler
Thanks, Ann!
Lindi
Not sure if I want to give a rating because your instructions are confusing. The title of your post says ” Oven Ready Lasagna” and under the ingredients you list: 8 ounce lasagna noodles (can use oven ready, if you want). So, what are you using then? Isn’t this recipe supposed to be with Oven ready sheets?
Lydia Beiler
I’m sorry for the confusion, Lindi! I mention in the written part of the post that you can use either oven-ready or regular lasagna noodles. The regular noodles don’t get quite as soft, but it’s what I use for this recipe 95% of the time and we don’t mind it at all. I call this Oven Ready Lasagna because you don’t have to boil the lasagna noodles and obviously, you can use oven-ready noodles too. This is a recipe that I shared a number of years ago and I hope to update it soon with fresh pictures and also go into more detail about the noodle bit as well. I hope that clarifies things for you and that you enjoy the recipe!
Patricia
I think this was really good. My noodles felt a little too firm when i tested it with a fork when i took it out to uncover. I popped it back in covered for another 20 minutes and then continued with the uncovered bake. Perhaps the sauce i use didn’t have as much water so it took longer to absorb. Next time I’ll add a little extra water or vegetable broth to it.
Lydia Beiler
I’m glad you liked it, Patricia! I’ve never had issues with the noodles being too firm but what you said about the sauce possibly being thicker would make sense. The brands of sauces that I use are fairly thin.
Allen
I was wondering if you know the difference between thawed and unthawed .
1 unthaw is to freeze something
2 thaw means to defrost or unfreeze something .
Just a little FYI for you .
ThriftyFrugalMom
Hey Allen! I love words and your comment made me curious because I grew up talking about unthawing things all the time. So I looked unthaw up in Oxford and Merriam Webster and they both seem to agree that unthaw does indeed actually mean thaw. I admit though, it is super confusing and doesn’t really make logical sense. And….I’m going to change the wording on the recipe to thaw just to be a bit more clear. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Cynthia Gosline
Looking forward to the oven ready noodles
ThriftyFrugalMom
I hope you enjoyed it! And isn’t it great to not need to spend time boiling the noodles?! One of my favorite hacks!