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Easy Homemade Meat Lasagna

Sana Gilani
This delicious lasagna is layered with creamy ricotta, a rich savory meaty sauce, and generous amounts of gooey, cheesy mozzarella and the best part is, it’s so easy to make!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Pakistani
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

For Ground Beef:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 pound 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon garlic and garlic paste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 1-2 teaspoons red chili powder
  • Pinch of coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
  • 1 medium sized tomato, chopped
  • 1 or 2 small green chili peppers, sliced optional
  • 1 teaspoons chopped cilantro

For Lasagna:

  • 1 12 oz. package of Lasagna
  • 1 24 oz. jar of marinara sauce, homemade or store bought
  • 1 32 oz. carton of Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 whole egg
  • cooked ground beef
  • 3 cups mozzarella cheese
  • ½ cup frozen spinach, optional
  • sprinkle of salt, for spinach
  • freshly chopped parsley, to garnish

Instructions
 

For Ground Beef:

  • In a skillet heat up vegetable oil on medium heat, then add in ground beef with all the spices, salt, and garlic-ginger paste. Cook for 10 minutes until the color changes.
  • Add in the chopped tomato, chili pepper(if you like spice), and cilantro and cook for additional 5 minutes on medium-low while pan is covered.
  • When the ground beef is completely cooked add in the tomato sauce and mix thoroughly to make meat sauce. Turn the heat off and set aside.

For Lasagna Assembly:

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  • Cook your lasagna noodles according to box directions. Unless you are using oven-ready then you do not need to boil them.
  • While noodles cook, in a mixing bowl add in ricotta cheese and one egg. Whisk the ricotta and egg together until fully combined and smooth.
  • (optional) In a frying pan cook down the frozen spinach for 5-10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Transfer spinach to Ricotta mixture and mix thoroughly.
  • Drain lasagna noodles once cooked and set aside with a drizzle of oil to prevent sticking.
  • For assembly you will need 9x13 pan with meat sauce, spinach ricotta mixture, drained noodles, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
  • Start assembly with small layer of meat sauce. Place layer of lasagna noodles on top. You will likely need 4-5 noodles per layer, depending on pan.
  • On top of lasagna layer ⅓ ricotta mixture, ⅓ meat sauce, ½ cup mozzarella cheese then place lasagna noodles on top.
  • Continue this layering process until you finish noodles and finish with remaining meat sauce, ricotta layer, and remaining generous amount of mozzarella cheese.
  • Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 45 minutes. Then remove aluminum foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Broil on HIGH for 3 minutes until mozzarella is golden and bubbling.
  • Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
  • Enjoy!
Keyword lasagna