No Ricotta Lasagna

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This no ricotta lasagna is just as tasty as the traditional lasagna even with skipping on the ricotta. The perfect family meal to make everyone happy.

Why no Ricotta?

Honestly I would have never imagined lasagna without ricotta until I met my husband. He’s just not a fan.

But there are lots of recipes for lasagna without ricotta or even substituting the ricotta with cottage cheese.

You for sure don’t miss out on the cheese with this recipe. You still get 8 cups of glorious Mozzarella and Provolone cheese.

What to Serve with No Ricotta Lasagna:

• Bread– Can you ever go wrong with bread? This Parmesan Garlic Bread goes great with this recipe
• Veggies– A side of asparagus or even these Balsamic Green Beans with Almonds are a good side to get some greens in your meal
• Salad– a simple side salad goes great with lasagna. Check out this easy restaurant style Italian salad by Mom Endeavors

Variations of No Ricotta Lasagna:

• Substitute part of your ground beef with some Italian Sausage
• Use ground turkey instead of ground beef. Once it cooks in the sauce you won’t even be able to tell its not beef
• Add some diced veggies to your meat sauce. Some chopped bell peppers, zucchini or carrots go good.
• Add your favorite cheese to go with the Mozzarella and Provolone. You can’t go wrong with more cheese. I think Havarti or Gouda would go great in this recipe.

Ingredients for No Ricotta Lasagna:

• Ground Beef– 2 lbs to make this a meaty lasagna
• Lasagna Noodles– 9 of them and cook them according to the package
• Cheese– equal parts of Provolone and Mozzarella and lots of it
• Canned Tomatoes– I like to go with diced tomatoes, but if you don’t like your tomatoes that chunky go with crushed
• Tomato Sauce– just an 8 oz can
• Onion– I prefer a sweet onion, but regular yellow works too. And you only need half of one
• Garlic– fresh minced garlic is the best, but you can use jarred garlic as well
• Olive oil– to cook the onions and garlic
• Seasoning– sugar, salt, Italian seasonings, basil, pepper and parsley

Sauteing

Take a large pan and put it over high heat and add the olive oil (Photo 1) Then add the chopped onions to the pan (Photo 2) and then the minced garlic (Photo 3)

Stir everything (Photo 4) around for about 5 minutes (Photo 5)

Cooking the Meat

Now add the ground beef to the pan (Photo 6) and chop it up with a spatula (Photo 7) and start mixing the ground beef with the onions and garlic (Photo 8) and cook until all the beef is brown (Photo 9)

Getting Saucy

After the meat is cooked add the tomato sauce (Photo 10) tomatoes (Photo 11) sugar (Photo 12) basil (Photo 13) Italian seasonings (Photo 14) parsley (Photo 15) salt (Photo 16) and pepper (Photo 17) to the pan of meat

Now stir everything together (Photo 18) until it is mixed well (Photo 19) Let it cook until most of the liquid is gone (Photo 20) Takes about 20 minutes

Layering

This is when I would preheat my oven to 350 degrees

Take your glass casserole dish and spray it with cooking spray (Photo 21) Take 1 lasagna noddle and lay in down in the dish (Photo 22) and repeat with 2 more noddles (Photo 23) where the noodles are side by side.

Now take 1/3 of the meat sauce and add it on top of the noddles (Photo 24) and spread it out evenly across the noddles (Photo 25)

Get your cheese mixture (Photo 26) and sprinkle a 1/3 of it on top of the meat sauce and spread it out evenly (Photo 27)

You will follow steps 22-27 two more times that way you have 9 layers total.

Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray and cover the lasagna and out it in the oven for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes pull the foil off and cook for another 10 minutes. Let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes after taking out of the oven before cutting into it.

Tips for No Ricotta Lasagna:

• I prefer to use a sweet onion, but a regular yellow onion will work
• To avoid having to do a bunch of chopping, throw your half of onion in a food processor for easy chopping
• I used a garlic press to easily make minced garlic
• I prefer onions that are a little more cooked so I cook them for 5 minutes before adding ground beef. If you like crunchy cook for a minute before adding ground beef
• Don’t drain the fat after browning your ground beef. You’re going to lose some of the garlic and onion flavor by doing that.
• I prefer a more chunky tomato flavor in my lasagna, but if you do not want chunks use crushed tomatoes instead of diced
• Cook the meat sauce until there is only a little bit of liquid. You want your meat sauce to be thick and not runny
• I start with a noddle layer instead of meat sauce because I like that clean look on the bottom which is why I spray my casserole dish before. If you prefer you can put a little meat sauce on the bottom before the first lasagna layer.
• Be sure and spray your piece of foil with cooking spray before adding it on top of the lasagna. This prevents the cheese from sticking and coming off on your foil
• Let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes before you cut into it so it isn’t as runny

Want More Italian Style Recipes?

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Chicken
Marinated Tomato Caprese Salad
Air Fryer Toasted Spicy Ranch Ravioli
Creamy Pesto Gnocchi
Chicken Parmesan

Or CHECK OUT all my Entree recipes to find your next family meal!

Update Notes; This recipe was originally posted in April of 2017, but was republished with new photos, cooking tips, recipe tweeks, and step by step picture instructions in September 2020