One of the most loved foods in the world is finally here! This is a beautiful Italian Lasagna with layers of slow cooked Ragù Bolognese and Besciamella cheese sauce. 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 , peeled and very finely diced
- 1 celery stick , very finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 kg / 2 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 800g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup pinot noir red wine , or other dry red wine (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 flour
- 4 cups milk , preferably full fat but low fat ok
- 2 cups gruyere or Colby cheese , shred yourself (or cheddar, Monterey Jack, OR 1 cup / 100g 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 (tightly packed) mozzarella cheese , shred yourself (Note 4)
- 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).
Oh, forgive me Nagi, for I have sinned!!!
I usually cook your lasagne as per instructions, but tried Cafe Delites, as it was in the comments as being better. BUT we all found it to be no where as good as yours, lesson learned
Amazing.
Hi Nagi, I would like to make your lasagna using your No.8 in ‘recipe notes’ with homemade beef stock so it’s next level! How many cups of stock would I then use?
As the recipe calls for crumbled stock cubes I don’t know how to convert?
Thanks 🙂
About a litre of the home made beef stock works, made it a week ago or so!
Hi Nagi, I would like to make your lasagna using your No.8 in ‘recipe notes’ with homemade beef stock so it’s next level! How many cups of stock would I then use?
As the recipe calls for crumbled stock cubes I don’t know how to convert?
Thanks 🙂
Amazing recipe and it’s so delicious thank you so much for bringing such amazing recipe to our homes
Gorgeous recipe. I used a big baking dish (39 x 23.5 x 7.5 cm) (the one that is free at present with points in supermarket giveaway) and this perfectly fitted a 5-layer lasagne using a full packet of Coles fresh lasagne sheets.
Excellent recipe. Took the wine out and was still perfect. Thank you
The best lasagna I’ve ever made, my family which includes small children (one being a fussy eater) all loved it.
I followed the cheese down to the letter, but it stayed very runny after even 15 minutes. Had to add another 1/3rd of a cup of flour to get the right consistency. Other than that, flawless recipe! I’m thinking maybe oat milk doesn’t thicken like normal milk.
Oat milk is not milk no fat content
This is my absolute go to recipe for lasagne and spaghetti bolognese. So happy I found it.
My son loves it (I leave out the wine) and when I make it for guests they always ask the recipe.
Love it!
Sensational, I was a little worried using 2% low fat milk, but the sauce turned out creamy and the ragu, mwah
I love your recipes but this one didn’t my family and I like the others. The technique is good but the ragu is too sweet. I prefer a more savory ragu. It turned out beautiful minus the sweeter flavor. Maybe it’s just a personal preference. I am a fan of all your recipes though, just had to offer some feedback of the sweeter taste
I have never made better lasagna in my life. My family don’t really like lasagna but this time it was an absolute winner. Thank you Nagi
The first Italian dish I made that my family devour. Appreciate the helpful recipe notes and the absence of ricotta!
Great lasagna recipe, would advise for my friend Kevin
Looking up lasagna recipes only return those with ricotta. This is the recipe I’ve been looking for. Thank you Nagi. I like that this recipe is big on flavor while still takes into account the constraints on location.
This is second time I am making your Lasagna. Thank you Nagi you makes my life lots easier with your lovely recipes
Mark from work made this for me. Hands down best lasagne!
I loved this recipe. I was able to easily make this gluten free by substituting the pasta for San Remo gluten free lasagna sheets (dry) and then for the cheese sauce, instead of flour, I used half cornflour and half rice flour. It tasted fantastic and everyone loved it.
Made this for my big family for the first time today. It is a thing of beauty and a taste sensation. The ragu is rich and delicious, and the bechamel perfect. Perfectly fitted my large dish using the quantities for each layer. I love it when the planets align. Definitely making this again.
My go-to Lasagna Recipe!
What beef cubes do you use?
It was great to see you on Masterchef
I made this two weeks and and now I’m making two whole dishes of lasange for mother day tonight!
When I made it the first time everyone said it was the best lasange they’ve ever had!
Thank you so so much
Happy Mothers Day 💓