Over the summer, I find myself with more downtime, as odd as that sounds. Because we have sports and after-school events during the school year, I like to use the summer to make freezer meals that I can pop into the oven on busy school nights. My teens always ask me to make this Cheesy Lasagna Recipe, so when I do, I double it and stick one in the freezer!
This cheesy lasagna recipe is easy enough for children to help in the kitchen, too! Just prepare the ingredients and let your kids help assemble! They will enjoy layering and sprinkling the “extra cheese”! You really can’t mess this up!
Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef (80% lean)
- 2-4 cups cooked spaghetti sauce
- 6-8 lasagna noodles, cooked
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or you can use cheddar)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cook ground beef in a large skillet until the beef has crumbled and is no longer pink, stirring occasionally; drain the fat.
When the fat has been drained from the ground beef, return it to the pot and stir in the spaghetti sauce. We like to cook this mixture for 45 – 60 minutes, but you can cook it longer or shorter, depending on your spaghetti sauce preference.
Spread a spoonful of spaghetti meat sauce on the bottom of the dish. (*This helps prevent the bottom layer of noodles from sticking!) Place a layer of noodles over meat sauce, top with meat sauce then 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat, topping with mozzarella cheese as the final layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until cheese has melted.
*You can even add a layer of Ricotta cheese to one of the middle layers! I love Ricotta cheese in lasagna!
If you are freezing a pan of lasagna, you might want to hold off on adding the top layer of cheese before freezing, and add it once the lasagna has defrosted, right before you bake it!