5 Cheese Lasagna
5 cheese lasagna is an easy, delicious meal that is worth every bite. This lasagna recipe has a rich flavor with layers of melted cheese. Enjoy a wonderful dinner that’s ready in less than 45 minutes.
Why this 5 Cheese Lasagna Is So Easy To Make
This 5 cheese lasagna happens to be a family recipe, or what I like to call leftover lasagna. It’s a spin on the classic lasagna recipe made with ricotta cheese. One day, the refrigerator had empty space and few ingredients. However, our kitchen still had a blend of cheeses, ground beef, noodles, sauce, and seasoning from the spice cabinet.
This recipe is easy because you can make it with simple ingredients that you can find at your local supermarket. Best yet, the variety of cheeses makes it creamy and flavorful. Most importantly, this is the right meal for you if you don’t enjoy vegetables inside your main dish.
There’s nothing better than a homemade dinner that’s quick and easy to make. Plus, it’s a relief to know your food doesn’t contain preservatives like the one’s inside frozen lasagna. Cheesy lasagna made with meat sauce provides the best of both worlds.
Ingredients
Recipe Success Tips
First, one of the main challenges of making lasagna is getting the noodles just right. Use a timer to prevent the noodles from overcooking. If the noodles become mushy, each layer may fall apart after slicing.
You can avoid these issues by following the directions on the box. Follow the recommended cooking time for best results.
Also, cook a few extra noodles. Sometimes noodles break when transferred to the pan. I have made this recipe in a ceramic Lasagna pan along with 9″ x13″ aluminum foil pans. Typically, 9″ x13″ aluminum foil pans use 12 to 15 lasagna noodles, while lasagna pans use more.
How to Make 5 Cheese Lasagna
To make this dish you’ll need a large cooking pot and a large skillet or Sauté pan. I use a Sauté pan so the meat has enough room to cook evenly. Plus, you don’t have to worry about overcrowding when using a large pan.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add sea salt to the water if desired. Next, carefully add the noodles to the pot. Once the pasta is cooked use a colander to strain it, then set aside.
- Now you can start cooking the ground beef on medium heat. Season the meat with pepper and seasoning salt. Then combine the beef with diced onions. Once the beef starts to brown it becomes aromatic.
Cooking Tips
- Drain the oil from the beef. If you skip this step the sauce will have a layer of oil on top of it. Drain the oil from the pan before adding the sauce.
- There are a few ways that layering can go wrong. For instance, if you use too much sauce for the first or second layer the lasagna becomes uneven. The best way to avoid this problem is by dividing the portions by three. Since this is a meal with 3 layers you must keep that in mind for the ingredients.
3. At this point change the setting to low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Now it’s time to prepare the pan. Fill a cooking spoon with sauce and pour it onto the pan. Use the back of the spoon to spread the meat sauce all over the pan.
4. First, add a single layer of pasta to the pan. The only time I add the pasta horizontally is if there are gaps on the top or bottom of the pan. Then add 1/3 of the sauce onto the first layer. Finally, pour a cup of shredded cheese over the sauce. Make sure that the meat sauce and cheese are evenly distributed across the pan. Repeat this process until you have 3 layers. Top the final layer with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Note: If there are any pasta edges sticking out cut the edges off with a clean pair of kitchen scissors. if you bake the lasagna with the edges of the noodles sticking out those edges will be exposed to more heat in the oven. This causes crispy edges that are overcooked.
If you forget this step, it’s okay. Cut the edges off after you take the lasagna out of the oven.
Beef Options
It’s no surprise that quality meat makes a meal far more enjoyable. I recommend using grass fed beef or 75% lean ground beef. Both options are great to use. Cooking with meat with high fat content negatively impacts the texture. Usually, the fat gives the meat an excessively chewy texture.
In addition, using seasoning salt instead of table salt gives the meat a well-rounded flavor. It’s a great addition to savory dishes because it allows you to enjoy a meal that’s not overwhelming.
Ingredient Substitutions for 5 Cheese Lasagna
This recipe calls for half an onion. However, if you don’t have any onions, you can substitute the onion with dried chopped onion to taste. I don’t recommend substituting the sauce. Sometimes marinara sauce has a tendency to have a bland taste. For this reason, using a store-bought marinara sauce that is full of flavor is ideal.
Making homemade marinara sauce is another option, but for the sake of time Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce works just fine.
Lasagna Storage
Once the lasagna has rested, cover tightly with foil or store in freezer-safe containers. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days.
More Recipes
5 Cheese Lasagna
Ingredients
- 12 Lasagna Sheets
- 3 pounds Ground Beef
- ½ Onion, chopped
- ½ tsp Crushed Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Seasoning Salt
- 2 28 oz Jars of Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce
- 3 cups 4 Cheese Blend Shredded Cheese (Monterey Jack, Medium Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla, and Asadero Cheddar)
- grated fresh parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Add the noodles to a large pot of boiling water. Pour a dash of olive oil into the water. After the noodles are cooked, use a colander to drain the water from the noodles and set aside.
- Add the ground beef to a large skillet on medium heat. Then add the salt, pepper, and chopped onion to the pan.
- Once the ground beef is cooked, drain the oil from the ground beef. Pour the marinara sauce on top of the ground beef. Stir together. Change the stove temperature to low for 3 minutes.
- Pour a spoonful of sauce onto an aluminum foil pan or lasagna dish. Use the back of the spoon to spread the sauce until it covers the whole pan.
- Add a single layer of pasta to the pan. Typically 4 lasagna sheets for each layer works fine. Pour one third of the meat sauce onto the pasta. Cover the sauce with one cup of shredded cheese.
- Repeat this process until you have 3 layers.
- Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- Uncover the lasagna and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
- Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
