Classic Italian Lasagna
Get the recipe for this classic Italian lasagna with a homemade, creamy, rich white sauce in lieu of ricotta cheese. It’s absolutely amazing!
I’ve had lasagna.
And I’ve had great lasagna.
And now, I can say, that without a doubt, I have had the most amazing classic Italian lasagna known to man…and I’ve had it at least four times over.
My Aunt Marilyn snagged this recipe from an Italian friend of hers and passed it on to me. I questioned whether to try it, since I am really loyal to my mom’s fabulous lasagna, but I can’t resist trying new recipes, so I made it.
And now I’m trying to find the words to describe it to you.
This lasagna defies the notion of what I always assumed to be normal lasagna (you know, noodles covered with sauce, covered with ricotta or cottage cheese, covered with cheese…and on and on).
That’s all fine and good – and the process creates a great lasagna as I’ve always known it, but this lasagna, oh, This Lasagna…it is unique and different and authentic and just so very, very delicious.
Instead of a ricotta cheese and egg mixture, you get a homemade white sauce that is creamy and rich.
A simmered red sauce compliments the silkiness of the white sauce and this entire classic Italian lasagna is filled with cheese. Lots of cheese.
I couldn’t get over the deep flavor in this lasagna and I attribute the unparalleled richness to the browned mushrooms, garlic and onion that are pureed and added to the red sauce.
What you ultimately get is a lasagna that is a textural masterpiece as far as smooth sauces go. Pair that with the tender ground turkey and the toothsome noodles and this is just an absolute winner.
Go make it now, please. I have no words left to help convince you that your life will not be complete until you try it.
What to Serve With This
- Divine Breadsticks or Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Steamed vegetable like broccoli or peas
- Simple green salad (or something more fancy like this Gourmet Green Salad)
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Classic Italian Lasagna
Ingredients
Red Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
- ½ large onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
- 2 cans (8-ounces each) tomato sauce
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, or a mix of dried oregano and basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
White Sauce:
- 3 cups milk, not skim, I used 1%
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Lasagna:
- 9 lasagna noodles, boiled for half the time on the box (or use 12 of the no-boil noodles, of which I far prefer the Barilla brand)
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 8 ounces Parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or with a napkin dipped lightly in olive oil and set aside.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey over medium-high heat, breaking the meat apart into pieces with a wooden spoon. When turkey is cooked through, drain the grease and set aside.
- In a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and one tablespoon butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. When oil/butter is hot, add the garlic, stirring constantly. When the garlic is lightly browned, but NOT burned, add the onion and mushrooms. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft and browned and the fluid has mostly cooked out.
- Remove from heat and either using a handheld immersion blender or transferring the vegetables to a blender, blend the vegetables to a paste-like mixture. Return the pot to the heat (pour the pureed vegetables back in, if using a stand-alone blender) and add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Then add the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir.
- Cover and let the sauce sauce simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Right before using the red sauce in the lasagna, stir in the reserved ground turkey.
- While the red sauce simmers, if using lasagna noodles that need to be boiled, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and boil the noodles for half the time suggested on the box. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, but do not rinse. Add a dab of olive oil to keep them from sticking together. If you are using no-boil noodles, you can skip this step.
- Also while the red sauce is cooking, melt the four tablespoons butter and when melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to combine and letting the mixture cook, while stirring, for a minute or two. Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the salt and pepper. Slowly whisk the white sauce, ensuring it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan, while cooking it over medium heat. Continue slowly stirring or whisking while the white sauce cooks and thickens quite a bit, about 5-7 minutes. Add a pinch of mozzarella for good luck, if you wish!
- To begin layering the lasagna, keep in mind that you’ll have three layers of noodles as well as three layers of the sauces and cheese – so plan on splitting all the sauce and cheese piles into thirds so you don’t run out at the end! On the bottom of your lightly greased baking pan, layer three pre-boiled noodles or four no-boil noodles, slightly overlapping the no-boil noodles. Layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, spreading all to the edges and top with another layer of noodles. Again, layer the red sauce, white sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and top with the final layer of noodles. Layer the sauces and cheeses again.
- Cover the lasagna with a greased layer of aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Aunt Marilyn
Instead of making 2 lasagnas could i double the recipe and use a 15 x 10 pan?
I don’t think a double recipe would fit in that size of pan, but you could try!
Ok. In the comments below I think I read that this recipe makes about 6 cups of red sauce. Is that really correct? The ingredients don’t seem like enough for 6 cups. I was going to use 1.5 pounds of meat (1/2 ground beef, 1/2 sweet sausage). Should I do 1.5 times the red sauce? I don’t want my lasagne runny. But I also don’t want it too dry. HELP!! Maybe I should just make as is and not worry! But I have a large lasagna pan and I’m feeding 12 people.
If you are using 1 1/2 times the meat and your lasagna pan is larger than a 9X13 (which is the pan size I use), then yes, I would 1 1/2 the other ingredients as well.
I’ve made this lasagne 4 times for dinner parties. It is always a huge hit – everyone always comments that it’s better than any of the best “restaurant lasagnes” they’ve had. I use the no cook noodles and I make the red sauce a day or two before – and then make the white sauce a few hours before cooking time. It keeps clean up to a minimum when you’re entertaining. I always like to experiment, and with this recipe I’ve added a generous handful of fresh spinach and a half cup of ricotta to the bechamel sauce once it thickened. So good!!! I have also used a mixture of ground pork and chicken in place of the turkey. But the dish is also perfect as originally written. A total winner!!!
Thank you. I wanted to know if anyone had success adding a bit of spinach. I can’t wait to make it.
Hi Maureen, adding spinach should work just fine!
The lasagna is amazing. I omitted the mushrooms & diced tomatoes. I substituted the ground turkey for ground beef with hot Italian sausage
so delicious, thank you!
I’m going to make this lasagna for the second time, this time to keep in the freezer to cook later. Everyone loved it the first time I made it! I used the Barilla no-boil noodles which I thought turned out a little soggy for me. Would I have better luck using regular noodles, especially since I’ll be cooking it from frozen for the 2+hours? If so, would you still boil for half time or even a quarter time?
Yes, you might want to use regular lasagna noodles instead. I’d boil them for at least half the time.
Made this lasagna tonight and my family LOVED it. Compliments like best ever and restaurant quality were said! What was best about it, everyone except my husband don’t like mushrooms and when I said it had a whole package of mushrooms my kids eyes popped out. I think your “Mom’s favorite fabulous lasagna” recipe has not been replaced.
I love this lasagna recipe. I never make/eat lasagna because I don’t like ricotta cheese. I made this in December and everyone LOVED it! On rotAtion for dinner from now on.
Best lasagna I’ve ever had!! ❤️❤️❤️
Hey Mel, My family really enjoys this recipe. I wanted to let you know that I printed this recipe from the prepear website and the measurements transferred strangely, for example it calls for 8/9 tablespoon olive oil, 4/9 tablespoon butter, etc. Thought you’d like to know! Happy new year and blessings to you and your family.
Thanks for the feedback, Cindy! I’ll look into it!
Love this lasagna!
I really love all your recipes Mel, but not this one. I really had high hopes for this one, especially since it took me a really long time to get it in the oven and created a quite a mess of lots of pots of pans. This lasagna missed the mark for me. It was really soupy, too much liquid, (it was more like a lasagna soup) and it didn’t have much flavor.
Sorry this one didn’t work out for you!
You are supposed to let the lasagna rest for at LEAST 30 mins prior to serving. This helps it to retain the liquid, hence not being “soupy.” I encourage you to try making it again. This recipe is a winner!!!
Excited to try this, your recipes never fail me! Just a question… my husband is adamantly anti-mushroom. But I think it’s more the texture than the actual taste. The other day I tested him by making him taste black truffle salt and it didnt remind him of mushrooms. Anyway, since its blended in would you say it’s a very “mushroomy” taste? I know this may be an impossible question to answer, just wondering if I should roll the dice or improvise without the mushrooms.
If it is just a texture issue, I would definitely make this recipe as is with the mushrooms because the flavor is great (and definitely not overly mushroom-y!).
This was the most DELICIOUS lasagna recipe that I’ve made yet!!!! Wasn’t sure about lasagna without Ricotta cheese? But this is definitely a family favorite!!!!
Super delicious….followed the exact recipe.
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for this recipe! I successfully vegan-ized it for a lunch get together! It was amazing! I just substituted Gardein meatless crumbles for the turkey, So delicous brand mozerlla for the mozerlla, follow your heart parm, and vegan butter!
MAN! This recipe is soooo good. Thank you, thank you!
BEST LASAGNA EVER! Thank you Mel!
Shared with a friend who declared it the best she ever had. I agree that the bechamel and pureed veggies gives this a rich balance that makes it unique.
Made it exactly as listed and it was absolutely delicious! Don’t change anything.
This is a delicious recipe, however, 9 lasagna noodles do not cover this size pan. I used the whole box and had none to spare! This style lasagna cuts nicely and stands up on the plate.
Glad I tested this recipe before bringing it to a party. I make lasagne with ricotta and bechamel alternatively. This sounded good with the addition of the mushrooms, and the red sauce was ok. Different. The amount of cheese called for here is way too much! Totally unecessary. Half the amounts would have worked.
Sorry this is not a classic lasagne.
I used my own red sauce recipe but this way of making lasagna is the absolute best. I will never use ricotta cheese again. This is by far the absolute best lasagna recipe ever.
Do you have to puree the mushrooms and onion or can you leave them chopped?
It helps thicken the sauce to do so (and I think it helps the overall flavor be more cohesive), but you could definitely omit that step.
This lasagna recipe is undoubtedly the best I have ever made. The depth and layers of flavor is amazing! I took it to a party and everyone raved about it. So much so that I now have to make a quadruple batch for another party tomorrow. I have always made my lasagnas with a bechamel anyway but the earthiness from the mushrooms made a massive difference to texture and taste. I made it pretty much per the recipe except I used a meatloaf mix of meat, beef/veal/pork as that’s what I had.
My husband and I miss many things about living overseas, one of which is lasagna! This recipe brought back memories of our travels in Italy. It is a keeper! The only changes made was, I used ground beef, no mushrooms, added a cup of Merlot to the sauce (letting it simmer longer), and a little brown sugar as well. I only made these changes so picky children would eat it and they loved it! We called it layered spaghetti. Great recipe!
This is so flavorful and rich. I love it!! I can’t get enough of the perfect sauciness, which is saying a lot since I am not a fan of tomato sauces. The less the better is usually how it is for me, but the combination of a homemade, slow-simmered red sauce and the béchamel is unbelievably mouthwatering! I didn’t have mushrooms so I just left them out and used one cup onion to make up some of the bulk. I can’t wait to make it with mushrooms next time! One question- Do you always use turkey or have you ever used ground beef?
I’ve made it with both and it’s fantastic. I prefer lean ground beef – but if I had to choose, I really like it best with ground turkey.
The best!! Worth the extra effort for sure. It’s amazing. I don’t even like lasagna but I LOVE this recipe. Don’t waste your time, I have experimented with different brands of oven ready lasagna needles, and yes, Barilla are far superior.
Thanks for the comment, Kendra!
This was a fabulous recipe. Rich flavors and not one complaint. It’s my go to recipe now. Thank you for sharing.
Best lasagna ever, no joke!
I made this recipe and LOVED it, as well as well my kids did! I actually am not a very good cook, as I fail at many recipes, but even though this one took me a good chunk of time to make, it turned out so fabulous that I will put the work into it again! Thanks!!
BEST. Lasagna. Ever. So happy to find a lasagna without ricotta or cottage cheese in it.
Turkey instead of beef or pork? No ricotta? Sorry, Mel.
That ain’t lasagna.
(And I don’t care what anyone thinks is a wonderful taste treat, fungus does not belong in food. It’s down at the bottom of the survival food list with grubs and raw fish.)
Actually ‘real’ traditional old world lasagna does not have Ricotta or even Mozarella! Get your facts straight. Lasagna is made with Bolognese, béchamel (white sauce) and parmesan.
Some southern Italian areas use Ricotta but its made with sheep’s milk and has a different taste and texture to the nasty stuff we have here. Ricotta is an American thing and it’s actually pretty disgusting compared to the alternative.
This recipe is a keeper! I get rave reviews every time I make this and it’s the one thing EVERYONE in our extended family will have more than one helping every.single.time. I’ve only made this three or four times because though it’s not hard, it sure is tedious for those with a small kitchen and with limited counter space.
I make this in 3 or 4 batches every time after the first time. Yes. 3 batches at least. Why? Because we have at least 20 people to feed when making this. This is by far the best recipe ever, Mel! We can’t thank you and Aunt Marilyn enough for this!
Lots of all the way from Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia!
So happy you love this recipe, Farah!
I want to try make this recipe for my daughter’s birthday party this next weekend, but I would like to double the meat (my other lasagna recipe has 2-3lbs of meat in it). Would you change the amount of sauce too?? I love your website and have so much fun choosing my next new recipe to try! Thank you for testing these to the point of perfection and sharing them!
I’ve got this in the oven now. I had to stop half way and boil more noodles because 9 didn’t even cover 2 layers, but i got that worked out. The white sauce thickened up a lot and while i could still spread it, i’m wondering if i should have doubled it because each layer didn’t have much but i’m not sure if it was suppose to have a good amount or just some. I don’t normally do good with lasagna but I am very excited about this one. I used hamburger meat and when i put it in the red sauce to simmer, i added a tad of sugar to it. It was so good! I’m going to serve garlic cheese biscuits with it! I’m excited 🙂
Hi Mel,
I make a lot of your recipes and they’re always fantastic!
Any advice for splitting this into two 8” inch pans? Seems like I would need more noodles, but perhaps someone has already tried this and can give some tips? I want to freeze wine, and use the other one For dinner. Family is too small to use 9 x 13, as there’s only 3 people.
Thanks in advance!
For two 8X8-inch pans, it actually might be fine as is (just doing the math about the surface area of the pans) but to be safe, you might 1 1/2 the noodles and sauces?
Hi Mel, when I was a teenager, I made lasagne using a recipe I got off the Barilla box, and it was very similar to this. It was so good I never ordered lasagne when we ate out cos it would never taste as good. Sadly, I lost that recipe and I am so happy to reacquaint myself with your version! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
I served this for my good friend’s birthday, and it was a success! I even made some mistakes by almost forgetting the beef, and putting too much cheese. However, it was still awesome and there were many clean plates. Thanks!
My brother served his mission in Milano and this is very similar to a recipe he learned there. I love the besciamella so much…try adding a pinch of nutmeg. Soooo good! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
This lasagna recipe has come the closest of any I’ve made to the most amazing lasagna I had in Italy 10 years ago (I still dream about that)! It was delicious! I loved the extra flavor the pureed mushroom mixture gave it. It didn’t really blend in my blender, so I’ll try a food processor next time. I made two 8×8 inch pans instead of the one 9×13, and it worked great. I poured the cooked bechamel sauce back into the 4 c. liquid measuring cup I used to measure the milk, and it was really easy to pour the white sauce and make sure I wasn’t using too much for each layer.
You’re a gift from heaven, Mel! 🙂 I stumbled on your website while searching for a lasagna recipe without ricotta and/or cottage cheese, and I am so excited to be trying this. It’s in the oven right now – and looks and smells delicious. I love béchamel sauce, and can’t wait to see how it turns out…..!!
I’ve made a number of recipes from your site already – and everything has been a huge hit!! Your chocolate oatmeal cookies are SOO good!! Your website is beautiful and so easy to maneuver, and I’m so grateful to have found someone who’s taste and style I can trust – as I’m not much for wasting time on recipes that just don’t turn out well…! Thank you for your excellent work – and for being so gracious and willing to share it with us!!
So grateful for you! 🙂
Thank you so much! I hope the lasagna was a success!
Hi Mel – I wondered if you could estimate the quantity of red sauce that this recipe makes. I ask because I have a lot of Marcella Hazan’s bolognese sauce in my freezer and I’d like to use that as a substitute for the red sauce in this recipe (just to save myself some time – I’m sure your red sauce is delish!). Thank you!
Hmmm, probably around 6 cups.
This is my go to recipe. So good! My fam doesn’t like mushrooms so I leave them out and it still taste fantastic. I especially love the white sauce.
Oops and a couple of dashes of nutmeg!
Yours is the first time I’ve seen this made with the white sauce besides mine. I’ve used a recipe I got in Europe many many years ago– almost identical. But into the white sauce goes 3-4 tablespoons of fresh Parmesan cheese. 🙂
Ok, second time making this.. Very runny again. I’m determined to figure it out bc this dish tastes soooo good! I used a smaller pan this time and had plenty of noodles. I can’t find no boil noodles, but I’m thinking this is the problem. maybe starting with the dry noodles will absorb more liquid. I’m not giving up!
I do think the regular noodles vs. no-boil may be the issue, Shoby. Also, are you letting it rest for a while before serving? If you use regular noodles again, try only cooking them for a few minutes.
Mel, This is fantastic! I have only ever had lasagna about 5 times in my life since it has taken me a long time to like eating tomato sauces. I made this recipe two weeks ago and I will never in my life ever use another lasagna recipe – it was the best I have ever eaten and it shames Olive Garden’s recipe. Pureeing the vegetables worked wonderfully since I hate the texture of onions. Seriously. You’re a culinary genius 😉 Thank you for sharing! I look forward to trying more of your recipes. This was PHENOMENAL.
So glad to hear it, Brandi!
I am making this for the first time and I want to make it a day ahead. I am afraid that it will be dry. I have read the tips on letting the sauces cool, any other suggestions or comments. Also concerned about the white sauce, when it cools does it thicken and is it hard to spread.
The white sauce is still spreadable if it’s cooled to room temperature (if it’s chilled it may be harder to spread). I think it should be fine if you make it a day ahead of time – I’ve done that several times and it works great.
I’ve made this several times since finding the recipe and it is always great. Two things – mushrooms don’t fly in this house so I sauteed a zucchini & a squash, from the garden, with the onion and then pureed the mixture – dee-lish.
I have frozen and reheated this recipe and did not have great luck. I found that the sauce was absorbed into the noodles. I had some other sauce and just added that but I was a little bummed that it was so dry. I’d love to know if you have thoughts on this or if this has ever happened to you.
Thanks Mel, I love your site and have loved so many recipes I’ve tried from here – good job!
Hi Marie! What kind/brand of noodles are you using? I’ve found when I know I’m going to freeze this, I let the sauces come to room temperature before assembling and it seems to help with the noodles soaking up the warm sauce.
Best lasagna ever!
This is worthy of a leaving a comment, I have never left a comment before…I swapped out the turkey and replaced with mild Italian sausage, amazing! I would decrease the salt a tad in the red sauce is you choose this option. It made for a delicious birthday meal! Thank you for a true Italian lasagna.
Sorry, it is not a real italian dish, there are a lot of mistakes, even if it try to fill the gap. Is it so difficult to find italian recipes on italian web sites? I guess.
Just made this for a large family get together for my grandson. He is serving in the army and stationed in South Korea here for a very short leave, his only request was homemade lasagna. I wanted to be sure he had a great meal before heading back and this recipe blew us ALL away! Everyone said it was the best they had ever had and my grandson was very, very happy and stuffed!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe and even more importantly, thanks for helping us send him back with a full belly and a big smile!!! May God Bless you!
Thanks, Jimmie – good luck to your grandson!