There are plenty of lasagna recipes in the world, but this lasagna without ricotta cheese is sure to become a staple in your dinner rotation. It’s budget-friendly, freezes perfectly, and, most importantly, tastes fantastic.
Table of contents
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
It’s easy! No-bake noodles make everything simple. You’ll love how simple this recipe is to follow and how there’s no need to boil lasagna noodles. Once you’ve made the sauce, you’re almost done.
Delicious. The sauce has tons of flavor and plenty of cheese and meat. Your whole family is guaranteed to love it.
Freezer-friendly. You can make the sauce and freeze just that portion or freeze a fully assembled, unbaked lasagna.
🧂 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You’ll find the full measurements and instructions in the printable recipe at the bottom of the page.
You’ll need the following for the sauce:
- sweet Italian sausage
- onion
- garlic
- olive oil
- Italian seasoning
- crushed red pepper
- crushed tomatoes
- diced tomatoes
- salt
- pepper
You’ll need the following for assembling the lasagna:
- no-bake lasagna noodles
- whole milk cottage cheese or sour cream
- whole milk mozzarella
- egg
- parmesan cheese
🥣 Equipment
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- large skillet
- medium bowl
- baking pan
- aluminum foil
🍴Instructions
Step One: prepare the meat sauce
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the Italian sausage, breaking it up with a fork as it cooks until it’s cooked through. Pour out any excess grease and put the sausage in a bowl.
Now that the skillet is empty add the olive oil and cook the onion until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomato, Italian seasoning, red pepper, salt, and pepper. Also, return the sausage to the sauce so it can all simmer together, and return the cooked meat to the sauce. Simmer it for 20-30 minutes until it’s thickened and the diced tomatoes have broken down slightly. (If you have fresh basil or any other fresh herbs, toss them in the sauce now, at the very end.)
Step Two: mix ingredients
We’re done with the meat sauce; now we do the rest. Mix the cottage cheese and one cup of mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl. Mix in the egg and 1/4 teaspoon of each salt and pepper.
Step three: assemble the lasagna
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the center. Brush a 13 x 9 baking dish with olive oil, and then start to layer.
- 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom
- 1/4 of a cup of the cheese egg mixture
- 1 tablespoon of the parmesan
- 3 lasagna noodles.
Repeat layers 3 more times. Sprinkle the top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and the remaining tablespoon of parmesan cheese.
Step Four: bake the lasagna
Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake covered for 30 minutes, in the preheated oven, then remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more. The top should be bubbling and golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
🥫 Storage instructions
If you are not serving the lasagna right away, you can cover it with foil after it is cooled and store it in the fridge. Make sure to let it come to room temperature before reheating.
🔍 FAQs
Sure, but you’re just doing your own thing at that point.
Yes, this works well. Make sure it’s at room temperature so you can add it to the egg mixture easily. You might want to thin it out with a little heavy cream
👩🏻🍳 Expert tips
- Make sure to let the lasagna stand at room temperature. It’s very saucy and needs that time to set.
- If you want to use regular lasagna noodles, don’t cook them according to the package instructions. Boil them for five minutes, or they’ll be soggy. But honestly, just buy the no-boil kind.
- Use good quality mozzarella cheese. It makes a difference in taste, and you want your lasagna to be as delicious as possible
Make-ahead tips
- You can make the sauce and freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Assemble the lasagna, but don’t bake it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to eat it, let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake as directed. (Make sure you remove the plastic wrap first.)
- You can also bake the lasagna, then let it cool. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze for up to 2 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then remove the foil and heat in a 350-degree oven until heated through, about 30 minutes. (This is not as good, but still works.)
📘 Related Recipes
🍽 Serve it with
- A loaf of soft Italian bread with sesame seeds is perfect for any Italian dish.
- Add a salad, and you’re done!
- Triple Berry Sangria with red wine is a delicious addition.
📖 here’s the recipe
Three Cheese and Sausage Lasagna without Ricotta
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage casings removed
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or a mix of dried basil and oregano
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
To make the lasagna:
- 12 no-bake lasagna noodles
- 1 15 ounce container of whole milk cottage cheese OR sour cream
- 2 cups whole milk mozzarella shredded
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Transfer to a large bowl and pour out excess grease.
- In the same pan, heat the olive oil and cook the onion until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper, and return the cooked meat to the sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Combine cottage cheese and 1 cup mozzarella in a medium bowl. Mix in the egg and 1/4 teaspoon of each salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 13 x 9 pan with olive oil. Layer 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom, 1/4 of a cup of the cheese, 1 tablespoon of the parmesan, and 3 lasagna noodles. Repeat 3 more times. Sprinkle the top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and the remaining tablespoon of parmesan cheese.
- Cover tightly and bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
My son in law doesn’t like ricotta or cottage cheese but we still use cottage cheese in lasagna and he loves it. A lot of men don’t like anything tomatoey but they’ll scarf up chili, pizza etc. My daughter keeps cottage cheese containers to put her favorite leftovers in cause he won’t look in them 😄
that is so funny. my husband is the exact same with tomato stuff… like you have to pretend it’s something else! 🤣
Absolutely the best! My family doesn’t care for the texture of ricotta and I have made a similar version of this recipe for decades. The cottage cheese is a BIG win in our house! Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe!
This is a blog to watch for sure. I think you have a really awesome writing style by the way. Very easy to read. Your blog design is so clean too! Thank you all the hard work!
My husband also hates ricotta. He says it’s the texture. I have always made lasagna with no bake noodles and cottage cheese. No bake noodles are really good! The cottage cheese doesn’t bother my husband in the lasagna, but he won’t eat it plain. Go figure!
this is a husband epidemic! but I totally agree, I can’t eat plain cottage cheese either!
I’ll have to try this! I also married a ricotta-hating monster. These boys!!
It is the weirdest food ever to hate!