The Ultimate Meat and Vegetable Lasagna
Meat and Vegetable Lasagna is packed with lean ground beef, hearty vegetables, creamy ricotta, and a savory tomato sauce. It's a perfect weeknight dinner or a great make ahead freezer meal!
Try my vegetable lasagna for a veggie packed dinner recipe!
There's nothing better than a classic lasagna recipe! It is full of ricotta cheese, pasta, and tomato sauce, what's not to like! In this delicious lasagna might be my best lasagna yet! It has a hearty meat sauce with lots of delicious veggies!
This lasagna recipe is perfect to serve with whole wheat dinner rolls alongside Italian sauteed eggplant. That's just a few options! Check out what to serve with lasagna for even more ideas. It's a delicious pasta recipe that the whole family will love! I promise!
Why You'll Love This Meat and Vegetable Lasagna
- It's full of good ingredients! This tomato sauce is full of lean ground beef and fresh veggies. It's a well rounded meal every family member will enjoy! Just like a venison casserole, it's a delicious dinner the whole family loves!
- It's a great way to hide veggies! Use a food processor to make the veggies even smaller to hide them from the kids. They will love this recipe and not even realize they are eating their veggies!
- It's a crowd pleasing dinner! This is a great Sunday supper, midweek dinner, or a dinner for a special occasion. It's one of those recipes that's great for any dinner!
Ingredients to Gather
- Lasagna. You will need one pound of your favorite brand of regular lasagna noodles.
- Cheese. We will use ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. If you don't have ricotta, use cottage cheese. Of course, the lasagna should be served with your favorite parmesan cheese.
- Veggies. Eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic, and carrots are all the veggies we will use in this sauce.
- Meat. One pound of lean ground beef. I like using 85/15 for all my meat sauces. The first time I made this recipe I used a 95/5 meat and it was not enough fat. The next time I used the 85/15 and it was perfect!
- Herbs. Fresh parsley, fresh basil, and dried oregano make the ricotta mixture perfectly seasoning. Italian seasoning can be using instead of dried oregano if that is what you have on hand.
See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use no boil lasagna noodles! To do this, simply layer the noodles as you would the boiled noodles. The no boil noodles are a little thinner so the sauce cooks the noodles as it bakes in the oven.
- Change up the veggies! Use your family's favorite veggies! Bell peppers, yellow squash, red peppers, mushrooms, or whatever fresh veggies you like. Just like in my meatless baked ziti, you can even mix in frozen spinach to the ricotta.
- Add more meat! Ground beef is hearty in the tomato meat sauce, but you can do ground turkey or ground chicken to lighten up the sauce. You can also use a package of Italian sausage along with the ground meat.
- Make it a vegetarian lasagna recipe! To make this vegetarian, simply remove the ground beef and sauce the veggies in the olive oil to make the tomato sauce.
- Use your favorite tomato sauce! You can use your favorite homemade marinara sauce, or your favorite jarred tomato sauce. I like to use a can of simple tomato sauce and season it myself, but there are so many delicious jarred tomato sauces out there.
How To Make Meat and Vegetable Lasagna
Step 1: In a large Dutch oven, add the olive oil and the ground beef. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the beef is golden brown.
Step 2: Chop all of the vegetables into very small pieces and add them to the Dutch oven. Cook for 5-6 more minutes until the vegetables are softened. You can use a food processor to chop the vegetables if that is easier.
Step 3: Add the white wine, crushed tomatoes, and bay leaves to the Dutch oven. Make sure to stir with a wooden spoon to make sure the sauce does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
Step 4: Let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for one hour. Cover the Dutch oven while it simmers.
Step 5: Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and then add the lasagna noodles. Cook according to the package instructions. While the pasta cooks, in a medium bowl, add the ricotta, eggs, and chopped fresh parsley. Mix well.
Step 6: Spread some of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drain the lasagna noodles and set four lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.
Step 7: Add a scoop of the lasagna mixture, a scoop of tomato veggie sauce, and then sprinkle â…“ of the mozzarella on top of the mixture.
Step 8: Continue layering the noodles, tomato sauce, ricotta mixture, and cheese until the lasagna sheets are gone. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the lasagna is completely heated through.
Tips and Tricks
- The lasagna should rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting into the lasagna. It will not hold it's shape if the lasagna is still very hot when you cut into it.
- To make this lasagna ahead of time, put the lasagna together in the baking dish and cover it with aluminum foil. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. When you are ready to bake it, preheat the oven and bake the lasagna in the baking dish for 40-45 minutes.
- Make sure to add the sauce to the bottom of the baking dish. This ensures that the lasagna does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Gluten-free noodles can be used in place of regular lasagna noodles. You can also use whole wheat noodles if that is what your family prefers. Just make sure to cook the noodles according to the package instructions.
- This lasagna is delicious with same day sourdough bread, sourdough breadsticks, and Italian stuffed mushrooms.
How To Freeze Lasagna
To freeze lasagna, put the lasagna together completely and let it cool to room temperature. It's really important not to put the lasagna in your freezer hot because it can bring down the temperature of your oven and cause other items in your freezer to start to defrost. Put it in the freezer for up to 3 months before you need it.
Defrost the frozen lasagna in the refrigerator and then heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the lasagna is completely heated through and golden brown on top.
Recipe FAQs
Make sure the lasagna noodles are drained properly before adding it to the baking dish. Watery lasagna is from too must past water left on the noodles.
Definitely! You can double this recipe, enjoy one now, and then save one to enjoy at another time. Freeze it until you are ready to enjoy it.
Make sure to undercook the noodles. They will cook more in the sauce once you put the lasagna together.
More Favorite Pasta Recipes
More Recipes
📖 Recipe
The Ultimate Meat and Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- 1 lb Lean Ground Beef 85/15
- 1 large Zucchini Chopped
- 1 large Onion Chopped
- 4 Garlic Cloves Chopped
- 1 Small Eggplant Peeled and Chopped
- ½ cup White Wine
- 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes 1 Can
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 lb Lasagna Noodles
- 2 lbs Ricotta Whole Milk or Skim Milk
- 2 Eggs
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley Chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh Basil Chopped
- 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 1 lb Mozzarella 2 cups
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, add the olive oil and the ground beef. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the beef is golden brown.
- Chop all of the vegetables into very small pieces and add them to the Dutch oven. Cook for 5-6 more minutes until the vegetables are softened.
- Add the white wine, crushed tomatoes, and bay leaves to the Dutch oven.
- Let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for one hour.
- Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and then add the lasagna noodles. Cook according to the package instructions.
- While the pasta cooks, in a medium bowl, add the ricotta, eggs, chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh basil, and oregano. Mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spread some of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drain the lasagna noodles and set four lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.
- Add a scoop of the lasagna mixture, a scoop of tomato veggie sauce, and then sprinkle â…“ of the mozzarella on top of the mixture.
- Continue layering the noodles, tomato sauce, ricotta mixture, and cheese until the lasagna sheets are gone. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the lasagna is completely heated through.
Notes
- You can use a food processor to chop the vegetables if that is easier.
- Use no boil lasagna noodles! To do this, simply layer the noodles as you would the boiled noodles. The no boil noodles are a little thinner so the sauce cooks the noodles as it bakes in the oven.
- The lasagna should rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting into the lasagna. It will not hold it's shape if the lasagna is still very hot when you cut into it.
- To make this lasagna ahead of time, put the lasagna together in the baking dish and cover it with aluminum foil. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. When you are ready to bake it, preheat the oven and bake the lasagna in the baking dish for 40-45 minutes.
- Make sure to add the sauce to the bottom of the baking dish. This ensures that the lasagna does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Gluten-free noodles can be used in place of regular lasagna noodles. You can also use whole wheat noodles if that is what your family prefers. Just make sure to cook the noodles according to the package instructions.
- This lasagna is delicious with same day sourdough bread, sourdough breadsticks, and Italian stuffed mushrooms.
Can I add spinach too? And skip wine for the kids?
Yes! That would be great! Just fyi the wine does cook off, but I understand not wanting to use it, you can easily omit it!
Really delicious. I added some salt and Calabrian chili to the sauce as well. I also added a bit of parmesan to the cheese mixture and mozzarella topping. It doesn’t say when and where to put in the basil and oregano- but I put them in the sauce.
Oh no! I apologize! I've adjusted the recipe! Thanks for noting that and I am glad you enjoyed the lasagna!