Psst! Have you tried our Easy Individual Mini Lasagnas? They’re a perfect go-to lunch or dinner! They work amazingly well for single people, busy schedules, and hungry boys. And they’re super easy to make ahead of time!
We love lasagna… but I rarely buy lasagna noodles because there aren’t as many sales or coupons available for lasagna noodles as there are for spiral and rotini noodles.
So, a number of years ago, I re-did our regular lasagna recipe substituting spiral/rotini noodles for lasagna noodles and dubbed it “Lasagna Casserole”. It has since become a staple recipe at our home and it’s one of the first things I consider making when I find marked-down cottage cheese!
Why we love this Easy Lasagna Casserole
Not only is this casserole so delicious, but it’s also very frugal (and easy) to make.
Back when we were first married, we just left the meat out of this recipe, since it wasn’t in our budget. We like it better with meat these days, but it’s still hearty as a meatless casserole.
The best part about this easy recipe is that I never make this recipe exactly the same. It really depends on what I have on hand — so feel free to mix up the ingredients based on what you have in your freezer or pantry, or even what’s on sale at your grocery stores.
Lasagna Casserole Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or sausage (optional)
- 1 onion chopped (optional)
- 8 oz. uncooked noodles (we like spiral or rotini noodles best)
- 12 oz. spaghetti sauce
- 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 2-3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (we prefer cottage cheese and it’s typically much cheaper — especially if you can find it marked down!)
- 1/2 teaspoon parsley (chopped fresh or dried)
- salt/pepper
Lazy Lasagna substitutions and additions
If you’re on a tight budget, simply omit the meat, or substitute cooked lentils or sauteed mushrooms.
You can use whatever noodles you have on hand.
Feel free to use more sauce if that’s your preference — even using extra sauce in place of the tomatoes.
You can also mix up the cheese, trying new varieties or mixing a few types.
How to make Lasagna Casserole
1. Brown ground beef and onion until cooked.
2. While the meat is cooking, boil the noodles according to the package directions.
3. Mix spaghetti sauce with diced tomatoes and browned ground beef.
4. Set 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese aside to sprinkle on the top.
5. Combine the rest of the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, and salt and pepper.
6. In a 7″ x 11″ pan, layer a third of the meat sauce, then the noodles, then the cheese mixture.
7. Repeat two more times.
8. Sprinkle with cheese.
9. Bake at 350º for 30 to 45 minutes (until bubbly).
10. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
How to serve this Lazy Lasagna Recipe
This casserole tastes great with a simple side salad, fruit, and garlic toast. It also pairs well with most vegetables and any type of bread/rolls you have in the house.
How to store Easy Lasagna Casserole
Let the casserole come to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate any leftovers.
You can also put single-servings into smaller storage containers and freeze for easy lunches.
Lazy Lasagna FAQs
You can cover it with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes if the cheese is getting too brown.
You might have too much sauce, or it might just need to sit for a bit after baking. Try tenting your pan with foil and letting the casserole sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes after it’s done baking.
Lazy Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or ground sausage
- 1 onion diced
- 8 oz pasta uncooked
- 12 oz pasta sauce 1/2 a jar
- 15 oz diced tomatoes
- 3 cups mozerella cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- ½ tsp parsley
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Brown ground beef and onion until cooked through. Drain.
- While the meat is cooking, boil the noodles according to the package directions.
- Mix spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes with browned ground beef.
- Set 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese aside to sprinkle on the top.
- Combine the rest of the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, and salt and pepper.
- In a 7" x 11" pan, layer a third of the meat sauce, then the noodles, then the cheese mixture.
- Repeat the layers two more times.
- Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
- Bake at 350º for 30 to 45 minutes (until bubbly).
- Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
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Thanks so much for this recipe! i never seem to make Lasagna right ( i know, how hard is it, but really i mess it up!) I was so excited when I saw this recipe and had the stuff on hand to make it! I had just finished baking the lasagna when my nephew came over so of course I made sure to serve him some up also! He told me it tasted better to him than Stoffers! which for me was a huge compliment! Hubby liked it to! no luck with my very picky 4 year old but my 1 year old loved it! I was wondering if I would notice the layering or if it would just look like i mixed it all together with the rotini but I could! I just love this new recipe and will be adding it to our list of Likes! you rock! keep the great recipes coming your saving my family tons of money and feeding us like kings!
Just wanted to thank you for the recipe. So tasty and so easy. My two year old assembled the whole thing (with some direction from Daddy). She was so proud of herself. I wanted to share a pic but it doesn’t seem like I can on here. Thanks again!
Too funny! We used to leave the meat out to save money, too! We do prefer having some italian sausage in our lasagna now, so I just sprinkle in about 1/2 pound and freeze the other 1/2 pound for a later lasagna. We still get the meat taste while saving some money. 🙂
I have been making two lasagnas every few months, one to eat and for leftovers and one to freeze. I was able to get some great deals on lasagna pasta, ricotta and sauce as well as had shredded cheese and 1 lb. portions of hamburger (marked down & I cut up) stocked in my freezer. So, I have been able to make them very affordably. However, lasagna noodles, as mentioned, are not on sale as often as rotinis and spirals (which I have plenty of from previous coupon deals and need to use). Plus, the lasagna noodles are a pain to cook and some always rip for me (I still use the scraps). So, I was excited that this was posted. It looks yummy. I am excited to add this to my recipes.
This sounds amazing. Trying it out this weekend!
another way to do this use i use mac and cheese pkgs. make it like you would normally layer it with mac cheese meat (i use italian style ground turkey) then the sauce then mozzerlla i keep layering until i run out of noodles and top with extra cheese . you can get mac and cheese for under 1.00 the sauce is usually under 1.50 and the mozz varies depending on where you buy it and the ground turkey i watch for it to go on sale and stock up. so it runs about 5.00 to 6.00. i dont like mac and cheese but i love it in this. i also dont like cottage cheese so i dont have to use it in this recipe. barb
That sounds awesome! I will be making this and I will be adding my “peruvian spaghetti secret” that my neighbor taught me. You have to try it! You’ll never know that carrots are in your spaghetti/lasagna.
http://www.savingwithaplan.com/2010/12/my-spaghetti-secret/
‘butterfly pasta’ (farfalle). I also make this in a crockpot w/o precooking the pasta.
I’m pretty new to freezer cooking, so I was wondering…if I wanted to freeze this would I do that before baking? And then just get it out to thaw for a few hours and bake it according to the recipe directions? Or bake straight from the freezer? This sounds so yummy – thanks for sharing!
I usually freeze before baking and then just thaw and bake.
Thanks! 🙂
I’m new to the idea of freezing casseroles, but love that you can freeze this for an easy dinner later. Just curious, but how long does it take for this dish to thaw in the fridge (a few hours, all day, overnight+all day, etc.)? I always underestimate the time and things take much longer to thaw than I think. Thanks!
I’d say to thaw it overnight in the fridge or at least 3-4 hours on the countertop. You can always bake it a little longer if it’s not quite thawed (or, at least, that’s what I do if I’m running behind!)
Great – thanks so much Crystal! Found your blog only recently and have been loving all the great info!!
Cottage or ricotta? I can often find either one on deep discount. What I am impressed with is using only 1/3 to 1/2 a jar of sauce! Tomatoes are cheap compared to sauce and the idea of using just a portion of the jar to flavor the tomatoes is a great frugal idea. I love it. Thanks for the idea, Crystal.
I generally make my own sauce, but occasionally will buy jarred sauce when I see good deals. The combining canned tomatoes with half a jar is a great idea to extend the jar (and cut down on the sugar that can sometimes be high in jarred/canned sauces).
You’re welcome! I can always seem to get great deals on canned tomatoes and I think it makes the sauce much more flavorful. Of course, I tend to be a person who likes chunky sauce, too. 🙂
I do somehting similar that I use ravioli, hamburger, and 1 large can of tomatoes. I brown the hamburger, add mushrooms and part of an onion, add the tomatoes and let them cook down, add italian seasoning. Boil my bag of ravioli just till they float and then mix together and top w/ mozarella and I use parmasean from the shaker. So good, easy, it just takes awhile to make. The original recipe didn’t call for meat, but my husband is a major meat eater.
I make a similar dish, however I use penne or rigatoni noodles, because I found when I use spiral noodles it gets too watery. Penne and rigatoni soak up more of the moisture. In addition to onions, I saute finely diced carrots, celery and peppers to add to my sauce to get some extra vege’s in the meal! I also try to make enough for 2 pans when I make it and put one in the freezer for a later date. Quick and easy meal that the kids love.
I can’t wait to try this… but our version will be with expensive gluten-free spiral noodles. But it is still much cheaper with spiral noodles than lasagne noodles.
Did you see the comments above about using sliced squash or similar vegetable instead of noodles? Perhaps a cheaper way to make it gluten-free.
Lasagna the quick and lazy way! Put a little bit of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan(to keep noodles from sticking), layer of UNCOOKED noodles, then spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers (I usually have 3 layers). Bake in 350 oven for about 45-60 mins. I usually keep the top layer of mozzarella cheese off. It keeps it from browning too much (or burning).
Only have one pan to clean up (2 if you use meat).
I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with other noodles besides lasagna. Just make sure the noodles are completely covered.
I didn’t have the time to read all the comments (shh I’m at work), so hopefully no one has suggested this yet. For most dishes of this type, I cook a little zucchini, yellow squash, and/or mushrooms to add to the sauce instead of meat. It gives the sauce a little more texture and flavor than being plan but is a bit healthier and cheaper than meat. Of course this works best in the summer when summer squashes are plentiful.
Sounds like what I’ve done with our stuffed shells recipe. My family loves spinach stuffed shells, but it is so time consuming stuffing the cheese mixture in each jumbo pasta shell, so I started using mini shells and just mixing them in with the other ingredients. I call it “Unstuffed Shells” (though now I just use whatever pasta I have on hand). That is the first thing I think of when I see marked down cottage cheese . 🙂 Oh, and I rarely make a recipe the same way twice too.
This looks really good thank you! I am always looking for inexpensive but oh so good casseroles to make. My hubby likes to take the leftovers for his work lunch, and I like to take food to my elder neighbors! Thanks!
Thank You so much for sharing this recipe…I can’t wait to try it! This seems like it would be a lot easier for my kids to eat than lasagna with lasagna noodles.
I just printed pasta coupons from Ronzoni.com,($1 off 2), sauce coupons from Classico.com (also $1 off 2), AND 50 cents off 1 Coles Breadstick Product from Cole’s. Great, low cost pasta meal with all these combined!
If you’d rather start from scratch, here’s a slow cooker (crockpot) lasagna recipe that is a keeper! Easy, fix and forget for a few hours. I made it with ground turkey. Lots of excellent reviews on this one!
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Slow-Cooker-Lasagna?cpi=2&sort=2
I actually like the way it tastes better with the spiral instead of the lasagna noodles, the lasagna noodles just seem too much for me!
Thanks for sharing! Cant wait to try it! 🙂
We are just embarking on our grocery budget slashing and I am loving these recipes. I only cook for two people but meals like this are easy left overs for us to eat on again the next day or to make half and freeze the other. Thanks for all you do.
My Mom now does a “new” version of Lasagna where she uses Ravioli instead of having a ricotta mixture and pasta sheets. If you find a good deal if might make it more reasonable to do it that way. It certainly is less labor intensive.
Crystal –
Does it freeze well? I usually make multiple lasagnas at one time and freeze for up to several months. (Which I assumed it worked well because the noodles are so large…)
Thanks!
I make a very similar and call it Lazy Lasanga. The only difference is instead of layering I mix the noodles (wide egg noodles typically), cottage cheese, mozz cheese, and beef all together and pour into the casserole dish. So easy!! 🙂
This recipe reminds me of something I whipped up in the kitchen a few weeks ago that my husband likes to call Macaroni Madness. I had originally wanted to make Baked Ziti, but all I had was elbow noodles and I couldn’t very well call it Baked Elbows – let’s face it, that sounds very wrong. I make it at least every other week, if not every week now. I’ll ask my husband what he wants for dinner, and he’ll say “mmmmmmacaroni mmmmmmadness!” We are awfully nerdy.
I laughed out loud through your entire comment and am still chuckling (but quietly — toddler is napping). I think your family and mine have a similar sense of humor. Thanks for the laugh!
I’ve made a similar recipe with whatever type of pasta shapes I have on hand. I called it Spasagna.
I mix my pasta (1 box) and sauce together and put 1/2 in the bottom of the pan. Then I put in my cheesy layer (I usually use 1/2 carton of ricotta, 1/2 carton of cottage, some parmesan, and an egg or two for this). Then you put the rest of the pasta in, and top it with LOTS of mozzerella cheese!
I have to agree with Kathy, I can’t wrap my head around the cottage cheese in lasagna recipes I have seen. Then again I grew up in an Italian American household in NYC that would consider this sacrilege. I make baked ziti often, which is the same idea as this, only with ziti instead of rotini. Claire, I would definitely use the same amount of ricotta. I love
polly-o ricotta, sargento is bland.
Marrying into an Itlian family I get you on the cheese.Mother in law would have a heart attack if I used cottage cheese.When I was a newlywed living in Iceland I learned very fast on how to substitute and started using cottage cheese.
Anyone know if ricotta can be substituted for the cottage cheese in a recipe like this? Would it be the same amount? Thanks!
Shouldn’t be a problem! I use half ricotta and half cottage cheese in my regular lasagna recipe.
The ricotta amount should be the same amount as the cottage cheese. I just but the closest sized tub and go from there. Sounds yummy!
I make something like this with ricotta alot! I am not a fan of cottage cheese in Italian type dishes = )……something my Sicilian grandma drilled me on….but I am a ricotta lover. I would use the same amounts….but mine I would all spaghetti sauce. I make a Baked ziti similar to this, I just made it for a funeral last week.
Ok, I have to ask – why do so many people in the Midwest use cottage cheese in baked pasta dishes? Is it that you can’t get ricotta out there, or don’t like ricotta, or just that cottage cheese is cheaper? The very thought of using cottage cheese in this type of dish makes me a little ill. I’m not trying to be rude, just really curious, because I had never even heard of anyone doing it that way until I started reading frugal websites.
Cottage cheese is cheaper, but some people just prefer it to ricotta. The flavor it a bit different, but once it is cooked with the spices, sauce and noodles, it is just as delicious.
I’m in the Midwest and have used both ricotta and cottage cheese in lasagna. The thought of cottage cheese used to make me ill, too, but now I kind of like it! I think people use it around here because it’s cheaper. Maybe also because they used to not be able to get ricotta cheese? Honestly, I kind of like the cottage cheese better now b/c (I think) it produces less cheesy lasagna. Maybe cheesy is not the right word – but the ricotta sometimes seems dry? Does that make sense?
Yes, ricotta seems too dry to me, too. There’s something about the texture and the taste that I just don’t like very much. I prefer cottage cheese in lasagna.
I live in KY and I have used my Grandma’s recipe for years that includes cottage cheese. I guess the use here began when it was hard to find 50+ years ago. I just like to stick with her recipe and of course it is usually cheaper, especially when cottage cheese is on sale. You might be surprised how good it really is! (And I don’t eat cottage cheese except for in my lasagna.)
I grew up in MI, which is kind of the midwest (depending on who you ask! =), so I’ll give you my little story. My mom went through a lasagna experimental stage for a few months where she tried all cottage cheese, then all ricotta cheese, and then half and half. We liked the half and half best because the straight ricotta was too grainy and the straight cottage cheese didn’t taste as good. I guess it’s just a preference.
I make it using half and half, and my husband (from VA) is convinced that my lasagna is the best in the world!
Funny, because I grew up in Michigan and my mother ALWAYS used cottage cheese. I married my husband who was from California, and he gagged when I mentioned that I would use cottage cheese for lasagna. But he doesn’t like ricotta as much either because of the richness. I have used used the riccota but try to use only half of the required amount and add extra mozzerella. Funny that you would mention that to though! I always wondered if midwesterners were more frugal! 🙂
I agree! I had never heard of using cottage cheese until I moved to the midwest from the East coast. I still use ricotta because I am not a cottage cheese fan.
I live in the Midwest and have made both types of lasagna. I don’t care for ricotta, though. I prefer the taste of cottage cheese, and it’s cheaper.
I chuckle when I think back to why I started to use cottage cheese in place of ricotta. Around 1974, before couponing, I remember my shock at the cost of the ingredients to make a lasagne with Ricotta, mozarella, and parmesan cheese. It was a lot of money back then.
You might want to drain the cottage cheese before using in Lasagna, or it makes for a soupy result.
I chuckled when I saw your comment/question because I grew up in the south and my mom always used cottage cheese (small curd). I worked for an Italian family in college and they were horrified (HORRIFIED!) that I was using cottage cheese in dishes. I had never even heard of ricotta. I go back and forth now but we eat a lot of cottage cheese for snacks so I tend to have it on hand.
I use ricotta, too. Guess that goes along w/ having a grandmother straight from Italy. For those that use cottage cheese for the price, consider making your own ricotta. There are plenty of recipes online if you just google search. The easiest just use milk and vinegar.
I have a grandmother straight from Italy/Sicily too and I have to admit, it horrifies me a bit too, to see cottage cheese in this!
= )
I actually saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen about this! They actually preferred the cottage cheese b/c the ricotta was grainy…. Doesn’t hurt that it’s cheaper! 🙂
I LOVE new recipes!! This one looks great! Thanks for sharing!!!!
I noticed your lasagna is in a throw away tin. Which reminds me of my real life friend Janelle who just started blogging and is showing her meal ministry – I featured her today on my blog – tins and all :
http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-wish-these-would-show-up-at-my-door.html
This lasagna looks like a great meal to make to take to a family with a sick mommy!!! Thanks!
Courtney
The lasagna pictured is actually one I took to a family who just had a baby last week. You are right, it’s a great recipe for making and giving to others! I often make a few extra and freeze one in a disposable pan to have on hand for taking a meal to someone. Makes it so simple to pull off when you already have the main dish in the freezer.
Thanks so much for sharing the link!
Can I comment twice? Okay, good! 🙂
Do you freeze before, or after cooking? Thanks!
freeze before 😉
Thanks Tara! 🙂
This would be good for a Mercy meal too. Thanks!
My mother in law makes something called Lasange in a pot. She basically throughs the ingredients in the pot and then walks away until cooked. Then there is time to make a salad and warm up some homeade rolls. Yum.
I make Lasagna Rolls when I can get the noodles on sale, otherwise this is what I do too, but have never put the eggs in it. I might have to try that next time.
Just had frozen lasagna from the freezer department of the grocery story. It was very good, but of course nothing beats homemade lasagna and yours looks so much better!! I will definitely have to try it!
We make the same thing, but we call it ‘Lazy Lasagna!’
Hello!
just a tip, NO NEED TO COOK THE PASTA! just put it in the pan dry, cover it with sauce, and it completely softens in the oven! This also solves the problem of the watery pasta bake. Let us know if you try this method!
For anyone who cant eat wheat or just want a variation, you can use a mandolin and slice zuchinni or other summer squash and layer in place of the noodles..
We slice squash thin in the summer, and dress it with Italian dressing and grill it.. when we have leftovers, I use it to make a mock lasagna.. Its great.
Great idea! Thank you so much for sharing it! We eat wheat, but some friends of ours don’t, and I think this is a dish we could all enjoy! Hooray!
If you are making lasagna ahead of time or going to freeze it, you don’t even need to boil the noodles. Just make sure there is enough sauce to cover the noodles and let it sit overnight (or all day) before you cook it. My mom called it “Overnight Lasagne”
I don’t even let mine sit. I just layer in the uncooked noodles, and either bake on low heat while we’re at church, or cook on low in the crockpot.
I think that pasta cooks in less time than we all tend to think! 🙂 I’m guessing we could even do this with other kinds of pasta. I’ll have to try it sometime.
I don’t ever let mine sit either. Just add a little extra sauce and bake as usual. No need to ever pre-cook the pasta…and it holds up better! 🙂
My family lives in Ghana, West Africa (we’re in the US for a few months before returning to our work in Africa again) and we can’t get cottage cheese there. I’ve made my own but usually I use yogurt (super easy and cheap to make!) in my lasagna recipe in place of cottage/ricotta cheese. Just sharing this tip in case you need an even frugal-er recipe. While I am commenting, I am a frequent visitor to your site and I’m not sure that I’ve ever commented (I’ve entered lots of giveaways, though!). Thanks for all that you do! Blessings!
We make a very similar recipe with a layer of cooked spaghetti noodles and call it Spasagna. Spaghetti noodles can be picked up very cheap, so it’s a great cheap dinner!
My local Walmart has lasagna noodles (Ronzoni) for $1.08 a box – Healthy Harvest variety. I used the $1/2 coupon that’s been in inserts lately to get them for .58 a box!! I was really surprised to find the lasagna noodles for the same price as the rotini etc. As you mention, they are usually more expensive than the other noodles. By the way, I was at Walmart this past weekend and the noodles were still the same price!
You can see a pic of our noodle box tower here! 🙂
http://simplifylivelove.blogspot.com/2011/01/did-you-get-any-good-deals-this-week.html
My mom called this “lazy man lasagna” growing up, so much easier to put together and yummy. I like to use either the garden style pasta sauce or slip in some squash chunks to score extra veggie points.
Thanks for sharing this. I never can get lasagna noodles for free with sales & coupons – but I do have pretty much every other shape sitting in my pantry. I’m sure I’ll be trying your recipe soon!
In this recipe, when you mix the various parts together, when does the pasta get mixed in? You do not mention it again after cooking it! Does it line the bottom of the pan, or get mixed into the sauce – or what!
Um, yes, it might help if I tell you where to put those! Sorry! 🙂
They are to be layered along with the sauce and cheese. I just updated the recipe; thanks for catching that!
My mom made something like this when I was a kid that wasn’t much more than shredded mozzarella, rigatoni noodles and sauce but us kids loved it. Now when I make it I will throw in a about 15 slices of pepperoni for some nice kick and chopped roasted red peppers. I don’t use tomatoes, any other cheese or meat. With some oregano, or Italian seasoning, and the pepperoni, it’s very flavorful and not at all expensive.
I have found two good ways to do lassagna, brown the ground beef and then make your layers with uncooked noodles cover and set in fridge for at least 4 hours, the sauce softens the noodles then you can bake it as usual. The 2nd is brown your hamburger then throw all ingredients in a slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low
Great tip! One less pot to clean and it saves a little bit of electricity or gas (depending on what your stove uses). Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing … I am always looking for new casserole recipes. My husband is a shift worker and I never know when he is going to want a hot meal, and casseroles like this always heat up really well.
Thanks for sharing! While I like making a standard lasagna, my mama’s recipe is a little too expensive for us these days. This recipe looks like it will taste yummy and be a lot more friendly to our budget. 🙂 It also looks more child-friendly, with the smaller noodles.
Looks delicious! I was at walmart today and was pricing noodles, came across the Ronzoni Healthy Harvest priced at $1.08 each which I had a coupon 1.00 off two making them only .58 cents each. Not bad for whole grain pasta. I believe you can still print the coupon from their website. Oh and they did have the lasagna noodles also prices at $1.08.
Hi Erika,
I don’t know if you have an Albertsons around you…but I think they are priced at about 2 for $1 this week. Always a good stock up price!
Thank you, Kelly. I will have to look into their sister store here in Illinois it’s Jewel.
We make this and love it! so much easier than trying to handle wet slippery lasagna noodles! We mix the cheese and rotini/ spiral noodles, rather than layer it. Easy to do and yummy!
I’ve been enjoying this for years as well! I call it Lazy Lasagna and I also enjoy Lazy Stuffed Cabbage…. which is an easier version of a classic cabbage rolls. : ) Hope everyone else enjoys it too! Thanks for sharing.
Oh, I like the name “Lazy Lasagna”. Now why didn’t I think of that?!
What about “Busy Mom Lasagna”, that way I won’t feel guilty. 🙂
Lasagna is one of my husband’s favorite meals that I make, so it appears on our weekly menu quite often. I always have to allow for extra time for the pesky noodles to cook. Nothing like undercooked pasta…ick! Using rotini pasta is brilliant! Wish I’da thunk of it myself 😉 Also, it will make it much easier for my littles to eat. I will continue to use ricotta cheese in mine though. Even if it is yummy with cottage cheese, my husband would be completely yucked out if he knew it was in there! Cottage cheese is on his list of “foods I will only eat if I’m facing starvation”, although my littles and I love the stuff! 🙂
That’s so funny. My husband is the same way about cottage cheese in lasagna. My mother-in-law is full Italian and they won’t consider using anything buy ricotta. I have to confess that I have taken cottage cheese and mixed it with my hand food processor and he hasn’t known the difference. Seems the main thing for him is the texture. I think of it as frugal ricotta 🙂
Oh! What a great idea! I’m so glad you shared that, because caottage cheese is much cheeper than ricotta and I seem to find sales on it much more often. What a smart, sneaky little cookie you are 😀
I’ve been craving cabbage rolls. Can you post your Lazy Stuffed Cabbage recipe? 🙂
I just recently swore off making lasagna because mine is always watery. I was so excited to see this recipe when you mentioned it earlier this week. I’ve been waiting all day for you to post it. lol Thanks so much.
I’d up the cheese mixture and noodles and cut back on the sauce. At least for me, that’s what always makes it more watery. And you can also throw in an extra egg if you’d like.
LOL, great minds think alike. I posted my lasagna recipe earlier today! I swear I don’t have insider information of the goings on at Money Saving Mom!
Looks really good though!
Hey, I said I was posting mine today on Monday on my menu plan. So I think maybe you stole the idea. 😉
Just totally, totally teasing. 🙂 It’s not like no one’s ever posted a lasagna recipe before. :):)
Oops! I actually don’t think I saw your menu plan this week? Or maybe I did and it was just the power of suggestion. LOL
I was completely teasing you! 🙂 I’ll have to try your lasagna now, too. 🙂
And I’ll try yours! Admittedly yours looks super yummy and cheesy!
I have been doing this for years too! I’m to cheap to buy the lasagna noodles & its so much easier to work with that lasagna noodles. I call it pasta bake & love how easy it is, especially when you have a crowd over.
I make “pasta bake” too and my husband loves it. All I do is take a pound of hamburger, browned with onion, and mix it with a jar of sauce and pepperoni. I mix half the bag of cheese into it and put the other half on top. Now, if only I could get him to eat mushrooms I could add those too!
Traditional lasagna is just too much work when this is sooo good!
Pepperoni! What a great idea! I’ve bags in my freezer 🙂
We did this one year for Christmas. I didn’t have the lasagna noodles (and to be honest, it is easier to eat using regular noodles) so we just made the lasagna recipe using rotini and elbow macaroni layered in instead of them. It still tastes the same and is cheaper 🙂
Rachel Ray has a Sloppy Lasagna recipe that I am sure you could use any other type of noodle instead of lasagna noodles similar to this. It is incredibly yummy!