Overnight Lasagna

Overnight Lasagna – seriously THE BEST lasagna we’ve ever eaten! SO easy to make and you don’t have to boil your noodles! The noodles “cook” overnight and are perfect. Lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, water, mozzarella, garlic, and parmesan. Serve with some garlic bread and a salad. Can freeze leftovers for later.

slice of lasagna on a plate

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Easy Homemade No-Boil Lasagna Recipe

Lasagna is a Christmas tradition in our house. It goes back to when I was a kid and HATED turkey and dressing. My Mom would make her lasagna for Christmas Eve, and I would leftover lasagna for Christmas dinner. Now I will eat some turkey and dressing for Christmas dinner, but we still make lasagna for Christmas Eve.

I found a recipe for Overnight No-Boil Lasagna in one of my cookbooks and I thought it sounded like a great idea! I LOVE make ahead meals – especially during the holidays. This pasta is seriously delicious! We both ate two huge slices! Leftovers the next day were equally delicious! I can not wait to make this again!

baking dish of lasagna

How to Make Overnight Lasagna

This lasagna is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a large skillet, cook Italian sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain excess grease. Add marinara sauce, and water to the skillet. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, stir together cottage cheese, egg, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spread some of the meat sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer the uncooked noodles, cheese mixture, mozzarella, sauce, and parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Cover the dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, remove the pan from the oven and bring to room temperature. Bake the lasagna covered with aluminum foil in a preheated oven. Remove the foil and continue baking until bubbly. Garnish with fresh basil.

How does No-Boil Lasagna work?

The key to getting the noodles perfect is the extra water added to the sauce. The noodles absorb the water overnight and they turn out exactly perfect. I LOVED not having to boil the noodles. It takes SO long for the water to boil. Plus it adds another pot to wash (for Chicken Legs to wash, that is). It was nice to just put them in the casserole uncooked.

Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

  • This recipe can be made with Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey.
  • What type of noodles do you use in no-boil lasagna? I used regular lasagna noodles, NOT the no-boil lasagna noodles. 
  • I used a jar of spaghetti sauce instead of making homemade sauce.
    • I used a jar of Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (it has a green label).
    • Feel free to use an equal amount of homemade sauce
  • Recipe variations/additions:
    • Can substitute ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese.
    • onions
    • bell peppers 
    • spinach
    • mushrooms
    • diced tomatoes
  • Can No-Boil Lasagna be frozen? Yes! You can freeze this before or after letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight.
    • To bake after refrigerating overnight, thaw completely and bake as directed.
    • To bake if you didn’t let the casserole sit overnight before freezing, thaw completely and let the casserole sit in the refrigerator at least 8 hours and then bake as directed.
  • You can freeze the baked lasagna for later. Cool the lasagna completely and cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. The casserole will keep at least 3 months in the freeze. To bake after freezing, thaw completely and reheat covered in the oven until warmed through.
slice of lasagna on a plate

What to Serve with Overnight Lasagna

This was a huge hit in our house! I ate WAY too much of this!! I can not wait to make this again for Christmas. We served this with some garlic bread and a simple salad. SUPER easy! I froze the leftovers for a quick meal later. I cut the leftover lasagna into individual servings then wrapped them in freezer wrap and popped them in the freezer. It tastes just as delicious reheated the next day! I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!!

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slice of lasagna on a plate

Overnight Lasagna

Yield: 12 people
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Overnight Lasagna – seriously THE BEST lasagna we've ever eaten!!! SO easy to make and you don't have to boil your noodles! The noodles "cook" overnight and are perfect. Lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, water, mozzarella, garlic, and parmesan. Serve with some garlic bread and a salad. Can freeze leftovers for later. We LOVE this lasagna casserole recipe!!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Italian sausage, removed from casings
  • 1 (26-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
  • ¾ to 1 cup water, depending on how thin your jarred sauce is
  • 1 (24-oz) container cottage cheese
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1 Tbsp dried parsley
  • 12 lasagna noodles uncooked
  • 16- oz mozzarella cheese slices
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

  • Brown sausage in a skillet over medium heat; drain. Stir in sauce and water. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg and parsley. Set aside.
  • Lightly spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray. Spread 1½ cups meat sauce in bottom of pan. Top with 6 lasagna noodles, lengthwise and overlapping to cover.
  • Top noodles with half of the cottage cheese, top with third of mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1-½ cups sauce over cheese; sprinkle with ¼ cup parmesan.
  • Repeat layering; starting with 6 lasagna noodles and ending with 1½ cups sauce and parmesan cheese. Spread with remaining sauce; top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bake lasagna covered for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered an additional 30 minutes, until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Notes:

  • Can use Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey in this recipe.
  • What type of noodles do you use in no-boil lasagna? I used regular lasagna noodles, NOT the no-boil kind. I was worried that they wouldn’t expand, but they did! It was magic!
spaghetti sauce
  • I used a jar of spaghetti sauce instead of making homemade sauce. I used a jar of Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (it has a green label). I also like Rao’s and La Familia Del Grosso.
  • Feel free to use an equal amount of homemade sauce. The homemade sauce for my Mom’s lasagna is AMAZING! I just didn’t want to spend an afternoon tending to the sauce, so I used a jar of sauce this time.
  • Can substitute ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese.
  • Can No-Boil Lasagna be frozen? Yes! You can freeze this before or after letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight.
  • To bake after refrigerating overnight, thaw completely and bake as directed.
  • To bake if you didn’t let the casserole sit overnight before freezing, thaw completely and let the casserole sit in the refrigerator at least 8 hours and then bake as directed.
  • You can freeze the baked lasagna for later. Cool the lasagna completely and cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. The casserole will keep at least 3 months in the freeze. To bake after freezing, thaw completely and reheat covered in the oven until warmed through.

Steph

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slice of lasagna on a plate
slice of lasagna on a plate

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Comments

  1. This has become the lasagna standard at our house. I use Italian turkey sausage and add a teaspoon of dried minced garlic to the cottage cheese mixture.

  2. I am making extra filling to freeze and use later so it will come out to about 40 ou. Should I use 2 eggs instead of one?

  3. The recipe is named no boil lasagna (which is what I wanted). However, in the comments you suggest to use regular noodles. Which one is it? Thank you!

    1. I think turkey sausage would be fine. If you use ground turkey, maybe add a little Italian seasoning to it.

  4. If I use no boil lasagna noodles, do you think I can bake right away instead of refrigerate overnight? and also cut out the water since it won't be needed for noodles?

  5. I made this the night before last with the substitution of ricotta for the cottage cheese which I thought would be too watery with the addition of the 1 cup of water. I also used fresh parsley. I think it could use more flavor even though I was using flavored pasta sauce. I will follow the suggestion of adding some Italian seasoning. After baking there was about 1/3 of a cup of liquid pooled under the mixture. If I make it again, I will cut the water at least in half. Everyone who has tasted it though, enjoyed it.

    1. Yes – the swap with ricotta and the consistency of your sauce will make a difference. I usually drain ricotta for a few hours before using to get out the excess water. Glad you enjoyed it!

    1. I don't think this would work with gluten-free noodles. I don't think gluten-free noodles stand up as well in casseroles like this – especially soaking them overnight.

  6. Hi Steph! I'm going to give this recipe a try but just to let you know, I never boil my noodles ahead of time with my recipe, just add water, and it comes out perfect every time! So much easier to assemble and I am know as the Lasagne queen in our families! 🙂
    This looks really good! I'll let you know how it turned out!

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