This Million Dollar Lasagna is seriously THE BEST lasagna we’ve ever eaten!!! SO easy to make and tastes like a million bucks. Lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan. Serve with some garlic bread and a salad. It can be made in advance and refrigerated. Freeze leftovers for later. We LOVE this lasagna casserole recipe!!!
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Pin This RecipeLasagna is a holiday tradition at our house. Growing up I didn’t enjoy the traditional holiday turkey and dressing dinners. My Mom would make lasagna the night before the holiday so I could eat leftover lasagna for my holiday meal. Nowadays I eat the turkey holiday meal but we still have lasagna the night before. This Million Dollar Lasagna recipe is a favorite. Loaded with meat sauce and four kinds of ooey gooey cheese!
How to Make Million Dollar Lasagna
This Million Dollar Lasagna is very simple to make. Start with boiling the noodles. While the noodles are cooking, brown the Italian sausage. Add a jar of spaghetti sauce and some tomato sauce to the cooked sausage and let that simmer for 5 or 10 minutes. This will thicken the sauce so your lasagna isn’t watery.
While the sauce is simmering mix up the cheese filling. The filling is a combination of cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese.
To assemble the lasagna, you are going to layer ½ of the noodles, ½ of the cheese mixture, ⅓ of the mozzarella cheese, ½ of the meat sauce, and ½ of the parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers and top the casserole with a layer of mozzarella cheese slices.
Can Lasagna Be Made in Advance?
This Million Dollar Lasagna is a great make-ahead meal. You can assemble the lasagna the night before and refrigerate or freeze it until ready to bake. Leftovers also freeze well. I like to cut the leftovers into individual slices before freezing. I wrap the slices in plastic wrap and place them in freezer bags. Perfect for when you only need one or two slices for dinner.
Million Dollar Lasagna Is Great For A Crowd
This Million Dollar Lasagna is great for a crowd. You can serve at least 8 to 10 people with one pan. All you need is a salad and some garlic bread and you are set! Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this delicious Million Dollar Lasagna:
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Million Dollar Lasagna
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 1-1/4 lbs Italian sausage or ground beef
- 1 (24-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
- 2 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 (24-oz) container cottage cheese
- 1 (8-oz) block of cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 lb mozzarella cheese slices
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Brown sausage in a skillet over medium heat; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning. Simmer over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, egg, and parsley. Set aside.
- Lightly spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup meat sauce in the bottom of the 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 ½ of meat sauce over cheese; sprinkle with ¼ cup parmesan.
- Repeat layering; starting with 6 lasagna noodles and ending with remaining meat sauce and parmesan cheese. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil.
- Bake lasagna covered for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered an additional 30 minutes, until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Notes:
Steph
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I have used my mothers and grandmothers recipe for years. It is identical to this one. I found your recipe because it has been a while since i last made it and couldn’t remember the cheese mixture ratio so i had to look it up. It has always been a crowd pleaser over the usual ricotta lasagna recipes. I even made this for a gentleman who’s grandmother is from Italy, and he said it tasted just like hers!!!!
What brand speghetti sauce was used ?
My favorite store-bought spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, Carbone, and La Famiglia DelGrosso.
How long can this be refrigerated before cooking?
I’d say 2 days?
My husband asked for lasagna for Fathers Day lunch. Made this recipe and he and all my daughters, son-in-laws, and grands LOVED IT. Best lasagna recipe I’ve ever made. Assembled day before, refrigerated overnight, set it out before church on Sunday to resume room temp and then cooked and let rest before cutting. Not a bite left on a plate. I did use ricotta over cottage cheese because I need lower salt. It was a great substitute; creamy goodness! Thank you, this one is a keeper!
Made this last night as my very first lasagna ever, but just a cheese one. Delicious!! Used shredded Italian 5 cheese instead of mozzarella.
I have made this numerous time and it’s still delicious! I gave some to my mom and my grandmother to try. Both of them liked it. My grandmother like it so much she ate all of it from my mom! This is the only lasagna I will ever make!
My husband and son did not like the cream cheese in it and prefer the ricotta over cottage cheese. I thought it was fine.
Yes i googled it it said that ricotta cheese is a great substitute for cottage cheese im trying it tonight😉☺
This is the absolute best lasagna I’ve ever had!! My entire family loves it.
SO glad you are all enjoying it!
I made this my family loved it!
I have made this twice. The first time it was a little soupy. The second time I made it I added an extra egg to the cheese combination. It worked out better. Love the taste of this lasagna!
My son wanted homemade lasagna, I saw this one since it had cream cheese. It was amazing!!!!!!! I loved the double layers of noodles. I wasn’t sure that my 9×13 was going to hold it all. It must have weighed 10 lbs. We ate on it for days till not a bite was left. Thanks for the recipe, this is my go to recipe for lasagna!!!! War Eagle!
Can you use the ready to use no cook noodles?
I haven’t made this with the no-cook noodles, so I can’t say with certainty.
Do you need to strain the cottage cheese?
I did not strain the cottage cheese, but you can if you would like.
Can I use ricotta instead of cottage cheese?
Has anyone tried it with no boil noodles?
I made it with them and personally won’t use them again. They seemed very gummy.. I will boil regular noodles from now on
Thank you for the feedback, Manda!
About to use no-cook noodles.. should’ve read the comments before I bought all my ingredients.. hope they turn out alright, I’m making 2 pans to donate.. I’d hate for them to be sub-par.
This is a new family favorite! It came out perfect on the first try!
I just used to no cook noodles with this recipe and it worked really well. I have tried this recipe both ways and it’s still my favorite lasagna recipe either way.
This was no kidding the BEST lasagna I’ve ever made. Will definitely be making this again!
This was FANTASTIC!
I recently made lasagna using regular noodles (not the no cook kind) soaked in hot water for a few minutes to soften them up. No boiling necessary. This makes the whole process so much easier!
Wow thats an amazing idea. I never thought to try that. I will try it today. Thanks!!
We loved this! Will definitely be adding to meal rotation. Only comment is that I used fresh mozzarella and it got a bit watery the first few scoops, but the leftovers were perfect. I will use shredded mozzarella next time.
Can you use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese?
Did you try it with ricotta cheese instead? Also wondering the same thing.
This has to be great Steph, cause the Million Dollar Spaghetti casserole is amazing.
I have a 9X13 crock pot. Do you have an estimated time for that type slow cooker?