Homemade Beef Lasagne is a huge favourite for a reason… The combination of rich bolognese sauce, creamy béchamel, pasta and cheese is hard to beat!
Homemade Beef Lasagne
There are few recipes as comforting as homemade beef lasagne. It’s often seen on ‘Top 10 Favourite Recipes’ lists, and it’s easy to see why. The combination of rich bolognese sauce, creamy béchamel, pasta and cheese is hard to beat!
But many lasagne recipes are tricky and very time-consuming. Not so with my Easy Peasy Beef Lasagne recipe! While I would be the first to admit this is not the quickest recipe, it’s fairly speedy for a lasagne – just 1h30 from start to finish – and it is a very straightforward and practically foolproof lasagne recipe!
I also have a sneaky cheat for making it even quicker to make…
A sneaky lasagne cheat…
One way to make homemade lasagne even quicker and easier, is to make a double quantity of the bolognese sauce on a different day – sometime before you want to make the lasagne. That day use half the bolognese sauce for spaghetti bolognese and freeze, or refrigerate, the other half. (It will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge and up to 1 month in the freezer.)
Then, when you come to make your lasagne some days later, you will already have the bolognese sauce ready to go! This cuts down the time it take to make the lasagne considerably.
How to layer a lasagne
I find it very interesting that so many people have so many different ways of layering a lasagne – I recently found myself debating this very topic with friends on Facebook. Everyone seems to have their own method!
My way is very simple. I put half the bolognese mixture on the bottom of the dish, followed by half the lasagne sheets, followed by half the béchamel sauce. Then I repeat those steps again and finally add some sliced mozzarella and grated parmesan on top. Personally, I find this gives just the the right balance of cheese, sauce and pasta and means that every mouthful has a little bit of everything in it – but feel free to experiment with other methods if you prefer!
What to serve with Beef Lasagne?
I like to keep things simple and serve lasagne with a salad and some garlic bread.
What to drink with Beef Lasagne?
Beef lasagne is very wine friendly and will go with lots of different wines. My favourite choice is Italian reds, such as Chianti, Valpolicella or a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
Other good non-Italian options include Chilean Merlot, Rioja (Joven or Crianza), Californian Zinfandel and New World reds made from Sangiovese. (Sangiovese is the main grape variety in Chianti.)
Can you reheat leftover beef lasagne?
Absolutely! Put any leftovers into an airtight container and place in the fridge, where they will keep for up to 3 days. To reheat, place the lasagne in an ovenproof dish, covered with foil, in an oven set to 180C (160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F) and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until piping hot all the way through.
You can also reheat lasagne in the microwave, if you prefer.
Can you freeze beef lasagne?
Yes, you can. Put the cooked and cooled lasagne into an airtight container and place in the freezer, where it will keep for up to 1 month. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
Note, you shouldn’t freeze the lasagne if you have previously frozen the bolognese sauce, as it is unwise to freeze the same food twice.
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Easy Peasy Beef Lasagne
Ingredients
Bolognese sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 large carrot peeled and finely chopped
- 1 stick celery finely chopped
- 500 g beef mince
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 400 ml beef stock from a cube is fine, I use 1 Kallo organic beef stock cube
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
Béchamel sauce:
- 50 g butter
- 50 g flour
- 500 ml milk
- 50 g parmesan grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
Lasagne:
- 6 lasagne sheets (See Note 1)
- 50 g parmesan grated
- 1 ball mozzarella sliced into 8 pieces
Instructions
Bolognese sauce:
- Start by making the bolognese sauce. (See Note 2.) Put the olive oil in a wide, deep saucepan and add the chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cook with the lid on over a gentle heat for about 5 minutes, until softened but not coloured.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the mince. Fry for 5 minutes, or until the mince has browned all over and is flecked with darker brown.
- Tip in the tinned tomatoes, beef stock and bay leaves, plus salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Béchamel sauce:
- While the bolognese sauce is simmering, make the béchamel sauce. Put the butter in a large saucepan over a gentle heat until all the butter has melted and just started to bubble.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. Allow this mixture to cook for 2 minutes on a very low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Very gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Make sure each bit of milk is incorporated before you add the next bit. If you do this slowly on a very low heat, you should end up with a perfectly smooth béchamel sauce with no lumps and no need to whisk. However, if it does go wrong for some reason, you can always use a whisk to beat out the lumps.
- When all the milk is incorporated, add the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. (N.B. I use salted butter, so I don’t add any extra salt here.) Stir to combine, then turn off.
Lasagne:
- Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F.
- Put half the bolognese mixture in a large rectangular ovenproof dish. Lay over 3 lasagne sheets (See Note 1.) Pour over half the béchamel sauce.
- Repeat this process with another layer of bolognese, another layer of lasagne and another layer of béchamel.
- Finally, add the sliced mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the remaining parmesan.
- Cover the lasagne with foil and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and cook for a further 15 minutes or until brown on top and bubbling round the sides.
- Serve with a simple side salad, some garlic bread and a glass of red wine.
Notes
- If your dish is a different shape to mine you may need to use a different number of lasagne sheets. Use as many as you need so that you have completely covered the bolognese sauce, without too much overlap
- To make homemade lasagne even quicker and easier, make a double quantity of the bolognese sauce sometime before you want to make the lasagne. That day use half the bolognese sauce for spaghetti bolognese and freeze, or refrigerate, the other half. (It will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge and up to 1 month in the freezer.) Then, when you come to make your lasagne some days later, you will already have the bolognese sauce ready to go! This cuts down the time it take to make the lasagne considerably.
- Suitable for freezing (except it you have previously frozen the bolognese sauce).
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Only Crumbs Remain / Angela says
Mmm yum, comfort food at it’s best Eb 🙂 I often make a large batches of tomato based sauce which I can then portion up into large and small tuperware containers for the likes of pizzas and lasagnes – it makes life so much easier doesn’t it. I’d totally agree with your routine of layering up a lasagne too.
Angela x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks, Angela! I totally agree, it’s great to have a few ready made (but home made) things in the freezer for days when you really need a quick meal! I always assumed my way of layering up a lasagne was how everyone did it until I got into a discussion about it on Facebook…it seems there are a lot of different ways!! Eb x
Corina says
I do really like lasagna but it is years since I’ve made one! It’s one of those dishes I keep thinking I need to start making as it is so good for batch cooking and freezing and you can do so many things with the bolognaise sauce too. I like the fact your lasagna has a layer of bechamel sauce in the middle as well as on top as that’s one of my favourite bits! Thank you for linking up with Cook Once Eat Twice.
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Corina – lasagne is a great one for batch cooking, isn’t it? And it reheats brilliantly the next day too. I LOVE bechamel sauce – I am often to be found eating the extra bechamel sauce that is left in the saucepan after I’ve put the lasagne in the oven…just to make the washing up easier, you understand 😉 Eb x
Honest Mum says
This looks super and love an easy recipe! Thanks for linking up to #Tastytuesdays
Eb Gargano says
Well then you’ve come to the right place – easy recipes is what I do! 🙂 Thanks, as always, for hosting #tastytuesdays. Eb x
Karen says
FAB recipe for the New Year and I LOVE easy recipes when I am busy! Karen
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Karen! One of the things I enjoy most is taking classic recipes and simplifying them – making them quick(er) and easy to make so they fit into our modern busy lives. Eb x
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
I love a good home-made lasagne, but we hardly ever have it as it takes so long to make! I really must get round to it again soon….. seeing this reminds me of how much I miss it xx
Eb Gargano says
Thanks, Kate. Yes, that is the frustrating thing about lasagne – but I have found that if you make a double quantity of bolognese sauce one day when you have spaghetti bolognese, you can use the other half of the sauce to make a lasagne the next day (or freeze it and use it later) and it cuts down the time it takes to make lasagne considerably…If I already have the bolognese sauce done, I can make a lasagne in under an hour if I get my skates on, and for over half of that time the lasagne is in the oven doing its thing! x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
I love a good lasagne, in fact we all do! I am guaranteed clean plates all round, this looks so good and has got me thinking about planning one for next week. Thanks for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Eb Gargano says
Yes a good lasagne is a real crowd pleaser – especially at this time of the year when the weather is so miserable! Thanks for you kind comments, Kirsty. Eb x
Andrea says
Hi Eb. I always used to buy a large shop made lasagne for the three of us but they became unavailable during the pandemic so we went without. I made one of these earlier this year and it was such a hit that I wouldn’t be allowed to buy the shop made ones any more if they ever came back! Have made a few times now and can freeze a quarter for future use as long as no-one goes back for seconds (which has happened before)! I think I am a very slow cooker as I always take way longer than you say but I put the radio on and just enjoy myself. thank you x
Bruce says
Couple of comments:.
I made very smooth lump free Béchamel sauce thanks to your instructions but in order to thicken the sauce I brought it the boil slowly, simmered for a couple of minutes before adding the cheese.
I think 400ml stock is too much ( even 300ml which I used yesterday is imo) as the Bolognese Sauce was still very liquidy. Maybe next time should add a bit of flour to thicken?
Eb Gargano says
Thank you for your feedback. Great to hear you made a good lump free Béchamel! Regarding the stock. That’s the exact amount I use when I make this and it is never liquidy (as you can see from the photos). I’m wondering if you maybe left the lid on during the simmering? Either that or possibly you used a smaller pan, with less surface area? Basically what is supposed to happen is that during the 30 minutes simmering, the liquid in the bolognese sauce evaporates, leaving a fairly thick sauce, so there should be no need to add flour. But, of course, if you find less stock works best for you, then by all means do that! Hope that helps. Eb 🙂