Sweet & Spicy Italian Sausage Lasagna

A white dish with sausage lasagna in it arranged on a wooden board with a napkin and herbs placed around it.

Sweet & Spicy Italian Sausage Lasagna

This Italian sausage lasagna is one of my family's favorite lasagna recipes, and for good reason! Each layer is made up of tender pasta noodles, sweet & spicy Italian sausage, three Italian cheeses, and lots of fresh herbs. It's cheesy, rich, and simply irresistible!

From my family to yours!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword italian lasagna, sausage lasagna

Freezer Friendly Yes

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 5

Servings slices

Calories 468kcal

Author A Simple Palate

Ingredients

1 box lasagna noodles (boil or oven ready)
8-10 cups tomato sauce (see notes)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4 cups mozzarella cheese
2 link spicy Italian sausage or 1/2 pound of bulk sausage
2 link sweet Italian sausage or 1/2 pound of bulk sausage
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

Ricotta Filling

2/3 cup fresh parmesan cheese, shredded
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp (each) salt & black pepper
1 egg

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Cook the lasagna noodles: if using boiled noodles, heat a large pot of salted water with a drop of olive oil in the water, and cook the pasta as the package instructs until al dente. Stir the lasagna noodles when adding them to the water. Drain the pasta noodles when finished, then place them back in the pot and cover them with cold water.
Cook sausage: in a pan, cook the sausage. Remove the sausage from the skin and break it up into pieces (no oil is needed to cook the sausage as it naturally will create oils). Cook sausage until fully cooked - about 5-7 minutes.
Mix the ricotta filling: in a small mixing bowl, mix together ricotta, parmesan, garlic, fresh basil & oregano, salt & pepper, and egg.
Layer lasagna: In a large 13x9 baking dish, layer: 1 1/2 cups sauce, lasagna noodles (dab them dry of any excess water), ricotta filling (2 Tablespoon size scoops in the center of each noodle), cooked sausage, mozzarella cheese, and fresh chopped basil. Repeat the process until the ingredients are used up. Finish the final layer with sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese.
Bake: Then cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Broil for the last 30-60 seconds to brown the top. Serve with fresh basil!

Notes

Save time and use oven-ready noodles - of course using traditional boiled lasagna noodles is the best option! But to save time, you can also use oven-ready lasagna noodles that don't require any boiling in water. Just layer them and they'll soften and bake in the oven! You can use regular or whole wheat - we personally love whole wheat noodles and use them often.

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