This recipe is very much inspired by my mom. She sometimes makes a version of this lasagna for special occasions. Once I found out that she uses noodles you don’t have to boil, and she makes it a day or two ahead, I was sold!
Related: 60 Easy Dinner Recipes
This overnight no-boil lasagna is about the easiest lasagna recipe you can find, but it’s so delicious and very easy to customize if you want to change a few things up. I hope you love it as much as our family does!
I like to make the meat filling with ground turkey, but you could easily use ground beef or a vegetarian ground beef instead.
And you’ll see that I use a mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar cheeses, but my mom says she sometimes substitutes different things based on what she has, like cottage cheese in place of ricotta.
The filling is quite soupy, which is exactly what you want for the no-boil noodles. And, I have not tested every kind of no-boil noodle, but the ones I use for this recipe are these brown rice noodles.
Not the most attractive photo, but I wanted to show you what the lasagna looks like before you refrigerate it overnight. The top layer may not get 100% covered, but that’s OK. It gets a final layer of cheese and fresh herbs before baking.
I love that you can make this overnight no-boil lasagna the day before you plan to serve it and just pop it in the oven an hour before you want dinner ready—leaving you free to do other things like prep a salad or just finish up work.
Lasagna makes great leftovers too. 🙂 Enjoy! xo. Emma
P.S. If you’re looking for a vegetarian option, try this mushroom-based lasagna recipe!
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Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 5 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 jar tomato/pasta sauce (25 ounces)
- 10 oz. no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 8 ounces mozzarella and Parmesan
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese ( for the top)
- 1 tablespoon parsley or basil (chopped)
Instructions
- In a large pan or skillet, cook the ground turkey with the minced garlic just until done. Turn off the heat and stir in the tomato sauce and Italian seasoning.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese.
- In a rectanglular baking pan, add a thin layer of the meat sauce. Then add a layer of noodles (dry, do not boil). Then a layer of the cheese mix. Repeat until you've used nearly all the noodles and all the meat sauce and cheese. Try to make sure the top layer of noodles get some sauce and cheese over them.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Sprinkle on 4 more ounces of cheese and the fresh herbs. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour, covered. Then remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Can I use a deposable tin pan for the overnight lasagna
Can I use regular lasagna noodles – – that is, instead of the specifically labeled oven ready noodles?
Every time I make this for guests, they say it’s the best lasagna they’ve ever had! I use ground beef but stay pretty true to the recipe otherwise. It’s such a good recipe!
Hello. What size pan? Any salt? Clarification on the cheese quantities, please. How do you space out the 10 noodles? Thanks.
I make this recipe in a 9×13 pan. You can add more salt if you like, but Parm is pretty salty so I’d go light and just salt when you eat if you feel it needs more. The cheese quantities are listed in the recipe card. I’m not sure how to describe spacing out the noodles, you might check the photo in the post that shows the dish before you bake, it gives you a good idea of how the lasagna looks before it gets cooked.
Do you have to use the egg? I can’t eat eggs. I always have to use an egg substitute, either EnerG or Bob’s Red Mill. Do you know if either of these would be okay?
Thanks for the tips. I assembled the lasagna and used 8 oz of mozzarella and 8 oz of Parmesan and no salt. Very cheesy! Should be great. I used 3 noodles per layer and didn’t use the 10th noodle.
I don’t use eggs and it comes out great. I substitute ricotta for cream cheese.
I have never boiled dry lasagna sheets (noodles) before using, are you meant to?
Absolutely stunning! Thank you on a detailed impressive recipe! ?
Questions only. Be more definite about the amount of mozzarella and parmesan quantities. Also, what size dish? My guess 13 x 9, but you can help us here.
Yes, 13×9. And there was another question about the cheese, answered above. Thanks for your feedback.
Hi! If I was going to freeze it for another day would you freeze it before it goes in the oven or before, and then just defrost and heat it through?
sorry, before it goes in the oven or after!
I have not tested freezing it, so if anyone does please let us know how it goes.
Personally, I don’t love to freeze meat. I have a very sensitive stomach when it comes to things like that. So although I am sure you could freeze this before baking (the meat would be cooked already, and the dish assembled) I would be pretty hesitant to. I would probably bake the casserole, then freeze, and just thaw and rewarm. But again, haven’t tried it so I am not 100% on the results.
Hi Emma, can you add what kind/ how much of the noodles you used? Thanks!
Hi Tracy! She used a box of the noodles linked in the post. xo
Is it 8 oz each of mozzarella and Parmesan or 4 oz each to make a total of 8 oz?
4 oz or each to make 8 oz. You can also use other promotions (like 6 oz mozzarella and 2 oz Parm)
Question about which pan you recommend using. I typically make lasagna in glass Pyrex and I know that it’s a shatter risk taking Pyrex directly from the fridge to the oven. Do you have a pan recommendation to avoid this?
Honestly, I used a glass Pyrex. But I have heard that before, so you could certainly use a ceramic or other casserole pan. The important thing for the recipe will be the size (9×13)