A classic recipe for homemade Lasagne al Forno (Italian Beef Lasagna) made entirely from scratch. There's truly nothing more comforting than a hot bubbling baked lasagna made with homemade beef ragu, bechamel sauce, silky pasta and topped with melted mozzarella cheese! This traditional Italian recipe will be a comfort food favourite.
Lasagne al Forno is the perfect meal for Sunday dinner, the rich beef ragu can simmer away while you prepare the bechamel sauce and if you feel like going all out you can even make homemade pasta too.
It's truly special.
Is Lasagne Hard to Make?
So here's the thing, lasagne may seem daunting to make from scratch but it's not difficult! Here's a breakdown of the elements;
- Ragu or meat sauce - the beef ragu takes around 10-15 minutes to prep (cutting the veg, browning the meat etc) but once you've done that you leave it to simmer away for a few hours while you get on with your day, easy!
- Pasta - if you're making homemade pasta then the prep time is increased significantly which is fine if you're having a fun day of cooking but if you want as less prep as possible then use pre-bought fresh lasagna sheets/noodles. You can use dried but I recommend using fresh, see my notes below on why.
- Bechamel sauce - this lasagna is a traditional Italian version so it's made with bechamel sauce and NOT ricotta cheese. You'll see ricotta used in Italian-American recipes. Don't worry though making a bechamel sauce from scratch takes no more than 10 mins and it can be prepped in advance or just before you are ready to assemble the dish.
- Assembling the dish - this is the fun part and takes around 10 minutes (if that). Just layer up the pasta, ragu, bechamel and top with cheese, simple!
- Cooking the lasagne - it takes around 45 minutes to bake in the oven so you can see why from start to finish it takes a pretty long time but all that time is not spent in the kitchen. Once you've made this from scratch using all our tips you won't believe how simple it is!
Fun Fact - The Difference between Lasagna and Lasagne
For the proper foodies that are curious about the different spellings, it's actually very simple.
So in Italian, lasagna is one sheet of pasta or noodle and lasagne is more than one (plural).
Because this pasta dish is made with more than one lasagna noodle it's referred to as lasagne or Lasagne al Forno in Italian but the whole dish is often known as lasagna everywhere else in the world.
Whatever way you call it we are all talking about the same bubbling beautiful thing!
How to Make Lasagne al Forno - Step by Step
Il Soffritto
The ragu starts like a lot of Italian sauces, stews and soups, with Il Soffritto.
Il Soffritto is very simply, finely chopped carrot, celery and white onion sauteed slowly with a little olive oil for about 10 minutes until soft.
This adds incredible depth of flavour to many dishes and can even be made in advance to add into weeknight meals for an extra flavour punch.
Top Tip: Make a big batch and freeze it, you can cook it straight from frozen!
How to Make the Ragu
Finely chop the carrot, celery and onion and sweat slowly with a little olive oil in a large, deep skillet or pan (photo 1).
Once you've sauteed the veggies, add the meat and brown whilst breaking it up with a wooden spoon (photos 2).
Add the red wine and reduce by half. Once the wine has reduced, add the sieved tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, 4 cups of the beef stock and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir everything together and leave to simmer on a low heat for 2.5-3 hours uncovered. Add the rest of the beef stock half way through (photos 3-6).
How to Make Bechamel Sauce
Add the butter to a saucepan and cook until melted and bubbling (photo 7).
Add the flour to the melted butter and stir to form a paste. Let the flour cook for 1 minute (photo 8).
Slowly whisk half of the milk into the butter and flour constantly whisking to avoid any lumps. Once it has started to thicken add the rest of the milk, nutmeg, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper (photos 9-11).
Continue to heat the sauce whilst stirring until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take off the heat and set aside (photo 12).
How to Assemble the Lasagne
To assemble the lasagne, spoon a small amount of ragu on the very bottom of the baking dish. Top with and even layer of lasagna pasta sheets (photos 13 & 14).
Add a few more spoons of ragu so the pasta is completely covered followed by white sauce (photos 15-16).
Repeat the layers of pasta, ragu and bechamel sauce finishing with a layer of pasta topped with bechamel sauce (you should have 4-5 layers of pasta). Cover the top layer of the lasagne with torn mozzarella and then bake in the oven until bubbling and golden (photos 17 & 18).
Dried Vs Fresh Lasagna Sheets
When making lasagne I always use fresh lasagna sheets or make my own homemade pasta if I have time.
Fresh lasagna sheets have a much nicer texture than dried and it saves time having to pre-boil them.
I also find that dried lasagna sheets curl up as they cook so you don't get a nice defined layer.
Top Tips for Making Lasagne al Forno
- The ragu needs at least 3 hours to simmer and there's a reason for that, the flavour is incredible and you just won't get the same depth of flavour by turning the heat up or using any shortcuts.
- Don't cover the ragu as it's simmering or it won't concentrate in flavour enough. If you find the ragu has reduced and thickened too much add more water ½ cup (125ml) at a time.
- You can make the beef ragu a day or two in advance to cut the prep time down.
- I also recommend freezing beef ragu so you can thaw it overnight before making lasagne.
- I only use parmesan in the white sauce but to make it extra indulgent you can add a good strong melting cheese such as gruyere or fontina.
- If you want to make your own pasta then check out our Homemade Pasta Dough recipe.
- Does your lasagna collapse on your plate? that means you've not reduced the ragu enough. Check out the video and step by step photos for reference of how your ragu and bechamel sauce should look.
- If you want to use dried lasagna sheets then follow the packet instructions to see if you need to pre-boil them.
Other Lasagna Recipes You Might Like;
- Eggplant Lasagna with Prosciutto and Mozzarella
- Butternut Squash Lasagna – Sage, Prosciutto & Goats Cheese
- Lentil Ragu Lasagne
If you've tried this Classic Beef Lasagne or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I'm getting up to.
Lasagne al Forno (Italian Beef Lasagna)
Ingredients
Ragu
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup carrot finely chopped (1 large)
- 1 cup stalk celery finely chopped (1 large)
- 1 cup white onion finely chopped (1 large)
- 1 lb ground beef (mince) (500g)
- 1 lb ground pork (mince) (500g)
- 2.5 cups sieved tomatoes tomatoes (passata) (540g)
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cups red wine (250ml)
- 6 cups beef stock (1.5 litres)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes and pepper
White Sauce
- 5 tablespoon butter (70g)
- 5 tablespoon flour all-purpose (70g)
- 4 cups full fat milk (1 litre)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup parmesan freshly grated (70g)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt salt and pepper or to taste
Lasagne
- 1 lb fresh lasagna pasta sheets (17 oz/500g)
- 2 balls mozzarella (8 oz/250g)
Equipment
- 9x13 inch baking dish
Instructions
Ragu
- Finely chop the carrot, onion and celery and saute the vegetables gently in a large frying pan with the olive oil. Once the vegetables are soft add the beef and pork mince and cook until browned.
- If there is a lot of excess fat in the pan, spoon some out. Add the red wine and reduce by half.
- Once the wine has reduced, add the sieved tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves, 4 cups of beef stock (1 litre) and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir everything together and leave to simmer on a low heat for 2.5-3 hours uncovered. Add the rest of the beef stock half way through.
White Sauce
- Add the butter to a saucepan and cook until melted and bubbling.
- Add the flour to the melted butter and stir to form a paste. Let the flour cook for 1 minute.
- Slowly whisk half of the milk into the butter and flour constantly whisking to avoid any lumps. Once it has started to thicken add the rest of the milk, nutmeg, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Continue to heat the sauce whilst stirring until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take off the heat and set aside.
Assemble the lasagne
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- To assemble the lasagne, spoon a small amount of ragu on the very bottom of the baking dish. Top with and even layer of lasagna pasta sheets (cut the pasta sheets to fit your baking dish).
- Add a few more spoons of ragu so the pasta is completely covered followed by 2 ladels of white sauce.
- Repeat the layers of pasta, ragu and bechamel sauce until everything is used up making sure to keep enough of bechamel sauce for the very top layer (you should have 4-5 layers of pasta).
- Cover the top layer of the lasagne with torn mozzarella and then bake in the oven for 45minutes or until bubbling and golden.
- Let it cool slightly for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- The ragu needs at least 3 hours to simmer and there's a reason for that, the flavour is incredible and you just won't get the same depth of flavour by turning the heat up or using any shortcuts.
- Don't cover the ragu as it's simmering or it won't concentrate in flavour enough. If you find the ragu has reduced and thickened too much add more water ½ cup (125ml) at a time.
- You can make the beef ragu a day or two in advance to cut the prep time down.
- I also recommend freezing beef ragu so you can thaw it overnight before making lasagne.
- I only use parmesan in the white sauce but to make it extra indulgent you can add a good strong melting cheese such as gruyere or fontina.
- If you want to make your own pasta then check out our Homemade Pasta Dough recipe.
- Does your lasagna collapse on your plate? that means you've not reduced the ragu enough. Check out the video and step by step photos for reference of how your ragu and bechamel sauce should look.
- If you want to use dried lasagna sheets then follow the packet instructions to see if you need to pre-boil them.
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
elaine martell
Can the lasagna be assembled and refrigerated for a day or is it best to assemble right prior to baking?
Emily
Hi Elaine, yes, you can assemble it the day before 🙂
Wendy
This was delicious. I used Italian sausage and ground beef, and I used chicken stock rather than beef stock. The simmering for 3 hours made the meat so tender and delicious. My mozzarella was packed in water and I found the top of the lasagna was watery but just used a towel to take off the excess water.
The lasagna held up perfectly and didn’t topple over. Thanks for a great recipe.
Patty
Does substituting one pound of ground Italian sausage (either mild or spicy) for the ground pork change the “authenticity” of this dish, or do you advice sticking with the ground pork? Also, are the mozzarella balls 8 oz total weight, or each? Sounds delicious and I hope to try it soon!
Emily
Hi Patty, it's not traditional to add sausage in this particular lasagna but it would still be delicious...I would go for mild though! Yes, 8oz in total of mozzarella, Enjoy 🙂
Joe S
I'm with you Patty--the mild sausage was amazing. This recipe is a keeper!
Claire
The best lasagne I have ever had, period. Even better than our local Italian places. Absolutely worth the time put in. I added some minced garlic and diced jalapenos to the onion/carrot/celery mixture. And used spicy sausage in place of the ground pork and that gave it the perfect spice. Can't wait to make it again!
Shirley Wood
Made this recipe to the letter and it was delicious. This will be our new go to lasagne! It really does pay off letting the ragu simmer for 3 hours.
Kendahl
Can you use almond milk instead for the bechamel?
Emily
I'm sure you could use unsweetened almond milk to make the bechamel but I've never tried it, let me know how it goes!
Kathy
So you just layer the fresh lasagna sheets without pre-boiling them at all? I've always wondered if this would work but didn't want to try and have all my hard work go to waste! I find the pre-boiling is the part of making fresh pasta I don't like!
Emily
Hi Kathy, no need to pre-boil fresh lasagne sheets before layering. Enjoy 🙂
Catia
I loved the recipe, takes a bit of time but all good things take time 🙂
I added some sauted vegetables between the layers and let me tell you: Amazing!! 🙂
Thank you so much for a great recipe 🙂 x
Benjamin
I've been using this recipe, or variations of this, for so long now. I usually also give some wine to the sofrito as well and let them soak it in, to give extra flavor.
Absolutely lovely recipe, never had a bad date with this one 😉 And italian-approved by colleagues at work.
Thank you!
Benjamin
Uh - and I also add about 100gr of bacon in before adding the veggies - really intensifies the deep flavor!
Brian
Now that is a good idea, Next time, I'm adding bacon too, thanks
Robin
I served this dish at a dinner party this weekend and it was loved by all! First time for me making the Ragu from scratch and it was easy as well as delicious. I think next time I'll grate the mozzarella instead of tearing it though and it took a little longer in my oven to brown properly. Very Very delicious!
Brian
I have the same problem, I tear the Mozzarella up but it doesn't melt properly, or brown, I sprinkled some grated parmesan over the top, that helped, but, yeah, maybe grating the Mozzarella is a better idea.
Ashley
How would doubling the recipe work out to make two pans of lasagna?
Emily
You can double both the ragu and white sauce without issues 🙂
Grant
my meat sauce is a very liquid, like a soup. Why?
Emily
You just need to reduce it more. Turn up the heat to a simmer and let the Ragu reduce to the right consistency.
Ariana
It is a really good recipe- I let the ragu simmer for 2.5h and it was still very good ( but listen to the lady here ahahah). I would reduce the amount of beef stock and substitute with some other broth or just water as it smelled a bit too much like beef stock (maybe because I didn’t let it simmer enough but still). Overall the recipe is a 10/10 really good stuff-it made the hardest person to like something ask for a second portion.
Cheyenne
I can already tell this will be amazing—but I have a question! What can I sub the red wine with? We don’t use wine in my house 🙂
Emily
You can just leave it out, no need to replace it with anything 🙂
Kristin
This looks amazing, can’t wait to make it. I’m just wondering, I’d like to prep this and put it in the freezer, would you recommend cooking it before freezing or putting it into the freezer uncooked? Would you use dried or fresh pasta sheets in this case? Thank you!!
Emily
Ciao Kristin, if freezing I'd use fresh lasagne sheets and put it in the freezer uncooked 🙂