Lasagna With Bechamel Sauce

This lasagna with bechamel sauce is the perfect family meal—rich, creamy, and full of comforting flavors. Freezes beautifully for later!

Lasagna with Bechamel Sauce is the ultimate comfort food. This recipe perfectly blends classic layers of tender lasagna noodles with a savory tomato meat sauce and cheesy filling, all topped off with a rich, creamy béchamel sauce. The result is truly incredible! With its mix of bold flavors and satisfying textures, this lasagna is always a family favorite and guaranteed to impress.

Lasagna is a beloved dish around the world, and there are countless variations, each home cook adding their own special twist. Whether it’s the choice of meat, the type of cheese, or the addition of something like béchamel sauce, every version is unique. I hope you’ll give this one a try—after all, you can’t go wrong with lasagna! It’s a great make-ahead meal—just prep it in advance and pop it in the oven when you’re ready. It’s perfect for busy weeknights, and it’s always a hit with guests, making it a hostess' dream. Pair it with a simple salad and some breadsticks or rolls, and you've got a winning combination!

While preparing lasagna can take a bit of time, once you have everything ready, assembling it is quick and easy. Plus, lasagna freezes beautifully, so it’s always a fantastic dish to make in advance for busy days ahead.

Ingredients

1 package (15 noodles) lasagna noodles

Tomato Meat Sauce:

½ Tablespoon olive oil

¾ - 1 lb ground meat, I usually use beef, but you can also use pork, turkey, chicken, etc.

1 large onion

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce or ragu (or diced tomatoes, pureed in a food processor)

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or your favorite dry herb seasoning mix)

salt, pepper

¼ cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

Cheese Filling:

15 oz ricotta cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

¼-1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 egg

¼ teaspoon salt, ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder, optional

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley minced

Cheese Sauce:

1 shallot, minced, or 1 small onion, minced

3 Tablespoons butter

2 ½ Tablespoons flour

½ cup chicken broth

½ cup milk

1 bay leaf

¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

salt, pepper

How to Make Lasagna With Bechamel Sauce

I like to use no boil lasagna noodles. You can use regular lasagna noodles, just cook them according to the package instructions. I like the taste and texture of the no boil noodles, but the biggest advantage is that you omit one very annoying step - boiling the noodles, fishing them out, cooling them, etc.

Even though the package says that you can just use the noodles straight from the package, I like to soak them in hot water. I've tried it both ways and soaking them in hot water softens them up a bit and they cook up better.

Pour in hot water (not boiling) into the same baking dish you will be using for the lasagna and submerge the noodles in the water.

Tomato Meat Sauce:

Heat about ½ Tablespoon olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Add the ground meat.
I prefer to use a little bit less meat and more tomatoes, but it's up to you. My husband likes a good amount of meat in the lasagna:). Season the meat with salt and pepper. Cook until the meat has lost most of its pinkness, and you have nice brown bits throughout. If your meat  exudes a lot of grease, drain most of it off, leaving just enough to cook the onions.
Add the onion and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the onion has softened.

Break the meat chunks apart, which will help the sauce to have an even consistency. A great trick for doing this is to use a potato masher.
Add the crushed tomatoes and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook at a simmer, covered, for about 5 more minutes.
Add the heavy cream and fresh herbs.

I add a touch of cream to almost all my tomato sauces. It gives the sauce a nice velvetiness. The fresh herbs are a must. I absolutely love the way they elevate the sauce and give it so much freshness and flavor.

Cheese Filling:

While the sauce is cooking, stir together all the ingredients for the cheese filling in a large bowl. (When I am using homemade ricotta or a large container of ricotta, I use more than 15 oz, but if you're using the 15 oz container, it will work great too; you don't have to buy another container.)

To Assemble:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drain the noodles on a paper towel or a clean kitchen towel.

Scoop out about ¾ cup of the Tomato Meat sauce and spread it out on the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.Top with the lasagna noodles. Spread out about 2 heaping Tablespoons of the Cheese Filling on top of each noodle. It's easier to spread out the cheese filling if you put dollops of it across the surface first.  Spread out another ¾ cup of Tomato Meat Sauce over the Cheese Filling. Repeat with the rest of the layers, ending with a layer of noodles. You will have 5 layers of noodles total. (If you're using the same pasta as I am, you will use the whole box.) You can add more grated mozzarella cheese in between the layers, if you'd like. 

Cheese Sauce:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the shallot or onion. Season with salt and cook until tender on medium heat.

(If you're using an onion instead of a shallot, you aside a small portion of onion when you're chopping it for the Tomato Meat Sauce and use it here, since you only need a small amount.)

Add the flour and mix until it's completely incorporated into the butter, and cook for about a minute.
Whisk in the milk and chicken broth. You can use just milk in the sauce, but adding part chicken broth will give it more depth of flavor.
Add the dry bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cook at a simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
Fish out the bay leaf. Take off the heat and stir in the grated cheeses.

Pour the cheese sauce over the last Lasagna layer and smooth it out.

To Cook:

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Bake in a preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 40 minutes, until it bubbles around the edges.

Take off the aluminum foil and broil for a few minutes until the cheese is golden, if you'd like.

To freeze the Lasagna:

Cool the Lasagna to room temperature. Wrap it in several layers of aluminum foil and plastic wrap and freeze.

To cook: Thaw the lasagna overnight and bake, just as you would if you made it that same day. Pretty neat, huh? You can even put it in the oven frozen, but only if you are not using a glass baking dish, since it might crack from the extreme temperature change. It will take longer to cook through, but it will totally work.

Lasagna

Olga Klyuchits

This lasagna with bechamel sauce is the perfect family meal—rich, creamy, and full of comforting flavors. Freezes beautifully for later!

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Entree

Servings 8 -10

Ingredients

  

• 1 package 15 noodles lasagna noodles

Tomato Meat Sauce:

• ½ Tablespoon olive oil
• ¾ - 1 lb ground meat I usually use beef, but you can also use pork, turkey, chicken, etc.
• 1 large onion
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes, pureed in a food processor)
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning or your favorite dry herb seasoning mix
• salt pepper
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil chopped

Cheese Filling:

• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• ¼-1/3 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon salt pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder optional
• 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley minced

Cheese Sauce:

• 1 shallot minced, or 1 small onion, minced
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 2 ½ Tablespoons all purpose flour
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ½ cup milk
• 1 bay leaf
• ¾ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• salt pepper

Instructions

 

• I like to use no boil lasagna noodles. You can use regular lasagna noodles, just cook them according to the package instructions. I like the taste and texture of the no boil noodles, but the biggest advantage is that you omit one very annoying step - boiling the noodles, fishing them out, cooling them, etc.
• Even though the package says that you can just use the noodles straight from the package, I like to soak them in hot water. I've tried it both ways and soaking them in hot water softens them up a bit and they cook up better. Pour in hot water (not boiling) into the same baking dish you will be using for the lasagna and submerge the lasagna noodles in the water.

Tomato Meat Sauce:

• Heat about ½ a Tablespoon olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Add the ground meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• Cook until the meat has lost most of its pinkness, and you have nice brown bits throughout. If your meat exudes a lot of grease, drain most of it off, leaving just enough to cook the onions.
• Add the onion and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the onion has softened. Break the meat chunks apart, which will help the sauce to have an even consistency. A great trick for doing this is to use a potato masher.
• Add the crushed tomatoes and garlic, season with salt, ground black pepper and Italian seasoning and cook, covered, at a simmer for about 5 more minutes.
• Add the heavy cream and fresh herbs. I add a touch of cream to almost all my tomato sauces. It gives it a nice velvetiness. The fresh herbs are a must. I absolutely love the way they elevate the sauce it give it so much freshness and flavor.

Cheese Filling:

• While the sauce is cooking, stir together all the ingredients for the cheese filling.

Assembling the Lasagna:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Drain the noodles on a paper towel or clean kitchen towel.
• Scoop out about ¾ cup of the Tomato Meat sauce and spread it out on the bottom of a 13x 9 inch baking dish.
• Top with the lasagna noodles.
• Spread out about 2 heaping Tablespoons of the cheese filling on top of each noodle.
• Top with another ¾ cup of Tomato Meat Sauce and repeat with the rest of the layers, ending with a layer of noodles. You will have 5 layers of noodles total. (If you're using the same pasta as I am, you will use the whole box.)

Cheese Sauce:

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the shallot or onion. Season with salt and cook until tender. (If you're using an onion instead of a shallot, you aside a small portion of onion when you're chopping it for the Tomato Meat Sauce and use it here, since you only need a small amount.)
• Add the flour and mix until it's completely incorporated into the butter, and cook for about a minute.
• Whisk in the milk and chicken broth. You can use just milk in the sauce, but adding part chicken broth will give it more depth of flavor.
• Add the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cook at a simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Fish out the bay leaf.
• Take the cheese sauce off the heat and stir in the grated cheeses.
• Pour the cheese sauce over the last Lasagna layer and smooth it out.
• Bake in a preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 40 minutes, until it bubbles around the edges.
• Take off the aluminum foil and broil for a few minutes until the cheese is golden, if you'd like.

To Freeze:

• Cool the Lasagna to room temperature. Wrap it in several layers or aluminum foil and plastic wrap and freeze.
• - To cook: Thaw the lasagna overnight and bake, just as you would if you made it that same day. Pretty neat, huh?