Large Family Freezer Lasagna

Whether you’re serving dinner for a large family or need a big meal for a dinner party, you can’t go wrong with pasta! And with this easy make ahead freezer lasagna you can do all the prep work for your big meal ahead of time to make cooking a breeze. Thanks to the large amount of pasta made with this flavorful recipe, you’ll have enough lasagna to make one giant family sized meal or two regular sized pans of lasagna.Pasta bakes such as this large family lasagna, our Tex Mex Pasta Bake, Pastitcio, Baked Manicotti, and Make Ahead Mac and Cheese freeze beautifully. 

Freezer Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-2 boxes of lasagna noodles
  
• 3 pounds ground beef, browned
  
• 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage, browned
  
• 1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, browned
  
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes
  
• 14 ounces crushed tomatoes
  
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  
• 2 packets spaghetti seasoning
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 1 teaspoon oregano
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  
• 4-6 cups shredded mozzarella
  
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
  
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  
• 700-1000 ml ricotta or dry cottage cheese
  
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Assembly Instructions:

1. In a large pot, cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.
2. While the noodles are cooking, combine the browned beef, sausage, tomatoes, spaghetti seasoning and other seasonings together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, spinach and egg.
4. In the casserole dish, place the first layer of noodles, overlapping the edges of the noodles a little bit if necessary. Then, evenly spread half the meat mixture and top the meat with another layer of noodles.
5. Next, evenly spread the ricotta mixture over the noodle layer, then sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on top.
6. Add another layer of noodles, then top with the remaining meat mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese.
7. Top the lasagna with the remaining mozzarella cheese and sprinkle shredded parmesan cheese on top.
8. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of the lasagna to keep the cheese from sticking to the foil, then cover the entire dish tightly with foil. Place the casserole in the freezer until ready to eat.

Cooking instructions:

1. Transfer the lasagna to the refrigerator the day before cooking to thaw completely.
2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Keep the casserole covered and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, removing foil and parchment paper for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
3. After removing the pan from the oven, let the lasagna set for 10-15 minutes before serving.

How Many Does This Freezer Lasagna Serve?

This big pan of lasagna was made to serve a crowd, making it great for large family meals! If you cook your lasagna in a large roasting pan, you can serve up to 16 people with one casserole. You can also split the recipe between two smaller 9×13 baking dishes to create smaller servings. The smaller casserole will serve 6 to 8 people each, depending on the size of your servings.

Is it Better to Freeze Lasagna Cooked or Uncooked?

When it comes to freezer cooking, you can often freeze your ingredients cooked or uncooked, depending on how you plan to prepare your meal on the day of cooking. But lasagna is one type of make ahead meal that requires a little bit of cooking before you put it in the freezer.

While you don’t need to bake your lasagna before you freeze it, you do need to take the time to cook the filling and layers within the casserole to ensure everything is cooked through when you’re ready to serve your dinner. To prep your lasagna ingredients, you’ll need to cook the:

• Lasagna noodles. The most important part of prepping your lasagna ahead of time is to cook the pasta. Uncooked pasta will not cook through in the oven, which means the noodles need to be boiled before you place them in the casserole dish. Make sure to cook your lasagna noodles to al dente to keep them from getting soggy while the casserole bakes.
• Meat. If your lasagna recipe features meat, like this one, the meat will need to be cooked before you layer your lasagna ingredients in the dish. Brown the ground beef and sausage, then add the meat to the rest of the filling ingredients before creating the lasagna layers in the pan.

Is it Better to Thaw Lasagna Before Baking?

Freezing your lasagna is a great way to meal prep, but what is the best way to prepare your make ahead pasta when you’re ready to eat it? When it comes to preparing frozen lasagna, you can typically cook a small batch without worrying about thawing it first. But since this big batch of lasagna is so large, it’s best to take the time to thaw it before cooking.

To thaw your lasagna, transfer the frozen casserole to the refrigerator one to two days before you plan to serve it. After that, follow the instructions for cooking your thawed casserole.

If you’re preparing this in a smaller pan, your lasagna can be cooked directly from the freezer. In this case, keep the dish covered and bake at 375 degrees for one hour 30 minutes, removing the foil when there’s around 20 minutes left to cook.

Print

Freezer Lasagna

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 30 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Keyword: lasagna

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1-2 boxes lasagna noodles
• 3 lbs. ground beef browned
• 1/2 lb. mild Italian sausage browned
• 1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage browned
• 14 oz diced tomatoes
• 14 oz crushed tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 packets spaghetti seasoning
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 4-6 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1 pack spinach frozen, thawed and drained
• 700-1000 ml ricotta or dry cottage cheese
• Parmesan cheese optional

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. In a large pot, cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.
2. While the noodles are cooking, combine the browned beef, sausage, tomatoes, spaghetti seasoning and other seasonings together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, spinach and egg.
4. In the casserole dish, place the first layer of noodles, overlapping the edges of the noodles a little bit if necessary. Then, evenly spread half the meat mixture and top the meat with another layer of noodles.
5. Next, evenly spread the ricotta mixture over the noodle layer, then sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on top.
6. Add another layer of noodles, then top with the remaining meat mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese.
7. Top the lasagna with the remaining mozzarella cheese and sprinkle shredded parmesan cheese on top.
8. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of the lasagna to keep the cheese from sticking to the foil, then cover the entire dish tightly with foil. Place the casserole in the freezer until ready to eat.

Cooking instructions:

1. Transfer the lasagna to the refrigerator the day before cooking to thaw completely.

2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 325°. Keep the casserole covered and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, removing foil and parchment paper for the last 30 minutes of cooking.

3. After removing the pan from the oven, let the lasagna set for 10-15 minutes before serving.