Easiest ever lasagne
See this recipe step by step

Easiest ever lasagne

Lesley Waters shows how easy it is for kids to try their hand in the kitchen

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 5 mins - 1 hr 15 mins

Method

  1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan until hot. Add about half the mince and fry it over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes until browned. Stir it with a wooden spoon and press out any lumps while it is frying. Tip the browned mince into a bowl. Tip the remaining raw mince into the pan and add the garlic and oregano. Fry it as you did with the previous batch, then return all the mince to the pan and mix it together.
  2. Tip in the mushrooms and roasted veg sauce, and squirt in the ketchup (you can be generous). Season with black pepper and salt if you like. Stir well to mix everything together, turn the heat up under the pan and bring to the boil, then turn it down so it bubbles gently. Cover the pan and cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to mix everything together. As it cooks, the mushrooms will shrink and make the mince more saucy.
  3. While you're waiting for the meat to cook, break the egg into a large bowl and beat it with a whisk or fork to break up the white and the yolk. Pour the cream into the bowl, then grate about two thirds of the cheese and add to the bowl. Be careful, a grater looks innocent enough, but it's sharp so mind your fingers. Season with a good grinding of black pepper. Beat well to mix. Now turn the oven on to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.
  4. Lay the lasagne in a dish and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes. Take an ovenproof dish measuring about 28-30cm x 22-23cm and 7.5cm deep. Spread about a couple of spoonfuls of meat sauce over the bottom, then cover with 3-4 sheets of lasagne (lift them out of the water with tongs) overlapping them slightly to make them fit if you need to. Drizzle over just a little of the cheese sauce - about 2-3 spoonfuls.
  5. Spoon over half the remaining meat and spread it out, right to the edges of the dish. Cover with 3-4 more sheets of lasagne, then spoon over the remaining meat, spreading it out evenly and almost to the edges. Cover with 3-4 more sheets of lasagne.
  6. Pour what's left of the cheese sauce over the top. Jiggle the dish so the sauce runs to the edges and squelch the corners of the pasta into the sauce so there's none poking up. Grate the rest of the cheese evenly all over, then grate over about 1⁄2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before decorating the top if you like. Cut into 6 portions and serve with a salad.
Try

Make it extra special

While the lasagne cooks, snip chives into different lengths so you can spell out 'MUM' on top of the finished baked lasagne.

PER SERVING

612 kcalories, protein 35.0g, carbohydrate 27.0g, fat 41.0 g, saturated fat 23.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 3.0g, salt 1.52 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2003.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo cooks diary

    19 September 2008

    cooks diary commented on this recipe

    Im afraid im not that keen on the sound of this one im a big fan of lasagne and like the traditional one thats time consuming to. but worth the wate although ive not tried this yet .

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  • Binder photo comegatheratourtable

    24 September 2008

    comegatheratourtable commented on this recipe

    I cannot believe that you are listing ready sliced mushrooms! the nutritional value must be zilch...

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  • Binder photo Popcorn

    01 October 2008

    Popcorn rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I was a bit sceptical about this recipe initially but eager for a few shortcuts having two young children I tried it out. It was actually great! I used a Little Dish fresh pasta sauce, which contains no added salt (ref. the young children) and that was a success. I was dubious about the cream/cheese sauce before it was cooked but once it was difficult to distinguish from a real bechamel. I'd definitely cook this again. My husband enjoyed it too.

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  • Binder photo Popcorn

    01 October 2008

    Popcorn commented on this recipe

    Oh, I meant to add: I only used one packet of 250g mushrooms (as opposed to the two indicated in the recipe, and I sliced them myself!) and found that to be perfectly adequate.

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  • Binder photo PeterGander

    06 February 2009

    PeterGander commented on this recipe

    I can't beleive there's not a 'regular', i.e. traditional/non-veggie or non-'quick-fix' lasagne on this site! Looks like I'll have to look elsewhere ;(

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  • Binder photo Ilovefood

    13 February 2009

    Ilovefood commented on this recipe

    This is the ultimate lasagne recipe ever! I have served this to serveral friends and each one has asked for the recipe. Fabulous.

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  • Binder photo Baltar

    06 April 2009

    Baltar commented on this recipe

    I tried this recipe & it was delicious. My only complaint is step 4. of the Method where it says "Lay the lasagne in a dish and cover with boiling water.Leave for 5 minutes". When I did this, the lasagna sheets stuck together despite the fact that I'd added oil to the boiling water! All the sheets were ruined so I had to chuck them away & start from scratch! Luckily I had another spare packet of lasagna sheets. Given the size of my dish, and to avoid the lasagna sheets sticking again, I had to soak 4 sheets at a time. Due to this, the recipe took alot longer to prepare than I'd hoped. Having said that, soaking the sheets did make a big difference to the texture of the pasta & really improved it.

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  • Binder photo Baltar

    06 April 2009

    Baltar rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Oops - forgot to rate the recipe :o)

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  • Binder photo rosie

    11 May 2009

    rosie commented on this recipe

    made this today using fresh pasta it was fun to make and my family really enjoyed it i shall definately be making this again.

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  • Binder photo CharlieCroft

    24 July 2009

    CharlieCroft rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My family loved this recipe, it was indeed very tasty and easy to put together, the ketchup really adds something to the taste which my daughter loved - excellent recipe that i will definately prepare again!

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  • Binder photo vhoracek

    20 August 2009

    vhoracek rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Pewtersfood

    24 November 2009

    Pewtersfood rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was good.Bit of a faff though ! Glad I made at weekend and not mid-week after work.We don't really do full cream in this house therefore creme fraiche.

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  • Binder photo Edyta

    20 November 2010

    Edyta rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have tried this recipe a number of times and the lasagne is always great. Quick and easy.

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  • Binder photo Anisah

    07 June 2011

    Anisah commented on this recipe

    Thank you for this recipe this is very easy to make and is probably the best lasagne i have ever made...And it smelled really good too! Thank You

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  • Binder photo Hans Zinderfaan

    28 September 2011

    Hans Zinderfaan rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this today, it was lovely. I cut the ingredients down to a more suitable size for two but eggs do not come in half sizes! The result was that the top rose up like a souffle. The only change I would make next time is to get a slightly larger dish. The overall result though was good as having risen quite high it browned beautifully. I would recommend this as an easy to make and very satisfying dish.

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  • Binder photo gothic

    03 October 2011

    gothic commented on this recipe

    try using condensed tomato soup instead of ketchup ! :-)

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  • Binder photo Four Candles

    22 November 2011

    Four Candles rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    2 Nine year olds used this recipe to cook dinner for their parents - they did brilliantly, and it tasted great. I'd definitely use this recipe again - particularly the cream/egg/cheese bechamel substitution. They followed this with a pile of gingerbread cookies and strawberries, bowls of melted milk and white chocolate, and little bowls of chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc.

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  • Binder photo MrsAlexis

    21 December 2011

    MrsAlexis rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I tried this recipe and lasagne was a hit with the family. It was so much easier than traditional method. However I did omit the mushrooms. Quick, easy and tastes great.

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  • Binder photo Smiler :)

    30 August 2012

    Smiler :) rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this recipe as i had cream left over, didn't use the mushrooms and used a tin of ratatoulle instead for the veg, reall enjoyed it as a family

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  • Binder photo janineplus4

    08 January 2013

    janineplus4 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I've made this time and again and it's a winner! Whole family loves it and it's a great way to hide veggies, I add grated courgettes to the mushrooms and they're oblivious!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 5 mins - 1 hr 15 mins

No chopping is needed at all in this child friendly recipe.

Ingredients

  • 500g good quality lean minced beef
  • 2 garlic cloves , crushed
  • 2 tsp dried oregano or dried mixed herbs
  • 2 x 250g packets ready-sliced white mushrooms
  • 300-350g tub roasted vegetable sauce
  • 3 really good squirts of tomato ketchup
  • 1 large egg
  • 284ml carton double cream
  • 175g extra-mature cheddar
  • 9-12 sheets of fresh lasagne
  • a whole nutmeg (though you don't use it all)
  • fresh chives , optional
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PER SERVING

612 kcalories, protein 35.0g, carbohydrate 27.0g, fat 41.0 g, saturated fat 23.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 3.0g, salt 1.52 g

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