Lasagna Roll Ups
This is the BEST recipe for Lasagna Roll Ups! It’s easy to make with ground beef and sausage, ricotta cheese, Parmesan, and mozzarella! Bonus: It’s a great make-ahead meal and freezer food.
Be sure to serve this with a side of garlic bread with cheese!
Lasagna Roll Ups
My mom made the absolute best lasagna growing up. But between you and me… (and the internet 🥴), I think these Lasagna Roll Ups could go toe to toe with hers!
The proportion of cheese, meat, and sauce in between these perfectly cooked noodles is absolutely perfect. And the seasonings in the cheese mixture takes it over the top.
BONUS: This makes a great make-ahead recipe and freezer meal!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Boil the lasagna noodles until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer to parchment or wax paper lined baking sheets. Top with cheese mixture. (Ricotta, mozzarella, egg, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings.)
Then spread with meat sauce. (Onions, garlic, ground beef, ground sausage, chicken broth, marinara sauce, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.)
Roll each lasagna noodle and transfer to a prepared 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Top with more meat sauce.
Top with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 375° for 35 minutes. Remove cover and broil at 450° to bubble and brown the top, watch carefully during this time. Remove, garnish with parsley, and serve with garlic bread with cheese!
Make-Ahead Method
- Refrigerator: Assemble the lasagna roll ups as outlined. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to baking or add 10 minutes to covered baking time.
- Freezer: Assemble the lasagna roll ups as outlined. Cover tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it thaw completely prior to baking, then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to baking or add 10 minutes to covered baking time.
- Bake Half Now, Freeze Other Half: I love to bake 6 roll ups now, and freeze the other 6 for later. These disposable tins are slightly smaller than 9 x 13 and are perfect for placing 6 roll ups in each!
Pro Tips
- Shred and grate the cheese fresh from a block/wedge. Packaged shredded/grated cheese won’t melt as well or taste as good.
- Low moisture whole milk mozzarella will melt the best. I use Dragone mozzarella cheese for this recipe as well as Rao’s marinara sauce. (I highly recommend Rao’s!)
- The Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce are flavor enhancers in the meat sauce and you can’t taste them outright. The hot sauce doesn’t make it hot/spicy. I use Frank’s Hot Sauce.
- To add spinach: Sauté 2-3 cups of roughly chopped spinach in 1/2 tbsp. olive oil until wilted. Let cool slightly, then mix into cheese filling mixture. Or, use frozen spinach. Let it thaw and pat it dry prior to using.
- LOVE Lasagna?! Try my classic lasagna, skillet lasagna, or my lasagna soup recipes next!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftovers do freeze/reheat well.
Tools For This Recipe
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- 9 x 13-inch Casserole Dish or disposable tins.
- Box Cheese Grater– Grating/Shredding cheese from a block will also give you the best flavor and consistency.
- Garlic Twister– Using fresh cloves is much more flavorful than jarred minced garlic.
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
Cheese Filling
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ tsp each: salt, dried basil, dried parsley
- ¼ tsp pepper
Meat Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- ½ lb. ground beef
- ½ lb. ground Italian sausage, hot or mild
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 32 oz. marinara sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, optional
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional
Lasagna
- 12 lasagna noodles, plus extra in case of breakage
- 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine the cheese filling mixture in a medium bowl and set aside. Take ½ cup of the marinara sauce and spread it on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- Preheat oven to 375° and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- While the water is heating up, heat olive oil over medium heat and add the diced onions. Let them soften for 10 minutes. (This allows them to release a little sugar which is a nice offset to the acidity of the tomatoes.)
- Add the ground beef and sausage and increase heat to medium-high. Use a spatula to break up the meat so that it’s very fine and crumbled. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. Add garlic during the last minute. Drain excess grease.
- Add the chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the pot. Add the remaining marinara sauce along with the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Let the sauce simmer gently while you boil the lasagna noodles to al dente according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water. This stops the noodles from cooking and cools them off for easy handling.
- Line the noodles up on a parchment or wax paper.
- Spread an even layer of the cheese mixture over each lasagna noodle, about 2 ½ tablespoons each.
- Spread ¼ cup of sauce over each noodle, (3 cups total), and reserve the rest.
- Roll up the noodles (tightly, while keeping the filling in), and transfer them to the baking dish, seam side down. Top with remaining meat sauce, then sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
- Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray and place it spray-side-down on top of the baking dish to prevent the cheese from sticking to it.
- Bake for 35 minutes. If desired, remove foil and broil at 450° to brown the top more, watch it carefully during this time.
- Remove and garnish with fresh parsley prior to serving.
Notes
- Shred and grate the cheese fresh from a block/wedge. Packaged shredded/grated cheese won’t melt as well or taste as good.
- Low moisture whole milk mozzarella will melt the best. I use Dragone mozzarella cheese for this recipe as well as Rao’s marinara sauce. (I highly recommend Rao's!)
- The Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce are flavor enhancers in the meat sauce and you can't taste them outright. The hot sauce doesn't make it hot/spicy. I use Frank's Hot Sauce.
- To add spinach: Sauté 2-3 cups of roughly chopped spinach in 1/2 tbsp. olive oil until wilted. Let cool slightly, then mix into cheese filling mixture. Or, use frozen spinach. Let it thaw and pat it dry prior to using.
- LOVE Lasagna?! Try my classic lasagna, skillet lasagna, or my lasagna soup recipes next!
Nutritional facts are per lasagna roll up. This recipe makes 12 roll ups.
A friend showed me a video of her 7 year-old, making these. I had to try them. My husband loves lasagna and told me this recipe was even better. I switched up cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese and doubled the meat mixture. A definite ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m so happy your husband said that Deb!!! Thanks so much!🩷
This was absolutely the best Lasagna recipe I have made!! I made 2 of them, one for the same day, then the other for later in the week. We throughly enjoyed them both. This is a keeper!!
I am sooo thrilled to hear that Nyckol, you made my day! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! 🙂 -Stephanie
I normally dislike reading people’s cooking blogs as I know how to cook and don’t need to hear their history. However, I enjoyed reading yours and never having made lasagna in this way, I was really pleased to have your photos showing how you construct it. They are very helpful. Thank you for those. I plan to use up my leftover homemade spaghetti sauce with this. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Thanks again.
Thanks so much for the great comments Judith! Have a great meal!!!💖
Do you bake the roll up before freezing? I am single and want to make freezer meals with 2 rolls per container. I was thinking to cook them up and freeze so I can reheat as needed
I assemble, but I do not bake. ❤️
I’ve already reviewed but worth the second to say I loved this recipe! Leftovers were so good! In my top 5 favorites. Going to make more real soon.
I am sooo happy to hear that Joe! That’s exactly how I feel about this recipe as well, thank you so much for taking the time to leave this wonderful note! 🙂 -Stephanie
This recipe was awesome. Made it today. Pretty easy to assemble. Used Rao sauce as always. I did not cook the noodles. Soaked in very hot water for 20+ minutes. They rolled up perfectly. Can’t wait for the leftovers. 5+++
I’m so happy that you loved it Joseph, thank you for sharing your process for the noodles as well! PROPS on going for the Rao’s! I think I need to make that a requirement! 😉
All of the recipes I have tried are amazing. This one is so good, easy to make. Can make ahead and warm up later.
I’m so thrilled to hear that you are loving the recipes Cathy! Thank you sooo much!!! Leftovers are going to be AMAZING! I like them even better 🙂 Thank you again!! -Stephanie 💙
Stephanie, another great recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. This one is going into my “keeper” recipes. Delish!
I’m sooo happy that you loved the Roll Ups Sharon! It’s definitely one of my favorite recipes!! Thank you so much for your review, I appreciate you so much!! XOXO -Stephanie
Thank you for this recipe! Easy to follow and favorable 👍. I used ground sausage and you are correct, Rao’s sauce is the best! Also added 14oz. can petite diced tomatoes!
I’m so happy that you loved it Debbie! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. I love that you used Rao’s, I could drink that stuff! 😉
This is an easy and delicious recipe! I’m a vegetarian, so I used the Impossible spicy Italian sausage roll, and the Beyond crumbles. It turned out great.
I’m so happy that you loved it and were able to make it with with vegetarian substitutes Jacquelyn! Nicely done, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!! -Stephanie 🙂
Love it and make often. I freeze the cooked roll ups in twos so we can thaw and eat later. I’ve served guests fresh, never a complaint. I do make my own Bolognese sauce, sorry to not try Raos, but I love my own sauces.
I’m so happy that you love it Roger! You definitely can never ever go wrong with homemade Bolognese sauce, YUM!!! Thank you so much for the review! 🙂 -Stephanie
I just made it! It was 😋, the only thing I changed was that I used everything low fat or 2%. Used turkey ground and did not used the sausage part.
Very tasty,it is a keeper! Thank you for sharing. I have a picture!
I’m so happy you liked it with the ground turkey! Thanks for commenting Elsa!💕