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.
- Lasagna Noodles: No-boil lasagna noodles or fresh lasagna noodles can also be used for this recipe, neither of which need to be cooked first. Fresh lasagna noodles can be found in the deli section of the grocery store.
- 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
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 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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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.
My whole family loved this, I prepared it a day ahead so it made a very easy amazing weekday meal!! Just heated it up and served. Was a hit, yummy!
That’s so great to hear Sarah, I love being able to make this a day ahead of time! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!❤️
My family always loved my lasagna. Out of curiosity I decided to try this lasagna rolls ups because the ingredients were quite different than my own recipe. Everyone loved it!! It was very moist, delicious, and a definite success. I have to say the taste was superior than my own. That’s saying a lot! Thank you Stephanie for introducing this amazing lasagna recipe!!
You’re very welcome! I’m so happy everyone loved this one. Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!❤️
Can I sub out cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese don’t like ricotta?
Thanks for all your great recipes!
Also do you have a lasagna recipe?
Thanks
Katherine
Hey Katherine! YES, my mom always uses cottage cheese in her lasagna, and they should work great in these rollups as well! I don’t have a traditional lasagna recipe at this time, but it’s definitely inching its way to the top of my list! 😉 I am so happy that you are enjoying the recipes!
These Lasagna Roll ups were beyond amazing. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Hey Jessica! WOOO! I am so happy that you enjoyed them, thank you sooo much for taking the time to come back and leave a review as well, I really appreciate it!! -Stephanie
Amazing! I am hesitant about lasagna. Just not my favorite dish, however, you made the flavors balance so well!. Thank you. I feel like an incredible cook because of you😆. Keep up the great work!
That’s so great to hear Jackie! My husband has never been a big Lasagna fan but he absolutely loves these roll ups! Sounds like you really nailed it, nice work! Thanks so much for the great comments!😍
Heyyyy friend!!! So I did a thing today…I made these and my hubby loved them! He just had a third serving! Lol! As usual, you knocked it out of the park with this recipe. The only thing I did different was add more Italian sausage with my ground beef. A hit! I’ll tag you on Instagram!
Wahooo! Sounds like you nailed it again ShaRonda!😍 When the hubby goes for a third serving you know you did something right! Thanks so much for the love ShaRonda!💕
Looks absolutely Yummy!! Will definitely be making this. Saw the link for the garlic twister. Will be ordering this, so much easier than a garlic press. And we Love garlic!!
I can’t wait for you to try this one Sue, the garlic twister is so key! Enjoy!❤️
This Lasagna Roll-Ups recipe is outstanding!!! I love how you can take out the number of rolls you want from the freezer and have a gourmet meal in a pinch with no time involved!!!! My mother use to put cottage cheese in her lasagna but I am a fan of Ricotta!!!! Its so creamy!!!! I love the ground sausage mixed into the sauce. This is the best way to make lasagna!!! I will be making it regularly this way. Thank you!!!!
I’m so happy to hear such great comments Laura!😍 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Hi may I know if beef and sausage be replaced by diced chicken or mutton. ?
Yes, you can make those replacements if preferred! 🙂
This is absolutely delicious, my family loved it. I will definitely make this again! The only thing I didn’t use was hot sauce and Worcestershire.
I’m so happy the family loved it Kristie! This is one I’m going to put on repeat too. I love how it makes a great freezer meal. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!❤️