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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!

A Lasagna Roll Up on a white plate with sauce and 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.)

Lasagna Roll Ups being topped with cheese filling and marinara meat sauce.

Roll each lasagna noodle and transfer to a prepared 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Top with more meat sauce.

Lasagna Roll Ups being rolled and put in a casserole dish with meat sauce on top.

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!

A casserole dish of Lasagna Roll Ups before and after baking.

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.

A casserole dish filled with cheesy Lasagna Roll Ups with a spatula pulling one out.

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A Lasagna Roll Up on a white plate with marinara sauce and a meat filling with cheese.

Lasagna Roll Ups

5 from 29 ratings
This is the BEST recipe for Lasagna Roll Ups! They're layered with a 3-cheese filling, savory meat sauce, and topped with more melted cheese.

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

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

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!
  •  

Nutritional facts are per lasagna roll up. This recipe makes 12 roll ups. 

Nutrition

Calories: 403kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 86mg, Sodium: 948mg, Potassium: 497mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 777IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 318mg, Iron: 2mg
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88 comments on “Lasagna Roll Ups”

  1. Me and my family absolutely love this recipe! The kids ate 4 rolls each and we loved it. You should definitely try!

    • Hi Sydney! I’m soooo happy that this was a hit with the fam and that your kids had multiple servings! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, you’re the BEST! -Stephanie

  2. Can I.use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, that’s what my Mom used

  3. Just came across your website.  I’m going to have fun navigating thru it.  In the meantime, your lasagna rollups are drool-worthy.  I make my own pasta…any change in baking time?  I take it I treat them like the “fresh” pasta you mention, (e.g.) no need to boil first??

    • Hi Janice! I have only made this with noodles that you boil first. They get nice and “starchy” and seem to roll up nicely and stay in place. I’m not 100% sure if fresh pasta would behave the same way, but of course you could give it a try and I would love to hear how it goes if you do! Fresh pasta will also require less baking time than dried pasta. ❤️

  4. No baked noodles does not f****** work for this recipe!!!!!

  5. I’ll make a vegetarian version of this. I’ll just use veggie crumbles (Morningstar or what have you). Thank you. Looks delicious. 💕🪷

  6. Can I prepare and then refrigerate, and bake at the same temperature for the same amount of time later on in the week?

    • Hi RaeLynn, here are the make ahead instructions from the blog post: 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.

  7. Made this for first time yesterday….absolutely delicious! Wouldn’t change a thing!
    Thank you sooo much for your wonderful recipes! I have enjoyed trying so many!

  8. Can I use cottage cheese instead?

  9. I made these lasagna rolls and they were delicious! Great recipe and b=very thankful for the pro tips. I’ve made traditional lasagna before but never bothered to grate the cheese myself. I will from now on! The rolls make serving this so much easier. It’s just my husband and me, so some will definitely get frozen. Thanks again!

    • You’re very welcome Shelly! I’m so happy these were a hit with you and your husband. Enjoy the leftovers and thanks so much for the great review!💖

  10. I included one bag of chopped frozen spinach so with my large cookie scoop (2.5 TBSP scoop) I had enough cheese for 19 rollups (12 fit well in a 9 x 13 so seven frozen for later). Using ¼ cup of sauce per roll I had no left over for the pour over so suggest doubling the sauce batch then freezing about a quarter of that for the remaining frozen roll ups.

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