Easy Gluten-Free Lasagna
With just a few simple ingredients, this quick and easy gluten-free lasagna is a simple dinner option any night of the week.
If you listen to the podcast, you know that a few weeks ago I recorded an episode on freezer meals.
I interviewed a dietitian friend, Mickela Mitchell, who detailed her – in my opinion– elaborate and VERY impressive system for batch cooking, freezing and organizing a monthly menu. What’s been happening in my kitchen for dinners since has been life changing (and I mean that sincerely, in the same way I say my chili is life changing. Some good ideas just immediately grab hold and stick, ya know?)
What I realized in speaking with Mickela (who by the way is NOT a food blogger and doesn’t even do meal prep for clients, she’s just darn good at it in her own home) is that I’ve been spending a lot of time cooking the same recipes over and over. I could save myself a lot of time by just batch cooking a bunch of one recipe and freezing it in portions.
Basic weeknight spaghetti sauce is one of those recipes. I know those of you with a rich Italian home-cooking heritage will need to avert your eyes when I share this, but at my house, once a week we have spaghetti night using a store-bought sauce.
Ground beef or turkey + jarred sauce = quick and easy dinner everyone eats with no complaints.
I know there are sauces out there made from scratch that require hours of love and attention and yield an amazing pot of happiness. But at my house happiness comes in the form of quick and easy dinners with no complaints from my family.
I’ll do me. You do you. We can still be friends.
So back to the sauce… Now, whenever I make sauce I’m making at least 4 times the amount I was before and freezing it in batches. This basically translates to having a freezer full of meat sauce ON DEMAND.
No more freak outs at 4 pm. I KNOW there’s always spaghetti as an option (and these days, in my freezer there’s also always cooked chicken, pork tenderloin, taco meat and pressure cooker beef tips… see… life changing concept.)
The other thing having on demand spaghetti sauce has meant is that making this easy gluten-free lasagna for a weeknight dinner is simple. I thaw the sauce and use it in this lasagna (made GF so that our whole family can enjoy it, but if your family doesn’t have anyone needing a gluten free version you could of course make this with regular noodles). Add a salad and dinner is honestly less than 20 minutes prep time. ‘Life changing, I tell ya. ~Regan
Quick and Easy Gluten-Free Lasagna
With just a few simple ingredients, this quick and easy version of family favorite lasagna is an easy dinner option any night of the week.
- Yield: Makes 9 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef (I used ALDI SimplyNature 85% lean ground beef)
- Cooking spray
- 1 (24-ounce) jar tomato basil pasta sauce (such as ALDI SimplyNature or Rao’s), divided
- 6 gluten free lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions or oven-ready lasagna noodles and divided (do not overcook) (I used DeBoles)
- 8 ounces fresh mozzerella, thinly sliced
- 1/2 of (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
- 4 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Garlic salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cook beef in a large skillet over medium, stirring often, until crumbled and brown; drain, and return beef to pan. Add pasta sauce; stir, and cook until heated through, 5 – 7 minutes.
- Coat a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray; spoon a couple of tablespoons of sauce into bottom of prepared dish, and spread evenly.
- Layer 3 of the noodles over the sauce. Top with 1/2 of the remaining beef and sauce mixture.
- Top evenly with mozzarella slices. Arrange remaining noodles over mozzarella slices.
- Spread ricotta over noodles. Top with remaining beef and sauce mixture.
- Sprinkle evenly with parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and garlic salt, sparingly.
- Bake until golden on top and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
The leftovers of this lasagna are even better the next day!
Nutrition
- Calories: 360
- Sugar: 5.6 g
- Sodium: 757 mg
- Fat: 17.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.7 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 31.9 g
All images and recipes on this site are the property of Regan Jones, RDN. Please do not use them for commercial or social media use without my permission.
Before you go, check out these popular Recipes & Podcast Episodes:
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All images and recipes on this site are the property of Regan Jones, RDN. Please do not use them for commercial or social media use without my permission.