At our Christmas party this year, these sausage balls were a big hit. Inadvertently using low-fat cheese in the recipe, I was unable to distinguish it. They bake well, so no frying is required.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 1 (30 ounce) jar marinara sauce
- ¾ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 1 (16 ounce) package cottage cheese
- 12 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes; drain fat. Stir in the marinara sauce, water, and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove sauce from heat.
- Arrange 6 noodles in a 9×13-inch baking dish, breaking if necessary to fit. Spoon 1/2 of the sauce over noodles. Top with 1/2 of the cottage cheese and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers with remaining noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Top with Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with foil; refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bake lasagna, covered, until noodles are soft, cheese is melted, and sauce is bubbly, about 1 hour. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 559 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 44 g |
| Cholesterol | 94 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 40 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 1339 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I love this recipe for the overnight method and the cook time, etc was spot on for me. I did embellish my sauce with onions, peppers and garlic, as well as some italian spices. I subbed ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese. My jar of sauce was only 24 oz, so it compensate, I increased the water to one full cup. It worked pretty well, but next time I will have another jar of sauce on hand to increase the sauce to the stated 30 oz. Thanks for sharing your Grammy’s recipe! Also, five stars for the recipe name (I’m a Grammy, too!)
I had been telling everyone that lasagna was really good with cottage cheese … and this is a winner
To the person asking about not using cottage cheese, you can use ricotta cheese. That is what I use. Some people have a hard time finding the ricotta so cottage cheese is a back up. Personally, I can’t stand cottage cheese, so it’s ricotta for me!
You have to use ricotta cheese!
I made this recipe 90ish percent as written. My daughter wanted ground turkey instead of beef and I used gluten free lasagna noodles (no cook). I also used a total of 15 noodles, each layer had 5 noodles. Over 10 years ago my husband made me lasagna following the directions of my then 10 year old who said he knew how to make lasagna because he had watched me a million times. The end result was well that’s what you get for listening to a 10 year old. That is how I feel about how this recipe is written and its outcome. My end lasagna was a 2 layer lasagna that could use some help in the flavor department. It is a very basic base recipe that gets the majority of its flavor from the sauce you use.
Absolutely a wonderful lasagna recipe. The only thing I changed is instead of cottage cheese, I use ricotta cheese. I’m not sure if using ricotta cheese is a NJ/NY thing, but I’ve never even tried lasagna with cottage cheese because I love ricotta cheese SO MUCH!!
Delicious and easy as is, I made some additions for more flavor. I added onion and garlic to the meat, added an egg and parsley to the cottage cheese layer, and Penzeys Pasta Sprinkle to the mozzarella layer. I use Raos marinara for the sauce. Good recipe for doubling and freezing.
Did the recipe as written to make it for a meal for a neighbor family of 5. It was super easy but took a long time to cook. It needed 1.5 hours but I did the full recipe all in one large tin. It made a huge lasagna, probably two meals for the family rather than one.
I think next time I’ll throw in some veggies. Maybe mushrooms or can tomatoes
So easy and so delicious! I use no bake lasagna noodles to make it even easier. A favorite at my house!
I made this for Christmas dinner. I mixed Italian Sausage with beef, added an egg to the cottage cheese, and used a narrow pan so I could do more layers. Also, you’ll need to remove the foil for the last 10 minutes in order to brown the top. Very tasty.
This is my go-to recipe when I need to stock my freezer with pre-made meals or take a meal to a friend. I usually double the recipe and prepare in 3 or 4 disposable pans (around 9 in x 9 in). I have used oven ready noodles, regular noodles cooked, and regular noodles uncooked (be sure to wait overnight if taking this route). All turned out great! I also sub out half the cottage cheese for ricotta for my husband’s preferences.
One word of caution: If you’re using a metal baking dish, don’t use the foil when you’re storing it overnight. The salt and the acid in the sauce can actually create a battery and oxidize the foil! (Search online for “lasagna battery” or “galvanic corrosion.”) Corningware or pyrex won’t have this problem. If you’re using a metal pan, use plastic wrap when storing it overnight in the fridge and switch to foil before it goes into the oven.
Such an easy recipe and so good!! I’ve served this lasagna twice and both times I was asked for the recipe! Delicious!!
My family loved this make ahead lasagna! I adjusted my ingredients based on other reviews and my family’s preference for a rich, thick lasagna. Here are my adjustments: I browned 1lb of hamburger and 1lb of Italian sausage with 1 small onion, 2 cloves of garlic (minced) and 1 cup chopped mushrooms. I bought a thicker, better quality marinara sauce. I mixed a large container of whole milk cottage cheese with a standard container of whole milk ricotta cheese. I used a 16oz package of shredded mozzarella – putting the additional 4oz on the top to make it extra cheesy. I received lots of compliments and the left overs didn’t last long!
Fantastic! I used an entire package of noodles, two jars of pasta sauce instead of the 30 oz sauce plus water, some oregano, some parsley, 1 cottage cheese, 1 moz cheese, the parm, and put it in a lasagne size extra deep foil pan.
Made 1/2 recipe with about 1 lb beef (could have used less but that’s what I had) in my 7×11 pan and fit perfectly. I did soak the noodles in a little room temp water for a bit first, not sure if this is necessary but worked well. Added 1 egg to the cottage cheese mix (and I think I could have used the whole 16 oz of cottage cheese if desired, though it wasn’t lacking with half). Added some italian seasoning to the beef while cooking, and an onion. Everyone loved this and it was very easy to pop into the oven once home from work- leftovers as well. Do bake on a tray just in case, baked 350 1 hour covered
Ooey-gooey, perfect for a rainy day!
Overall, I thought this recipe was very good. It was fairly watery though, so the next time I’ll cut the water to about 1/2 c. I added Italian seasoning, because I thought it might be a little blah without it. Very good with just a salad and some garlic bread!
Excellent every time…I add 1 tsp of fresh minced garlic from the jar or 1 fresh minced garlic clove to the browned meat. I also use 2 jars of the Classico brand in the “Four Cheese” flavor. I find “Classico” brand sauces to be perfectly seasoned for my picky 9 and 12 years olds – so no need to add anything else. With the increase in sauce you will need to increase the cottage cheese accordingly. I buy the 24 oz. small curd cottage cheese. I also used a box of the Barilla brand lasagne noodles. My kids prefer the “curly” ends. I’ve prepared this dish in the morning and bake when I get home from work.
In my opinion this is the best way to make lasagna. It didn’t require pre-cooking the noodles which made it so much easier to assemble, letting it sit over night gives it a much better flavor. I did add a egg to the cottage cheese and put basil seasoning on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Will be making my lasagna this way from now on. And my husband loved it!