These lasagna roll-ups are a twist on the traditional recipe for classic beef lasagna. This dish is so easy it will even find its place on your weeknight menu! Of course, you could always prepare ahead and make the weeknight even smoother.
The filling can be prepared ahead as well as the sauce, and even the noodles. You can assemble the entire dish and freeze for later, or prepare the sauce, filling, and noodles for quick assembly at mealtime.
If you’re a meal prepper, there you go! This is the perfect addition to your meal rotation!
Lasagna roll-ups are an ideal solution for grab-and-go leftovers. It’s so easy to scoop that perfect portion into an individual serving dish for an easy lunch or dinner. These bento storage containers make it even better. Add a piece of fruit or bread and your meal is complete!
The ready-made portions also make for quicker cleanup. Hey, I’m all about quick and easy cleanup. Yep, I’m in.
Lasagna Roll-Ups
In this dish, I use one batch of my favorite Old World Spaghetti Sauce that is so incredibly simple it will amaze you.
If you’re like me, I used to overcomplicate spaghetti sauce. I mean, the flavor is so sharp and zesty that it really should take hours for those flavors to meld and reach that point of perfection, right?? Wrong! You’ll see it’s much less complicated than you think.
Prepare all the components
After you’ve made the sauce and that is simmering, then you should begin heating your water for the noodles, adding a little olive oil to prevent them from sticking together. (This pot is part of my favorite brand!)
While bringing the water to a boil, begin mixing your filling and set that aside in the fridge. For this, you use a blend of three rich cheeses; ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and parmesan. Some don’t use parmesan in the filling, but I find it offers another level of richness to the mixture.
The mix now needs some seasoning and a little egg to fuse it all together. Once this is stirred well, set it aside in the fridge until you’re ready to fill the noodles.
The water is probably boiling now, so you can add a few noodles at a time until they’re done. At this point, I find it is easily to handle about six at a time, so that’s all I add to the water per batch until I have one per each serving I plan to make.
While the noodles are boiling, it’s time to brown the ground beef. It’s best to also season the meat while it’s cooking, also, so the flavor is distributed well throughout the dish. When that is finished, drain off the fat and set the meat aside.
Assemble the rolls
- Sauce is simmering
- Cheese filling is chilling
- Meat is browned
- Noodles are al dente
Check!
Well, how about we get them filled and finish dinner?! Ready?
So, straighten up your apron and resist the urge to drink from the spoon as you work!
At this point, I stir the ground meat into the spaghetti sauce. This just saves a step in the assembly process later. Either way, it works out fine, but I’ll explain what works best for me. 🙂
This next step is also what works best for me, but you might have a better set-up that works better for your kitchen arrangement. I use a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray, on which I lay six noodles (see picture below). I arrange the bowls of cheese filling and meat sauce behind my cookie sheet so they’re handy.
Spread a heaping spoon of cheese onto each noodle, leaving about two inches at one end. This will allow for the cheese to spread to the end as you roll.
Spoon a heaping spoon of meat sauce on top of the cheese.
It’s time to prepare the baking pan for your rolls. Spoon a couple spoons full of meat sauce into your baking pan and spread evenly. This is to prevent the noodles from sticking as they bake.
Keep in mind, you will also want to be sure you have sauce left to spoon over the top of your completed rolls.
Begin to roll at the full end of a noodle until the noodle is completely rolled. Place seam side down into your baking pan. Continue until all rolls are completed.
If you have cheese filling left, it’s perfectly okay to spoon that into your baking dish around the rolls. (Your taste buds will thank you later!)
Pour the remaining meat sauce over the rolls and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake.
Now, sprinkle some flour in your face like that old commercial and let your family think you worked hard for this spread!
Beef Lasagna Roll-ups
Ingredients
- 1 batch Old World Spaghetti Sauce (or your favorite spaghetti sauce)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 t olive oil
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1 t onion powder
- 1 t Italian seasoning
- 1 package lasagna noodles
- 32 oz ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 t oregano flakes
- 1 t parsley flakes
Instructions
- Stir together ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, parsley, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside in fridge to chill.
- Brown ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Drain fat and set aside.
- Stir meat into spaghetti sauce.
- Bring water boil boil in large sauce pan or dutch oven style pot. Add olive oil. Add approximately six noodles at a time and cook for 9-10 minutes to al dente.
- Spoon enough meat sauce to cover the bottom of the baking dish.
- Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Arrange six noodles on pan. Spread with cheese filling then top with meat sauce leaving one inch or so at one end of each noodle. This will allow the filling to spread to the end as the noodle is rolled.
- Arrange rolls seam side down in baking dish as they are rolled. Spoon any remaining filling between the rolls. Pour remaining sauce over the rolls.
- Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake about 20 minutes at 350°, until bubbly. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes, until cheese begins to brown.
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