Mom's Best Ever Lasagna Recipe
With a flavorful meat sauce made with ground venison and pork and two different types of cheese, this lasagna recipe is the best one you'll ever find!
Servings: 12 pieces
Calories: 738kcal
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground venison
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 2 24 ounce jars of your favorite tomato sauce
- 4 oz. tomato paste
- ¼ cup Dr. Pepper or other dark soda
- ½ tsp. cinnamon trust me
- Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning to taste
- 1 ½ boxes lasagna noodles
- 2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large, heavy bottomed skillet brown the beef and the sausage over medium-high heat. Drain the fat. Lower heat to medium-low and pour in the jars of sauce, then pour a splash of dark soda into the jars and swirl them around, to get all the saucy goodness out. Pour into the pan. Add the tomato paste. Sprinkle on the cinnamon, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine and warm through – about five minutes.
- Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with one row of lasagna noodles slightly overlapping one another. (You may need to add one noodle laying in the opposite direction to ensure the entire bottom of the pan is covered.)
- Pour in ½ cup of water so that it covers the bottom of the pan but does not go over the noodles, rather it should be just touching the underside of them.
- Ladle in ⅓ of the sauce and spread to the edges. Cover with ⅓ of the mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat this process again with noodles, sauce, and cheese. On the final layer, go meat sauce first, then noodles, followed by the Swiss cheese, topped with the remaining shredded mozzarella.
- Spray a large piece of tinfoil with baking spray and cover the pan (so the cheese doesn’t stick when baking!).
- Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes before removing tinfoil and cooking 15 – 20 minutes more, or until cheese is golden brown and melted on top.
- Remove from oven and allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- This is actually a dish that tastes better the next day, much like chili or soup, and freezes beautifully, either as a whole pan or in individually wrapped squares. Refer to post for notes on serving and reheating.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 738kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 159mg | Sodium: 909mg | Potassium: 633mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 749IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 504mg | Iron: 4mg