The ultimate cheesy lasagna, made extra rich and creamy by adding creme fraiche along with mozzarella and parmesan. This is the easiest lasagna recipe I know!
You can do this, you really can!
You can make this cheesy lasagna any old weeknight, because it's that easy. And, it's so good! Whenever I ask my daughter what she wants for dinner, this lasagna is her first request.
This isn't a highly stacked lasagna with many layers. It's almost more like a baked pasta that goes right to the heart of what lasagna should be: sauce, cheese and pasta.
If you're looking for a taller, stacked lasagna, with more going on between the noodles, try my Crockpot Lasagna with ricotta and optional creme fraiche.
What Makes This Lasagna Recipe So Easy?
- Just 6 ingredients (5, if you skip the mushrooms)
- Jarred marinara sauce
- No-boil noodles
- The option to use pre-grated cheese
What Makes This Lasagna Recipe Cheesy?
Ironically, what makes this lasagna taste so rich and cheesy is taking out ricotta cheese and putting in creme fraiche. Combined with parmesan and mozzarella (or a blend of pre-grated Italian or pizza cheese) the creme fraiche gives this lasagna a creamy, cheesy texture that's irresistible.
Lasagna With Creme Fraiche
It's really hard to find a rich and flavorful vegetarian lasagna recipe that's also easy to make. I'd been looking for just such a recipe for years.
Salvation came from Julia Turshen's recipe for A Nice Lasagna in her Small Victories cookbook. Her cookbook is all about "home-cooking triumphs" and Julia Turshen's lasagna recipe is indeed a triumph.
With one secret ingredient - creme fraiche - she simplifies lasagna, giving it rich and creamy flavor without ricotta or eggs or bechamel.
Of course, Julia Turshen makes handmade lasagna sheets and homemade marinara sauce. I've made peace with the fact that homemade lasagna sheets are just never going to happen in my kitchen. However, I have made this lasagna many times using her homemade marinara recipe and it's definitely do-able if you have a little extra time.
More Pasta Recipes
- Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Fajita Pasta Bake
- One-Pot Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Kale
📖 Recipe
My Favorite Cheesy Lasagna
The ultimate cheesy lasagna, made extra rich and creamy by adding creme fraiche along with mozzarella and parmesan. This is the easiest lasagna recipe I know!
This recipe is adapted from Julia Turshen's lasagna recipe in her cookbook Small Victories .Her recipe includes homemade pasta and instructions for a simple homemade marinara sauce. I've simplified the recipe by using store bought lasagna noodles and jarred marinara sauce.
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: pasta
- Method: Bakes
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 24 to 25-ounce jar marinara sauce
- 1 cup creme fraiche (7.5 ounce container)
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 cups (about 8 ounces) grated whole milk low-moisture mozzarella cheese, or a combination of mozzarella and Asiago or other Italian cheese
- 1 16-ounce package no boil/oven ready lasagna sheets with straight edges
- Fresh basil
Instructions
- Sauté the mushrooms in a wide skillet with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Lightly salt. Cook until the mushrooms are nicely browned and no moisture remains in the skillet. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Whisk together the marinara sauce and creme fraiche in a large bowl. Stir in the mushrooms. Sometimes I add chopped fresh basil.
- Combine the grated mozzarella and parmesan
- Set aside 1 ½ cups of the grated cheese
- Set aside ½ cup of the marinara mixed with creme fraiche.
- Spoon a very thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish (about ½ cup)
- Add a single layer of lasagna noodles. If you have to break some noodles up to entirely cover the pan don’t worry about it. The broken noodles meld together as they cook.
- Spoon about 1 cup of marinara sauce over the noodles (just enough to cover the pasta) then scatter a thin layer of grated cheese.
- Repeat this layering process - pasta, sauce, cheese - until you’ve used up the ingredients. I end up with 4 layers of noodles, then finish with the remaining sauce and cheese that I set aside spread on top.
- Tightly cover the dish with foil. Bake the lasagna, covered with foil, for 25 minutes then remove the foil and bake the lasagna uncovered for another 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browned, especially around the edges of the pan.
- Let the lasagna sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Notes
The brand of no-boil lasagna noodles that seem to always work best with this recipe is Barilla. They cook a bit faster than some other brands of lasagna noodles.
Jen
So rich and cheesy, a perfect recipe when you're craving a simple pan of lasagna.