I Tried Giada De Laurentiis' Lasagna Recipe and It's the Only Way I'll Make It From Now On

When your Instagram feed is full of food like mine is, you save anything that looks delicious. During a recent lunchtime scroll, I stumbled upon Giada De Laurentiis making her Sheet Pan Layerless Lasagna. Instead of swiping away, I watched the video at least two or three times before furiously typing the recipe name into a Google search. Why was I so into it? I like lasagna but I also dislike the fuss of making it, so De Laurentiis’ version provided a perfect solution to that problem.

Besides scrolling through Instagram in my free time, I also like to cook and fortunately, cooking is part of my job. I enjoy cooking a variety of foods, but when anyone requests lasagna, I cringe. Don’t get me wrong, I love lasagna, but it always feels like a day-long process. When I saw De Laurentiis' simplified sheet pan version, which removes the labor-intensive step of assembling the many layers, I knew I had to try it.

The recipe begins by cooking baby spinach with garlic and crushed red pepper until the spinach wilts. Then the spinach mixture is pressed in a colander to remove excess liquid and added to a bowl with some ricotta. The broken lasagna noodles are cooked in boiling water. The filling is made by sautéing spicy Italian sausage and onion, then adding marinara sauce and cheese. Once the noodles are cooked and drained, they get stirred into the sausage mixture, and everything is poured onto a large, rimmed baking sheet. Spoonfuls of the spinach ricotta get dolloped on top, followed by a layer of more mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The lasagna only needs a 30-minute trip to the oven, and then it’s ready to enjoy.

I let the lasagna sit for five minutes before cutting and serving it to my family. My husband, who loves lasagna, proclaimed the dish “a winner.” My middle-school-aged daughter, who doesn’t love lasagna, agreed that the sheet pan version was “good.” If you have a kid, you know this is solid praise for a dish. I have to admit that I really like this sheet pan lasagna too. It seems to have more flavor and more structure than normal lasagna. I loved the crispy edges and the caramelized marinara that nestled around in the nooks and crannies of the noodles. I also liked those creamy dollops of spinach and garlic ricotta. 

Overall, this is a fun twist on a classic dish that produces delicious results. My only negative feedback is that because of the cooking involved, the dish will take some time to create, so plan accordingly. With all of that cooking comes plenty of dirty dishes too, so I recommend bringing in some help to get started on cleaning while the lasagna cooks.

Tips for Making Sheet Pan Lasagna

• Buy accordingly. You’ll need 4 cups of marinara for this recipe, which is more than what's available in a 28-ounce jar. You can buy two jars or do what I recommend, buy one 28-ounce jar and one 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes.
• For rich and creamy ricotta flavors, go with whole milk ricotta. The recipe calls for one cup, but I used at least 1½ cups.
• Swap the sausage out. I loved how the spicy Italian sausage for this dish added flavor and heat. If you or your family doesn’t like spice, no problem, use a mild Italian sausage in its place.