Lasagna white sauce is an excellent and delicious meal that can be wholly enjoyed with your family on holidays or at any special event.
The delicious Lasagna has an exquisite taste with a crispy exterior and melted cheese interior that instantly becomes a beautiful treat for families or friends.
It consists of bechamel sauce, meat sauce, and yummy Lasagna noodles. The best part is that it is topped with mozzarella cheese and a thick amount of finger-licking sauce like white sauce or béchamel sauce.
Since it is one of the most favourite recipes worldwide, we would extra care at noting all the basic to enhancing ingredients that are required to make this yummy Lasagna white sauce recipe a success.
Whether it is for lunch or dinner, Lasagna white sauce is a pretty heavy meal, not only does satisfy your taste buds incredibly well, but also fulfills your appetite.
So, without further ado, let’s hope into the delicious Lasagna white sauce recipe.
1. Lasagna White Sauce Recipe
We have divided this massive recipe into five parts: marinara sauce recipe, meat sauce recipe, béchamel sauce recipe or white sauce recipe, the arrangement of everything, and finally the baking process.
We’ll note down all the ingredients for every section down below so that you can be ready with everything before you start off with the Lasagna white sauce recipe.
1.1 Ingredients Required
- Regular Lasagna Noodles – 15-20 ( dry Noodles )
- Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese ( shredded )
- Olive Oil
- Garlic – 10-12 Cloves ( crushed )
- Tomato Paste – 2 tbsp
- Sugar – 1/2 tsp
- Oregano – 1/2 tsp ( dried )
- Salt and Pepper
- Red Pepper Flakes – 1/4 tsp
- Tomatoes – 25 oz ( chopped )
- Basil Leaves – 10-12 ( chopped )
- Ground Beef – 1 lb
- Italian Sausage – 1 lb
- Fennel Seeds
- Big Onion – 1 ( chopped )
- Butter – 1/4 cup
- Plain Flour – 1/4 cup
- White Pepper
- Whole Milk – 5 cups
- Nutmeg ( grated )
- Red Wine – 1/4 cup ( optional )
- Ricotta Cheese ( optional )
- Cottage Cheese ( optional )
Now that we’ve listed all the ingredients that will need during this creamy and delicious Lasagna white sauce recipe, it is time to kick off with our first part: Marinara Sauce preparation.
1.2 Marinara Sauce Preparation
Step 1:
Take a large frying pan and pour 3 tsp olive oil under medium-low heat and spread it all around the pan well.
After a minute, turn the stove to medium heat and add half the amount of minced garlic.
Mix the garlic with the oil for a while, like 2 minutes at least. Remember to saute and cook the garlic well until it smells and tastes in the recipe.
Step 2:
Once you’ve cooked the garlic, add 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. Cook everything together well for 2-3 minutes at least.
Now if you prefer, add the amount of red wine on top of the mixture, which is entirely optional. The taste will not degrade if you do not use it. But it certainly enhances the taste of the recipe.
Once you’ve added the wine, stirring occasionally is necessary, since the sauce thickens in that way. So, keep stirring, so that the given ingredients get cooked well, for around 2 minutes.
Step 3:
Now, add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and crush them while you’re cooking them altogether. Keep cooking the tomatoes until they have smoothened and have reached a sauce texture.
For doing this, you may cook or simmer it for at least 15-20 minutes.
Do not worry, it is not much but it helps to squeeze the flavour out of the tomatoes. Tomato paste can be used as an alternative.
However, chopped tomatoes are better to apply since they heavily contribute to forming the sauce like texture and taste for the Lasagna white sauce recipe.
Step 4:
Finally, add some of the fresh basil leaves, remember to chop them well into tiny pieces so they get perfectly mixed with the marina sauce. You may also call this sauce, red sauce too.
Mix the basil leaves and let them blend with the sauce and cook it for another 2-3 minutes.
Finally, add some more salt and pepper for seasoning, so that your sauce doesn’t lose to the other sauces in the recipe.
The key to cracking this Lasagna white sauce recipe is to prepare the sauces, which is crucial. Our marina sauce is ready, so just put it aside for now, and let’s begin with the meat sauce.
1.3 Bechamel Sauce or White Sauce Preparation
Step 1:
Take a large saucepan and melt butter of 1/4 cup. Do it until it has completely melted all around the pan. Melt the butter oil around the pan under medium heat.
Add an equal amount of plain flour to the butter, that is 1/4 cup of it. Whisk both of them together until they have got sticky around the wooden spoon.
It is also known as the cheese sauce, which will be mixed with the remaining meat sauce and the marina sauce.
Increase the cooking time for 2 minutes and keep stirring constantly until it becomes a paste-like texture.
Then, add some salt according to your taste, and stir well so that it gets mixed in the well-balanced bechamel sauce or white sauce.
This butter and flour mixture of the béchamel sauce is known as the Roux.
Step 2:
Once you’ve made a butter-flour paste, add 3 cups of whole milk slowly onto the pan. You may not pour all the milk at once, do it slowly by pouring 2 cups, and then finally adding the remaining milk.
Just remember to do it patiently and slowly, since it will bring the taste of the classic white sauce, that can be used in many other related recipes like fish pie, chicken pasta bake, and many more.
Once, you’ve added the milk, keep stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes, which will thicken and smoothen the sauce better.
Step 3:
You may also add a few bay leaves while cooking the milk of the bechamel sauce since the flavour of the white sauce will be stronger. However, remember to remove them after the sauce has been made.
For the final seasoning of the bechamel sauce, grated nutmeg is a must-ingredient if you’re opting for a traditional lasagna white sauce recipe. Sprinkle the freshly grated nutmeg a little after the white sauce has thickened.
This means it is now ready to be used, so check it for the last time if it sticks on the back of your wooden spoon, if it does then the texture is perfect and your bechamel sauce cooking ends here.
Another extra tip about the flour in the bechamel sauce: If you’re on a diet routine, you may always use gluten-free flour for usage with lower nutrition calories.
It is not necessary to use plain flour, you can use any type except all-purpose flour. Do not worry about the flavour, since it will still taste and sound delicious, anyway.
1.4 Meat Sauce Preparation
Step 1:
Take a large frying pan or a Dutch oven, for better cooking. Pour 3 tsp Olive Oil and heat it under medium temperature. Spread the oil over the pan to keep it greased.
Into the oil add a pinch of red pepper flakes, and fennel seeds and mix them together. As soon as you start blending them together, add a bowl of chopped onions to the pan.
On medium heat, cook the chopped onions for a while like 2-3 minutes, until they turn tender and soft. How long you cook the onion determines the strength of the flavour, so make sure to take your time here and be patient.
Press the onion pieces with a wooden spatula and crush them into smaller. It will help them soften faster.
Step 2:
Once you’ve cooked the onion well, add the remaining amount of garlic to the ingredients and mix everything together once again. In medium-low heat cook the garlic for only a few seconds.
Now, gradually add the ground beef and stir it along with the ingredients you’ve added so far. Make sure to use your wooden spoon to crush and smash the beef, so that it blends better with the sauce texture.
For the traditional Lasagna white sauce, any kind of meat is welcome to use. However, ground beef is considered the common one to use as a great recipe.
You’ll see lumps form but keep cooking the sauce until it has smoothened a bit.
Step 3:
After you’ve cooked the ground beef, add the Italian sausage, and cut it into smaller round pieces. But make sure that your sausage has casting removed before you use it in the recipe.
Apart from the white sauce or béchamel sauce, the meat sauce is also the key ingredient to the Lasagna noodles and its Lasagna white sauce dish.
Break the sausage pieces into smaller ones with the spoon, so that it blends properly with the beef and other sauces, forming a perfect texture.
Once you’ve achieved that, it is time to remove the extra grease present in the sauce.
Step 4:
For the grease removal, transfer the meat sauce into the food processor container. Do not waste any of the sauce. Strain everything into the jar and blend the sauce for a few seconds.
After blending you’ll find a crumbly texture with a few lumps but that is okay. No need to make it sandy texture or smoothen it completely.
The sauce has to be of a thickened texture, so keep it in a rough texture. Now that we have all the sauces ready, including the classic white sauce as well, let’s hope for the final sauce mixing part.
Step 5:
Transfer the crumbly meat sauce to a large bowl. Now take the marinara sauce from earlier and add the entirety of it to the meat sauce and mix it well together.
You may have thought why didn’t we cook it together, right? Because the flavour would not have been significant. The exact aromatic flavour and taste arise only when both of them are cooked separately.
It is also not a good idea to cook the meat sauce and marinara sauce together, since the flavours mix and none of their actual tastes are put to use, so it is a waste of effort.
You may cook the meat sauce one last time after you’ve added the marinara sauce. Gradually the sauce will thicken a bit and will reduce the lumps.
Cook and simmer the meat sauce for some time and your sauce should be ready. You may add a cup of water or less into the sauce if you feel the consistency is too thick.
Feel free to change the consistency according to your preferences.
Once you’ve blended the delicious meat sauce and are ready with the béchamel sauce as well, now is the time for assembling the delicious and creamy Lasagna white sauce.
1.5 Assembling Lasagna White Sauce
Step 1:
Take a large bowl and put the dry Lasagna noodles into it. Add all of it that you’re about to use for the recipe. Pour hot water and let them sit there for 15-20 minutes.
The noodles will soak up the warm water and will become soft and tender, with a great texture as you’ll take your first Lasagna white sauce bite.
After the mentioned time, take it out, strain off the noodles and transfer them to another bowl, preferably with pores. Colander helps to drain out extra water present in the noodles.
Step 2:
Take a baking dish of a preferable measurement according to your servings. Commonly, a baking dish is usually 7 x 11 inches or 9 x 13 inches. So, use whichever fits your serving purposes.
Grease your entire baking dish with vegetable oil, olive oil or simply cooking spray. You may use a cooking brush to spread the oil equally all over the dish.
Once you start doing this, keep your oven ready at the same time. Make sure to preheat your oven from 170 to 180 degrees Celsius at most.
Do not exceed that limit in any case, and lowering it will not bake the meal well enough.
In any case, start heating the oven by the time to begin assembling your delicious creamy Lasagna white sauce. Now that we are ready with the oven and baking dish, let’s move ahead.
Step 3:
It’s up to you how many layers you want for your Lasagna white sauce recipe, but generally, 3-4 layers of Lasagna noodles are more than enough.
First of all, apply a layer of meat sauce on the greased bottom of the baking dish. Spread the sauce up to the corners so that the noodles get sauce on all corners.
After you’ve applied the meat sauce layer, add at least three Lasagna noodles sideways so that it completely covers the meat sauce layer.
Again, add another meat sauce, covering the noodles. On top of it, add another thick layer of the béchamel sauce this time. You may blend both sauces slightly so that they don’t interfere with lumps.
Once you added the béchamel sauce, finally spread or sprinkle fresh mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese as a garnishing element.
Spread lots of cheese but also save up since we’ll be using everything again for the layers. You may use cottage cheese or ricotta cheese as well, it depends on your preferences.
Step 4:
Now it is all about repeating Step three altogether another three times.
Add a layer of meat sauce, then three or more Lasagna noodles, again meat sauce and béchamel sauce layer, and finally the fresh mozzarella cheese.
Repeat the same process another 2 times, while topping it with the remaining cheese at the end. If you’re a hardcore cheese lover, you’ll find this Lasagna white sauce meal, absolutely heavenly.
Garnish the topped cheesy layer with fresh parsley leaves, for enhancing the flavor immensely, especially the aroma of the Lasagna white sauce.
Now that we’ve properly assembled the layers in the Lasagna recipe, it’s time for the final baking process.
Step 5:
Now place the baking dish of Lasagna white sauce into the oven at exactly 180 degrees Celsius. No need to alter the temperature range it will bake at the temperature itself.
Let it in the baking oven for at least 25-30 minutes. After 25 minutes, you may open the oven and check whether the Lasagna has reached a golden brown colour and is puffing up well.
The texture of the recipe will itself confirm whether it has already been cooked properly or not. You will notice whether the top of the meal is bubbling up with creamy cheese and has got golden colour.
If it has reached that moment, take out your warm gooey, and yummy Lasagna white sauce meal, since it is now all ready to be served.
It is recommended to eat it after it has been cooled down for 15-20 minutes. That way the flavour lasts longer and you and your family will enjoy it way too much.
You can serve by cutting out horizontal long pieces or simply just making them into squares. Either way, it is a pretty heavy and delicious meal, it is definitely worth your time and effort.
2. Frequently Asked Questions
2.1 Can the Lasagna White Sauce Recipe be Vegan?
Of course, it can be cooked as a complete Vegan meal as well. You must remove the meat or any non-veg ingredients from the recipe, and use better vegan options for the recipe.
You can use mushrooms and peas to make this recipe a vegan one. Increase the number of vegetables and use vegan versions of butter and cheese.
For the milk, you can use a low-calorie alternative, like soy milk, coconut milk, or almond milk. But do not worry, the Lasagna white sauce recipe will still be yummy and mouth-watering, even if it is vegan.
2.2 Can We Store Lasagna White Sauce?
Yes, absolutely. You can store the Lasagna white sauce quite easily if you’ve to remain of the food or want to save it for the next day as well.
If you want to store it after you’ve baked it, then better to rest it for an hour to cool it down to the normal room temperature. However, if you have eaten the dinner and it is already in its cool temperate, then proceed further.
You may store the Lasagna noodles with béchamel sauce in the refrigerator. You can keep it stored in the dish itself or you may transfer it to an airtight container since it is safer and the food will stay fresh for the next day.
However, if you do not have an airtight container, it is best to wrap the dish with plastic foil or aluminium foil tightly. Next time, when you take out the meal, let it rest for an hour again.
That will bring the food back to normal temperature and then you can reheat the food in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius.
2.3 What Can Be Served Along with Lasagna White Sauce?
Since Lasagna is one of the beloved main course recipes with meat and cheese and is pretty heavy, a light and sweet dessert would be perfect with it.
A dessert, pastries, or ice cream, anything goes well with this extraordinarily delicious treat. You may also prepare a side dish according to your choices, that would be a fantastic option as we.
If you run out of options, then arranging a good drink for the family is always appreciated.
2.4 What Is White Sauce Made Of?
Well, basically it is a simple well-packed mixture of butter, flour, and milk. For new enhancements, you may add or remove ingredients but those are three key elements to make bechamel or white sauce.
Sometimes you may replace the milk accordingly to the meal you’re serving the sauce with. If you’re serving a chicken meal, you may use chicken stock in the sauce. Similarly, if it is a fish meal, use the fish stock.
Like any other sauce, bechamel sauce also has a lot of variations, so feel free to check out new improvisations from time to time.
3. Conclusion
Lasagna white sauce is a magical recipe that is loved by everyone from your kids to your grandparents.
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With the elegant combination of cheese, Lasagna, and awesome sauces, this recipe will only take a bite to win your heart and tummy.
If you make this luscious recipe at home for your family or just for yourself, feel free to let us know!
Remember to drop a comment down below, we would love to hear how your Lasagna White Sauce turned out!
