My Three Cheese Lasagna Casserole recipe will exceed your expectations! Adding cheese to any dinner is great, but adding three kinds of cheese is simply amazing! The whole-wheat pasta helps you cut carbs compared to traditional Italian dishes and each cheese is lower in fat so you can feel good about enjoying. That’s amore!
Want another great lasagna idea? Make my zucchini lasagna as a healthier but equally delicious option!
Three Cheese Lasagna Casserole
There’s nothing more comforting than a casserole dish, am I right? Whether you know someone who has just had a baby, want to brighten someone’s day who just came home from surgery or looking to make an easy dinner recipe, you simply can’t go wrong with these three-cheese lasagna casserole recipe.
Don’t miss our alternate lasagna recipes! This spinach lasagna roll-ups recipe is delicious, but if you want a different take on the dish, you will enjoy the green chile chicken enchilada casserole.
Variations to a lasagna casserole
When it comes to casseroles, I say anything goes! There are so many variations you can do to make this lasagna casserole work for all taste buds.
When making your own lasagna casserole recipe consider:
- using fresh basil, basil goes with anything tomato related!
- adding in hamburger, chorizo or ground sausage to the dish for that meat lover in your life.
- not a cottage cheese fan? Leave it out altogether and add in a little extra ricotta cheese.
- wanting to make a fabulous presentation? Sprinkle on a green herb to the top of the cheese to give it that “finished’ look.
- hide in spinach by cooking it down in pasta sauce on the stove while the noodles are boiling.
Why do the noodles get hard when I cook pasta or lasagna in the oven?
This is a question that gets asked repeatedly and sent to my inbox often. The trick to removing hard noodles from your life when they are baked in the oven is to ensure the pasta is thoroughly covered in pasta sauce. Be sure that every nook and cranny of noodle in your lasagna casserole is covered completely.
Tip: if you’re running low on pasta sauce, thin it out with water or olive oil to make it spread a little further.
Ingredients for Cheese Lasagna
- onion
- garlic
- pasta sauce
- penne pasta (or favorite noodle)
- cottage cheese
- ricotta cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- oregano
- parsley
- salt and pepper
How to Make a three-cheese lasagna casserole
Begin with gathering and measuring all of your ingredients for the lasagna casserole so they are easy to grab when you assemble your casserole. Next, you will go ahead and preheat your oven so it is ready when you have the casserole prepared.
While your pasta is cooking, you will cook the onion and garlic in a skillet until tender and translucent. Mix in the sauce and let simmer while the pasta finishes cooking.
You will mix together your cheeses in a bowl while everything else finishes cooking.
Once the pasta is ready, you will drain it and mix it in with the sauce. next, you will pour the pasta into your prepared baking dish and spread the cheese mixture over the top before baking.
Three Cheese Lasagna Casserole
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced (or 1/2 tsp from the jar)
- 1, 23.25 oz jar pasta sauce
- 1, 12 oz package of Ronzoni Smart Taste penne pasta
- 1/2 cup low fat Daisy cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2 cups low-fat Sargento mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 Tbsp fresh oregano diced (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley diced (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook penne according to the package instructions for al dente, about 10 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic until tender, about 3 minutes.
- Turn down heat to medium-low. Add the entire jar of pasta sauce to the onion and garlic, stir.
- Drain pasta and add to pasta sauce.
- In a medium size bowl combine cottage cheese, ricotta, 1.5 cups of mozzarella and herbs.
- In a 9”x13” baking dish, add 1/2 of the pasta mixture. Then spread all of the cheese mixture evenly on top. Next, layer the remaining pasta. Sprinkle the top with the rest of the shredded mozzarella.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with garlic bread and your favorite salad for a complete meal the family will love.
Notes
Nutrition
