Easy Beef Lasagne Recipe

Beef Lasagne - layers of gooey white sauce, pasta and slow cooked meat sauce! It's a given, everyone loves lasagne which is why it is one of our favourite recipes to make for dinner parties! Easy to make, comforting and oh so delicious! 

Um, ok so how is it almost September? And almost fall? I have no idea where the last 8 months went and especially where the last three months of summer went, but to be honest, a tiny part of me is already starting to embrace the upcoming fall months and I'm a little excited!

We've had a stinker of a summer here in Oregon. Usually, the summers are mild and warm but OH EM GEE it was actually been so, so hot. Like around about 90+ degrees (between 35-40 Celsius!). I think it's been the hottest summer in a long, long time and without air conditioning in our house, we definitely felt it! Poor Archie didn't know what hit him the last few months, he is definitely a cold weather dog!

So as it goes, I am actually ready for fall. We've been having the most beautiful mornings lately - cold and fresh mornings that turn into bright sunny days! I actually love the fall, it's maybe my favourite season, I haven't decided yet! Adam and I were just chatting the other day about how we can't wait to bunker down this fall, light the fire, open the red and enjoy just chilling after a hectic summer!

I've been planning THCK content for the next few months and I am so excited to embrace the seasonal produce and flavours. In the next few months, you'll be seeing a lot of apple, pear, and pumpkin inspired recipes, lots of comfort dishes, cozy fall cocktails and some beautiful dishes to help you prepare for Thanksgiving. It really is the best time of year!

So with that in mind, let's kick off the unofficial fall season with this gorgeous, cozy and comforting beef lasagne recipe!

Easy Beef Lasagne Recipe

Lasagne was never a dish I really had growing up, but it has always been a dish that I've loved. You can imagine how happy I was when I started dating Adam 10 years ago (holy crap, 10 years!) and found out his Mum's speciality was lasagne. Along with risotto, Adam makes a mean beef lasagne, but I have to say, his Mother's is better!

Beef lasagne is one of those dishes that I think everyone loves, which is why we love to make it for our friends. Who can say no to gooey layers of white cheese sauce, red wine meat sauce and perfectly cooked pasta! This one is more of a traditional Australian-Italian made lasagne, there is no ricotta unlike the American version, and this particular version is catered more toward the everyday cook.

I will say though, this recipe does take a little time and patience, but to be honest, a lot of that time is spent simmering ingredients and actually baking the final product. We've also found that this is the perfect recipe to make the night before, and actually tastes better when it's made 24 hours in advance. It allows time for the flavours to soak into the pasta. If we're having friends around on a Friday, we'd make it, assemble it and refrigerate it Thursday night. Then all we need to do it preheat the oven Friday night, whack it in and cook it! Too easy!

Key Tips for Making Beef Lasagne

The Lasagne Sheets

This is a SUPER IMPORTANT step when making beef lasagne, and one that we couldn't figure out for ages when we moved to America! Use lasagne sheets that DO NOT have to be precooked. This recipe does not allow time for precooking lasagne sheets, so make sure you find ones that can be used straight away in the oven. The first time we made this beef lasagne in America we wondered why it was so hard and chewy, then realised you had to precook your lasagne sheets. For the sized dish I used, I used around three-quarters of a box of lasagne sheets.

In Australia, we've never had an issue. From memory, most lasagne sheets don't have to be precooked.

If you're feeling a little fancy, fresh lasagne also works a dream! See my recipe notes for more information on cooking with fresh lasagne sheets.

The Meat Sauce

The meat sauce for this recipe is a simple beef style ragu with onion, celery and carrots mixed together with crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and a dash of red wine and stock. The key to making the perfect meat sauce for a lasagne, however, is the consistency, and consistency depends on the type of pasta you use!

Generally, you don't want your meat sauce too sloppy or too dry. Sloppy, wet sauce will result in sloppy lasagne that is difficult to cut. On the other hand, super dry ragu will result in dry lasagne. As a general rule, I cook my bolognese for 40 minutes uncovered, then a further 30 minutes covered until it's reached it's desired consistency. You'll want a little liquid showing on the top of your meat sauce, but not so much that the meat is drowned in the sauce.

The Cheese Sauce aka Roux

The base for the white cheese sauce is a simple roux. Roux translates to 'fat and flour cooked together to thicken a sauce'. For a smooth white sauce, there are a few things to consider.

1. When adding the flour, the dough should be covered in butter and left to fry for a few minutes.
2. When adding the milk, do it very slowly and use a whisk to gently whisk the lumps out.
3. Avoid lumpy roux by using a whisk to break up the flour chunks.
4. Be patient - the white sauce takes about 10 minutes even before it's started to thicken. Keep whisking as you don't want the sauce to burn.
5. Cheese - I use white cheddar for the sauce as I love the sharpness of the cheddar and it comes together nicely.

The Type of Pan To Use

This will forever be my nemesis when it comes to lasagne cooking! After trying to decide all morning about what pan to use for the amount of lasagne I had, in the end, I went for my enamel loaf pan which measures 11"x6"/27cmx15cm, and it fitted absolutely perfectly! This loaf pan created a higher lasagne that served 4 people.

In the past, I have also used an 8"x8"/20cmx20cm square pan, and small Pyrex baking dish that measured around 11"x7"/27cmx17cm. These dish sizes are all around the same width and length, however different depths which means your lasagne may be smaller in height.

The pan does not make or break the recipe, however, it does mean that the shape of the lasagne may change, or you may end up with some leftover cheese and meat sauce.

Final Step - How to Assemble a Beef Lasagne

The assembly process is quite simple; meat, pasta, cheese sauce until either everything runs out or you have reached the capacity of your pan. Always end up with a cheese layer at the very top of your lasagne.

You will need to break the lasagne to fit the shape of your pan if you're using dried packet lasagne. This can get a little messy, however as you don't actually see the lasagne pasta layers, it doesn't matter if you don't cut them perfectly to shape. I found that one lasagne sheet fitted perfectly in my enamelware loaf pan, and then I had to attempt to cut one long strip for the side and a few smaller pieces to fill in the gaps.

So there you have it - tips and tricks to make yourself a gorgeous, cozy and fulfilling lasagne! Great for easy weeknight meals, dinner parties for four, potlucks or for an easy freezer meal!

And here's a happy almost September - what are you looking forward to this fall?

G x x

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