Do you love lasagna but hate having to make an entire dish just for yourself? Well, now you can make a smaller batch of single serve individual lasagna easily! This recipe is perfect for anyone who wants a delicious and hearty meal without all the leftovers.
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Lasagna is is usually made for a large group of people. However, I've downsized the recipe for just one or two people. Making a smaller batch of the dish helps with portion control and minimizing leftovers.
My single-serve lasagna eliminates the temptation of overeating because there are few leftovers. It's also quick and easy to make one-serving portions, especially when you use no-boil lasagna noodles.
I have a personal pizza and individual seafood pot pies, so why not have lasagna individualized, too? That's why I came up with this recipe.
Ingredients
Any good lasagna recipe has layers of sheet pasta with a meaty, slightly acidic tomato sauce and ooey-gooey cheese. This recipe just uses less ingredients but you can always double or triple the recipe to make more.
Here's what you'll need:
- Lasagna noodles
- Onion
- Ground beef or sausage
- Garlic
- Tomato sauce with seasonings or marinara sauce
- Ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- Egg
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
The key to this individual mini lasagna recipe is to use mini sized baking dishes. This gives you perfectly sized single servings in each dish!
To start, you'll want to preheat your oven to 350°F. You can use a smaller toaster oven or even an air fryer if your baking dishes fit.
Break each no-boil noodle in half so the pieces fit inside each 10-ounce square dish.
Cook the ground meat and onion in a small skillet until the meat is broken up and browned.
Drain the meat if needed then add in garlic and seasoning.
Stir in the tomato sauce and simmer for about five minutes.
Combine the egg, ricotta, and parmesan in a small bowl.
Place a little bit of meat sauce into the bottom of each baking pan.
Place oven ready noodles over the sauce.
Divide half the ricotta mixture and spread over each noodle.
Top with sauce and sprinkle on a small amount of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Repeat the remaining layers ending with a topping of mozzarella cheese.
Cover with foil then bake. Remove foil and bake for an additional ten minutes.
Variations
There are many variations of single serve lasagna that are just as delicious as the original. For example, you can try a meatless version with lots of veggies, or a more traditional meaty lasagna. You can even use gluten-free noodles for those with dietary restrictions.
No matter what your preference, there's a version that is sure to satisfy your craving. So the next time you're in the mood for this comfort food favorite, give one of these modifications a try.
Tips
It's fairly simple to make this downsized version of the traditional layered dish. But if you're new to making it, these tips will have you cooking homemade lasagna like a pro in no time:
- Use good quality ingredients. Good quality pasta, tomato sauce and cheese will make all the difference in the final product.
- Assemble the lasagna in a baking dish with high sides. If your dis is too small you can have spillage or bubbling over while baking.
- Make your own tomato sauce. You can use prepared marinara sauce, but homemade allows you to customize to your liking.
- Cover until the end of baking. Covering will allow a slower and even cooking process. This results in a tender, soft cooked through lasagna.
Serving suggestions
Lasagna is one of those dishes that's perfect for dinner any night of the week. It pairs well with a side salad and garlic bread. A glass of red wine is a great on the side too!
You can also dress up the dish with a sprinkling of fresh parsley and a sprinkling of fresh grated parmesan cheese. And if you are really hungry, start off with a soup like this simple Pastina Soup Recipe.
Storage
The lasagna can be stored either cooked or uncooked so it stays fresh and delicious.
To store uncooked lasagna, tightly wrap the pan in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Then refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Cooked lasagna will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months. To store cooked lasagna, let it cool completely, then wrap each single serving tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
FAQ
A ten ounce baking dish is a good size for a single serving individual lasagna. A square shape is best for fitting in the noodles.
To get no boil noodles to fit in a smaller baking dish, you can break them up into smaller pieces. You can also cook regular noodles and cut them to fit.
The best way to freeze individual lasagna is to wrap each piece in foil or plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer bag. Label the bag with the date and contents, then freeze for up to 3 months. When you're ready to eat, thaw the lasagna in the refrigerator overnight, then bake according to your recipe's instructions.
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Recipe
Mini Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 no boil oven ready lasagna noodles
- ½ small onion
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese or fresh sliced mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Carefully break each noodle in half and dice the onion.
- Fry the onion and ground beef in a medium skillet for a few minutes until beef is browned, breaking up any clumped meat. Drain and return to the pan.
- Add in the garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt. Stir in the tomato sauce and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
- At the same time, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg, ricotta and parmesan.
- In the bottom of two individual 10 ounce square oven safe baking dishes, place about 1 tablespoon of the meat sauce across the bottoms of each pan.
- Top the sauce with one half noodle in each dish.
- Spread the ricotta mixture over the noodles in each dish, divided evenly.
- Then top with ½ of the remaining meat sauce mixture, divided evenly.
- Add another half noodle to each dish.
- Spread remaining ricotta mixture over each noodle
- Layer on the remaining sauce, divided evenly.
- Top each with the shredded mozzarella, divided evenly between each dish.
- Loosely tent the dishes with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes, allowing cheese to brown.
- Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
Phoebe
This is genius!! Thank you so much for this. This is going to be a go-to lunch for me.
Brandy
This is fantastic! Love that I can just make an individual serving instead of making way too much! Great recipe!
Kris
These were super easy and delish! I made a slightly different version for each of my kids. Will make again!
Angela
Lasagna is my favorite Italian dish! I love the idea of making mini portions!
Jenn
This is such a treat and I'm so glad I don't have to eat lasagna for days!
Molly Pisula
So fun to have a personal-size lasagna! This really helps with portion control. And, I love to make an extra of these to put in the freezer so I always have one on-hand for a quick meal.
scott sproat
whata bout using marinara sauce for the tomato sauce?
Lisa MarcAurele
Marinara sauce is good. I just use tomato sauce as it comes in a smaller size.
Elaine Mcdaniel
Enjoy the recipes
Lil
These are great dishes since my husband passed away these are perfect for on e person l will be having fun with them cottage pie ,macaroni and cheese bread pudding noodle kugel
Ruth Chamberlain
Lisa, Maybe Lil will share her recipes with you to scale down for all of us. They look interesting. I never heard of cottage pie.
Lisa MarcAurele
Cottage pie is just a shepherd's pie that is made with ground beef instead of ground lamb.