Cheese, meat, and sauce wrapped up in a neat little roll. Lasagna Roll Ups are the perfect way to cook up a delicious Italian meal quickly!
If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE Italian food. Chicken parmesan, creamy pasta dishes, mushroom risotto, the list goes on and on. One thing about making Italian however is that it usually takes quite a bit of prep work and cooking.
That flavor takes time people! But, Lasagna Roll Ups are just the opposite! All the delicious flavor of a traditional Italian meal, but quick, easy, and super yummy. Your family will be begging you to make this lasagna roll ups recipe every week!
LASAGNA ROLL UPS
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Lasagna is quintessential comfort food…am I right or am I right? You can’t go wrong with layers upon layers of cheesy, saucy, meaty pasta.
You can’t go wrong until of course your beautiful lasagna recipe slides apart and looks like a hot mess on a plate. UGH.
Yes, it still tastes amazing, but as a perfectionist hostess, I hate when my dishes fall apart once on the plate.
Have no fear, lasagna roll ups are here! All the delicious flavors, textures, and yuminess of a traditional lasagna, but twirled up in a neat, cute, little roll. This lasagna roll ups recipe is absolute perfection for anyone who loves lasagna but hates the mess that comes with a typical lasagna.
These easy lasagna roll ups are perfect for a family meal at home, loading into the freezer to pull out for a busy night, or even delivering to a new neighbor or new parents! Nobody can turn down this delicious meal. Be careful though, this recipe is SO good that people will start to request you make them lasagne roll ups all the time now!
Lasagna Ingredients
Lasagna Noodles – while I’m a huge fan of the no-cook lasagna noodles for a traditional lasagna, they’re not so great for lasagna roll ups….tough to roll! You’ll need to boil up a box of lasagna noodles for this recipe.
Ground Beef and Frozen Spinach – one thing I love about this recipe is that you can totally personalize it. Whether you prefer spinach lasagna roll ups or lasagna roll ups with meat (or a combination of the two), this recipe can be customized to whatever you want! When I make this recipe, I use ground beef and a box of frozen spinach.
If you want to keep this meal vegetarian, you can leave out the beef and start with the onions and garlic, or use your favorite jarred marinara sauce instead!
Cheese – the part of these lasagna roll ups that I love the most is the trifecta of melty, creamy cheese. You’ll need a combination of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. You can substitute cottage cheese if you don’t care for ricotta or forget to buy some at the store. Not that I’ve ever done that…
How to make Easy Lasagna Roll Ups
These easy lasagna roll ups are SO easy to make, in under an hour of prep AND cooking you’ll feel like a real authentic Italian chef!
- You’re going to start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Then bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
- While the oven is heating, you’re going to prep your meat sauce, lasagna noodles, and filling. In a large skillet, cook the ground beef and onions together.
- Once the meat is cooked through, drain any grease from the pan, and add in the garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Next, add in your tomatoes and 1/2 of the Italian seasoning to the meat and bring that to a boil. After the sauce is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer while you prepare the noodles.
- Cook your noodles according to the package directions until they’re al dente. Then drain the pasta and run it under cold water to stop the cooking, and make it cool enough to touch.
- Now you’re going to get working on the cheesy filling for your lasagna roll ups. Place the thawed spinach on a double (or even triple) layer of paper towels or a kitchen towel. Wrap the spinach up and squeeze to remove as much excess moisture as possible. Then put the spinach in a large bowl with the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella, egg, salt, and the rest of the Italian seasoning. Stir that all together until it’s evenly combined and set it aside.
- Get a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish and ladle some of the meat sauce into the bottom of the dish.
- Next, grab your ricotta mixture and lasagna noodles, Lay the noodles flat on a work surface and slather the filling onto on side of the noodles. Then, starting at the short end, roll them up. Place the lasagna roll into pan seam side down. Repeat with the rest of the pasta and arrange them in the dish however you need to so they all fit.
- Once all 12 noodles are filled, rolled, and in the dish, cover roll ups with more of the meaty pasta sauce. Be generous, we all know that saucy lasagna is the best kind! Layer the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the sauce on top.
- Bake your pan of roll ups in the oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. If the cheese starts to brown too much, you can loosely cover with foil.
- As much as you want to dig right in, I suggest letting your lasagna roll ups sit for a few minutes… nobody wants to be burned by scalding sauce and cheese! Once they’ve sat for a few minutes, go ahead and serve them up with a little extra parm!
Can you make lasagna roll ups ahead of time?
Yes, yes, and MORE yes. Lasagna roll ups are literally the ideal recipe for busy families because you can make them quickly for a weeknight dinner or you can even make them ahead of time for another day!
If you’re looking to have your roll ups another day, but have the time to prep now, here’s a few different things you can do:
First, you can prep and fully bake your lasagna roll ups according to the recipe below. This lasagna roll ups recipe reheats really well and you can just pop your pre-cooked rolls into the microwave for a minute or so!
If you’re looking to prep tomorrow’s dinner today, another option is to prepare your roll ups ahead of time in a casserole dish and store them in the refrigerator. I would recommend only do this a day in advance though.
And if you’re super busy and love the idea of having a pre-made meal in the freezer, then go right ahead and pop your prepped lasagna roll ups into the freezer for up to 3 months! When you’re ready to eat them, defrost them in the fridge overnight. Then simply pop your roll ups into the oven and bake as directed!
What else can you do with lasagna sheets?
As much as I love a saucy, cheesy lasagna, sometimes I like to switch things up a bit! Here are some other ways I love to use lasagna noodles:
Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Roll Ups – I’m not exaggerating when I say that these chicken alfredo lasagna roll ups are to die for. Cheesy, creamy, and super easy to make, this is definitely one of my favorite weeknight dinner recipes!
One Pot White Chicken Lasagna Soup – I love a good soup, especially one with noodles! This lasagna soup is comfort food at its finest!
Pizza Lasagna – combining two of my favorite foods (pizza and lasagna of course!) was one of the greatest recipe ideas I’ve had to date. My kids are legitimately obsessed with this recipe.
Want some more Italian inspired recipes? Try out some of these other Real Housemoms favorites!
- Baked Stuffed Shells
- Instant Pot Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage
- Crock Pot Lemon Italian Chicken with Capers
- Spaghetti Casserole
- Zucchini Lasagna
- more MAIN DISH recipes…
Tools used to make this Lasagna Roll Ups recipe
Large Skillet: I love this skillet for anything from browning meat to making stir fry, basically any type of cooking I do, I do it in this skillet!
9×13 Baking Dish: the best thing about this baking dish is that it comes with a cover, so your leftovers can go right into the fridge after dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning divided
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 10 ounces frozen spinach thawed
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded, divided
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese shredded, divided
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and onions. Cook until beef is cooked through and onions have softened, about 10 minutes. Break up the meat as it cooks.
- Drain grease from skillet and add garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add crushed tomatoes and 1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer sauce while pasta cooks.
- Add lasagna noodles to boiling water, stir, and cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain and run under cool water to stop the cooking.
- Place thawed spinach in a double layer of paper towels or in a kitchen towel. Squeeze out all the excess moisture you can. Place spinach in a mixing bowl with ricotta 1 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, salt, and 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning. Stir until evenly combined.
- Grab a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish. Spoon enough meat sauce into the bottom of the dish to have a good layer.
- Lay pasta out on a flat work surface. Divide spinach mixture evenly over each of the noodles, and spread to cover the surface. Roll up the noodles, starting at the short end. Place seam side down into the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining pasta and arranging in the dish to make them all fit.
- pour remaining meat sauce over the lasagna roll ups. Sprinkle the top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the cheese has melted.
- Remove from oven and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving. Spoon extra meat sauce over roll ups as needed. Sprinkle with chopped parsley for garnish.
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