Homemade Lasagna for Two
This delicious Lasagna for Two recipe is made with tender lasagna noodles, Italian sausage, marinara sauce, and a combination of cheese and seasonings!
A SCALED DOWN PASTA DINNER RECIPE
Transform your favorite lasagna recipe into a smaller portion where you can serve just a few rather than a a whole army of people. While I know it is fairly easy to cut most recipes in half to serve a smaller amount of people, sometimes it’s nice to have the work done for you so you don’t have to think about it, right? Also, if you’re in the mood for more meals for two, try my Polish Casserole for Two or another Italian inspired dinner, Baked Ziti for Two.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Sure, I don’t see why not. However, if you like a saucier lasagna, I’d suggest adding a little water the marinara sauce (about 1/4-1/3 cup) so it helps give the noodles extra moisture to cook properly without getting dried out.
Absolutely. You don’t have to use the brands I have pictured. To save on cost, any of the store brands of all of these ingredients will work just fine. You could also make this meatless to save on the cost of meat.
This recipe makes about regular sized 4 servings or you can use 2 servings now and have two for leftovers for the next day. It’s hard to get a recipe to be exactly two servings while still using a baking dish that most people own (which is an 8×8-inch or 9×9-inch baking dish) so I do my best to make the most of the ingredients without wasting any while also using a dish that is convenient for most people.
Sure, you can double this then place it in a 9x13x3-inch baking dish. You’ll need to adjust the baking time.
Dice up a small sweet onion and one bell pepper. Add it in while you are cooking the sausage. This will help soften it up a bit before combining with the marinara sauce.
Yes, you can make and bake this up to 3 days in advance. This makes a great meal prepping dish! Just prepare and cover with aluminum foil and place it into the refrigerator until ready to bake. Note: You will probably have to add a few more minutes to the cooking time since the dish will be cold.
Keep leftovers safely in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat leftovers in the oven covered with foil or use the microwave.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- lasagna noodles – see my FAQ’s above about using no boil noodles.
- ground Italian sausage – you can use mild or a spicier version depending on your tastebuds. You could also use ground pork, ground beef or ground turkey or a ground meat substitute.
- marinara sauce– I really love Rao’s sauces. If you love additional garlic flavor, get the roasted garlic version. But, I understand that they can be on the expensive side of sauces. I try to buy it on sale at Costco and then stock up. Use what you enjoy and can afford. Or even make a Homemade Marinara Sauce if you want to go all out.
- ricotta cheese – or small curd cottage cheese, which tends to be a bit cheaper than ricotta cheese. It still has the delicious flavors you want in lasagna and can even add a bit of extra creaminess. I think a lot of people who think ricotta makes their lasagna taste more “dry” should definitely try cottage cheese. It adds creaminess but it doesn’t taste like cottage cheese when it’s all done.
- large egg – this acts a binder for all the cheeses to help keep it all from running out when you slice into it. At least that is what the experts say so that is what I have always done. I’m not sure that is always the case or maybe I am just too eager to slice into my lasagna! Honestly, if you don’t have any eggs on hand, don’t worry about it. Just skip it, it won’t affect the taste of your lasagna.
- grated parmesan cheese – I am just using the green bottle stuff here but please feel free to grate it fresh.
- shredded mozzarella cheese – use the bagged stuff or freshly shred it. Again, it’s all what you enjoy and how much effort you want to put into this.
- dried Italian seasoning and garlic powder – this is just really going to add another layer of flavor to this dish. Feel free to use your favorite combination of flavors. You could even use some of the jarred garlic as well.
HOW TO MAKE LASAGNA FOR TWO
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Prepare the lasagna noodles per the directions on the back of the box. Drain well and place on a large sheet tray that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the noodles so they don’t stick to each other and set aside.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown and crumble the sausage until there is no pink left, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes. Drain any excess fat.
Stir in the marinara and bring to a simmer, then take off the heat. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, parmesan, half of the mozzarella, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
Add a heaping ½ cup of the sauce to the bottom of the prepared baking dish and spread it out. Add three of the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce; you will need to cut them to fit, and they may overlap a little.
Spread ⅓ of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Add another heaping ½ cup of sauce on top and spread it out.
Add another layer of noodles, then ⅓ of the ricotta, and another\ heaping ½ cup of sauce. Repeat one more time. You will have enough noodles to make one more top layer. Then, top everything with the remaining sauce you have.
Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top. Cover with nonstick foil or spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and place on top of the casserole dish. Bake for 40 minutes, until bubbly and the cheese is melted.
An optional step, to brown the cheese, place the broiler on high, and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. This is perfect if you like those crispy edges on your lasagna! Allow it to sit for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- White Chicken Enchiladas For Two
- Crock Pot Pork Chops & Potatoes For Two
- Polish Casserole For Two
- Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo For Two
- Chicken and Dumplings For Two
- Baked Ziti For Two
- Sheet Pan Garlic Parmesan Chicken For Two
- Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff For Two
- Stuffed Peppers For Two
- Chicken Noodle Casserole For Two
- Crock Pot Pork Chops For Two
- Crock Pot Chicken Thighs & Gravy For Two
- Baked Spaghetti For Two
- Crock Pot Potato Soup For Two
- Crock Pot Chicken & Gravy For Two
- Crock Pot Lasagna
- Homemade Baked Lasagna
- Easy Lasagna Soup
- Lasagna Roll Ups
Lasagna for Two
Ingredients
- 8 ounces lasagna noodles (½ of a 16 ounce box)
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (or ground beef)
- 24 ounce jar marinara sauce
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (or small curd cottage cheese)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided use)
- ¼ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Prepare 8 ounces lasagna noodles per the directions on the back of the box. Drain well and place on a large sheet tray that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the noodles so they don’t stick to each other and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown and crumble 1 pound ground Italian sausage until there is no pink left, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes. Drain any excess fat.
- Stir in the 24 ounce jar marinara sauce and bring to a simmer, then take off the heat.
- In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1 large egg, 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese and HALF of the 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Add a heaping ½ cup of the sauce to the bottom of the prepared baking dish and spread it out.
- Add three of the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce; you will need to cut them to fit, and they may overlap a little.
- Spread ⅓ of the ricotta mixture over the noodles.
- Add another heaping ½ cup of sauce on top and spread it out.
- Add another layer of noodles, then ⅓ of the ricotta, and another heaping ½ cup of sauce. Repeat one more time.
- You will have enough noodles to make one more top layer. Then, top everything with the remaining sauce you have.
- Sprinkle the remaining shredded mozzarella on top.
- Cover with nonstick foil or spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and place on top of the casserole dish.
- Bake for 40 minutes, until bubbly and the cheese is melted. An optional step, to brown the cheese, place the broiler on high, and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. This is perfect if you like those crispy edges on your lasagna!
- Allow it to sit for about 10- 15 minutes before slicing and serving. This step is important because it keeps the lasagna from falling apart when you go to pull it up out of the casserole dish.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I made this lasagna last night. Both my wife and I really enjoyed the dish. Some of the actual flavor will vary depending on the sausage and marinara sauce. At the same time, what we especially appreciated is the texture. It’s a very silky-smooth base for the small chunks of sausage and the slight firmness of the noodles. I know this will sound odd, but it was a delight to eat. We only had an 8 X 8 Pyrex dish. The lasagna makings fit ok but I put a sheet tray under the dish, just in case. I didn’t want to expose the Pyrex to the broiler. Instead, I just took the foil off a bit early and the cheese browned just fine. Thanks so much, this is really our kind of cooking and eating!!!
This was perfect! We really enjoyed it.
Easy to make and was just the right size for my family of two adults and two teenagers. The only sub that I made was cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Five stars!
Thank you for this. My mom was recently diagnosed with cancer and requested lasagna. Your link popped up. I am so incredibly thankful for it. It’s going make her so happy.
I really appreciate your meals for two recipes!
Brandie,
I would like to make a couple of comments about the way you post your recipes. First, I want to thank you for how you go into great detail about how to prepare the recipes. A lot of other sites seem to assume that everyone knows exactly how to prepare meals when in reality some may just be starting to learn to cook and they are not as comfortable with cooking as seasoned cooks, so you make it very easy to understand the hows and whys as to what you are doing. I have discovered by following your recipes for some time that you are a very good teacher. Next I want to say thank you for the pictures of each step. That helps a whole lot when I am wondering how something should look when I get to that step. And the final thing is a big thank you for posting the nutritional information after each recipe. That is a wonderful plus to me as I try to keep myself in good health.
Now on to the lasagna recipe. It is another winner for sure. Everything turned out great and I will be making it again and again. Your recipes always seem to have lots of flavor. I always look forward to reading your post and trying your recipes. Keep them coming.
Hi Paul! I can’t tell you how much your comment means to me! Thanks so very much for taking the time to leave such a wonderful and thoughtful message. Sometimes I wonder if certain things are helpful or not and it is so good to know that you find these things helpful. It really does help to get feedback. I hope I can continue to bring you many more recipes you will enjoy!