Traditional lasagna typically consists of many ingredients and takes hours to prepare, especially when made from scratch. While my family loves the layers of rich meat sauce, creamy ricotta, and tender pasta with more cheese, they also devour plain jarred marinara and store-bought ravioli with the same enthusiasm.
After frequently asking for lasagna on weeknights, I started trying out the layered pasta dish by swapping out the lasagna noodles and ricotta for cream cheese ravioli. Now, this four-ingredient ravioli lasagna is one of my family’s most requested dinner recipes.
The idea is simple: layer cheese ravioli alternately with marinara sauce in a baking dish and top the whole thing with cheese. A few years ago, I started adding Italian sausage to the sauce to add more flavor and make the family-sized ravioli that my kids ate regularly last longer.
Cook the ravioli while the whole dish bakes in the oven (no cooking required), so most of the cooking can be done by hand. The result is a casserole that has all the flavors of a slow-cooked Sunday lasagna, but with a time commitment that makes it realistic for a Wednesday of the school year.
Easy Recipes / Meghan Splawn
Tips for making ravioli lasagna your family’s favorite recipe
After making this quick lasagna hundreds of times, here are a few things I’ve learned:
- A lot of the flavor of this dish is made in the supermarket. My family loves Rao’s simple marinara, but grab your favorite roasted garlic marinara or your favorite arrabbiata sauce. You can even shorten this even further with a jar of Bolognese sauce.
- Fresh ravioli are easy to find and are a little quicker to bake, but the same recipe works just as well with frozen ravioli. Do not cook the frozen ravioli – they can easily thaw on the counter while you cook the sausage. Then prepare the lasagna as directed. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then bake uncovered for 20 minutes (five more minutes) and enjoy.
- You can also make this lasagna up to three days in advance. Give the sausage and sauce a few minutes extra cooling time before making the lasagna, and cover the entire pan before refrigerating. Remove pan from refrigerator while oven preheats and bake as directed.
How to serve ravioli lasagna
I usually serve this lasagna with roasted vegetables (especially broccoli or green beans) since the oven is already on, but a green salad and garlic bread would pair perfectly with this dish.
Easy Recipes / Meghan Splawn
More ravioli riffs
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Nonstick cooking spray
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1 pound mild IItalian sausage
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1 (24-ounce) jar Marinara sauce
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1 (20-ounce) package Cream cheese raviolilike Buitoni or Rana
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1 cup crushed Italian cheese blend
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Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
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Cook the sausage:
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a spatula and stirring regularly, until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add the marinara sauce and cook until heated through, 2 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
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Layer the ingredients:
Spread 1/2 cup of the sausage mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan and top with 1/3 of the ravioli in a single layer. Continue layering the sausage gravy mixture with the ravioli, creating three layers of ravioli and a final layer of sauce. Sprinkle with the Italian cheese mixture.
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Bake lasagna:
Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is lightly browned and the sauce is bubbly.
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| Nutritional Information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 373 | Calories |
| 22g | Fat |
| 23g | Carbohydrates |
| 19g | protein |
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| Nutritional Information | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 6 to 8 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 373 |
| % daily value* | |
| 22g | 28% |
| Saturated fat 10g | 49% |
| 56 mg | 19% |
| 982 mg | 43% |
| 23g | 9% |
| Fiber 3g | 9% |
| Total sugar 6g | |
| 19g | |
| Vitamin C 2 mg | 10% |
| Calcium 213 mg | 16% |
| Iron 2 mg | 12% |
| Potassium 504 mg | 11% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) indicates how much a nutrient in a food portion contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories per day is used for general nutritional advice. | |
Nutritional information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are specified, the one listed first will be charged for nutritional value. Side dishes and optional ingredients are not included.
