Lasagna With Cottage Cheese

This Lasagna Recipe With Cottage Cheese has been an affordable, freezer-friendly favorite of Midwestern families for generations. Layers of rich meat sauce, tender pasta, creamy filling and melted cheese make it a true comfort food classic.

“I made this for dinner last night and I absolutely loved it. I’m from the metro Detroit area and this is exactly how my mom made lasagna when I was growing up. I’m living in the UK now and missing home comforts and this one was perfect.”

—Kelly

“I absolutely loved this recipe! Best part is everyone in my house loves it too. I will probably use this recipe forever!!”

—April

A Lasagna Recipe With Cottage Cheese That’s Been A Midwest Classic Forever

Today, I’m sharing my family’s recipe for lasagna. My mom got the recipe from her mom (who probably got it from a newspaper or magazine), and she often made this for Christmas dinner and my birthday when I was a kid.

This recipe isn’t trendy or reinvented in any way – it’s simply the best food when you’re craving nostalgic comfort, or want to make a batch of freezer meals.

This is very clearly not an authentic Italian lasagna recipe, and that’s okay. This lasagna recipe using cottage cheese skips ricotta entirely in favor of something accessible and budget-friendly that my grandma could always find at the store.

If you grew up eating lasagna made with cottage cheese and looking to make a batch of your own, you’re in the right place.

Ricotta Or Cottage Cheese For Lasagna?

This comes down to preference, and here in the Midwest, the preference is often cottage cheese. Ricotta cheese creates a smoother, richer, and let’s face it, mushier texture. Cottage cheese offers a lighter but still creamy texture and a slightly tangy flavor that works well with the rich meat sauce.

Many Midwestern cooks prefer cottage cheese because it’s affordable, accessible, and still incredibly satisfying. In my opinion, you can’t really taste or identify the cottage cheese in the finished dish unless you’re really looking for it, so even cottage cheese haters might be OK with this dish.

If you’re new to putting cottage cheese in lasagna and feeling really weird about it, feel free to use half ricotta and half cottage cheese, if you prefer. Stir them together before assembling the lasagna.

Cottage Cheese Lasagna Ingredients

A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.

• meat – you’ll need 1-1/2 pounds total meat for the sauce. We like a combination of ground beef and Italian sausage (you can use mild sausage or hot sausage, depending on your preference). You could also do all beef, no sausage, but we believe the sausage adds an essential depth of flavor to this dish.
• cottage cheese – the main component of the cheese sauce. Full fat, small curd is best.
• mozzarella cheese – you can use shredded mozzarella, but we’ve found that this cottage cheese lasagna recipe is easiest to assemble if you use mozzarella slices. Not the fresh, creamy mozzarella that is usually sold in a ball, but low-moisture, part-skim slices. Think cheese slices that you would put on a sandwich, so they are probably most often found at or near the deli counter.
• Parmesan cheese – adds a salty and nutty flavor to the lasagna filling with cottage cheese. You’ll want to have some extra for sprinkling on each serving, as well.
• lasagna noodles – we use traditional (you have to boil them first) lasagna noodles. We’ve never tried this recipe with no-boil noodles (because boiling the noodles can happen while you’re cooking the meat sauce, anyway, so it doesn’t take any extra time) so we can’t say how it would work.
• eggs – act as the binding agent for the cheese filling.
• onion – adds aromatic depth of flavor to the meat sauce.
• garlic – adds to the savory flavor of the sauce.
• tomato sauce – plain canned tomato sauce is the base of the sauce (we’re basically making our own marinara sauce in this recipe for lasagna with cottage cheese).
• tomato paste – thickens the sauce and adds an intense tomato flavor that is a signature of this lasagna.
• dried oregano – adds an herbal note to the sauce. You can also substitute twice the amount of fresh oregano if you have it on hand. You can also use an equal amount of dried Italian seasoning.
• dried parsley – adds an herbaceous touch to the cheese filling.
• kosher salt – needed to season the sauce, the cheese filling, and the cooking water for the pasta.
• black pepper – adds a subtle heat to the cheese filling.
• fresh basil – an optional garnish that adds pretty color.

How To Make This Lasagna Recipe Using Cottage Cheese

1. MEAT SAUCE. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, cook the beef, sausage, garlic and onion until the meat is cooked through, breaking it up as it cooks. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, oregano and salt and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. COTTAGE CHEESE MIXTURE. While the meat simmers, stir together the eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
3. COOK NOODLES. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, prepare the noodles according to the package directions, and drain.

4. LAYER. Spray a lasagna pan with nonstick spray. Arrange 1/4 of the noodles in the bottom of the dish. Spread the noodles with 1/4 of the cottage cheese filling. Arrange 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese slices over cottage cheese filling.

5. CONTINUE LAYERS AND REPEAT. Spread 1/4 of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices. Repeat the layers 3 more times, but you can swap the order of the meat sauce and mozzarella in the final layer, if you wish to have a melty cheese layer on top of your lasagna.

6. BAKE. Bake until the edges are bubbly.

What To Serve With Cottage Cheese Lasagna

Lasagna with cottage cheese is rich, hearty and deeply savory, so it pairs best with sides that bring freshness and contrast. A crisp green salad with an acidic vinaigrette like Miso Salad Dressing or Citrus Salad Dressing helps cut through the richness.

Roasted or sauteed vegetables are another great option. Roasted Broccoli With Parmesan and Balsamic Green Beans work especially well.

And of course, no Midwesterner ever turned down some warm Homemade Garlic Bread to soak up every last bit of sauce.

Cottage Cheese Lasagna Recipe Make Ahead And Storage

• Make Ahead: This lasagna cottage cheese recipe can be assembled, covered and refrigerated, up to 3 days, or frozen up to 3 months, before baking. If frozen, thaw overnight, or even 2 days in advance if you can. Either way, bring to room temperature on the counter 1 hour before baking. If we’re planning for make-ahead meals, sometimes we’ll divide the recipe among 2 or 3 smaller disposable foil pans instead of one large dish.
• Refrigerate: If you have leftovers, transfer them to an airtight container and place them in the fridge uncovered for a few hours until they are fully chilled, then cover them with the lid and keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days.  
• Reheat: In the oven or microwave until warmed through. If reheating in the oven, place leftovers in a small baking dish and add a splash of water in the bottom, so that the bottom noodle layer stays soft.
• Freeze: The easiest way to freeze leftovers in individual pieces is to bake the whole lasagna and refrigerate the leftovers in their pan overnight. It’s much easier to portion and wrap individual pieces when the lasagna is chilled than when it is warm. The next day, cut the chilled lasagna into pieces and wrap them individually in plastic wrap, then foil. Place the pieces in freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. 

Traditional Lasagna Recipe With Cottage Cheese FAQs