Ravioli Lasagna

This ravioli lasagna recipe is super-easy to make with 8 ingredients and only 15 minutes of hands-on prep time.

Say hello to one of my longtime favorite shortcut recipes — ravioli lasagna. ♡

We’re all big lasagna fans here in our house. But let’s be real, layering up a pan of classic lasagna is a labor of love, and one that rarely seems to fit into my schedule in this season of life with two little ones. Ravioli lasagna, however, couldn’t be easier!

Simply sauté a big pan of Italian sausage, onion and garlic and combine with your favorite marinara to make a quick meat sauce. (Or you can skip the sausage and keep this recipe vegetarian.) Layer the sauce in a baking dish with frozen tortellini (no need to thaw), ricotta and lots of mozzarella. Pop the pan in the oven and bake until the mix is hot and bubbly. Then top with extra Parmesan and fresh basil and dive on in. The ravioli swap magically provides all of the textures and flavors we all love in traditional lasagna without all of the work. And when layered with all of these classic ingredients tastes absolutely delicious.

Feel free to use whatever flavor of ravioli and marinara sauce that you love best. And if you’d like to toss in some extra veggies or greens, by all means, go for it. This recipe is incredibly flexible and reliable. So the next time you’re at the store, pop a few bags of frozen ravioli in your cart and let’s make a big pan of “lasagna” together!

Ravioli Lasagna Ingredients

Here are a few brief notes about the ingredients you will need to make this ravioli lasagna recipe:

• Frozen ravioli: All you need are two 25-ounce bags of your favorite frozen ravoli. No need to thaw, choose whichever flavor you like (basic cheese or spinach works just fine), and you’ll be good to go.
• Marinara sauce: Use whatever brand and flavor of marinara sauce that you love best here! You can’t go wrong with a good tomato-basil sauce, but you’re welcome to get creative with whatever other specialty sauce flavors you love best too.
• Italian sausage: I love making this recipe with a good spicy Italian sausage, but mild or sweet Italian sausage works great here too. I prefer to use ground sausage for this recipe, but you could also buy links and slice them into coins if you prefer.
• Garlic and onion: It’s likely that your marinara sauce already includes these ingredients, but I find taking the time to sauté an extra onion and few cloves of garlic in the sausage grease adds a helpful boost of flavor to the recipe.
• Ricotta: Ricotta cheese adds the creamy soft texture you love in a classic lasagna along with a slightly-sweet mild flavor that balances out the other savory elements of the dish.
• Mozzarella: I say the more, the merrier when it comes to melty, stringy, milky mozzarella in a pan of lasagna. Shredded mozzarella will work just fine here. But if you feel like leveling things up, try slicing some fresh mozzarella balls into coins and layering them into the mix — absolutely delicious!
• Parmesan: The salty, nutty, umami flavor of Parmesan is the perfect topping to accent all of these delicious flavors. Skip the cheap green jar of powdered stuff and freshly-grate a block of Parmesan for the best bold flavor!
• Fresh basil: I also highly recommend finishing the dish with a generous sprinkling of roughly-chopped or julienned fresh basil leaves. They add such a lovely pop of fresh aromatic flavor, as well as a lovely hint of green.

Recipe Variations

This lasagna recipe is endlessly flexible, so please feel free to customize and make it your own! Here are a few suggestions to try:

• Use tortellini: This recipe will generally work just as well using your favorite frozen tortellini in place of ravioli.
• Add extra veggies: Add your favorite cooked (roasted, sautéed, canned, etc) veggies to the mix. Some of my favorites include artichoke hearts, eggplant, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and zucchini.
• Add greens: Add chopped kale, spinach or collard greens to the sauce.
• Add pesto: Add a layer of basil pesto to the lasagna or drizzle pesto over the top of the lasagna (in place of basil) to finish.
• Make it spicy: Add additional crushed red pepper flakes or Calabrian chiles to the sauce, or use an already-spicy marinara sauce.
• Make it vegetarian: Use your favorite plant-based Italian sausage (we love Beyond or Field Roast) and vegetarian ravioli.

More Easy Dinner Recipes To Try

Looking for more Italian-inspired easy dinner recipes to try? Here are a few more of our favorites:

• Italian Sausage Zucchini Orzo
• Cacio e Pepe
• Easy Gnocchi Zuppa Toscana
• Lemony Broccoli Pesto Pasta

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Ravioli Lasagna

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 5 reviews

• Author: Ali
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6 to 8 servings

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Description

This ravioli lasagna recipe is super-easy to make with basic ingredients and only 15 minutes of hands-on prep time.

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Ingredients

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• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (28-ounce) jars good-quality marinara sauce
• 2 (25-ounce) packages frozen ravioli
• 1 (15-ounce) package ricotta cheese
• 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• toppings: freshly-grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh basil

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Instructions

1. Prep oven and baking dish. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Brown the sausage. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the Italian sausage and cook until browned, using a wooden spatula to crumble the meat as it cooks. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a clean plate and set aside.
3. Sauté the aromatics. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the sausage grease in the pan and discard the rest. Add the onion and garlic to the grease and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Add the marinara sauce and cooked sausage to the pan and stir to combine. Turn off the heat.
4. Layer the lasagna. Spread about 1 cup of the meat sauce to the bottom of the baking dish until it is evenly covered. Layer in each of the following ingredients in an even layer:
   1. one package ravioli
   2. all of the ricotta
   3. half of the mozzarella
   4. half of the remaining meat sauce
   5. one package ravioli
   6. all of the remaining meat sauce
   7. all of the remaining mozzarella
5. Bake. Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil, ideally without touching the cheese. Bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes. Then turn on the broiler and broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is lightly golden and bubbly.
6. Serve. Sprinkle the top of the lasagna with Parmesan cheese and basil and serve warm while the cheese is nice and gooey. Enjoy!

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Notes

Recipe updated in April 2024 to adjust the quantity of ravoli (as packaging sizes have changed). The original recipe also included a jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped, which you’re still welcome to use if you would like!