How much spinach should you actually use in a spinach lasagna? I tested 8, 16, and 24 ounces to find out.
I settled on a full pound (16 ounces) to get a good spinach flavor without overpowering the classic red meat sauce flavor.
The other challenge for a spinach lasagna is to prevent it from turning watery. I've been able to get pretty fool proof results by doing the following:
- Pre cook the spinach and squeeze out water (takes 6-8 minutes)
- Add extra tomato paste to thicken the meat sauce
- Let it rest for 15 minutes after baking so some liquid can be reabsorbed and thickened
How to get the spinach just right
Making a good spinach lasagna is almost as easy as just adding spinach to the layers. But there are a few tricks to get the right balance of flavor and keep the lasagna from getting watery.
- How much spinach to use (I tested 8 oz, 16 oz, and 24 oz options)
- Cook spinach to remove water
- Mix spinach in with ricotta for an even distribution
How much spinach should you use?
If you've ever cooked with spinach, you know that a giant bunch wilts down to almost nothing.
So should you use 8 ounces, which seems like a lot? Or is 24 ounces better because it cooks down so much? Here's what I found after testing several different amounts:
- 8 ounces: spinach flavor is very subtle
- 16 ounces: a good amount of spinach without taking over the flavor
- 24 ounces: spinach becomes the dominate flavor, which is great if that's what you're looking for
I personally settled on 16 ounces for my recipe, which ends up equal parts spinach and ricotta. You can scale the amount of spinach up or down without changing any of the other ingredients or instructions.
Cook the spinach first to prevent a watery lasagna
Spinach contains a lot of water that can end up in your lasagna unless you remove it first. I cook the spinach until completely wilted, then squeeze out the excess liquid.
When I cooked 16 ounces of spinach, I squeezed out 3 ounces of water (a little over ⅓ cup).
It takes less than 10 minutes to cook the spinach:
- Start: Add half of spinach to the pan
- At 2 minutes: some spinach leaves start to wilt
- At 4 minutes: add remaining spinach
- At 6 minutes: all spinach is fully wilted and ready to be removed from the pan, then squeezed to remove the water.
If you want, you can use the same pot as the meat sauce to cook the spinach. It will even pick up some of the meat sauce flavors, and that's not a bad thing!
Mix the spinach into the ricotta filling for flavor distribution and easier assembly
Cooked spinach clumps together, which makes it hard to spread out onto your noodle layers. But when mixed into the ricotta filling, you can spread them together as one convenient layer.
You don't have to chop the spinach either. It wilts enough that it easily mixes into the ricotta, and breaks apart when eaten with a fork.
How to make a good homemade meat sauce for lasagna
There are two types of spinach lasagna that go in very different directions.
A white version,like this recipe from Serious Eats, uses a bechemel for a rich lasagna that features the spinach and cheese flavors.
Red sauce versions integrate spinach into the classic lasagna flavors. Both are excellent.
I made this version with a tomato meat sauce, dialing it in to make sure it's thick enough to avoid a watery lasagna, but plentiful enough that the finished lasagna isn't dry.
Use beef, sausage, or a combination
The meat you choose definitely changes the flavor. An all-beef meat sauce will have that classic beefy flavor. Sausage, especially Italian or spicy, changes the flavor profile.
My favorite meat sauce has a mix of both for even more depth of flavor. If it's good enough for Martha Stewart's lasagna, who am I to argue?!
I also use 1 pound of meat in this recipe, which is nicely balanced with the spinach.
If you want a meatier lasagna, you can double the amount of meat along with more crushed tomatoes. Use two 28-ounce cans instead of what's listed in the recipe, along with an extra tablespoon of tomato paste.
Use tomato paste for a thicker, more flavorful sauce
Most lasagna meat sauces call for 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, but I use a quarter cup to make sure it isn't too watery when I add in the extra crushed tomatoes.
I also add the tomato paste in as the meat finishes browning so it can develop deeper flavors.
Make 6 cups of sauce
Since we've thickened the sauce, now we need to make a little extra or our delicious batch of spinach lasagna might end up dry.
Most recipes call for just one 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, but I use about 50% more by also including an extra 15-ounce can.
When you cook the sauce, it shouldn't look watery or thick... right in the middle like a marinara sauce.
Each type of cheese plays a different role
Ever wonder why lasagna recipes seem to a combination of ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan? There are real reasons for that!
- Ricotta makes a creamy spread. Look for whole milk options for a richer flavor. If you see visible liquid in the top of your container, drain it off.
- Mozzarella adds that gooey cheesy texture. Look for whole milk or low-moisture options because fresh mozzarella is too watery. Pre-shredded cheese works, but a block melts more smoothly.
- Parmesan adds a salty, savory, strong cheese flavor without extra moisture. Freshly grated has a stronger flavor than the green Kraft container (but that also works).
If you want a cheesier lasagna, mozzarella is the easiest to adjust. Try any (or all) of the following:
- Double the amount of mozzarella in each layer, or mix a full cup into the ricotta filling.
- Double the amount of mozzarella on the top from 1 cup to 2 cups.
- Increase the grated Parmesan in the ricotta filling to 1 cup.
- Add a ½ cup of Parmesan to the top of the lasagna along with the mozzarella that's added partway through baking.
Boil noodles ahead of time for the best texture
This spinach & meat lasagna recipe is designed for boiling the noodles ahead of time. It's not designed for oven-ready noodles that soak up the sauce in the oven.
I've never had consistent results with oven-ready noodles.
It appears that boiling (or parboiling) the noodles makes a better lasagna anyway. Food & Wine magazine tested five different methods of incorporating noodles and heavily favored boiling ahead of time.
How much to use for each lasagna layer
This recipe makes enough spinach ricotta filling and meat sauce for four layers of noodles with three stuffed layers between them. I like to measure out each part of the layer so I don't run out at the end!
- 1 cup of meat sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish
- 3 lasagna noodles per layer
- ¾ cup ricotta spinach mixture per layer (¼ cup per noodle)
- ⅓ cup mozzarella per layer (a thin layer, feel free to double it)
- 1 cup of meat sauce
Repeat that for two more layers. Then place the last set of lasagna noodles on top and pour the remaining sauce over them. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella over all of that and bake.
Let the lasagna rest before cutting
There's one last step that you'll want to skip but I urge you not to: let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before cutting it.
Right out of the oven, the cheese is at its most molten stage and the sauce is at its runniest. As these cool, even just a little, the cheese filling firms up and the sauce thickens. You'll get cleaner slices with fillings that stay put if you wait.
Recipe
Ingredients
Lasagna layers
- 12 lasagna noodles to be boiled
- 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese 10 ounces, whole milk, low moisture preferred.
Spinach ricotta filling
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 16 ounces baby spinach see note
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese whole milk preferred
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Meat sauce
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage or beef, or a combo
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt for sauce, see note for salting sausage or beef
Instructions
Things to prepare
- Equipment: get out a dutch oven (to saute spinach and then use for meat sauce), a large bowl (for making ricotta mixture), a large pot (to boil noodles), and your 9x13 baking dish.
- Dice garlic and onion. Shred cheese. Cook the noodles according to the package directions for al dente. Toss with olive oil after draining to prevent sticking.
Cook the spinach
- Melt butter in a large pot or dutch oven. Add as much spinach that will fit. Cook over medium-high heat for a couple minutes and add the remaining if necessary. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Continue to cook until fully wilted and water weeps out, 6-10 minutes.
- Set aside to cool enough to handle. Squeeze out liquid or press it down on a fine-mesh sieve. Add to a large bowl (where we will make the ricotta filling).
Make the meat sauce
- In your same large pot, add onions, garlic, and meat. If using beef, add 1 teaspoon of salt (sausage is usually pre-salted). Cook until the meat is browned and cooked through.
- While the meat sauce cooks, preheat the oven to 350℉ and make the ricotta filling.
- Once the meat is browned, add the tomato paste and Italian seasoning. Cook until fragrant and tomato paste has darkened, 2-5 minutes. This cooks the metallic flavor out of the tomato paste.
- Add the cans of crushed tomatoes and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes until well combined.
Ricotta filling
- Add the ricotta, egg, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to the bowl with the spinach. Mix until well combined.
Layer the lasagna
- Spread 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- 1. Layer 3 noodles across the bottom.2. Spread ¾ cup of ricotta filling on the noodles (¼ cup per noodle).3. Sprinkle ⅓ cup mozzarella on top.4. Dollop 1 cup of meat sauce over the cheeses.
- Add a second layer of noodles. Repeat with ricotta, mozzarella, and sauce.
- Add a third layer of noodles. Repeat with ricotta (use up all remaining mixture), mozzarella, and sauce.
- Add the top layer of noodles. Top with remaining sauce. (You should still have 1 cup of mozzarella left at this point, save it).
Bake for 45 min at 350℉ with foil, then for 15 more min without (plus cheese)
- Cover your lasagna pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove the foil and add the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes (until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
- Rest for 15 minutes before cutting for it to firm up.
Notes
- 1 lb ground beef: use 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 lb ground sausage: don't salt the meat if pre-seasoned (2,300 mg sodium = 1 teaspoon salt, so you can check the package for total sodium across all servings).
- 50/50 mix: add ground beef to pot with ½ teaspoon salt. Cook that in for a few minutes, then add sausage without additional salt.
Nutrition
More recipes & resources
If you like spinach, I have a couple other recipes for you to try:
- Eggs Benedict Florentine: this weekday recipe is ready in 10 minutes thanks to a clever trick for setting the eggs in the same frying pan as you wilt the spinach.
- Strawberry spinach salad: a perfect spring or summer salad with an avocado peppercorn dressing.
Looking for other Italian comfort food?
Leave a Reply