The Best Gluten-Free Lasagna

The best Gluten-Free Lasagna recipe with delicious meat sauce. Make this easy gluten free lasagna recipe for a delicious weeknight meal or for any special occasion or holiday to serve guests! Lasagna is the perfect comfort food the whole family and enjoy!

True story: Lasagna was my absolute favorite meal when I was a kid.

You could dangle fast food and doughnuts in front of me all day and I wouldn’t budge, but a steamy pile of meaty cheesy lasagna? 

It was the one time my parents were guaranteed a full child. 

While there are so many approaches to homemade gluten-free lasagna, what you see in this recipe is my absolute favorite method.

What makes a lasagna the best lasagna?

In my opinion, the carefully crafted sauce to cheese to noodle ratio and the quality of the sauce.

It may be a controversial stance, but I think the best lasagna is made with ground beef (or ground turkey) rather than Italian sausage or a combination of meats. 

If you’re a sausage lover, feel free to make the inclusion!

The cheese situation?

I keep it simple with mozzarella and ricotta, but you can easily select your favorite melting cheese like gruyere and gouda or parmesan.

Speaking of cheese.

If you’re looking for a dairy-free option, make my Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Lasagna recipe! When I know I’ll be the person eating the majority of the lasagna, I make it dairy-free. 

But for serving guests? All the cheese.

As is indicated in the title of this post, I make my lasagna gluten-free using gluten-free lasagna noodles that are made with brown rice flour.

The only difference between gluten-free lasagna and regular lasagna are the noodles. In this sense, you can easily use traditional lasagna noodles for this recipe. 

One of the best parts about lasagna is the ingredients are so commonplace, you can find them at all local grocery stores.

Here’s what I use for the absolute best ever lasagna!

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Lasagna:

Avocado oil: For sautéing the onion and garlic and browning the meat

Onion and Garlic: Sauteed onion and garlic bring immense depth of flavor to the sauce. You can scale the amount up or down depending on your personal taste.

Tomato Sauce: Pick a tomato based pasta sauce you know you love and have used before. I use a jar of Primal Kitchen Tomato Basil Sauce, which has no added sugar, and I love all the marvelous depth of flavors. Marinara sauce, roasted garlic sauce, vodka sauce, etc. all work.

Crushed Tomatoes & Tomato Paste: Both crushed tomatoes and tomato paste add even more tomato essence to the sauce and generate a thick, luscious flavorful sauce.

Sugar: A little sugar helps counterbalance the acidity of the sauce. I like using pure maple syrup to keep it refined sugar-free, but you can also use cane sugar or brown sugar. Skip it if you are sugar-free.

Italian Seasoning: Bringing some herby flavor to the tomato sauce, a little Italian seasoning gives the sauce a rustic flair. 

Red Wine: This is my secret ingredient that ensures the sauce has that WOW factor. Meat sauce made with wine just has a delicious essence that is difficult to put words to. If you don’t cook with wine, skip it.

Ground Beef: Use lean ground beef (90/10 or leaner if possible) to ensure the lasagna doesn’t end up overly greasy. If you use a fatty beef and you want to drain the grease before adding the tomato sauce, feel free to do so. 

Some people like using a combination of pork sausage and ground beef, but I believe the absolute best ever lasagna includes ground beef only. Just personal preference.

Mozzarella Cheese and Ricotta Cheese: Gooey mozzarella and thick and creamy ricotta are a great combination in lasagna. I choose whole milk ricotta and mozzarella rather than part skim, because I’m all about that flavor.

For a lower fat lasagna, use skim milk ricotta and mozzarella. If you love adding other cheeses such as gruyere, gouda, pecorino Romano or parmesan, feel free to do so!

Gluten-Free Lasagna Noodles: Pick your favorite brand of gluten free noodles! There are gluten-free options available for noodles that you boil and also no-cook noodle options that you just layer right in.

I like using Jovial Brown Rice Lasagna Noodles and the Tinkyada brand as well as the Oven Ready Barilla Gluten Free Noodles.

Salt and black pepper: Add seasoning to taste!

Optional Additions: 

• Mix dried herbs or fresh herbs into the sauce. Fresh parsley, basil, rosemary and sage are all great options.
• If you like your red sauce to have a little kick, add ¼ teaspoon to ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
• Add three stalks of celery and 2 large carrots to the sauce if you love veggie-infused sauce.
• Mix up to 5 cups of baby spinach into the sauce for an infusion of greens.
• If you don’t want to make homemade tomato sauce, skip the sauce ingredients and buy two large jars of your favorite tomato pasta sauce.
• Add half of a pound of ground pork Italian sausage for meaty lasagna. Or, use 1/2 pound of ground beef and 1/2 pound of sausage.

Now that we’re experts on the ingredients for lasagna, let’s make it!

How to Make Gluten-Free Lasagna:

Make the Hearty Meat Sauce:

Heat the avocado oil (or olive oil) over medium-high heat in a large thick bottomed pot (I use a Dutch oven) or a very large skillet. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes (to speed up this process, I sprinkle the onion with salt and cover the pot).

Add the garlic and ground beef, and break it into smaller chunks with a spatula. 

Stir in the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, red wine and sugar. Cover and bring the sauce to a full boil.

Reduce the heat and continue cooking at a gentle (but full) boil for at least 10 to 15 minutes. If you have more time and can let the sauce cook longer, let it gently simmer for 1 hour for the best result. Taste the sauce for flavor and add sea salt, pepper, or sugar to taste.

You can prepare the sauce up to three days ahead of time to make this recipe in parts and for a more flavorful sauce.

Prepare the Lasagna:

If your noodles need to be cooked, boil noodles in a pot of hot water according to the package instructions. I typically cook them for 1 to 2 minutes less than the time indicated on the package for al dente noodles. Once cooked, immediately drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water.

I use noodles that don’t need to be precooked, so if you do the same, skip the cooking process and go straight to layering your lasagna.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour 1 cup of the meat sauce into the bottom of a large 13” x 9” casserole dish and spread it evenly over the bottom.

Add one layer of noodles (for me, this requires 4 noodles).

Spread ⅓ of the meat sauce over the noodles, followed by half of the ricotta cheese (I simply dollop large spoonfuls on) and ⅓ of the grated mozzarella cheese.

Layer on a second layer of noodles over the first layer, followed by ⅓ of the sauce on top of the noodles, the rest of the ricotta and ⅓ of the grated mozzarella.

Add a third layer of noodles then spread the remaining sauce and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Cover the baking dish with foil, leaving it tented so that it doesn’t stick to the top layer of cheese.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 45 minutes. The foil prevents the top from getting too brown or over-cooking the top layer of noodles. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the cheese is golden-brown.

Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. 

To store leftover lasagna, tightly cover the casserole dish in plastic wrap or transfer the leftovers to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 1 week. Freeze lasagna in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

This yummy lasagna is even more flavorful the next day! If you have the time to make it ahead of time, you’ll be impressed by the development of flavors.

If you’re looking for side dishes to serve with this easy gluten-free lasagna, try these out!

What to Serve with Lasagna:

• Crowd-Pleasing Roasted Vegetables 
• Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan and Lemon 
• Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
• Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Garlic and Lemon 
• Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing 
• Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette 

And that’s it! I hope this great recipe becomes a family favorite.

Noodles and sauce and cheese, oh my!

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