My Favorite Lasagna Recipe

We have been long overdue for an update to this hearty meat lasagna recipe! I have been working on making it the BEST classic lasagna recipe ever, and this is finally it!

We layer this lasagna with our authentic bolognese meat sauce, a creamy bechamel sauce and 2 types of cheese all tucked between layers of lasagna noodles. You’re absolutely going to love this easy lasagna recipe!

It was 2009 when I first posted this recipe…2009…15 years! SO much has changed since then…we’ve expanded our family. We’ve moved (three times). We’ve progressed from toddlers and tantrums to teenagers and still tantrums 🤪. It seems natural that this lasagna recipe should change a little too. It’s now better and bolder and everything a homemade lasagna should be.

Ingredients for Hearty Meat Lasagna

I’m going to divide up the ingredients list between the three different parts of this recipe – the meat sauce, the bechamel sauce and the items needed to assemble the lasagna. Here is what you will need:

Meat Bolognese Sauce

• Butter and Olive Oil
• Vegetables: Carrots, Celery, Red Onion, Garlic
• Proteins: Ground Beef and Italian Sausage
• Tomatoes: Roasted Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Fire Roasted Tomatoes (canned)
• Milk and Heavy Cream
• Cooking Wine
• Lemon Zest and Juice
• Seasonings: Nutmeg, Bay Leaves, Salt and Pepper

Bechamel Sauce

• Butter
• Flour
• Whole Milk
• Nutmeg
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper

Lasagna Ingredients

• Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
• Fresh Parmesan
• Mozzarella Cheese

Don’t be alarmed! You did not read ricotta cheese in that ingredients list. We actually found that we preferred the lasagna without it! Keep scrolling to the end of the post for the measurements for each ingredient.

How to Make Homemade Meat Lasagna

To Make the Meat Sauce

1. Prepare the bolognese sauce as instructed in that post and set aside.

For the Bechamel Sauce

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Sprinkle in the flour continuously whisking it in until a paste forms and it bubbles a little.
3. Add in the milk slowing still whisking constantly. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer until it thickens.
4. Whisk in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.

For the Lasagna

1. Prehea

Cinnamon Roll Pigs in a Blanket Dunkers [+ Video]

Oh, mama! We made this cinnamon roll pigs in a blanket recipe for breakfast the other day and it’s our new go to breakfast!

For this recipe we wrap a cinnamon roll around a sausage link to make the most delicious sausage dunkers. We will teach you how to make a maple butter sauce for dipping them in too. The combination of sweet and savory in a breakfast recipe is totally my jam! Remember our cinnamon bread bacon stuffing at Thanksgiving?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville Italian Sausage. The opinions and text are all mine.

What are Pigs in a Blanket?

Pigs in a blanket are an appetizer or breakfast food consisting of small sausages wrapped in pastry.

I think everyone has heard of “pigs in a blanket” right? I certainly have and then when Cade and I were talking about what to do for our next post with Johnsonville, we knew we wanted to make a kid friendly Christmas breakfast recipe and I suddenly realized I don’t know anything. Then I said, what about our own version of pigs in a blanket, you know with the pancakes.

And Cade informed me that most pigs in a blanket recipes are actually hot dogs or franks in crescent dough or puff pastry. What?! All these years and I didn’t know! Well, this is still our breakfast take, cinnamon roll pigs in a blanket dunkers with a maple butter sauce.

That’s right, maple butter sauce. Cinnamon Rolls. And of course, breakfast sausage links.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Roll Pigs in a Blanket

For the sausage dunkers, all you need is 2 ingredients! So simple! For the maple butter sauce, you’ll need just a handful of ingredients, most of which you’ll have already at home. Here is what you will need:

• Grands Cinnamon Rolls
• Johnsonville Turkey Fully Cooked Breakfast Sausage: we chose to use precooked sausages to save on time but you can cook your own sausage if you prefer

Disneyland’s Pomme Frites Copycat Recipe

This fabulous dipping sauce Cajun remoulade is boldly flavorful, wonderfully creamy with a bright lemon burst and is the best sauce for dipping these hot and salty Disneyland copycat pomme frites (french fries)!

The Cajun Remoulade

We started making this sauce because of my obsession with the pomme frites (oh my gosh I can’t even write it without my mouth watering!!!!) and sauce at Disneyland. Literally the best fries and sauce ever. My goodness!!!

After a couple years of making sauces from scratch, I decided to take a short cut on this one. Everyone says this sauce is like thousand island dressing, but there’s more to it. So I use some thousand island which is easier than opening tomato paste, and then add some extra dimension to it. Boom…this new recipe was born!

What is a Remoulade?

A remoulade, plain and simple, is a cold sauce based on mayonnaise. It just sounds much fancier than french fry dip, don’t you think?!

What are Pomme Frites?

Pomme frites is just a fancy and fun way to say french fries. When I say that I just ate my weight in pomme frites, it sounds much better than french fries. Ha!

The Homemade Pomme Frites

We’ve been making homemade french fries for forever but we are finally including the recipe here! It’s so easy!

Have you ever had the pomme frites at Cafe Orleans at Disneyland? Please tell me you have! Hot salty fries are my happiest place on earth. Give me an irresistible sauce to dip them in, and you can forget about it!

We double fry the pomme frites, and then top them Parmesan, garlic (fresh), fresh parsley, salt and a little of the Cajun seasoning.

What Ingredients are Needed for Pomme Frites Sauce?

You’re just a few ingredients away from the best dipping sauce for french fries. Trust me on this one friends…you’ll never want to dip those golden hot fries in anything else! Here is your ingredients list:

• Mayonnaise
• Thousand Island Dressing
• Worcestershire Sauce

Tzatziki Recipe

This tzatziki recipe is made with creamy Greek yogurt, cucumber, tangy lemon juice and zest, garlic and bright pops of fresh herbs.

I went on a date my first summer home from college and the guy took me to a hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant with the most delicious fried potatoes and tzatziki (pronounced Tsaht-ZEE-kee). It was perfectly crunchy, fried and indulgent with this light and refreshing sauce. I have been sold ever since!

I have said many times how much of a sauce/dip lover I am, and this one is my latest obsession. We use it on homemade gyros, of course, but I also love it as a dip for fresh veggies or pita bread. It’s also great as a spread on sandwiches or as a dressing for salad.

Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients

The ingredients are so simple, but the combination of them all makes such a refreshing and tasty sauce. Here is what you will need:

• Plain Greek Yogurt: you can use full fat, low fat or fat free, but the fat free doesn’t hold up quite as well and definitely stick with Greek yogurt
• Lemon Zest and Juice: you’ll definitely want fresh lemon juice for this recipe and you can’t beat the flavor you get from the zest
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: a good quality olive oil is recommended
• Garlic: grab a whole head of garlic and either press the clove or finely grate it so that texturally you don’t know it’s there but you still get that unmistakable flavor
• Cucumber: always use English cucumbers because they are less seedy and a little sweeter
  • PRO TIP: I tried grated and minced and I much prefer grated.
• Sea Salt: adds flavor
• Dill: fresh and chopped…I don’t recommend dried, just not the same
• Mint: fresh and finely chopped

How to Make This Tzatziki Recipe

1. Prepare the cucumber: grate it and then squeeze as much of the liquid out of it as possible using paper towels, cheesecloth or a thin dish towel
2. Prep the other ingredients: zest and juice the lemon, mince the herbs and garlic
3. Create the sauce: whisk all the ingredients together
4. Let is rest: cover the sauce and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour so all the flavor can meld together

Tips for Success

We have tried different combinations and tried to cut some corners here and there, but we have found that fresh ingredients are critical! Fresh lemon and fresh herbs!

Use English cucumbers instead of regular cucumbers. You don’t need to peel them and the seeds are so tiny that you don’t even notice them.

Squeeze the living daylights out of that cucumber! You want the fresh flavor of the cucumber but you don’t any of the liquid or it will cause your tzatziki sauce to be watery and separate.

After you’ve mixed everything together, let it rest in the refrigerator so all the flavors can combine. It really does make a huge difference! Y