This easy weeknight dinner takes frozen Ravioli and layers them into a cheesy baked Italian casserole reminiscent of Lasagna but without all the fuss.
If you’re in the mood for a cheesy Lasagna but don’t feel like being hassled by boiling water and all those extra steps, try this clever recipe for Baked Ravioli.
It layers frozen Ravioli with a meat sauce made with marinara and generous sprinkles of shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake it off for about 30 minutes for a crowd-pleasing dinner without a lot of effort. What I like about making homemade Lasagna over buying pre-made is that you get to use your favorite marinara sauce in the dish, because we all have a favorite, right?! Right.
So, without further ado, here is the recipe, adapted from my friend Janel over at nelliebellie.com.
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An easy faux Lasagna dinner layering frozen ravioli, jarred marinara sauce, ground beef, and mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 jar marinara sauce
- 25 oz frozen ravioli
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef.
- Set aside 3/4 cup of marinara sauce. Add the remaining sauce to the beef in the skillet and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Spread 1/4 cup of the reserved sauce in the bottom of a 9×13″ glass or ceramic baking dish. Arrange one third (about 15 pieces) of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce.
- Top the ravioli layer with one half of the ground beef and sauce mixture. Then sprinkle with 1/3 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Place another 1/3 of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the meat sauce and cheese. Top with the remaining meat sauce and another 1/3 cup of the shredded cheese.
- Place the final 1/3 of the frozen ravioli on top, followed by the remaining plain marinara sauce and sprinkle with 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until the cheese is melted and the edges begin to bubble.
Notes
If stuck together, run frozen ravioli pieces under warm water for a minute to loosen and pry apart.
If you do not have an equal number of ravioli for each layer, put the fewest pieces in the center. For example, 15 ravioli on the bottom layer, 12 in the middle layer, and 15 on the top layer.
Keywords: easy lasagna baked ravioli
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And while you are still here, let me take you back. The year was 2009. I was in my early twenties living in a college town with my husband and our cat. My passion was cooking and baking and creating ridiculously complex foods and even bigger messes in the kitchen.
I would scour the aisles of our local Kroger around 9 o’clock at night every few days, because that late at night I had free reign and could mosey about as I pleased. I would scan the shelves for “manager’s specials” (hellooo broke college student) and plan meals based on the discounted items I found.
I hadn’t come from a big Lasagna-eating family. For whatever reason, I don’t have many memories at all tied to Lasagna, that is, until the night I tried to make it myself.
Having recently acquired a gleaming hand-crank pasta maker, I was on a roll pumping out all variety of deliciously tender egg pasta. After a successful run through of Linguini I figured I would try my hand at a Lasagna noodle.
Of course, I couldn’t do anything simple back then. It was always a big production because (one) I had plenty of time on my hands and (two) I didn’t know any better. So, I set about making a decadent Lasagna completely from scratch.
First, I went about making a two-hour authentic Bolognaise sauce with white wine and that fragrant soffritto of diced carrots, celery, and onions. Half pork, half beef of course.
Then, for whatever reason, I made a bechamel sauce to layer in that Lasagna. I don’t know what to tell you except I was a little much back then.
Next, I churned out the homemade Lasagna noodles and cooked them in a pot of rapidly boiling water.
I layered the freshly cooked noodles with my lovely Bolognaise, bechamel, and generous dollops of ricotta cheese. The finishing touch? Fresh leaves of basil were lovingly sandwiched between the layers of the Lasagna.
After hours upon hours of labor, I was beyond pleased to present this dish to my husband. As I eagerly waited to hear his review, I saw his face contort into a troubled look as he pulled a long green object from his mouth. “Is this seaweed?” he inquired in disgust. “It’s basil…” I said, trailing off.
My own bites of the Lasagna were sublime. I loved every minute that delicious casserole was in my mouth, but, as I found out, my husband didn’t even like Lasagna. According to him, it’s too hard to eat, at least compared to other Italian pastas. He prefers dishes that he can inhale, the slipperier, the better.
The final blow came when he revealed his preference for “regular spaghetti sauce” over Bolognaise.
Done! I was done with Lasagna forever. I vowed to never again make that tedious dish wherein I pour out my heart and soul and it is met with mere acceptance and not wild applause.
That is until I discovered this dish.
This “Bachelor’s Lasagna” is an amazingly simple dish that my husband liked so much that he ate half of the pan. My picky four-year-old even ate his whole serving.
This just goes to show you that sometimes, simple is best.
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