Can You Freeze Lasagna?

If the question, Can You Freeze Lasagna ever crossed your mind, you are not alone in this.

Lasagna is one of the oldest types of pasta which is made of very wide and flat sheets. It is popularly known as an Italian dish made of multiple layers of lasagna (plural of lasagna). This dish is filled with fillings such as vegetables, cheeses, meat, tomato sauce, and a host of other things. It can be served as a main course or as a ‘primo’ and is mostly served hot.

Lasagna originated in Italy and the first recorded recipe for this meal dates as far back as the 14th century. There are different ways of cooking lasagna and it also has different variations. It can be prepared the local way or refurbished to suit a particular taste.

How To Prepare Classic Cheese Lasagna

Classic Cheese Lasagna is one of the most popular and easiest variations of lasagna to prepare. Before learning how to prepare the dish, it is important to know the ingredients necessary for the meal.

Knowing all these is just preparatory knowledge to knowing if it is wise to freeze the dish or not. If ‘Yes’ what type and for how long? If ‘No’, why not and what can you do with the leftovers you have?

Let’s learn!

Ingredients For Making Classic Cheese Lasagna

32 oz Ricotta cheese
16 oz Mozzarella shredded cheese
Half cup of grated Parmesan
A quarter cup of minced parsley
1 tablespoon of chopped basil
2 minced garlic cloves
About 6 cups of pasta sauce
9 oz box of no-boil lasagna sheets

How To Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the ricotta, ¾ of shredded mozzarella, parmesan, parsley, basil, and garlic in a bowl and keep aside.
In a baking pan, spread a cup of sauce.
Place the desired number of uncooked lasagna sheets at the bottom of your pan. Afterward, add a layer ¼ of the cheese mixture and layer with 1 cup of sauce. Add 3 lasagna sheets and repeat the layering till all the cheese mixture is gone and the last layer has been sauced. While layering, you can add your ground beef or even turkey as an additional layer.
Cover your pan and allow to bake for about an hour.
After 1 hour, take out the pan, remove the foil and top your baking dish with the left of the mozzarella. Leave the pan uncovered and bake for 10 minutes.
When the 10 minutes is up, remove your pan from the oven and let it sit out for about 10 – 15 minutes.
Your Classic Cheese Lasagna is ready to be dished and eaten. Cut in desired portions and serve.

Now that we have served and probably still have some left, what do we do with the leftover? This next heading answers the question you are here for. Please, keep reading.

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Can You Freeze Lasagna?

Although it is better to prepare the lasagna until you are ready to eat it, there are times that it will be necessary to cook way before it is needed. Given that you can prepare this dish ahead of time probably because you don’t want to get swamped with a lot when you’re ready for it, you can prepare lasagna days before it is served.

When you have leftovers as well, they can be frozen and remain that way for as much as 4 months.

Here are some easy ways to freeze lasagna:

First, make sure it is totally cool. Let it sit for a while and allow all the heat to evaporate. Not just that, let the lasagna cool totally. It isn’t wise to put a hot lasagna into the freezer because doing so would make ice crystals form through the layers. When these crystals form, it makes the dish mushy when thawed and reheated.
You can leave the lasagna in the pan/casserole dish it was baked in. This works for when the plan was to serve and eat another day. However, if a considerable amount of the dish was eaten and there is a few leftovers, it is wise to move it into a smaller container before freezing. Cover the pan or container tightly with plastic wrap and then cover again with aluminum foil in order to prevent freezer burn.
Freeze! It is wise to put a tag with a date on the container while freezing so you can remember how long it has been in the freezer. Easy peasy, right? Remember, a dish of lasagna can last up to three/ four months in the freezer.

It is important to note that freezing lasagna after cooking will end up changing its taste when you remove it, allow it to thaw, and reheat. Not only will the taste change, but the texture of the dish will also change.

While freezing this Italian dish is possible and economical, it won’t taste the same way as when it is freshly made. It will still be very edible but will not be as appealing as it should be.

It is advisable to always prepare the exact amount of lasagna and at the moment it is needed. However, if this isn’t possible, I hope this article has been of great help to you and you’ve grabbed something new from it.