Meals · Pasta & noodle bakes

Classic lasagna

Name: Classic lasagna
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 500 g 90% lean ground beef; 1 onion yellow onions, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 700 g crushed tomatoes; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 1/2 tsp dried basil; 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano; 1 1/4 tsp salt; 1 tsp black pepper; 400 g ricotta cheese; 1 egg egg; 1/2 cup grated parmesan; 12 sheets pasta, lasagna, no-boil; 2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

The most-searched dinner in America and the highest-rated dish in the country, built the way it is meant to be built: beef ragù, ricotta, mozzarella, layers. It is rich and it scores like it — the number below is the honest one, and the panel shows exactly which layer spends it.

Time: 105 min (30 prep + 75 cook)
Servings: 8
Per serving: 482 kcal
Protein: 33 g

Both directions are legitimate — the score measures fullness per calorie, not virtue. Every version is the same dish, rebalanced.

Ingredients

Ragù

500 g 90% lean ground beef500 g
1 onion yellow onions, finely chopped150 g
4 cloves garlic, minced12 g
700 g crushed tomatoes700 g
2 tbsp tomato paste30 g
1 1/2 tsp dried basil3 g
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano3 g
1 1/4 tsp salt6 g
1 tsp black pepper2 g

Cheese layer

400 g ricotta cheese400 g
1 egg egg50 g
1/2 cup grated parmesan50 g

12 sheets pasta, lasagna, no-boil250 g
2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded250 g

Every ingredient links to its food page — same data, same score, same formula.

Steps

Brown the beef in a wide pan, 8 minutes, then add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper and simmer 20 minutes until thick. A watery ragù is what makes a lasagna slump.
Mix the ricotta with the egg and parmesan.
Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Layer: ragù, sheets, ricotta, mozzarella, and repeat, finishing with ragù and the last of the mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes, uncover and bake 20–25 more until browned and bubbling. Rest 20 minutes before cutting — this is not optional, it is the difference between slices and a landslide.

Why does it score where it does?

Three cheeses and pasta against one lean protein. The panel breaks it down: the ricotta and mozzarella are most of the fat, the sheets most of the carbohydrate. That is not an argument against lasagna — it's what lasagna is. The tuner shows what a lighter build actually costs you.

Alternatives

Why this score

moderately filling

No single route carries this one — a moderate amount of protein, volume and fiber.

Three routes to fullness — one is enough

27% of kcal

66% water

8 g/Mcal

What pulls it down

Nothing here converges the way engineered food does — no sugar, no savoury and no alcohol penalty.

How scores work

Computed on the finished dish, not an average of the parts: 3854 kcal goes into the pot, 2406 g of ingredients comes out as ~2200 g of food → 175 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water, and energy density is the score's biggest lever — so we show the math. Full formula here.

Per

Calories: 175
Protein: (27%); 12 g
Fat: (41%); 8 g
Carbohydrates: (32%); 14 g
of which sugar: 2 g
Fiber: 1 g
Sodium: 343 mg

Percentages are the share of calories from each macronutrient.

Computed from the ingredients' USDA data — nothing typed by hand. Every number is traceable, every score recomputable.

More meals

Photo: AI-generated. Nutrition and score are computed from the ingredients with the published formula — this recipe hasn't been kitchen-tested by us yet.