I absolutely adore this Gluten-free Dairy-free Lasagna. I don’t love pasta. I know, I know, don’t come at me. So when we went gluten-free, that wasn’t something I missed. EXCEPT…lasagna. Lasagna was “birthday meal” good – I love all the layers and sauces. One of my favorites!
Why We Love This Gluten-free Dairy-free Lasagna
It’s all the flavor of lasagna without gluten or dairy! I took this to a couple’s Christmas party and was shocked and sad to see it disappear as quickly as the “regular” lasagna – it’s that good! One of my friends who had gone dairy-free a while back demanded the recipe, saying it had been a long time since they’d had something this good. So, here you go!
I hadn’t found a way to recreate it that was amazing until now. It does require some specialty products that I can finally find in my small town. If you can’t find them, my Cookbook does have homemade almond ricotta and even a full-on Whole30 compatible lasagna (this one is not) that I recommend you check out!
How to Make It
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and setting out a 9×13 baking pan. Next, in a large saucepan, cook the ground hamburger and sausage. Cook until brown, approximately 15 minutes.
Then, add 3 cups of the marinara sauce to the ground meat. Sprinkle with the dried basil and garlic, if desired for an added flavor boost. Set aside.
Next, combine ricotta cheese with egg until well-mixed. The egg is optional, you can leave it out if you need an egg-free option. Adding the egg to the ricotta will help the ricotta spread more easily.
If noodle package instructions require it, precook the lasagna noodles. Then, it’s time to layer! Here are the layers:
- 1/3 of the meat mixture
- A layer of noodles (breaking to fit if needed)
- 1/2 of the ricotta mixture
- 1/3 of the meat sauce
- 1/3 of the mozzarella
- A layer of noodles
- Remaining ricotta mixture
- Remaining meat sauce
- 1/3 of the mozzarella
- Last layer of noodles
- Left over 2 cups of marinara you set aside
- Remaining mozzarella
Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and then “tent” it. This means folding it in half lengthwise and then unfolding it so it doesn’t lay totally flat, like a tent. Then use it to cover the lasagna with the middle “tent” part not touching the top of the lasagna. This process is optional, but will prevent the foil from touching the cheese and pulling it off when removed.
Bake covered for 1 hour and 10 minutes, if using uncooked noodles. Bake for 50 minutes if using cooked noodles. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Ingredients
- Ground beef – Use whatever amount of fat ratio works for you. If using a higher-fat beef, drain off extra fat before adding to sauce.
- Italian Pork Sausage – Uncooked, that can be cooked and crumbled with the ground beef.
- Marinara sauce – So many options here. Check your labels and find one that supports your dietary needs.
- Dried basil (optional)
- Dried garlic (optional)
- Dairy-free ricotta cheese – I have only seen the Kitehill brand, but hopefully more and more will come onto the market!
- Egg (optional)
- Gluten-free lasagna noodles – I have found and tried a variety at my local natural food store. Just double-check the package to whether it needs to be cooked prior to layering it into the lasagna.
- Dairy-free mozzarella – My favorite brand is Violife. You can read HERE my honest reviews of all the dairy-free mozzarella cheese I found.

Gluten-free Dairy-free Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground Italian pork sausage
- 5 cups marinara sauce, divided (about 40 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil optional
- 1 teaspoon dried garlic optional
- 1 8-oz package dairy-free ricotta cheese I have only found the Kitehill brand
- 1 egg optional
- 1 9-oz package gluten-free lasagna noodles I used Jovial
- 1 8-oz package dairy-free mozzarella cheese I love Violife
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, cook the ground hamburger and sausage until brown, approximately 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add 3 cups marinara sauce to the ground meat. Sprinkle with dried basil and garlic, if desired for an added flavor boost.
- Combine ricotta cheese with egg until well mixed. The egg is optional, but will help the ricotta spread more easily.
- If noodle package instructions require, precook lasagna noodles. I used the Jovial ones that don't require pre-cooking if you use a longer cook time.
- Layer your lasagna in a 9x13 pan: Spread 1/3 of the meat mixture on the bottom. Then add a layer of noodles (breaking to fit if needed), 1/2 the ricotta, 1/3 of the meat sauce, and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat again: noodles, remaining ricotta, remaining meat sauce, mozzarella. The last time, do the noodles, the left over 2 cups marinara, and remaining mozzarella.
- Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and then "tent" it - folding it in half lengthwise and then unfolding so it doesn't lay totally flat anymore, like a tent. Then use it to cover the lasagna with the middle "tent" part not touching the top of the lasagna. This process is optional but will prevent the foil from touching the cheese and pulling it off when removed.
- Bake covered for 1 hr 10 minutes if using uncooked noodles, 50 minutes if using cooked noodles. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You can use whatever 2 pounds of ground meat you prefer. I just find the half hamburger, half Italian sausage to be a more interesting flavor profile.
- Leave out the egg if needed for egg free.
Can I make this ahead and freeze it? If so, how long do I bake it from frozen?
That’s a great question! I would assume YES, it could be built ahead and then frozen and cooked later. However, I am not sure how long it would have to be baked from frozen. I will have to make a note to experiment with that. Let me know if you try it and find the answer first!
Absolutely delicious!! I have multiple food intolerances that I found out about 4 years ago. It’s been years since I’ve had lasagna and I have been looking for a gf/df recipe. This ends up with the perfect texture and flavor. Couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!
I’m so thrilled this brought lasagna back and was loved. Thank you!