I tried lasagna recipes from Ina Garten, Ree Drummond, and Giada De Laurentiis, and the winner used cottage cheese

By: Terri Peters

24 December 2024 at 06:18

two pieces of lasagna on a plate labeled ree Drummond and giada delaurentiis — I found three very different lasagna recipes from popular celebrity chefs.
Terri Peters

My family loves lasagna, so I tried recipes from Ina Garten, Ree Drummond, and Giada De Laurentiis.
I thought De Laurentiis' dish lacked flavor, and Garten's was a little too cheesy.
Drummond's recipe was the unanimous favorite, a classic take that called for 3 pounds of meat.

Lasagna is a favorite meal in my house.

As a busy mom with a picky eater, I find lasagna a straightforward dish with familiar ingredients that pleases my family.

I have a standard family recipe I always use, but I recently tested out lasagna recipes from the celebrity chefs Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, and Ree Drummond.

Here's how the unique recipes stacked up.

Garten’s recipe calls for interesting ingredients, such as goat cheese.

ingredients for ina garten's lasagna recipe, including cheese, tinned tomatoes, and lasagna noodles, arranged on a kitchen counter — Garten's lasagna had ground turkey and a mix of cheeses.
Terri Peters

Garten's easy turkey lasagna is a simple take on the standard recipe with a few surprising ingredients — namely, goat cheese for the filling.

Her recipe calls for sweet Italian turkey sausage, but since I had trouble finding that at any grocery stores near me, I used regular ground turkey and seasoned it with Italian seasoning, red-pepper flakes, and a bit of sugar.

This base sauce has ground turkey and crushed tomatoes.

sauce made from meat, tomatoes, and seasoning simmering in a pot on the stove — I made the sauce first.
Terri Peters

After seasoning the ground turkey, making the sauce was pretty straightforward.

When I simmered onion, fresh herbs, canned crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste together, I had a pretty standard, meaty sauce to work with.

Garten's recipe combines goat cheese and ricotta for a flavorful mixture.

ricotta and goat cheese in a metal mixing bowl with a rubber spatula — I don't usually put goat cheese in my lasagna, but I was willing to give it a try.
Terri Peters

I'd never made lasagna with goat cheese, but Garten's recipe meant I stirred 3 to 4 ounces of it into 15 ounces of ricotta.

The combination was tart and flavorful. The flavors of the goat cheese stood out in the dish, especially with the lightness of the ground turkey.

The chef then tops it all off with even more cheese.

fresh mozzarella on lasagna noodles in a pan next to a pot of sauce and a plate of more cheese — I love adding fresh mozzarella to my lasagna.
Terri Peters

I really liked that Garten's recipe included fresh mozzarella cheese.

So many lasagnas lean on grated or shredded mozzarella, so slicing up a fresh log was a nice touch.

Garten's lasagna would be the winner if I were giving awards for the cheesiness.

spoon pulling up a piece of cheesy lasagna from a casserole dish — Garten's lasagna ended up being super cheesy.
Terri Peters

Garten's cheese-laden lasagna was a dairy lover's dream.

The goat cheese gave that layer some extra tang and flavor, and the fresh mozzarella provided layers of thick, cheesy goodness that made for a great cheese pull.

De Laurentiis’ lasagna recipe calls for lots of spinach.

ingredients for giada's italian lasagna on a kitchen counter — De Laurentiis has a fresh take on lasagna.
Terri Peters

De Laurentiis' classic Italian lasagna made me question the standard recipe I've been following for years.

I'm used to ground meat, cheeses, and tomato sauce. But De Laurentiis' recipe requires 20 ounces of frozen spinach and a mixture of white béchamel sauce and homemade tomato sauce.

I cooked the meat separately from the sauce.

smooth tomato sauce in a pot with a rubber spatula — Giada De Laurentiis doesn't add her meat to the sauce right away.
Terri Peters

De Laurentiis' method puzzled me, but who am I to argue with a master of Italian cuisine?

I made a béchamel sauce and a standard tomato sauce to assemble the chef's lasagna and stirred the two together.

De Laurentiis also said to keep the ground beef separate, layering it into the dish on its own.

I needed a lot of ricotta and eggs for De Laurentiis’ lasagna.

pan of ricotta cheese spread over lasagna with bowls of other ingredients around it — The recipe called for 1 ½ pounds of ricotta cheese.
Terri Peters

Before assembling, I followed the instructions and stirred together three large eggs and 1 ½ pounds of ricotta cheese.

I'm not a fan of a lasagna that's heavy on the egg flavor, but her recipe wasn't overly eggy in the end.

The large amount of spinach detracted from the dish's overall flavor.

hotel tray full of spinach lasagna — I don't think I'll continue adding spinach to my lasagna.
Terri Peters

De Laurentiis' recipe had a lot of spinach, and there wasn't much seasoning to add flavor.

The spinach was my least favorite ingredient in any of the lasagna recipes, and I'm usually a big fan of the leafy green.

De Laurentiis’ lasagna took the longest and was our least favorite.

pan of cooked lasagna with browned cheese on top on a kitchen counter — I'm not planning on making De Laurentiis' lasagna for my family again.
Terri Peters

De Laurentiis' lasagna disappointed me, mostly because it wasn't very flavorful.

I don't think the many steps of the complicated recipe paid off in the end.

Drummond's recipe calls for 3 pounds of meat.

ingredients for ree drummond's lasagna on a kitchen counter — Drummond's lasagna was heavy on the meat.
Terri Peters

Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman, doesn't mess around with protein-filled meals.

Her simple lasagna recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground beef and a pound of hot breakfast sausage.

The chef also included cottage cheese instead of traditional ricotta and tons of fresh herbs, such as basil and parsley.

Drummond’s sauce was full of ground meat and fresh herbs.

meat sauce with herbs cooking in a pot over the stove — I liked the addition of basil and parsley.
Terri Peters

I eat a high-protein diet, so I was immediately drawn to Drummond's meat-heavy lasagna sauce.

Like Garten, Drummond's recipe relies on canned tomatoes and tomato paste to make up the rest of the sauce, along with lots of chopped, fresh herbs.

The recipe requires cottage cheese instead of ricotta.

cottage cheese mixture in a metal mixing bowl with a wooden spoon — I couldn't tell the difference between the lasagna with ricotta and this one with cottage cheese.
Terri Peters

Cottage cheese is a staple for meeting my daily protein goals, but I'd never had it in lasagna.

Drummond completely did away with traditional ricotta, and in the end, I enjoyed the flavor the cottage cheese brought to the meal.

My son, the picky eater, didn't even notice the switch.

Drummond’s meaty lasagna had the most flavor, hands down.

meat lasagna arranged in a metal hotel pan — I've never put this much meat in my lasagna before, but it was delicious.
Terri Peters

Tossing 3 pounds of meat into a lasagna felt like overkill, but I ended up loving it.

Lasagna can be carb- and dairy-heavy, so I liked how protein-packed Drummond's version was.

Of the three dishes, Drummond’s is the one I’d make again.

cooked meat lasagna in a pan on a kitchen counter — I can't wait to add Ree Drummond's lasagna to my dinner rotation.
Terri Peters

Drummond's meaty lasagna was my favorite.

I would make her recipe again — it just might replace the family recipe I always default to.

Drummond's lasagna was perfectly cheesy and flavorful, had the right ratio of sauce to noodles, and was incredibly simple to assemble.

Best of all, it was a hit with my entire family.

This story was originally published on December 21, 2023, and most recently updated on December 24, 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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