Cowboys MUST eat pepperonis, Italian sausage and ground beef and that THREE MEAT thing must mean COWBOYS? Right? Trisha Yearwood's Cowboy Lasagna recipe is filled with a hearty meat mixture, ricotta cheese and cups and cups of cheese! It's really the Best Cowboy Lasagna Easy Recipe (Trisha Yearwood's)
PERFECT, meaty and filling! This Cowboy Lasagna is the EXACT thing you’ll want to fill bellies and satisfy tastebuds! It rivals our Best Classico Lasagna recipe even!
COWBOY LASAGNA
The Prized Cowboy Lasagna Recipe
Name a Cookbook Author, Food Network Star and Southern Songstress who rivals the Pioneer Woman in being a passionate hostess and in TV star cooking show fame: enter Trisha Yearwood.
This is Yearwood's Lasagna Recipe and is a great way to add cookbook home cooking recommended by more than a couple of people!
It's perfect for your family's holiday soiree or any time you need a crowd-pleasing recipe in a casserole dish that pleases even the pickiest eater!
A delicious taste of home found in cheese pulls, layer of lasagna noodles, a mix of ricotta and jar sauce! Giada de Laurentiis Italian recipes and Ina Garten's Best Dinner Recipes have got nothing on the Best Cowboy Lasagna Easy Recipe (Trisha Yearwood's)!
Why This Recipe Works…
- Pound of Ground Beef, Sausage and Pepperonis make the Best Lasagna!
- Single Layers of Ounces Mozzarella Cheese Melty Cheese and Cheese Pulls!
- Flavors of a traditional lasagna recipe with the surprise of the addition of spicy pepperoni!
- A layer of the prepared sauce!
Here’s How It’s Done…
Add that parmesan last! Then Bake, that's it!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Can I Just Make ½ of This Recipe?
Yes! make it in a 8×8 or 9×9 pan.
Can I FREEZE this Lasagna?
Certainly! It freezes GREAT!
Either cover and wrap the entire pan in freezer safe plastic or paper OR package individual slices in freezer bags. Here’s some great info about food storage from the CDC.
Sure, you can use the crumbles and vegan pepperoni, use good vegan melting cheeses as well.
It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days if kept covered.
How Do I Reheat This Lasagna?
- Place the entire pan in the oven on 350 and heat for 20 minutes or until heated through.
- If reheating a single slice, it’s best to do that in a microwave in a microwave safe container, covered with plastic wrap and a few drops of water in the bowl.
- On high for 1 minute, check and go in 30 second intervals after that.
TIPS and TRICKS For Cowboy Lasagna
- Prepare everything ahead before you try to assemble. Just makes it easier.
- You can brown ground beef over medium heat with the Italian sausage in a heavy skillet and just add as one ingredient.
- If you can’t find Italian sausage in a bulk form then just use the links and squeeze the meat from the casings and discard the casings.
- If you want some super melty and tasty lasagna, use the fresh mozzarella and WOW! Wonderful! Use real parmesan cheese too and WHOA!
- Always start a lasagna with some of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish – it helps prevent sticking!
- Coat your casserole dish with cooking spray or olive oil for less sticking.
- You can substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta.
PRO TIP: To make this as quickly as possible, use the no boil lasagna noodles, jarred tomato sauce and preshredded cheeses. That only leaves you with browning the meats before hand.
HOW TO MAKE COWBOY LASAGNA IN THE CROCKPOT
Precook your noodles as indicated in the recipe below. Coat the pot with olive oil Then layer the ingredients as indicated for oven baking. Repeat layers until complete.
Set the crockpot on low and allow to cook for 4 hours.
HOW TO MAKE COWBOY LASAGNA IN THE TOASTER OVEN
Cut the recipe in half and make in a pan that will fit in the toaster oven.
COWBOY LASAGNA WITH TATERTOTS
There are a lot of ways to make this recipe your own but one of my favorites is to substitute the lasagna noodles with a package of tater tots! Give it a try!
Ya’ll Be Sweet and Help Me Out, OK?
It sure is a big help to me when you leave me a 5 STAR COMMENT 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟below in the comment section. I appreciate it so much!
This Cowboy Lasagna post was originally published on May 14, 2016
COWBOY LASAGNA
Ingredients
- 1 lb browned ground beef
- 1 lb browned italian sausage
- 2 jars tomato based Pasta Sauce
- 12 Lasagna noodles cooked per package instruction
- 12 oz pepperonis two packages
- 4 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 8 oz Ricotta Cheese
- 4 oz Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- While the oven is preheating, brown the ground beef and the Italian sausage over medium heat in a frying pan. When browned, remove each from the heat and reserve. Cook the Lasagna noodles according to package instructions and reserve.
- In a 9x13 baking dish Spoon several spoonfuls of the pasta sauce into the baking dish.
- Begin layering the ingredients as follows: 3 lasagna noodles, ⅓ of the pasta sauce, ⅓ of the browned ground beef, ⅓ of the Italian sausage, ⅓ of the pepperonis, ⅓ of the Mozzarella Cheese, ⅓ of the Ricotta Cheese, ⅓ of the parmesan. End with the cheeses on top.
- Place the 9x13 pan on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 45-55 mins until heated through and bubbly. Cheese will be melted throughout and the edges will be browned. If you like yours less browned, lightly cover with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve hot. Great with garlic bread and a salad!
Notes
- Prepare everything ahead before you try to assemble. Just makes it easier.
- You can brown the ground beef and Italian sausage together and just add as one ingredient if you want and that will taste the same.
- If you can’t find Italian sausage in a bulk form then just use the links and squeeze the meat from the casings and discard the casings.
- If you want some super melty and tasty lasagna, use the fresh mozzarella and WOW! Wonderful! I used the pre-shredded type for the video because I know that is what most American’s use - but if you use the fresh, you won’t be disappointed.
FOR TASTY LASAGNA...
- If you want some super duper tasty lasagna, use the REAL parmesan cheese! You REALLY won’t be disappointed! It is so super flavorful!
- In lots of recipes, you find me doctoring sauces with lots of herbs. Not needed in this recipe!
- Always start a lasagna with some of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish - it helps prevent sticking!
- After cooking the noodles, I always lay mine out on a cookie sheet and coat with a little spray of non stick spray. Noodles like to stick to one another and this helps keep things unsticky.
LEFT OVERS...
- This dish is WONDERFUL warmed over , which is good because it makes a TON! Invite friends over for this dish!
- You CAN freeze this dish for later and it heats back up beautifully!
Nutrition
A VERSE TO SHARE
I know this is a recipe my dad would have loved, especially for the mystery of the name (why is it called a Cowboy Lasagna anyway?). He would have made lots and lots of jokes about pepperoni eating cowboys.
AND THAT is what I love about recipes like this. d
Ecclesiastes 10:19
Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.
Robyn Smith says
Wendi, this is such a delicious recipe. It is extremely easy and a quick assembly. The hardest part was waiting for the cooking time to be up. The aroma permeated the house and my restraint was waning.
My husband, daughter, son-in-law, and myself thoroughly enjoyed every bite. I used a spicy arrabbiata sauce and was thrilled with the final result.
Froze the remaining lasagna and have such a comfort knowing I can have a replay on a whim.
Thank you!
Sarah Blackwell says
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! I really appreciate it and I am so glad you liked the recipe!
Christine says
Can you use oven ready lasagna noodles for the cowboy lasagna?
Wendi Spraker says
Yes, you absolutely can! Follow the instructions on the box. Usually that is 1. don't overlap the noodles and 2. Don't allow the noodles to touch the edges of the pan.
Chris Perry says
I haven't tried it yet, but I love the idea of adding the pepperoni!! Looks so fun and easy!!!
Wendi Spraker says
I guess pepperonis make something "cowboy"? I'm not sure. But it is very tasty!
Mia says
No doubt many people find this tasty, however, it is a heart-attack on a plate. Not only do pepperoni and most sausages contain nitrates and are high in unhealthy fat, but pepperoni, sausage, jarred/canned tomato and pasta sauces, and the cheeses all contain excessively large amounts of salt.
One can purchase lower-salt pasta sauce (although most people don’t), but still won’t be able to appropriately control the amount of salt unless the sauce is salt-free. Even if one uses pepperoni and sausage without nitrates, they will still have an unhealthy amount of salt in them because next to the meat itself, salt is the key ingredient.
People should be considering what the long-term effects are to not only themselves and their spouses, but also to their children's smaller bodies, blood vessels, and organs. Children eat what we feed them and in addition to the cumulative effect on their young bodies over time, they develop lifelong eating habits and food preferences from what we feed them.
Finally, I do not know why Trisha Yearwood (or anyone else) calls this “cowboy” lasagne. It must just be a piece of marketing herself as a Country (Country and Western) singer, because real cowboys never ate anything like this.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Mia, Absolutely! This recipe IS tasty. Very much so. It isn't healthy and I never made any claims that it was. It's comfort food and you will find that most comfort food doesn't fall in the category of "healthy". In fact, there is very little on this entire website that one would say is "healthy". There are TEN YEARS of recipes here, I welcome you to check them all out. More than a thousand, almost none are healthy. I would recommend Cowboy Lasagna as a special "treat". It's something you might ask your mom to make for a birthday. It makes a TON of lasagna so you would really need a party of people to eat the whole thing. Yes, it is salty. So is a meat lovers pizza - it has the same ingredients and also, you don't eat one every day. You are correct in how to make this less salty, but again, this isn't a health recipe. There are MANY health food websites out there, I invite you to go check those out. In fact, there is an entire website out there that uses my recipes and makes them "healthy". I think you might prefer that website. That's not what this website is about. That is why the tag line is "The Unapologetic Southern Comfort Food" Website. I have no idea why it's called "Cowboy" Lasagna. It's a fun name for fun people who enjoy some fun times and who like to laugh, I suspect that is why you might not understand the terminology.
Nancy says
I’m not sure where “cowboy” comes in. This is how we have always made lasagna.
Wendi Spraker says
That's interesting. I think the cowboy comes from the mixture of the meats and adding the pepperonis.
Nancy says
Haven't actually made it yet, but it sounds incredible.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Nancy! I hope you do and I hope you love it! We've had it a couple of times over the holidays and its still a family pleaser. Hope your family enjoys it too!
Penny says
Can't wait to fix it
Wendi Spraker says
Hope you love it!
Debbie says
This was fun to make and yummy to eat. Thanks for the recipe.
Wendi Spraker says
Glad you enjoyed!
John says
Instructions very unclear. Terribly written.
S Thornburg says
YUUUMMMMM! Going to add diced onion, mushrooms, and black olives! I LOVE Meat Lovers Pizza and Lasagna so this is AWESOME!
Wendi Spraker says
I think you are going to enjoy your additions very much!
J. Miles says
This looks like it will become a regular item on our menus. Can't wait to try it.
Wendi Spraker says
I hope you love it!
Elise says
Hi Wendy,
I’m just wondering if you use 12 lasagna noodles as the recipe calls for as I’m thinking that would be 4 layers in the pan and I don’t think that would all fit. I have a bigger pan so may use that. The recipe looks great, thank you for sharing!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Elise, It's really going to depend on your dish. For mine, yes, I use that number, but I have another same size pan that holds less (shallower sides). So, you may have to eyeball it a bit. Just as long as you get all the stuff on each of the layers, you should be good (and then end with the sauce and cheese so the top looks right!). lol.
RLSCM says
My son loves this lasagna so much. It's one of his favorite dishes. He has requested that I make it for his 16th birthday this Saturday.
Wendi Spraker says
Awwww, that is just the best! Wishing him the happiest and best birthday of all! Go get 'em Cowboy!
Maureen says
Scrumptious! Thank you for this fantastic recipe. I will be making it again and again. I pitched my old lasagna recipe as this one is so much better!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Maureen, I'm so glad you enjoyed this lasagna so much! We love it too, so meaty!
Pam G says
Can this be assembled the night before and then baked the next day? Thinking about taking it to a church potluck.
Wendi Spraker says
Yes, absolutely! Enjoy!