Best Individual Lasagna Cups Recipe

When it comes to pasta dishes, lasagna is one of the most popular ones out there, and for good reason. The classic Italian dish traditionally comes with layers of noodles, cheese, and meat — and it doesn't get much better than that! Of course, it's pretty easy to customize lasagna, so you can get creative with what kinds of cheese you throw in, or you could even sub vegetables instead of meat.

Recipe developer and private practice registered dietician Kristen Carli puts a unique spin on traditional lasagna in this individual lasagna cups recipe. Instead of layering the lasagna in one large baking dish, you'll instead create single lasagna cups using a muffin tin, which is perfect for families and dinner parties! 

"This is a fun take on lasagna," Carli explains of the dish. "While more time-intensive, it is a fun way to create individual lasagna." Best of all, this recipe incorporates all of the best elements of traditional lasagna, thanks to the ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, and noodle cups. If you love lasagna and want to get creative with the dish, give this individual lasagna cups recipe a try.

Before you can start cooking these individual lasagna cups, you'll want to make sure that you have the right ingredients. Just like with traditional lasagna, you'll need lasagna noodles as the base. Additionally, you'll need ground beef, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, ricotta cheese, Italian seasoning, and shredded mozzarella cheese. Carli notes that you could easily switch up what kind of meat you use, and opt for ground chicken or turkey instead. "For a vegetarian version, I would recommend using a veggie-based meat," she adds. Also, it would be easy to throw in some vegetables to the mix, and Carli says that frozen spinach, diced onion, and eggplant are all great options.

Once you've sorted your ingredients, you can start cooking. First, preheat your oven to 350 F, and grease a muffin tin. Then, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add in the lasagna noodles, and cook according to the package's instructions. Once the noodles are done cooking, drain and set them aside.

Now, you can get started on cooking the meat. Add the ground beef to a large skillet, and cook until no longer pink. Then, add in the tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper, and stir it all up. Finally, cook this mixture for an additional five minutes.

Now it's time to get a little creative with the lasagna noodles! Start by cutting six of the noodles in half lengthwise, leaving you with 12 thin, long strips. Then, grab a ¼ cup measuring cup, and use that base to cut out 12 circles, which will serve as the bottom part of your lasagna cups. 

Meanwhile, you can also quickly whip up the ricotta mixture for the lasagna cups. In a small bowl, simply mix together the ricotta cheese, Italian seasoning, and remaining salt and pepper until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. 

Now that all of the elements of the lasagna cups are ready to go, you can begin constructing them. First, place the noodles circles at the bottom of each opening in the muffin tin. Then, wrap the noodle strips around the sides, forming a cup. Scoop in 1 tablespoon of the meat sauce, followed by 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture. And there's no such thing as too much cheese, so top off each cup with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. 

Finally, you can pop the whole muffin tin in the oven, and allow the lasagna cups to bake for 12 minutes. You'll know that they're done when the mozzarella cheese is nice and melty.

Once you finish baking the lasagna cups, you can pull them out of the oven, serve, and enjoy! You'll notice that these individual lasagna cups have all of the wonderful, savory flavors of traditional lasagna, but they're much more fun to eat. While these little pasta cups are a fulfilling meal on their own, Carli notes that you can also serve them with garlic bread or a Caesar salad to round out the dish. Whether you want to get creative with your next family dinner or try something new for a dinner party, these individual lasagna cups are sure to please every palate!