The Lasagna Reheating Tip J. Kenji López-Alt Swears By

We hear you. The thought of having leftover lasagna is, well, it's just an oxymoron. A contradiction in terms. But it can happen, and when it does, Serious Eats' culinary consultant and veteran food writer J. Kenji López-Alt proposed a way to reheat lasagna so that leftovers are virtually guaranteed the next time you make this much-loved casserole. 

In an Instagram post that picked up over 15,000 likes, López-Alt shared a pro-tip involving the classic dish: "Leftover lasagna pro-tip: cut it into slices while cold and fry them sideways so the cut edges get all crispy." He also offered up a caveat: "This isn't my original idea! I don't remember where I first saw it but it was definitely done st (sic) @delposto for a while like a decade ago." For those of us who might neither know or recall, Del Posto was a New York restaurant that once received four stars from a New York Times dining review. Like a number of legendary restaurants, Del Posto was a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic and the restaurant closed its doors in April of 2021 (via The New York Times). 

As López-Alt admits, the idea is not his own, because the Internet is full of proposals that involve the creation of a fried lasagna — but more than a few of them call for the classic dish to be breaded and deep-fried, like this one from Razzle Dazzle Life.

In fact, this isn't the first time López-Alt has discussed the idea either, because he's mentioned this trick in a post for Serious Eats once before. López-Alt has even tried reheating lasagna in a waffle maker, and he noted: "I'm happy to report that leftover lasagna does waffle, and it does it with style and grace."

Still, any good idea is worth repeating, and López-Alt's Instagram followers were deeply appreciative. "You crazy for this one kenyeeze! Looks righteous," one social media follower said. Another mentioned: "I make my lasagnas in Pullman pans for this exact reason. Amazing way to pick up for restaurant service as well."

To fry your leftover lasagne, López-Alt has just one suggestion to make, and that's to cut up the lasagna so that each portion is about half an inch thick. You're welcome.