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Lazy Lasagna Casserole ($10 Family Dinner Idea)

Crystal’s Grocery Purchases From the Past Two Weeks

Lazy Lasagna Casserole ($10 Family Dinner Idea)

Whip up this lazy lasagna made with rotini noodles — a budget-friendly, family-approved twist that’s easier, faster, and often cheaper than traditional lasagna. This hearty under-$10 dinner delivers all the cheesy, saucy comfort you love with simple ingredients you can snag on sale.

This post is part of our $10 Dinner Ideas series, brought to you by Brigette on our team! Each week, she will be sharing easy, delicious, and affordable family-friendly dinner ideas that cost less than $10 to make, use everyday ingredients, and are super quick meals.

A baked pasta casserole filled with rotini noodles, marinara sauce, and melted cheese sits in a turquoise ceramic dish on a wooden board.

Why You’ll Love This Lazy Lasagna Casserole Recipe

Lazy Lasagna Casserole is a huge crowd-pleaser, and it’s easier to throw together than traditional lasagna. I can always score cheap rotini pasta with coupons and sales (but not cheap lasagna noodles – anyone else find it to be this way?), and since I ended up with 7 boxes of pasta last week for $1.52 total, I knew it was a perfect week to make this recipe!

Crystal has some great ideas of things you can substitute or add-in to Lazy Lasagna Casserole, so be sure to read her notes on the recipe! I ended up using the entire 14.5oz box of noodles (the recipe only calls for 8oz), and then added some extra pasta sauce to account for the extra noodles (but didn’t change the amounts of any of the other ingredients) – making this recipe stretch even further!

I served it with green beans and some crescent rolls that I had gotten for $0.84 last week, but the side possibilities for this dish are practically endless. It would be amazing with a tossed salad!

A baking dish holds a cheesy easy lasagna casserole with cottage cheese and melted mozzarella and tomato sauce, placed on a wooden board. Three golden crescent rolls sit beside it, with a green bowl of cooked green beans and a red checkered cloth in the background.

Lazy Lasagna Casserole Dinner Menu:

Lazy Lasagna Casserole
Green Beans
Crescent Rolls

A variety of ingredients for a lasagna casserole recipe are arranged on a wooden table, including shredded cheese in a green bowl, a jar of pasta sauce, cottage cheese, canned green beans, crushed tomatoes, Barilla protein rotini, ground sausage, two eggs, an onion, Italian seasoning, and a tube of crescent rolls.

Ingredients for Lazy Lasagna Casserole:

1-lb sausage (Aldi) — $2.79
1 onion (Aldi – $2.75 for 4 lbs) — $0.28
3 cups shredded cheese (Bargain City – $11 for 5lbs) — $1.22
1 can crushed tomatoes (Harris Teeter) — $0.50
3/4 jar pasta sauce (Aldi – $1.38) — $1.04
2 eggs (Aldi – $1.96 for 12) — $0.33
2 cups cottage cheese (Aldi – $2.65 for 24oz) — $1.77
1 box Barilla protein rotini pasta (Publix – $0.78 for 4 boxes) — $0.20
italian seasoning, salt, pepper
2 cans green beans (Aldi) — $1
1 can Pillsbury crescent rolls (Publix) — $0.84

Grand Total for Dinner: $9.97 (serves 6-8)

A freshly baked lazy lasagna casserole topped with melted cheese and tomato sauce is served in a white dish with teal handles. The meal is paired with crescent rolls and a side of green beans

How to Make Easy Lasagna Casserole:

1. Follow the directions here. My modifications to the recipe: I used an entire 14.5 oz box of pasta and about 3/4 cups extra pasta sauce while keeping all of the other ingredients the same as the original recipe. For this lasagna recipe with cottage cheese, I also used 3 cups of shredded cheese.

Ground sausage and chopped onions are sizzling in a frying pan on a stovetop.

Ingredients are prepped for a pasta bake, with cooked rotini in a pot, a red bowl of meat sauce, and a green bowl filled with a cottage cheese and shredded cheese mixture.

An unbaked easy lasagna casserole sits in a turquoise-handled dish, layered with meat sauce, cottage cheese, and shredded mozzarella.

A freshly baked lazy lasagna casserole is shown in a white dish with teal handles, topped with melted mozzarella cheese and specks of herbs.

2. Prep any additional sides while the casserole is baking. I baked the crescent rolls and heated up the green beans. Easy and delicious – and we have enough casserole leftovers to have for lunch!

An easy lasagna sits in a white dish with teal handles, surrounded by three golden crescent rolls and a bowl of green beans.

Lazy Lasagna Casserole with Green Beans & Crescent Rolls

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword easy dinner, family favorite, homemade, lasagna, pasta, weeknight dinner

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Stand Time 10

Servings

Calories 557kcal

Author Brigette

Cost $9.97

Ingredients

1- lb sausage Aldi — $2.79
1 onion Aldi – $2.75 for 4 lbs — $0.28
3 cups shredded cheese Bargain City – $11 for 5lbs — $1.22
1 can can crushed tomatoes Harris Teeter — $0.50
3/4 jar pasta sauce Aldi – $1.38 — $1.04
2 eggs Aldi – $1.96 for 12 — $0.33
2 cups cottage cheese Aldi – $2.65 for 24oz — $1.77
1 box Barilla protein rotini pasta Publix – $0.78 for 4 boxes — $0.20
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
salt and pepper
2 cans green beans Aldi — $1
1 can Pillsbury crescent rolls Publix — $0.84

Instructions

Brown ground beef and onion until cooked through. Drain.
While the meat is cooking, boil the noodles according to the package directions.
Mix spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes with browned ground beef.
Set 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese aside to sprinkle on the top.
Combine the rest of the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, and salt and pepper.
In a 7″ x 11″ pan, layer a third of the meat sauce, then the noodles, then the cheese mixture.
Repeat the layers two more times.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
Bake at 350º for 30 to 45 minutes (until bubbly).
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

A lasagna fresh out of the oven sits on a wooden cutting board, topped with melted cheese.

More Ideas for Family Dinners Under $10:

And, be sure to check out all our easy dinner recipes here!

Crystal’s Grocery Purchases From the Past Two Weeks

I didn’t get a chance to share my grocery post last week, so I’m going to do an abbreviated post this week to catch you up on what I bought and spent the past two weeks. Moving forward, I’m going to try to post these posts every Thursday — they will include all my grocery purchases from the past week + our dinner menu plan! I hope it is helpful!

I went to Walgreens twice (I’m still learning the system and how it works and have made some mistakes! But I got this shown here + two AXE Body Washes and paid around $10 total for all of that. I had planned to spend less, but I discovered my Walgreens coupon and one of the $5 Register Rewards had expired before I had gotten to use it — oops! Lesson learned: don’t assume an RR is good for a week after it prints!)

I also got 7 items from Amazon (not all of them have come in yet!) and it was around $12 total.

Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Packets (50 count) for only $6.44 shipped when you checkout through Subscribe & Save!

Amazon Grocery Chicken Broth, 32 Oz for just $1.25 shipped! (Want even more? Save an extra 10% off when you buy four — you’ll get four cartons for only $4.12 after discount, making it only $1.03 each, shipped!)

Amazon Grocery, Canned Pinto Beans for just $0.52 shipped when you check out through Subscribe & Save!

Amazon Grocery, Canned Great Northern Beans, 15.5 Oz for just $0.56!

Amazon Grocery, Petite Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 Oz for only $0.77 shipped when you check out through Subscribe & Save!

Chex Mix Savory Traditional Snack Mix for only $0.92 shipped when you clip the 25% off coupon and check out with Subscribe & Save!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Breakfast Cereal, 12 oz for just $1.86 shipped when you check out through Subscribe & Save!