This ravioli lasagna skips the two longest parts of lasagna: boiling noodles and layering. I make it start to finish in my braiser with a bag of frozen cheese ravioli, and my husband and daughter both loved it!

A serving of ravioli topped with melted cheese and red sauce on a plate, with a gold fork and a side of bread.

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Drop the frozen ravioli into the sauce and cook them right in it, covered, so the cheese filling is already done. A splash of heavy cream makes jarred marinara taste finished, and ricotta and mozzarella on top give it the lasagna flavor.

For a from-scratch version, my lasagna rolls with spinach are a weekend project. For another easy pasta night, try my marry me chicken pasta or my creamy mushroom soup with orzo.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

One pan: you brown the sausage, make the sauce, and bake the lasagna in the same braiser.
No boiling, no layering: the ravioli go in frozen, and the ricotta and cheese just get spread over the top.
About 20 minutes of hands-on time: the oven does the rest.
A sauce that doesn’t taste as if it came from a jar: a splash of heavy cream softens the sharp edge of jarred marinara.
One trip to the store: every ingredient is sitting at Giant, including the ravioli.

What you need for this lasagna

Frozen cheese ravioli: straight from the freezer. No thawing.
Italian sausage: sweet or hot, casings removed. Buy the ground sausage in the tray, and you skip the casings entirely. You’ll only use half the package, so freeze the rest for another night.
Marinara: I use Rao’s. Whatever you buy, pick a sauce you’d happily eat on plain pasta, since it carries most of the flavor.
Heavy cream: just a splash. This is what makes jarred sauce taste finished.
Whole-milk ricotta: mixed with an egg and parmesan. Whole-milk ricotta bakes up creamier than part-skim.

Substitutions and Variations

Four-cheese or beef ravioli: any frozen ravioli works. Giant also carries a jumbo round four-cheese ravioli.
Ground beef instead of sausage: use ½ lb and add ½ tsp Italian seasoning to the sauce, since beef brings no seasoning of its own.
Meatless: skip the sausage and start the sauce with the garlic and tomato paste in 1 Tbsp olive oil.
Spinach: squeeze half a thawed 10 oz box of frozen spinach dry and stir it into the ricotta.
No braiser: use a deep 12-inch oven-safe skillet and cover it with a lid or foil. Or make the sauce in a skillet, then pour it into a 9×13 baking dish, add the ravioli and toppings, and cover with foil.

This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!

How to make ravioli lasagna step by step

Crumbled ground meat browning in a skillet with seasoned fat.

Brown the sausage. Cook the sausage in the braiser over medium-high heat, breaking it into small crumbles, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

A white spoon rests in a pan of creamy orange tomato-based meat sauce.

Finish the sauce. Pour in the marinara. Add the water to the empty jar, shake it to catch the last of the sauce, and pour it in. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream. Add ½ tsp salt, then taste and add more if needed.

A glass bowl filled with a creamy, speckled ricotta cheese mixture.

Mix the ricotta. Stir the ricotta, egg, 2 Tbsp parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper until smooth.

A skillet filled with ravioli in red sauce topped with a generous layer of shredded cheese.

Add the ravioli and toppings. Stir the frozen ravioli into the sauce, then press them down until every one is covered. Dollop the ricotta over the top and spread it gently, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and the rest of the parmesan.

A pan of baked pasta covered in melted cheese and tomato sauce.

Bake covered, then uncovered. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake 15 more minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the cheese is fully melted. For browned cheese on top, broil for a few minutes, watching closely.

Baked ravioli in tomato sauce topped with melted cheese and fresh basil, with a serving being lifted by a spoon from a round skillet.

Rest, then serve. Let it sit 10 minutes. It looks loose and saucy straight out of the oven, and that is fine: it thickens as it rests. Scatter with basil and scoop it straight from the pan.

Can you use frozen ravioli in lasagna?

Yes, and frozen is the easier choice. Drop the ravioli straight from the bag into the hot sauce and cook, covered, steaming in the sauce like lasagna noodles.

The one adjustment is liquid. Frozen pasta drinks up sauce as it cooks, so add ¼ cup water to a full jar of marinara.

What kind of ravioli is best for lasagna?

Cheese ravioli. Since there’s no layering, the shape doesn’t matter much: square and round ravioli both settle into the sauce. I haven’t tested mini ravioli here. They pack in much more densely and may need more sauce and a different bake time.

Ravioli lasagna vs. baked ravioli casserole

They start with the same ingredients but end up differently. The America’s Test Kitchen recipe this is adapted from, Cheesy Ravioli Bake with Sausage, is a baked ravioli casserole: you boil fresh ravioli, toss them with the sauce in a baking dish, top with mozzarella, and bake for about 5 minutes in a very hot oven.

This version skips the pot of water. The frozen ravioli bake right in the sauce, in the same pan you browned the sausage in, and the ricotta and mozzarella on top give it the lasagna flavor. It takes longer in the oven, but most of that time is hands-off, and you only have one pan to wash.

Is this the same as lazy lasagna?

Pretty much. “Lazy lasagna” is the nickname for any lasagna that skips the fussy parts, and ravioli are the most common shortcut because the cheese filling is already inside. This one goes a step further and skips the layering too.

Sarah’s Tips

Taste the sauce before the ravioli go in. The first time I made this, it only needed more salt. Jarred marinara and sausage vary a lot, so season the sauce right in the pan.
Don’t bother layering. When I tested this, I made sure every ravioli was under the sauce, then spread ricotta on top and covered it with cheese. It came out great with nothing fussy about it.
Rinse the jar with water. Frozen ravioli soak up a surprising amount of sauce, and dry tops are the most common complaint about no-boil ravioli bakes. The ¼ cup of water keeps them tender and helps remove the last of the sauce from the jar.
Bury every ravioli. Any edge sticking up out of the sauce will bake up hard and chewy.
Give it the full 10 minutes to rest. The sauce thickens and the ricotta sets, so it scoops instead of running.

FAQs

Yes. A deep 12-inch oven-safe skillet keeps it a one-pan dinner; cover it with a lid or foil. You can also make the sauce in a skillet and finish it in a foil-covered 9×13 baking dish. Skip an 8×8 pan, since it’s too small for a full bag of ravioli. I’ve only made it in my braiser, so start checking a few minutes early in a different pan.

Yes, double everything, make the sauce in a large skillet, and finish it in a 9×13 pan covered with foil. I haven’t tested the doubled version, so check the center ravioli at the end of the covered bake and give it more time if it isn’t tender.

A plate of baked ravioli in tomato sauce topped with melted cheese and basil, with a larger skillet of the dish and a side of bread nearby.

Storage

Refrigerator: Cover the pan or move leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate within 2 hours. Leftover ravioli lasagna keeps 3–4 days, per the USDA.

Reheating: Microwave single servings covered, with a teaspoon of water over the top so the ravioli don’t dry out. For a bigger portion, reheat covered in a 350°F oven until hot in the center (165°F).

Freezer: Baked pasta dishes like this freeze well. Let leftovers cool completely, move them to a freezer-safe container or foil pan (not the braiser), cover tightly with foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat covered at 350°F until hot in the center (165°F), 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can also bake it straight from frozen, covered, for about 1 to 1½ hours.

Freezer meal: To freeze it unbaked, let the sauce cool completely, pour it into a foil pan, then add the frozen ravioli and toppings, wrap tightly, and freeze. Bake from frozen at 350°F, covered, for 1 to 1½ hours, then uncovered until bubbling, about 30 minutes more. Check that the center is hot before serving.