Barbecue lasagna has the essential gooey cheese and noodles, but in a shocking plot twist, it packs a punch with a smoky, savory, sweet homemade barbecue sauce.

I love a good food mashup. Barbecue lasagna combines two icons of the comfort food world in one casserole pan, setting them up to become the power couple they never knew they could be. This isn’t your Nonna’s lasagna (unless your Nonna wears cowboy boots and grills ribs on the weekend).

To build this beast, you’ll layer ground beef, three cheeses and a homemade barbecue sauce so tangy and sweet it might just kick tomato sauce out of your pantry. Serve this baked pasta if you need to shock your in-laws into silence with flavor, for weeknight dinners when you’re feeling a little rebellious, or whenever you want to blow minds with something cozy, cheesy and unexpected.

Ingredients for Barbecue Lasagna

• Ground beef: Use a blend of 80% lean ground beef for the most flavor. Leaner blends work too.
• Barbecue sauce: This homemade sauce is sweet, tangy and bold, and combines ketchup, chopped green pepper, diced onion, brown sugar, lemon juice, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, prepared mustard, minced garlic, clove salt, pepper, chili powder and lemon-pepper seasoning.
• Lasagna noodles: Traditional noodles work well here, but you can also use no-boil noodles to skip a step (and a pot). Just add a bit more sauce for moisture.
• Mozzarella cheese: Mozzarella brings that classic lasagna meltiness. Shredding the cheese yourself ensures a better melt.
• Sharp cheddar cheese: Sharp cheddar cuts through the sweet barbecue sauce.
• Colby cheese: Mild and melty Colby rounds out the flavor party and balances the sharper flavors.
• Cottage cheese and egg: This lasagna filling uses cottage cheese and an egg instead of ricotta. If you like the finer texture of ricotta, drain the cottage cheese and blitz it in a food processor until it’s smooth.

Taste of Home