Busting an expensive recipe: Lasagna ($5 Dinner Challenge)

Lasagna is considered a very expensive dish to make. My dad (who is not a bargain shopper by any means) says that the ingredients for his lasagna costs $50. I did a quick google search for the average cost of lasagna and according to this website, a simple lasagna with only ground beef and using canned spaghetti sauce costs between $12 and $15. I've also heard it said many times that purchasing the Stouffer's lasagna is about the same cost as making your own. I know that I've purchased the party size box for $9.99 before.

I have lasagna on the menu today. I usually make lasagna whenever I can get the ingredients cheaply because my husband loves it. This past week I purchased cottage cheese for .99 on manager's special. I quickly decided to make lasagna, and just needed to purchase lasagna noodles, which I did for 1.99. (I've also used other types of pasta noodles and just layered them accordingly).

As I was making my lasagna, I got curious to know just how much it was costing me to make this casserole. So, I wrote everything out and I was pleasantly surprised at the results!

This recipe is an adaptation of a Recipezaar recipe for Lasagna. You can find the completele recipe with instructions here.

Serves 8

1 lb sweet Italian sausage link or hot Italian sausage, casings removed Used two links from a 19.5 lb package that had 5 links. The package was on markdown to 1.99. (.80)



1/2 lb ground beef Used 3/4 lb bag from my freezer. I purchased a 5 lb chub at .99/lb and cut it into 6 pieces. (.83)



2 tbsp garlic Shook the container a few times (.01)



2 tbsp sugar (.05?)



1 tbsp salt Sprinlke a dash (.01)



1 1/2 tsp sweet basil see below



1/2 tsp fennel seed see below



pepper see below



2 tbsp parsley see below



1 (20 oz) can of red pear tomatoes Used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano purchased on sale with coupon (Free)



2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste (.82) I also added a can of tomato sauce because my husband likes it saucy (.15) and a few shakes of Italian seasoning (.05?)



1 (16 oz) container of ricotta cheese Used an equivalent container of cottage cheese that I purchased on manager special. We don't care either way. (.99)



3/4 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced Used shredded mozzarella cheese purchased on sale with coupon (.38)



3/4 cup Parmesan cheese I just shook the container over the dish (1.00)



12 lasagna noodles Used only ten which was exactly half the package and fit perfectly in my dish (1.00)



1 egg I don't have any so choose not to use it. I don't think it will make any difference, but I'll let you know



Grand total: 6.09 This serves 8, so it will feed us for two dinners and at least one lunch. So, $3 for dinner to serve 4. I will add a pound of zucchini on the side that I purchased for .99/lb, so $4.00 Total.

So, my pan of lasagna cost me about half the lasagna that I linked to above cost, and I used two types of meat, made my own sauce and didn't skimp on the cheese. How did I do this? By buying on sale with coupons, and being willing to experiment a little with ingredients. I tasted the lasagna and it tasted wonderful! My sauce turned out fantastic and wasn't the least bit dulled by the substitutions that I made.

I had all of the ingredients, except for the cottage cheese and the lasagna noodles in my cupboard already, which is why it made it on the menu. This is key: make your menu from your stockpile. Don't make your grocery list from your menu. If you do, you'll wind up paying way too much money because not everything will be on sale.

This post participate in the $5 Dinner Challenge over at $5 Dinner Mom!