What's The Best Temperature To Cook Lasagna At, Really?

A quintessential one-pan dish, it's hard to beat the delicious comfort of a loaded lasagna browned to perfection. However, if not cooked properly, the layered noodle casserole runs the risk of coming out of the oven cold — and no one wants that. The key to ensuring your lasagna heats through is to cook it at the correct oven temperature, which is around 400 degrees Fahrenheit, according to married chefs Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli, co-owners of critically acclaimed Italian-American restaurant Don Angie and co-authors of "Italian American: Red Sauce Classics and New Essentials: A Cookbook."

In addition to running successful restaurants in New York City, Rito and Tacinelli are on the food council of City Harvest, a NYC non-profit dedicated to feeding New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity. On Tuesday, October 29, 2024, City Harvest will host its fall tasting event and fundraiser, BID 2024: CHTV!, at The Glasshouse in Manhattan. Tacinelli and Rito told Chowhound about the best way to cook lasagna, noting that "There is an important two-part process to cooking lasagna so that it warms evenly and browns perfectly on the top. Because stacked lasagnas can be pretty dense, the first part of the cooking process should be done covered with foil, at around 400 degrees, so that the top doesn't over brown."

According to Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli, covering your lasagna with foil while it cooks will help hold in the heat, ensuring that the lasagna cooks through entirely, which could take around 45 minutes to an hour. Once it reaches the ideal internal temperature of around 175 degrees, it's time for the second part of the process.

This step will give you that crispy, bubbly, browned cheese topping that's the hallmark of a superb lasagna. After cooking your noodle dish covered in foil, Tacinelli and Rito advise removing the metal covering and broiling the dish's cheesy surface: "Allow [it] to brown for 10 to 15 minutes, until it reaches [the] desired browning/doneness on the top layer." The direct heat from the broiler (the metal coils on your oven's ceiling) will quickly turn the top of your lasagna bubbly and browned without drying out the inside. 

While a fairly straightforward dish, there are avoidable mistakes everyone makes when cooking lasagna. For one, make sure to follow the expert advice that makes lasagna hold its shape. Also, don't be afraid to think outside the box and try the ricotta cheese swap you need for stellar lasagna. Follow these pro tips and you'll be well on your way toward restaurant-worthy lasagna in no time.