If you enjoy making pasta for dinner, you may have wondered, “how much does it cost to make lasagna?” The pasta dish is a bit more complex than spaghetti or penne.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try. As long as you know what ingredients to use, you can estimate the cost based on what’s available at your local grocery store.
It costs about $15 to make lasagna, but the price can increase.
The specific cost depends on the type and quantity of ingredients as well as if you have any items already.
What Goes Into Lasagna
When considering the overall lasagna price, you should consider the ingredients.
You can customize your lasagna, but the standard dish includes pasta, sauce, cheese, and meat.
Some people will add basil, fennel seeds, garlic, and other seasonings.
If you like meat, you may choose to add ground beef and Italian sausage. On the other hand, a vegan may make lasagna with vegan cheese.
Think about what you want to include in your lasagna when estimating how much the dish will cost. Then, you can go shopping for the lasagna that you want to make.
Tip: If you’re vegan or vegetarian you may want to swap out the meat with mushrooms or spinach.
How to Save Money on Lasagna
If you find that the lasagna recipe you want to follow will be expensive, you have options. Some things are easy enough to do and won’t affect the final result.
Others may affect your lasagna more, but they may save you more money. Consider the following tips to help lower the cost of your next lasagna dish.
Buy in Bulk
First, you may want to buy what you can in bulk. Some of the best ingredients you can buy in bulk include:
- Pasta
- Cheese
- Sauce
You can go to a bulk grocery store to get these ingredients.
However, simply buying larger packs of items may lower the cost per ounce. Then, you’ll be able to make more lasagna at a lower cost per serving.
Freeze the ingredients you don’t use to keep from wasting them.
If you buy in bulk, consider when you’ll need to use the ingredients. Fortunately, you can use almost any lasagna ingredient for other things.
Select the Right Pasta
When looking at lasagna at the grocery store, choose the pasta carefully. For one, you should look at the different brands and what they charge for the noodles.
Consider the overall price as well as the cost per serving or ounce to save money. Some grocery stores also have pre-cooked lasagna.
The noodles may be ready to put in the oven, but they usually cost more than the lasagna you boil yourself. You have to decide if it’s worth the extra time to save money.
Tip: If you have a busy day, spending a bit more on cooked pasta may be the better choice.
Use Grocery Rewards
Another thing you can do to save money on making lasagna is using a rewards card.
If your local grocery store has a membership, join it if you haven’t already.
Most stores will give you access to special deals and coupons.
You may be able to save a bit of money on pasta or other ingredients. The discount may not seem like much, but it can lower the cost of your food, especially over time.
You’ll even be able to save on other meals.
Tip: Consider cutting coupons as well to save even more money at the store.
Keep It Simple
If you’re making lasagna without a recipe, make the dish simple. Adding more ingredients will increase the price unless you happen to have certain things on hand.
For example, you may already have salt and pepper, in which case, you may want to use those. But if you have to buy fennel seeds or basil, that can affect the lasagna price.
You can make lasagna for cheap if you only use pasta, sauce cheese, and meat.
Going meatless can save even more money and time since you won’t have to cook it.
Consider what ingredients you already have in your kitchen. You can experiment with different seasonings to improve the taste without increasing the price.
Make What You Need
You may also want to consider how much lasagna you’ll make. This is especially important if you don’t like eating leftover lasagna.
Making the right amount can cut down on food waste and save you money.
Go through your stock of pans and look for a small one. That way, you’ll be able to make enough lasagna for yourself and your family.
But you won’t have to throw away half of the dish if no one wants to eat more later.
Tip: Making extra can be a great option, but you'll need to freeze it quickly to keep it from going bad.
How Much Does It Cost to Make Lasagna?
Calculating how much it costs to make lasagna can be complex. You have to consider a lot of factors, from the ingredients you want to use to how much you’ll make.
The average pan of lasagna costs about $15 to as much as $90.
Pricing also depends on the ingredients you currently have. If you use dried seasonings that are already in your cabinet, you’ll only need the three or four main ingredients.
On the other hand, using fresh basil or garlic can increase the price. Consider a couple of other big factors that may change the cost of lasagna.
Organic Ingredients
When shopping for ingredients, consider if you want to get organic foods. Doing so may be great if you already eat organic ingredients, but it can drive up the price.
Before you select the sauce, cheese, and meat, compare your options. Think about how much the ingredients will cost if you go the organic route.
If you’d save a lot with non-organic ingredients, you have to decide what’s more important.
You also don’t have to go all-in either way. If the organic sauce is relatively cheap, maybe you go with that.
Then, you use regular meat or regular cheese to keep the lasagna from being too expensive.
Dried vs. Homemade Noodles
Another thing worth considering is if you’ll buy dried lasagna noodles or make them from scratch.
Dried noodles are almost always very cheap, regardless of the brand.
Making homemade noodles probably won’t save you money. However, it can help you get a fresher taste from your lasagna.
If you already have a pasta maker, flour, eggs, salt, and olive oil, you can make the noodles yourself.
Going out of your way to do this may increase the cost of the lasagna. But if you have pasta often, investing in a pasta maker can help you freshen things up.
Top FAQs
It’s one thing to know the answer to “how much does it cost to make lasagna?” But you may still have some questions, and here are some answers.
Is Making Lasagna Cheaper Than Buying It at a Restaurant?
Making lasagna is usually cheaper per serving than ordering it at a restaurant.
However, if you compare one lasagna order to a whole pan, the pan will cost more.
The ingredients all add up when you make the dish yourself. If you’re making lasagna for one, it may be cheaper to order it from a restaurant.
Is Lasagna Difficult to Make?
Lasagna isn’t too hard to make, but it takes more steps than other kinds of pasta.
You have to cook the noodles and assemble the dish before cooking it in the oven.
Consider how much time you have to cook dinner. That way, you can know if you need noodles that are ready for the oven. The noodles can save you a lot of time on a busy night.
How Many Servings Does One Lasagna Tray Make?
The number of servings a lasagna tray makes depends. You have to consider the size of the tray and the size of each serving.
In general, you can get about eight servings of lasagna from one tray of average size. However, larger pans may take 10 to 12 servings.
How Much Will Your Lasagna Cost?
If you want to make lasagna, you have to think about how much does it cost to make lasagna.
Then, you’ll be able to choose the right ones to save money if you’re on a budget.
Be sure to add up the price of the noodles, cheese, sauce, and meat. Add in other seasonings to figure out the final number for your dish.