Venison Lasagna

Great for chilly nights, this cozy venison lasagna is the ultimate comfort meal! A mixture of ground venison and Italian sausage pairs perfectly with a rich cheese mixture and flavorful tomato sauce for the perfect baked pasta dish.

It’s hard to describe the satisfaction that comes with incorporating venison into all of my family’s favorite meals!

It feels amazing to put our own hunted meat to good use, and it’s even better when the meal turns out tastier than the original.

We enjoy lasagna quite often in my house, whether it’s traditional, gluten-free zucchini lasagna, or even a warming lasagna soup.

I have loads of ground venison to use up, so I decided to try adding it to this classic dish. Of course, it was delicious!

I used a different process than I do in my Dutch oven lasagna; rather than layering the meat and sauce separately, I made a meat sauce with the ground venison. This gave the lasagna a fuller, meatier flavor that I really enjoyed.

If you’re looking for a way to use your venison in pasta that isn’t just regular venison meat sauce, definitely give this lasagna a try! It’s such a fun meal that the whole family is going to love.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Easy to make: Lasagna is a great recipe for feeding a crowd! It’s easy to make a big batch and have it ready to pop in the oven when dinnertime rolls around. Whether you have a big family like me or you’re hosting a group, lasagna keeps the stress out of cooking.
• Meal prep-friendly: Make an extra lasagna to freeze for later, bake the next day, or bring to a friend! Lasagna is so easy to make ahead of time and store for later.
• Perfectly balanced: We are using a combination of ground venison and Italian sausage, which gives the lasagna a satisfying and well-balanced flavor, plus plenty of protein.

Ingredients

• Lasagna noodles: You can use oven-ready or regular lasagna noodles. If you want to get really fancy, you can even make your own whole wheat noodles and cut them to lasagna-sized strips.
• Aromatics: Plenty of onions and garlic are essential for a savory, flavorful lasagna.
• Meat: A combination of ground venison and Italian sausage gives this lasagna plenty of flavor. I tried it with just venison and thought it was better with the sausage added.
• Pasta sauce: You can use your favorite jarred sauce, or make your own if you’d like. Keep in mind you’ll need two jars’ worth, or about 48 ounces of sauce.
• Italian seasoning: The marinara sauce comes with some seasoning, but I like to add extra for good measure.
• Cheese: We’ll need shredded mozzarella and shredded parmesan for the best flavor.
• Cottage cheese: I used cottage cheese this time because it’s cheaper and I always have some in the fridge. You can use ricotta if you prefer!
• Egg: This acts as a binder in the cheese mixture and helps the lasagna hold its shape better.
• Salt and pepper: Add some to taste, as always.

How to Make Venison Lasagna

Step 1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Lightly grease a 9×13” baking dish and set aside.

Step 2. Make the meat sauce.
In a large skillet, cook the venison, sausage, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through. You shouldn’t have any excess fat, but if you do, go ahead and drain it. Stir in pasta sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Let it simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes

Step 3. Mix up the cheese filling.
In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, parsley, egg, 1½ cups mozzarella, ¼ cup Parmesan, and salt. Mix well.

Step 4. Assemble the lasagna.
Spread a generous scoop of meat sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Layer with uncooked lasagna noodles. 

Step 5. Assemble the lasagna.
Add the cottage cheese mixture, then more meat sauce. Repeat for 3 full layers. Top with the remaining sauce.

Step 6. Bake.
Bake for 50 min

Step 7. Add the cheese topping.
Carefully remove from the oven with oven mitts and top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake for another 15–20 minutes until bubbly and golden on top. Broil for 2–3 minutes if you want a crispy top.

Step 8. Let it rest.
Rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing to help it set.

Tips + Notes

• If the top starts to brown too quickly, you can loosely cover it with foil.
• I personally do not precook my noodles; they turn out just fine after baking in the sauce, but if you would prefer, you can do so or use no-boil noodles. 
• I typically use an entire tub of cottage cheese, which is about 3 cups total. 
• If the curds in the cottage cheese bother you, you can blend it up with an immersion blender to get a similar consistency to ricotta cheese.

Freezing and Storage

One of the wonderful things about casserole-type dishes, like lasagna, is how well they store when made ahead of time. It makes them a great meal to prepare in advance to take the stress out of hosting, or an ideal freezer meal.

For that reason, I like to double the recipe when I’m making lasagna and save the second one to freeze!

Freezing a lasagna doesn’t require a whole lot of direction. Once it’s completely assembled, but not yet baked, cover the dish with plastic wrap and foil and stick it in the freezer. When you’re ready to enjoy the frozen lasagna, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and bake it as directed.

If you find yourself with leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. They reheat beautifully in the oven or microwave!

Frequently Asked Questions

Enjoy this warm and cozy meal when it’s fresh out of the oven! The whole family will love it. And if you’re looking for more ways to use your ground venison in meals, check out my roundup of the best ground venison recipes.

Related Recipes

• One Pan Chicken Alfredo
• Simple Dutch Oven Pizza Recipe
• Sausage Tortellini Soup
• Chicken Pesto Pasta Bake
• Weeknight Carne Pizzaiola

If you tried this Venison Lasagna or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!