Smash Burger Lasagna
Super thin smash burger patties, stacked up high with three cheeses, flavorful tomato sauce, and lasagna noodles! Turning smash burgers into lasagna is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I mean, they are flat and usually stacked, so it all really makes sense. What I didn’t expect was how much I ended up loving it!
The inspiration for this smash burger lasagna
I have had this idea on my list for about 3 years. I couldn’t really get it to a place where I wanted it to be so it stayed on this list. Finally I decided I would just make it and see how it went. I flip flopped on a few of the steps and had to redo a few things but after a few tries it actually ended up working out great!
Stack and Smash!
Get the griddle nice and hot and add the well salted meat. Top the burger with cheese, then lasagna, and smash it as thin as possible! I alternated each burger with either provolone or mozzarella.
Flip and Sauce!
After the crust forms on the burger, flip it and top with ricotta and tomato sauce. Remember, there is cheese already in between the noodles and the meat.
Stack and Bake!
Place the first burger on a baking sheet with the lasagna side down. Then repeat 4 times with all the smash burgers, and top with more lasagna and cheese.
Broil for a few minutes to melt and brown the top cheese.
Serve the smash burger lasagna
Cut it in half and serve it up! I thought this was well portioned to be a large dinner for two people. You could split it more if you wanted.
The flavors were simple lasagna, with a hint of burger! The sauce does a lot of the work so make sure you use a good one.
Twists on the smash burger lasagna
If I made this again I would use meatballs instead of just plain beef. I have smashed meatballs before with great success. I wanted to at least try it with the plain burgers, because I have had “Smash BURGER Lasagna” on my list for 3 years so I felt like I needed to go through with it and not make smashed meatball lasagna.
That being said if you are making it with just beef, the tomato sauce carries a lot of the flavor so make sure you are using a good one! Store bought is definitely fine but something like this would be great too.
If you love fun twists on lasagna like I do, check out my lasagna cheesecake, this freestanding version that went viral, or this tasty meatloaf lasagna!
Smash Burger Lasagna
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 sheets lasagna
- 1 pound ground beef 80% lean
- salt and pepper
- 4 slices mozzarella cheese
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup marinara sauce
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for about 10 minutes until tender. Remove from the water and cut in half.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet to high heat. Split the meat into 4 equal balls. Flatten the ball slightly. Season the balls aggressively with salt and pepper.
- Place a meatball onto the grill. Top with a slice of mozzarella. Then two pieces of the lasagna noodles that have been cut in half. Use a burger press to smash this as flat as you possibly can.
- Cook about 3 minutes. You can start the next burger stack during this time. use provolone on the second one and the 4th one.
- Scrape the burger off the griddle and flip it. Top with ricotta and tomato sauce. Cook 1 minute on this side and then transfer it to a baking sheet so that the lasagna noodles are still on the bottom.
- Continue this process with all 4 balls of meat, stacking them on top of each other on the baking sheet.
- Finally, top with the last two lasagna noodles, then add more sauce and ricotta, and the last two slices of mozzarella
- Broil the lasagna stack on high heat to brown and melt the cheese on top.
- Cut in half and serve.