Is It Okay To Boil Oven-Ready Lasagna Noodles?

We agree that no-bake, oven-ready lasagna noodles are brilliant, if for no other reason than you're unlikely to ever end up with mushy, overcooked lasagna noodles. In an article for Epicurious entitled, "Guys, Stop Boiling Your Lasagna Noodles Already," the author notes how challenging the uncooked version is to cook. Citing, in particular, "boiling those lasagna noodles, which love to flop around as you drain them, stinging you with their clinging water as you clumsily try to separate them into neat sheets for layering." 

The article urges readers to instead use oven-ready lasagna noodles, which not only make the process of assembling lasagna easier but also result in a better-finished product. And if you're making a lasagna to freeze, then oven-ready noodles are absolutely the best choice. But what if you want to leave the flat landscape of lasagna layered in a 9x13-inch dish? If you're intrigued by luscious lasagna rolls like those created at New York's Don Angie, how can you bend those rigid sheets of oven-ready pasta to create a masterpiece in the round?

When in doubt about how to handle an ingredient, it's wise to consult the source for best practices, and in this case, that's Barilla. While you don't need to cook their no-boil noodles for a traditional layered-up lasagna, they advise, "If you are making lasagna roll-ups, you can boil Barilla® Oven-Ready Lasagna for 3-5 minutes, so the sheets become more pliable and can be easily rolled." Ronzoni recommends that their Oven Ready Lasagna noodles be soaked for 10 to 15 minutes in hot water for lasagna rollups and Prince shares that same recommendation. 

In general, eating uncooked raw pasta isn't considered entirely safe, as there could be bacteria that can make you sick, but Barilla points out their oven-ready noodles are precooked, so they're safe to eat without cooking again. But the answer is yes, you can boil oven-ready lasagna noodles if you want to use them for roll-ups. And as for the filling for those roll-ups, you can certainly opt for a traditional bolognese, a savory spinach and sausage mixture, or autumnal butternut squash and burrata filling.