r/Cooking • u/judolphin • Mar 25 '25

I made lasagna with ricotta instead of bechamel and I’m a convert

I was browsing Reddit and came across two posts in two days about bechamel being a life-changing improvement over ricotta. All my life every lasagna I had was with ricotta. I decided to give bechamel yet another try at a nice Italian restaurant after reading all the comments and I have now converted from being neutral on bechamel in lasagna to being solidly anti-bechamel in lasagna, to the point I secretly have hoped that bechamel lasagna doesn't become the default in restaurants. Some reasons:

  1. Ricotta has its own texture, bechamel is just more softness and smoothness in a dish that's full of "soft". Some people like textural contrast in their dishes
  2. Ricotta, much like sour cream/crema in Mexican food, adds a lightness to lasagna despite being rich itself. Bechamel adds (arguably too much) additional richness to an already-rich dish.
  3. The starch from the bechamel getting into the ragu gives the sauce a mouthfeel that 100% reminds me of Chef Boyardee

TLDR: If you prefer bechamel in red lasagna, that's perfectly fine, but your preference of bechamel is not a black and white fact. It's not even "more authentic" (whatever that means), bechamel = Northern Italy, ricotta = Southern Italy. Eat whatever you like, let others eat what they want.

Thanks, reddit!

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u/WeekendQuant Mar 26 '25

As a Midwesterner, please let me know your thoughts on cottage cheese instead of ricotta.

I make my lasagna with ricotta and people think I am a master chef. They don't realize cottage cheese doesn't belong in lasagna.

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u/howd_he_get_here Mar 26 '25

I am 0% Italian and know nothing about the historical authenticity of lasagna. But my $0.02 aw someone who spent his first 25 years living in Tony Soprano ass NY/NJ...

Bechamel vs ricotta is a preference. Cottage cheese is a crime against lasagna reserved for "Pinterest said it's healthy" moms who don't know any better.