Working out the calories in lasagna

Calculating the calories in lasagna is a relatively easy task... this page will show you how.

(Download this page for easy reference! Right-click this Calories in Lasagna Guide and choose 'Save file/link as' to save the PDF to your PC.)

Now, if you're on this page, I'm guessing you need one of two types of information:

• A method of working out the calorie value of your lasagna recipe

• A calorie figure for a frozen or ready meal.

Below are both...

1. Your lasagna recipe

To help you define the calorific value of your own lasagna dish, I calculated the calories in my wife Laura’s delicious beef lasagna recipe (I recommend you try this!).

My full hour of Googling led me to conclude that one calorie calculating website currently rules them all, and that’s www.acaloriecounter.com.

I used this to find out calorie amounts for all the ingredients in Laura’s recipe, then I did some quick sums to work out the calorie amount per person serving.

The result for her whole lasagna? 827 calories. And that’s before adding another 107 calories per person if including the optional ricotta (hey, I never said it was a lasagna dish for slimmers!).

2. Frozen and ready meals…

If you’ve already bought your meal, the calorie details should be written on the packet, next to the nutritional information.

Otherwise, if you’re looking to compare brands before buying – and you’re based in the US – I recommend www.calorieking.com/calories-in-lasagna.html

For example, the Olive Garden Lasagna Classico runs to 858 calories per single-person serving - roughly the same as Laura's beef lasagna recipe.

The average

Based upon the two calorie figures here, and a quick straw poll of other lasagna meals I discovered on Calorie King, your best guide is probably 800-950 calories per single adult serving of lasagna.

Now work it off!

Finally, if you’re like me and love pasta but don’t want to put on weight just to enjoy it, here’s how much exercise you’d have to do to balance out Laura’s ricotta-laden treat…

• Just over an hour of swimming (breast stroke)

• 2 hours of medium-speed cycling

• Most of an afternoon gardening

• 1 hour, 20 mins of basketball!

In conclusion… lasagna every day is probably not the best plan health-wise, but as a filling, sumptuous and occasional treat it just can’t be beat.

And if you make too much, just freeze the leftovers - explained here.

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