What country is lasagna traditionally from?

Lasagna is traditionally associated with Italy. It originated in Italian cuisine and developed into a layered dish made with broad pasta sheets, sauces, cheeses, and other fillings.

The dish has a long history, although its earliest forms were different from the lasagna served today. Medieval Italian references appear by the late 13th century, including a 1282 mention in the Memoriali Bolognesi. The first recorded recipe appeared in the early 14th-century Liber de Coquina, where pasta sheets were boiled and served with cheese and spices.

Modern regional versions vary throughout Italy. Lasagne alla bolognese, associated with Bologna and Emilia-Romagna, commonly combines pasta with ragù, béchamel, and Parmesan. Southern Italian versions may use different pasta dough, ricotta, mozzarella, meatballs, or hard-boiled eggs.

A common source of confusion is the dish's ancient ancestry. Roman and Greek foods with related names or flat sheets of dough may have influenced later traditions, but the recognizable layered dish is conventionally identified with Italian cuisine. Tomato-based lasagna is also relatively modern because tomatoes reached Europe after the late 15th century.