You’re one pan away from a delicious fully stacked weeknight lasagna. All of the comforting layers of sausage, ricotta, and hearty pasta piled on and ready to be devoured! A hit every single time.
No lie, I love lasagna. Actually, I love all intense Italian rooted dishes. From pastitsio to ragu, I am a sucker for the layers of flavor you get with the slow simmer of hearty meat sauces ladled over pasta.
But, some nights, quick and easy is where it’s at. If I don’t short cut completely and just make quick meat sauce, this easy recipe for skillet lasagna is pretty dang perfect.
It’s one of those meals that comes together quick and unlike traditional lasagna, that tastes amazing when made ahead and left to allow the depth of flavors to mingle for hours, this one-pan dinner can be made on a busy weeknight and is a very good alternative when you’re rushed for time!
What You Need:
This skillet lasagna takes one ‘special’ ingredient, oven-ready lasagna noodles! These are easy to find in the market, in the regular pasta aisle but these are made to NOT be boiled ahead of time.
So you need noodles, a chopped onion, minced garlic, diced carrot, sliced mushrooms, ground sausage, ricotta, egg, herbs, the Girl Carnivore Over Easy spices (purely a bonus flavor but YUM) spinach, and mozzarella. Oh! And marinara sauce.
And let’s be honest, probably a little extra marinara for serving!
Shortcut lasagna
So, in order to speed up the classic lasagna, we short cut with ‘oven-ready’ noodles that are layered right in the skillet with all the other ingredients in one pan. Which, when you skip the boiling, everything is assembled in one pan.
The sausage can even be cooked in the skillet ahead of time! Now, bring on every cheesy, meaty layer!
Start with the marinara to coat the pan, then blanket on the pasta, ricotta, sausage, and of course the mozzarella!
Can you substitute ground beef or pork?
Yes, you can easily swap whatever ground meat you have in this recipe.
Does your family enjoy ground turkey? Go for it (add a little salt and more spices, if you’re diet allows).
Have ground beef to use, or ground pork, add in some extra Over Easy spice blend and a pinch of salt to the beef and you’re set!
Italian sausage will have some other savory spiced flavors, like fennel, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, but on a weeknight, don’t overthink it. Use what you have thawed and add in a little extra dash of spices from the rack.
Want more comforting dinner inspiration? Try some of my favorite recipes
If you’ve tried this shortcut skillet lasagna or any other recipe on GirlCarnivore.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below. I get inspired by your feedback and comments!
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Easy Skillet Lasagna
Equipment
- 10-12″ Cast Iron Skillet or other oven safe skillet
Ingredients
- ½ Onion chopped
- 1 Carrot minced
- 1 lbs ground sausage
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- 15 oz ricotta
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon GirlCarnivore Over Easy Spice Blend
- No-Boil Lasagna Noodles
- ½ cup mushrooms rinsed and sliced
- 3 cups spinach rinsed
- 8 oz mozzarella sliced
- Fresh basil jullienned and chopped
Instructions
Cook the Sausage
- Add the sausage to the skillet, and cook over medium heat, 5 minutes. Breaking into small pieces.
- Add the chopped onion and carrot, cooking until the sausage is cooked through and the onion is softened.
- Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds longer.
- Remove from heat and transfer the sausage to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
Preheat the Oven
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prep the Ricotta
- Whisk the ricotta in a large bowl with the egg, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the GirlCarnivore Over Easy blend.
Layer the ingredients
- In the now empty skillet, spoon a little marinara saue into the pan to coat.
- Add a layer of the no-boil lasagna noodles.
- Top with a few mushrooms and handful of spinach.
- Dollop the ricotta over top and spread with the back of a spoon or spatula.
- Add a heafty portion of the ground sausage mixture evenly over everything.
- Spoon marinara over the meat layer.
- Repeat the steps with the next layer of noodles until the pan is full.
- Top with a layer of marinara and place the mozzarella evenly over top.
Cook the Lasagna
- Transfer the skillet into the oven and allow to cook for 30 minutes, until the pasta is softened and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Serve
- Garnish with freshly chopped basil and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese if desired before slicing to serve.
Tina says
Made this last night without the mushrooms and it came out fantastic, this recipe is a keeper. Very easy to put together, and had a great dinner in about an hour.
Kita says
Thank you, Tina! Im glad you guys enjoyed this recipe.