This Easy Skillet Lasagna is perfect any night of the week because you make the entire dish in one skillet. Even the noodles! Broken lasagna noodles simmer in a simple tomato sauce with ground beef and sausage before being swirled with ricotta, topped with mozzarella. Serves 6.
One lasagna.
One skillet.
One serving.
Just kidding. It’s more like two. Okay, fine- six. But it could be a single serving right-right? I mean, if you’re really hungry of course.
Did you know the hardest part about blogging is the cooking, photography and of course taste testing? No really, that’s the easiest part… it’s the having to stop after one bite, pack it all up and wait for dinner. Because you know I don’t make dinner at regular hours. My poor family.
Oh and the dishes. How I hate all those dirty dishes.
I’ve done my skillet lasagna research and didn’t really find one I liked. So I set out to truly create a easy skillet lasagna recipe that worked for me. One that requires a skillet (obviously) and as few dirty dishes as blog-ly (totally not a word) possible. Well folks, I found-err made it.
To Make This Easy Skillet Lasagna You Will Need:
- olive oil
- yellow onion
- fresh garlic
- extra lean ground beef
- bulk Italian sausage
- uncooked lasagna noodles
- crushed san Marzano tomatoes
- tomato sauce
- water
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- red pepper flakes
- ricotta cheese (whole milk or low-fat)
- fresh mozzarella
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a 12-inch skillet that has been preheating over moderate heat. You want to go big with the pan here so everything fits and cooks evenly.
Throw in 1 medium diced yellow onion and cook for 5-8 minutes or until they are soft and translucent. Man, if I had a dollar for every time I typed that.
Next, throw 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook for a minute or two.
The smell of onions and garlic is one of my favorites.
Then add in 3/4 of a pound of lean ground beef and 1/4 pound of ground Italian sausage.
Side Note: I had a remaining 3/4 pound of Italian sausage so I wrapped it in foil so I could freeze it for later. Two days after I made this exact lasagna I went to my pantry, pulled out the drawer for my olive oil and there was my shiny foil-wrapped package of sausage. So not in the freezer! Then today, I opened a different cupboard for some plastic storage containers and found a box of couscous. I truly think I’m losing it.
Next, using a wooden spoon, break up the meat. Cook the ground beef and sausage, stirring occasionally until fully cooked. If there is a ton of grease in the pan, use a spoon to remove it and discard. If using extra lean ground beef, there may not be a whole lot grease to drain off.
Then season the meat mixture with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and a few pinches of red pepper flakes, stir to combine.
Meanwhile, break about 8 to 10 lasagna noodles in to thirds. Never mind those shrapnel pieces that fly across the counter, you won’t need them.
Then scatter the noodles over top evenly.
Next pour 1 (28 ounce) can crushed San Marzano tomatoes, 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water over top.
Then carefully toss to combine. Next increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce simmer the noodles into submission, stirring every so often so the noodles won’t stick to the bottom of the skillet.
Then, after about 20 to 25 minutes the noodles should be al dente.
Next using a spoon, place dollops of ricotta over top of the skillet lasagna and gently stir it in a smidge.
Don’t stir it in too much, you want the ricotta to still be visible and not disappear in the lasagna.
Lastly, top with 4 ounces (more or less to your preference) torn pieces of thinly sliced fresh mozzarella.
Lastly, cover with a lid and let the steam melt that glorious cheese.
Serve this easy skillet lasagna piping hot with fresh basil, shaved Parmesan and maybe with a fresh green salad, crispy garlic bread and a glass of wine.
Side note: try this lasagna with a spoonful of basil pesto, it’s incredible!
A simple, easy dinner everyone will love!
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Enjoy! And if you give this Easy Skillet Lasagna recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Easy Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 clove garlic, minced
- 3/4 pound ground chuck
- 1/4 pound Italian sausage
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into thirds
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup ricotta
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced thin and torn
- fresh basil leaves, for serving
- shaved Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- In a large 12-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Once hot, add in the diced onion with a pinch of salt and cook until soft and translucent. Next add in the minced garlic and cook for one minute, stirring often.
- Add in beef and Italian sausage and cook, stirring occasionally until browned and fully cooked. Measure and add in the kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
- Next evenly layer the broken lasagna noodles on top of the ground beef/sausage mixture and pour the crushed tomatoes, sauce and water over top. Gently toss to combine and increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the sauce bubble and cook the noodles for 20 to 24 minutes until the noodles are al dente, stirring every couple of minutes.
- When the noodles are cooked, reduce the heat to low and drop spoonfuls of ricotta cheese over top of the lasagna. Give it a gently stir to break up the ricotta but not lose it in the mixture completely.
- Scatter the thin slices of fresh mozzarella over top, cover with a lid and let the steam melt the cheese. About 5 minutes.
- Serve piping hot with freshly torn basil and shaved Parmesan.
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I love this recipe – – my whole family will enjoy this one. Perfect family meal for Valentine’s Day. Thanks!! (Lovely blog, by the way!!!)
This is not only beautiful but brilliant! Love it so much.
oooh! this is such an interesting twist on lasagne! I would have never thought of preparing them directly in a skillet. I’m going to have to try that! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe Laurie!
Haha I would take the whole serving of this and not share.
This looks beautiful! I love skillet lasagna!
Reason number 525,600 I love you: your ability to make everything in a cast iron skillet. I can’t tell you how much I love the one-skillet idea! When I make lasagna, it’s always a pot of this here, a skillet of that there and it’s such a hassle when it’s time to clean. Lasagna will forever and always be my favorite comfort food and I tell ya, seeing it all cozy in a skillet makes me swoooooon! 😉
Such a great idea to make a lasagna in a skillet! Who needs layers anyway! As always beautiful picks – pinned.
I actually got really excited thinking this was a single or two serving recipe haha! My dad frequently made skillet lasagna growing up, but he always used elbow noodles so that’s what I’m used to. I like the idea of using actual lasagna noodles too. And heck I probably could scale it down if I wanted to and make a single serving version. I have a little bitty cast iron that would be perfect 😉
I don’t think I would have a problem eating this whole thing. Great idea!
This is genius, Laurie….love it! I haven’t made lasagna in ages, this makes me so excited to bring it back!
I am right there with you on the losing the mind thing. I put things in weird places at least once a week and then spend an hour searching for it. My husband usually finds it a week later.
He is also the dishwasher and anytime I can create a meal with as few dishes as possible makes him a happy camper.
I’ll always been partial to my grandmas lasagna, but this looks pretty damn close to the best I’ve had!
Girlfriend, you are a genius! I love how easy this recipe is! And anything that is made in a skillet just looks more fantastic for some reason. Pinning!
I very much believed you when you said this lasagna was just one serving, Laurie! This preggo ain’t messin’ around (or sharing, evidently)! This is mouthwateringgggg.
This looks amazing! thanks for sharing 🙂 http://www.handmadeintheheartland.com/
Oh my… this looks great. I actually have half a box of lasagna noodles that were broken so I saved them in hopes to make a one-pot lasagna!
Yes you do girl! 🙂
This looks amazing and you are making me feel much better about finding the can biscuits in the pantry instead of the refrigerator the day after I bought them. I can’t believe they didn’t pop and scare me to death!
Haaa! No kidding! I’m so glad I’m not alone!
The torn basil on top looks like the perfect finishing touch!
This is genius!! I love one-pot anything. Any ideas on how to do this for spinach/ricotta lasagna (no meat)?
Hmmm I’ll have to think on that. I keep you posted 🙂
I just made this for dinner tonight–it was delicious and so easy to make! Can’t wait to make it again.
Thanks Katie! I’m so happy to hear it 🙂
Made this for dinner last night and it was a home-run with my husband. The recipe is durable enough to handle swapping ground turkey for the beef without a problem. Also, for those of us who have to watch sodium… I used no-salt-added tomato sauce and cut the Kosher salt by half. Add in some Italian seasoning and a little more garlic, and you won’t miss it.
Oh, don’t worry about cutting the recipe down if you’re only feeding one or two–the leftovers were awesome for lunch today, and I’m sure they’d freeze well. 🙂
This looks delicious and very simple to follow. Will try this version with my next lasagna dish
This looks delicious! Did you use regular or oven ready lasagna noodles?
Hi Karen! Thanks! They are regular lasagna noodles 🙂
this was really yummy, SO easy, and a huge hit with my kids! i had some ground turkey i needed to use, so it didn’t have the kick that the italian sausage would have given it, so i will use that next time for sure. and thanks for such a great website, i just happened upon it looking for recipes…so happy i found you! i’ve made the switch to eating clean and cooking from scratch so i’m thrilled i have such an awesome resource — thank you!
I’m so glad Jen! Thank you for your kind comment and happy cooking!
Would the no boil noodles work in this recipe?
Thank you so much for this easy and quick (and no dishes!) recipe. It was super easy and tasted fantastic. I must admit I didn’t have any sausage, but i did have ground beef/pork mix so I added a little extra Italian seasonings to make up for the missing sausage and it was fantastic! This is going in heavy rotation at our house, thank you!!
What size cast iron skillet did you use?
Subsituted the meat for Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey. It was so delicious!!! My husband and I loved it! Thank you! Your blog is awesome!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit with the whole family! Thank you for a great recipe idea. Also love the step by step photos 🙂
I just made this and it was so great! Thank you for sharing this recipe! 🙂
I made this today. It was pretty darned good. The noodles were nice and hearty, filled with flavor from the sauce. Follow this one to the “T” and you won’t be disappointed. I only changed the spice very slightly, to reflect my version of how I feel spice should be added in to a really great sauce. Other than that, Perfectamundo! I did add a layer of sliced squash and zucchini to add a veggie component.
It’s time consuming since every component needs to be tended to as it evolves. It saves dishes and time, but be prepared to stand in front of the stove for a little while. But, way worth it IMO!
this looks amazing. I hate cooking, but this recipe was made for me. easy and delicious.
is it ok to cook the lasagna noodles a little less than el dente before putting then in the sauce ?
I just made this tonight and it was wonderful!!! I can’t believe how easy it was and my family LOVED it!!! I didn’t have a 12″ cast skillet so I used my 14″ stainless saute pan. It got a little hot so be careful if your using a bigger pan – the meat may burn. But other than that, thank you, thank you for this recipe. I don’t usually get home before 6pm and we were able to eat before 7:30pm…Thank you Laura
I used this recipe, but substituted in 1 lb. of Italian sausage (no ground beef), and fried some bacon. I crumbled the bacon into the sauce mixture. I made it for about 4 friends and they all loved it!
Ooh! I love your changes! Plus, bacon makes everything better!
This looks amazing!! Do you think it will ruin the recipe consistency if I don’t use Ricotta?
I have made layered lasagne for years. Found this recipe and I’ll never make layered again. This version is half the price, half the time and 1 pan. My foodie son loves this version. I’ve shared your recipe numerous times. Making it right now for Christmas Eve.
I’m so glad to hear it, Sharon! Thank you for your kind review and for sharing it with others, I so appreciate it!!