This Quick and Easy Skillet Lasagna has everything you love about classic lasagna – but without all the fuss – and it’s done in a fraction of the time!
What if I told you that you could have all the cheesy, meaty, saucy, pasta-y deliciousness of lasagna for a weeknight dinner – made from scratch – in one pan in about 30 minutes? Yes, it can be done, my friends, and today I’m going to show you how!
Growing up, lasagna was always a special occasion sort of dish for me. My mom only made it when it was a holiday, birthday, family gathering or some other celebration – and maybe on a rare Sunday when she had a little extra time on her hands.
She had to boil the noodles, lay them out to cool down, make the sauce, make the filling, put together all those layers, and then – after all that prep and lots of dirty dishes to do – bake it for an hour, and then let it rest before we could finally cut into it and enjoy it.
It was absolutely delicious and totally worth all of that effort, of course, but sometimes you’re just in the mood for some lasagna and you don’t want or have the time to go through all that. Am I right?
Well, now you can have it any night of the week! This skillet lasagna has everything you would find in a classic Italian lasagna – tomato sauce, meat, pasta, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese – BUT it’s super easy and made all in one pan!
AND did I mention that it’s ready in only about 30 minutes?!?
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- Olive oil
- Sweet Italian sausage
- Onion
- Garlic
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Chicken broth
- Sugar
- Italian seasoning
- Mafalda pasta
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Ricotta cheese
- Fresh basil (optional)
If you’ve never heard of mafalda pasta, it’s like tiny little lasagna noodles broken into small pieces:
If you can’t find mafalda, just break up regular lasagna noodles into 1-inch pieces.
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE QUICK AND EASY SKILLET LASAGNA:
TIPS & TIDBITS:
- If you can’t find bulk sausage, just get links and remove the meat from the casings before cooking.
- If you like things a little spicy, use hot Italian sausage or a combination of sweet and hot.
- You could use ground beef instead of sausage.
- If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you use ½ teaspoon of dried basil and ½ teaspoon of dried oregano instead.
- When cooking the pasta, be sure to press it down into the sauce so that it is covered. Do this each time you stir as well. This will prevent having bits of pasta that don’t get soft.
- This is at its best when served immediately. Leftovers are very good, but the pasta will soak up some of the sauce as it sits in the refrigerator.
Serve this lasagna with a salad and some bread or garlic bread for the perfect weeknight meal. It’s so good you may never want to go back to making lasagna the “old-fashioned” way!
I hope you try this recipe for Quick and Easy Skillet Lasagna and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
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Quick and Easy Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
- 1 cup diced onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 8 ounces dry mafalda pasta
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- thinly sliced fresh basil, optional
Instructions
- In a large, deep skillet (I use an 11-inch skillet with 3-inch high sides), lightly brown the sausage in the olive oil over medium-high heat, breaking it up into pieces as it cooks. Drain off any excess grease if needed.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, just until the onions begin to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes. Watch the heat and turn it down if needed; you don't want the garlic to burn.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, sugar, Italian seasoning, and pasta; stir until well-combined. Press the pasta down into the sauce so it is covered as much as possible.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes. After you stir, be sure to press down the pasta again so that it is covered as much as possible in the sauce. This will prevent having bits of pasta that don't get soft.
- While the pasta is cooking, preheat the broiler.
- When the pasta is cooked, add 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup of the grated Parmesan cheese; stir to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Dollop the ricotta cheese over the top of the pasta mixture, and then top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
- Broil until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and lightly golden brown.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with thinly sliced fresh basil if desired.
Notes
- This dish it at its best when served immediately. Leftovers are very good, but the pasta will soak up some of the sauce, so it may not be quite as saucy.
- If you can’t find bulk sausage, get links and remove the meat from the casings before cooking.
- Use hot Italian sausage if you like things spicy.
- You can use ground beef in place of the sausage.
- If you don’t have Italian seasoning, use ½ teaspoon of dried basil and ½ teaspoon of dried oregano instead.
Recipe adapted from Cuisine At Home.
Leslie
This is Cuisine at home’s recipe. It’s a great recipe. It’s a 5 star recipe, but taking credit like it’s your own isn’t ethical.
Michelle
Leslie, if you looked a little closer and read the entire post, you would have seen that, right after the recipe, I did state that it was adapted from Cuisine at Home (adapted because I made some changes to the original recipe). I never claimed that I came up with this recipe or took credit for it. I share my favorite recipes here on the blog, many of which are my own, and some that are my adaptations of other recipes (such as this one). I am very ethical, and I always give proper attribution when I adapt a recipe from another source.