This delicious and easy Skillet Lasagna is an awesome one pan dish, with all the flavors of traditional lasagna turned into a 30 minute meal, perfect for busy weeknights!
For a complete meal, serve with garlic bread and our favorite side salad.
Easy Skillet Lasagna Recipe
Lasagna is just the best, no? Ultimate classic comfort food. But definitely a bit labor intensive with all the steps, and all the dirty pots and pans. This skillet lasagna is basically lasagna, but without all that work and mess!
This has all the ingredients and flavors of traditional lasagna like ground beef, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese, and fresh mozzarella, but converted into a delicious, quick and easy, one-pot, 30 minute meal. So the next time you’re craving lasagna but don’t want the hassle of preparing it, make this lasagna skillet instead. My family absolutely loves it, and yours will too!
Ingredients Needed
This one-pot pasta recipe calls for common pantry ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Dry mini lasagna noodles – My market carries mini lasagna noodles and they’re perfect for this dish. If you can’t find them, use a similar noodle with the same cook time. (See note below.)
- Ground beef – We prefer lean ground beef to cut back on fat and grease.
- Onion and Garlic – For wonderful aromatics and great flavor.
- Olive oil – For added flavor to sauté the beef and onion.
- Beef broth – This is added to the other ingredients over a gentle boil for the dry pasta to cook in, absorbing great flavor. We opt for low-sodium.
- Marinara sauce – You can buy a jar or use our homemade marinara sauce recipe.
- Cheese – Freshly shredded mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan, and ricotta cheese.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, cracked red pepper flakes, and fresh chopped parsley season the dish.
Recipe Variations
This dish is fairly versatile if you want to change up some of the ingredients. Here are a few suggestions:
- Swap out the ground beef. Italian sausage or ground turkey can easily be substituted for the ground beef, if preferred.
- Try a different sauce. I use my homemade marinara in this dish, but you can certainly use store-bought sauce to save on time. You can also change up the flavor, by using a different type of pasta sauce.
- Add in some vegetables. If you want, you can sauté some diced carrot, red bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, or mushrooms along with the onion. Or at the end of cooking, stir in 2 cups fresh baby spinach until wilted.
- Lighten it up. Reduce the calories by using part-skim ricotta, whole grain pasta, or ground turkey.
- Use a different pasta. Other pasta noodles can be used instead of mini lasagna noodles if you can’t find them, but you might need to adjust your cooking time.
How to Make Skillet Lasagna
Making lasagna in a skillet is super easy with just a few simple steps. Here’s a brief summary:
(Scroll down to the printable recipe card for details and measurements, and don’t miss the video below.)
- Brown the beef and veggies. Brown the ground beef and onion with bit of olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Drain off the fat and stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add in the sauce ingredients and pasta. Add marinara sauce, beef broth, and pasta to the skillet. Mix to combine, making sure the pasta is fully submerged in the liquid.
- Simmer. After mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15-18 minutes until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally (about every 5 minutes) so the pasta doesn’t stick and the meat mixture doesn’t scorch on the pan.
- Add in the cheeses. Remove from heat and stir in half of the mozzarella and parmesan until combined, then sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top.
- Top with ricotta. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta all over the mixture. Cover and let stand for 3 to 5 more minutes until cheese melts.
- Serve. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy with garlic bread!
Cooking Tip!
Video: Lasagna Skillet
Serving Suggestions
Like classic lasagna filled with ground beef, cheese, and layers of noodles, this skillet dish is substantial. For more of a complete meal, though, we like to enjoy this with homemade garlic bread and a simple side salad or cucumber tomato salad.
Proper Storage
- Storing leftovers. Allow to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator . It is best eaten up within 3 days.
- Freeze. Frozen cooked pasta is not our favorite since it tends to have a mushy texture once thawed, but you can freeze this, if needed. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Reheat. Gently reheat in the microwave, adding a bit of broth to loosen, if necessary.
More Lasagna Recipes:
- Lasagna Roll Ups
- Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Rolls
- Lasagna Soup
- Pierogi Lasagna
- Zucchini Lasagna Rolls
- Chocolate Lasagna
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion , diced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper , to taste
- 3 cups homemade marinara sauce (or 26 ounce store bought jar)
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth (or chicken broth)
- 8 ounces dry mini lasagna noodles (see note below)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese , divided
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese , divided
- 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
- fresh chopped parsley , for serving
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the beef and onion; cook using a wooden spoon to break up the meat into small crumbles, until fat renders and no pink remains, and the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Drain off fat.
- Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add marinara sauce, beef broth, and pasta to the skillet. Mix to combine, making sure the pasta is fully submerged in the liquid.
- After mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15-18 minutes until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally (about every 5 minutes) so the pasta doesn’t stick and the meat mixture doesn't scorch on the pan.
- Remove from heat and stir in half of the mozzarella and parmesan until combined, then sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top.
- Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta all over the mixture. Cover and let stand for 3 to 5 more minutes until cheese melts.
- Garnish with some fresh chopped parsley and enjoy with garlic bread!
I made this for supper tonight. Super yummy, I didn’t have any ricotta but I did have fresh burrata and it was tasty! Thank you!!!
So good and so easy! My family loved it.
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. My boys love it! So yummy! Just made it again tonight. Thanks so much.
Aaaah Shawn, that’s awesome! Thanks for hopping over to let me know. I love it :D
This was fantastic–very easy and delicious, and reheats great! I accidentally put in a little more than a cup of mozz cheese but it still turned out awesome. I didn’t have pasta sauce on hand so I just put in a 29 oz. can of tomato sauce, sprinkled with some basil and 2 tblsp. of italian seasoning and it was done! Gotta love the one-pot meals. Thanks for sharing Amy!!
I made this and it was incredibly easy and good. I couldn’t find the mini lasagna noodles, so I used fusilli instead and just adjusted the cooking time accordingly.