This skillet lasagna recipe is a quick dinner solution you can make in about 30 minutes. It tastes as good as the traditional baked lasagna and is a perfect dish to make on busy weeknights. You can freeze the leftover lasagna to make a delicious lunch for another time.
Easy Skillet Lasagna Recipe
Lasagna is one of my favorite pasta dishes. In this recipe, I want to share how you can make a tasty lasagna with simple ingredients and without baking it in the oven. This Italian pasta dish is both easy and inexpensive to make. It will quickly become your family's go-to dinner entrees.
Ingredients for Ground Turkey Lasagna
To make this one-pot skillet lasagna, you'll need oven-ready or no-boil lasagna noodles, ground turkey, onion, garlic, spinach, Italian seasoning, pre-made pasta sauce, whole milk ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.
Lasagna noodles. It's recommended to use oven-ready or no-boil lasagna noodles to speed up the cooking process.
Meat. In this recipe, I used ground turkey. You can substitute it with ground beef, Italian sausage, or any combination of ground meat you like.
Cheese. I used a combination of ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese as a filling. I also sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top of the lasagna to add a wonderful depth of flavor to my final dish.
Feel free to adjust the amount of cheese that goes into lasagna according to your liking.
How to Make Skillet Lasagna
Step 1. Brown the Meat
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet, then cook the ground turkey and onion over medium-high heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the meat and return it to the skillet.
Step 2. Add Seasoning and other Ingredients
- Heat another tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook garlic just until fragrant.
- Add Italian seasoning and spinach. Stir for a few seconds.
- Add water, marinara sauce and lasagna noodles. Gently press the noodles down so they are submerged.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes without stirring.
- Open the lid and stir to separate any noodles that are stuck together. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent burning.
- Cover the skillet with a lid then continue cooking and stirring often for another 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender.
Step 3. Add Filling (Cheese)
- Stir in the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Cover the lid and let sit for a few minutes until the cheese melts slightly.
- Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and serve.
FAQ and Cooking Tips
To store, let the cooked lasagna completely then place it in an airtight container. Properly stored, it can last 3-5 days in the refrigerator. If you are going to freeze the leftover, divide the leftover into small portions then place it in small airtight containers. Label with the date and freeze for two to three months.
Transfer the leftover lasagna to a baking dish. Cover it with aluminum foil then bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165° F as measured with a food thermometer.
Check Out More Delicious Pasta Recipes
- Anchovy Pasta with Capers
- Pasta with Mussels
- Easy Canned Clam Pasta
- Squid Pasta with Marinara Sauce
- Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
- Instant Pot Penne Pasta
- Bratwurst Pasta
- One-Pot Penne Pasta
- White Sauce Pasta
- Canned Tuna Pasta
📖 Recipe
Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups fresh spinach (or 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed)
- 1 jar (24 oz) pasta sauce ( I used RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce)
- 2 cups water
- 8 pieces no-boil lasagna noodles (oven-ready) (broken into 1-inch pieces)
- 1¼ cups whole milk ricotta cheese (add more according to your liking)
- ½ cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese (add more according to your liking)
- parmesan cheese (as needed)
Method
- In a 12-inch skillet, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Cook the ground turkey and onion until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the meat and return it to the skillet.
- Push the meat mixture to the side of the pan. Heat one tablespoon of oil. Cook garlic just until fragrant. Add Italian seasoning, salt, and spinach. Stir the mixture for a few seconds.
- Add water, pasta sauce, and lasagna noodles. Gently press the noodles down so they are submerged. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook for 10 minutes without stirring.
- Open the lid and stir to separate any noodles that are stuck together. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. Cover the skillet with a lid then continue cooking and stirring often for another 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Turn off the heat.
- Stir in the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Cover the lid and let sit for a few minutes until the cheese melts slightly. Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and serve.
Nutrition
Notes
- Storage. Let the cooked lasagna cool completely then place it in an airtight container. Properly stored, it can last 3-5 days in the refrigerator. If you are going to freeze the leftover, divide the leftover into small portions then place it in small airtight containers. Label with the date and freeze for two to three months.
- Reheating. Transfer the leftover lasagna to a baking dish. Cover it with aluminum foil then bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165° F as measured with a food thermometer.
- Alternatives. Regular lasagna noodles will work in this recipe with a few adjustments. You need to cook the regular lasagna noodles a bit longer and may need to add a small amount of water as needed to prevent burning.
Heather says
This is genius! I love lasagna but man what a fuss to make and layer everything. This is awesome.
Rika says
Thanks, Heather! 😉
Mindee Taylor says
This was delicious! I love having an alternative to beef lasagna.
Rika says
I am glad that you liked it, Mindee! Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Best,
Rika
Healing Tomato says
Any lasagna recipe that doesn't need me to turn on my oven is #1 in my recipe book.
Rika says
I couldn't agree more, Healing Tomato!
Beth says
This was scrumptious. Quick, easy, and right up my carb loving family's alley. A new family favorite.
Rika says
Thanks, Beth! I am glad that your carb-loving family loved it.
Seema says
The recipe is very useful as it uses no oven. The ease of making this makes it easy for us on a week night dinner.
Rika says
I am glad that you found this skillet lasagna recipe easy to make, Seema.
Alicia says
This was great! We thawed a 12oz bag of spinach (SO thankful I didn't need to drain the spinach) We only had sliced deli mozzerella but it worked great! (And we skipped the parmesan)
Delicious to hubby and 4 kiddos and me :-D!
A keeper recipe we are pinning!
This recipe should have more comments!
Thank you for posting the reheating in oven instructions!
Rika says
Hi Alicia,
Thanks for trying and coming back here to review this recipe. I am glad that you liked this skillet lasagna recipe and are planning to pin it! Also, thanks for bringing the comment issue to my attention. I checked my spam folders and I found many pending comments that have been waiting for approval for months, including the ones for this recipe.
Best,
Rika
Lynn says
My daughter invited us over tonight and made this. She said prep was quick, easy and I have to say, it was DELICIOUS. It easily fed 6 adults with leftovers. I told her I wanted the recipe before we left the table!
Rika says
Hi Lynn,
that’s fantastic! Glad you now have the recipe too! 😀
Best,
Rika