Easy 30-Minute Skillet Lasagna — Everything cooks in one skillet and you don’t even need to boil the noodles separately!! Full of classic lasagna flavor but so much faster and easier! Now you can make lasagna on busy weeknights!!
Easiest Beef Lasagna Recipe
My family loves lasagna, but I don’t love making traditional lasagna. Too much work and it takes too long. How’s that for being brutally honest.
That’s where this easy, 30-minute, one-skillet lasagna comes into play. There’s Italian-seasoned ground beef with sweet Vidalia onions and garlic for layers of flavor along with tender lasagna noodles that are coated with tomato sauce.
You don’t even have to boil the noodles separately. They cook in the same skillet you brown the onions and ground beef in. Love it when I only dirty one pan to make a meal and even better when there’s planned leftovers.
There’s creamy ricotta and fresh mozzarella cheeses because you can’t have lasagna without plenty of cheese.
I topped off the skillet lasagna with fresh basil because tomatoes and mozzarella taste that much better with the peppery bite of basil.
What’s in Skillet Lasagna?
To make this incredibly easy meat lasagna recipe, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Ground beef
- Italian seasoning
- Lasagna noodles
- Diced tomatoes
- Tomato sauce
- Water
- Ricotta cheese
- Fresh mozzarella
- Fresh basil
How to Make Skillet Lasagna
Sauté the onion and garlic until softened, then add the ground beef to the skillet and brown. Add the Italian seasoning, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and water. Pop the lid on the skillet and cook until the noodles have softened.
Spoon the ricotta into the skillet lasagna and gently stir to incorporate. Then, place the mozzarella slices on top and place the lid on again to help the cheese melt. Garnish with fresh basil just before serving!
Can I Use Italian Sausage Instead of Ground Beef?
I’m sure you could! You may need to drain the fat from the skillet after the sausage cooks though, depending on how greasy it is.
Can I Freeze Skillet Lasagna?
Yes, this skillet lasagna can be frozen up to 4 months.
My Favorite Sides for Lasagna
This easy skillet lasagna pairs well with pretty much any side, but a few of my favorites are:
- Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Quinoa Salad
- Rainbow Roasted Vegetables
- Parmesan Balsamic Roasted Garlic
- Kale Caesar Salad with Fried Chickpeas
- Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Tips for Making the Best Lasagna in a Skillet
Be sure to use regular lasagna noodles in this recipe and not the no-boil / pre-cooked kind. Trust me, this recipe works well with regular lasagna noodles!
To avoid greasy beef lasagna, I recommend using extra lean ground beef. You could also experiment with using ground turkey, but I’ve only ever made skillet lasagna with ground beef before.
Depending on how salty you like your meat lasagna, you may not need to add any extra salt to this dish. Taste it just before adding in the cheeses, and keep in mind that the cheeses also contain salt.
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Easy 30-Minute One-Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, peeled and diced small (about 1 large onion)
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced or pressed with a garlic press
- 1 pound ground beef, I used extra lean
- 1 ½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ pound lasagna noodles, about 8 noodles, broken into bite-sized pieces
- two 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes and juice, I used petite diced, no-salt-added
- one 15-ounce can tomato sauce, marinara or red pasta sauce may be substituted
- ¾ cup water
- salt, optional and to taste
- heaping 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into thin rounds
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Instructions
- To a large skillet (at least 12 inches in diameter and 3-4 inches deep) or Dutch oven, add the olive oil, onions, and sauté over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until onions begin to soften. Stir intermittently.
- Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir intermittently.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Stir intermittently.
- Add the Italian seasoning, pepper, and stir to combine.
- Add the lasagna noodles and cover them with the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and water. Cover pan and allow sauce to simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until noodles are tender and cooked through.
- Taste and add salt, to taste. This will vary based on how salty the tomatoes and tomato sauce are, and personal preference. Note that both cheeses you’re about to add also have salt. Make any necessary seasoning adjustments (salt, more pepper, more Italian seasoning, etc.) as necessary. Stir everything well.
- Add the ricotta by tablespoonfuls, evenly distributed. Stir gently to incorporate but don’t overmix.
- Turn the heat to low, add the mozzarella, evenly distributed. Cover skillet with a lid for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until mozzarella melts.
- Garnish with basil, evenly distributed, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Lasagna is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Reheat gently as necessary.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Thank you SO much for this recipe. Turns out my boyfriend’s love language is home-cooked meals, and let’s just say I’m new to the world of cooking without completely freaking out or just giving up and making macaroni (from a box). I told him last week that I’d finally try to cook for him if I got to pick the recipe, and I’m incredibly glad I stumbled upon your blog while researching. This was so easy to make, but it tasted amazing. I appreciate the one-pan aspect of it and that it’s easy to use fresh ingredients, rather than having to use a lot of canned ingredients. He called me today just to tell me that he’s so excited to eat the leftovers for lunch! We’re looking forward to trying out more of your recipes. Thank you!
Wow, love comments like this! So many good things…homecooking rather than a box, getting over your kitchen fears, impressing your boyfriend, planned leftovers for lunches…love all of this!
Keep me posted about what else you try and how it goes! I promise, all of my recipes are designed for the very average (and beginning) cooks. Nothing fancy, tricky, or complicated and usually pretty forgiving!
do you drain the grease from the beef
No because I used extra-lean and there was very little. Plus, it helps with the noodles after you add them so they don’t stick together as much.
I just discovered your website and glanced at your recipes and they look and sound delicious.
oh yummy! This looks so good!
This looks so cheesy delicious! I rarely cook lasagna, because it is so time-consuming and a lot of clean up after dinner. I will be trying your skillet lasagna soon.
I’m down for one-skillet, 30-minute lasagnas. You just made my life easier. Thank you.
First of all, I like honesty, brutal or not, and I really like your lasagna, Averie. Thank you.
Glad you’re a fan of honesty, brutal or not :)
That gooey cheese! Skillet lasagna is so much better – I don’t have to remember to start dinner at 3:00!
Cheese, melty mozzarella in particular, is my weakness as you know!
So great Averie!! Love all that cheese & basil!
I literally just commented on your site! We must have been commenting on each other’s sites at the SAME moment :)
I love how easy this is (and less dishes is always a bonus)…. and if you listen closely I’m pretty sure you’ll hear that cheese just calling my name!
You know cheese is ALWAYS calling my name :)
30 minutes to THIS? Fewer dishes!??! I love you.
This looks fabulous! Anything that gets this girl to not have a mountain of dishes after cooking a homemade meal is a win in my book. Lasagna is always notorious for leaving way too many dishes. Thanks for solving that problem!
I know, way too many dishes with the traditional version!
I’m sure this would be a hit in our house. If I can break my family away from your lasagna soup, that is!!! It’s a new favorite around here. I am sooo with you on the hassle factor of lasagna–I think I’ve mentioned before that I make a crockpot version because, while I love home-cooked meals, I don’t want to live my life in the kitchen.
Same with living my life in the kitchen! I do for my blog as it is, but on days I made 2-3 desserts, I don’t want to set out on an epic adventure just to get dinner on the table!
And that is awesome about the lasagna soup. That recipe hasn’t ‘taken off’ like I wished it had because it’s SO GOOD and honestly it’s my family’s favorite soup and one of their ‘best meals of all time’ kind of recipes. Glad you guys are loving it, too!
This is so much easier than precooking and layering everything. We’ve been getting local beef from my home town the past couple of years so I have a pretty big stash of ground in the freezer right now and always appreciate different ways to use it. This doesn’t look quite as noodle heavy as traditional lasagna and I bet it tastes fabulous!!
It’s not as heavy I don’t think because there’s no way to fit the broken up noodle pieces in a skillet the way you can layer them flat in a baking dish so by default, a bit less noodle-heavy but I made up for it with the cheese :)
I decided to start the weekend off with this tonight and it is the fastest lasagna I’ve ever made. Tastes wonderful too!! Jon prefers more cheese and fewer noodles anyway so this is already a favorite. I know this will be repeated!
Wow, you made it just a couple days after I posted it – thank you for the fast turnaround :) So glad you enjoyed it and yes, definitely the fastest lasagna I’v ever made too! Glad the noodle/cheese ratio was great and that it’ll be repeated!
Hello there!
I want this so badly :)
I presume that the lasagna noodles you refer to, are NOT the pre-cooked/boiled type, correct?
Thanks!
Regards,
Joana
Correct, you want to use the old-fashioned hard-as-rock noodles, not the the pre-cooked type.
You have created the world’s fastest lasagna and it looks like HEAVEN in a pan! I love how easy this is and it’s simple but still DANG DELICIOUS I’m sure :)
Thanks, Taylor!