This quick & easy 30-minute lasagna recipe comes together in a skillet with bowtie pasta, ground beef, tomatoes and three kinds of cheese.
Well, the school year grind has officially begun. No more sleeping past the crack of dawn. No more leisurely, schedule-free days. No more making lunches at, you know, lunchtime. And no more waiting until five minutes before 5:00 p.m. to start thinking about dinner. Because the cold hard truth is that if I don’t have an organized meal plan during the school year, odds are higher than average that I’ll be serving last-minute frozen pizza for supper.
For me, however, meal planning is not a set-in-stone process. Rather, when I’m composing my grocery list, I write down a selection of dinners that I’d like to make over the next couple of weeks and buy the ingredients accordingly. But I’m not all, “We’re going to have meatloaf on Monday, and tacos on Tuesday…” because at the last minute, Monday might end up being a day that we have lots of leftovers from the weekend to eat up, and our schedule on Tuesday might require a crock pot meal.
Instead, I make a loose plan to cook something like this 30-Minute Skillet Lasagna one upcoming evening when I have — you guessed it! — around 30 minutes to prep dinner. And boy is my family excited when that golden opportunity comes along!
So if you’ve never made it, Skillet Lasagna boasts all of the flavor and cheesy goodness of regular lasagna without all of the layering and the lengthy baking time. Instead, you combine the ingredients in a skillet and quickly cook them using a method that can only be described as Hamburger Helper-esque. The difference is that there are no artificial ingredients here! Just ground beef, tomato sauce, herbs and spices, pasta, and plenty of cheese (mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan). Now tell me…who could argue with that?!
Not only is this stovetop lasagna a perfect meal for busy weeknights, but it’s so tasty (and yummy-looking) that you could happily serve it to dinner guests. It also makes a great, quick and easy, yet universally appealing meal to deliver to a friend, neighbor, or family member.
Now before we get to the recipe, I have to be totally honest about something. It might take you slightly longer than 30 minutes to make this lasagna from start to finish. But 37 1/2-Minute Skillet Lasagna doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it? So if you like to hand grate your cheese and prefer your pasta on the tender side rather than al dente, it is totally acceptable to go a bit over the half-hour mark. Even if you do, I think you’ll find that this recipe is still quick, still easy, and still sooooo worth the minimal effort for maximum deliciousness!
So what type of meals do you rely on when life and schedules get crazy? If I’m not utilizing my slow cooker during the week, whatever I’m making for dinner pretty much needs to take 30 minutes or less. As a result, this yummy Skillet Lasagna is often-requested at our house…and I’m always happy to oblige, because not only is it effortless to make, but I’m quite adept at scarfing it down myself. 😉
30-Minute Skillet Lasagna Recipe
30-Minute Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 can (28 ounces) petite diced tomatoes
- Water
- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound ground beef
- Garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian herbs, such as basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, divided
- 8 ounces bow-tie pasta, farfalle
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
Instructions
- Pour can of diced tomatoes (with juices) into a 1-quart liquid measuring cup. Add water until the mixture measures 4 cups. Stir in tomato sauce and sugar; set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil; tilt pan to coat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and stir for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add ground beef and cook until done. Drain grease, season meat with garlic salt and pepper, to taste, and stir in 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs.
- Scatter pasta over meat and pour tomato mixture over pasta without stirring. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, covered, stirring every 5 minutes. Cook until pasta is tender, for about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat and stir in mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more garlic salt, pepper, and/or sugar, if necessary. Remove from heat and dollop heaping tablespoons of ricotta all over surface of pasta mixture. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining fresh herbs and Parmesan.
Notes
- I use a 5 1/2-quart saute pan when making this recipe, but any large, deep skillet (with a lid) should work.
- Each time you stir the lasagna, push down on the pasta so that it's all submerged in tomato sauce before recovering with the lid.
- If sauce is evaporating too quickly during 20 minute simmering time, additional tomato sauce and/or water may be stirred in as needed.
- Use your favorite fresh herbs. You may use all basil or a combination of basil, oregano, thyme, parsley. If you don't have fresh herbs, you may use dried (but use less since dried herbs are more concentrated).
- Be sure to taste and adjust seasonings at the end before topping with the ricotta. If the tomatoes sauce is too acidic, add a bit more sugar.
This recipe is one that I’ve been making for years, but I
believe it was originally adapted from Cooks Illustrated.
More Quick & Easy Suppers
- Slow Cooker Chicken Sloppy Joes
- Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Gravy
- Slow Cooker Asian Beef Short Ribs
- Easy Italian Baked Chicken
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff {with no ‘Cream of X’ soup}
- Cheesy Biscuit Cups {using whatever leftover meat you have on hand}
- Maple-Glazed Sausage & Apple Kabobs
Erica says
Hi, how many cups of water do you use? I don’t have a quart measuring cup 🙁
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Erica! You just need enough water to bring the total amount of liquid + tomatoes up to 4 cups, or 32 ounces. So if the can of tomatoes with juices is 28 ounces, you’ll need an additional 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water. Hope that helps!
Malki says
Do you think soy meat or tvp can be used if we don’t eat meat?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Malki! I honestly don’t have any experience cooking with soy meat or other meat substitutes. However, if it can be successfully substituted for ground beef in other recipes, I imagine it would work just fine in this one. Good luck!
Lauren says
Very new to cooking and made this for my italian boyfriend last night- went down a treat!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
What a compliment, Lauren! So glad that you and your boyfriend enjoyed this recipe… 🙂
Mimi says
I don’t have a 1 quart measuring cup could you give a guesstimate on how much water is needed?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
No problem, Mimi! Probably about 4 ounces, or 1/2 cup, water. Enjoy! 🙂
Janelle says
THIS IS AMAZING! I’m super picky, and I ate this every day for 4 days HAPPILY. I was sad when it ran out. I will make this over and over again.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Oh, it makes me so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe so much, Janelle! Thanks for coming back to share your enthusiastic review… 🙂
Shannon says
Made this tonight! It was easy, fast, and quite delicious! Will definitely make it again and again in the future. Thank you for sharing it!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I’m thrilled to hear that it was a hit, Shannon! Hope you enjoy this Skillet Lasagna for many years into the future… 🙂
Lisa says
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’ve made it several times and each time it is amazing. I’ve taken to adding in mushrooms and spinach for texture.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
So happy to hear that this skillet lasagna is on your regular rotation, Lisa! And I love the idea of adding mushrooms and spinach…I’ll have to try that sometime!
Vanessa says
Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of canned?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I haven’t tried it, Vanessa, but I imagine you can. However, it may take some experimenting to figure out the appropriate amount of extra liquid to add to make up for the juices that would have been in the canned tomatoes. I would probably put about 3 1/2 cups fresh diced tomatoes in the 4-cup measuring cup and then fill it up with water to the 4-cup line, as indicated in the original directions. Then I’d monitor the liquid level closely as the dish cooks. Again, I haven’t actually tried this, but I think it would work. 🙂 Good luck!
Blair Lutner says
Do you measure the pasta by weight or measure? 8 ounces, as in 1 cup, or 8 ounces as in half a pound?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Blair! That’s a great question and one that many people are confused by. 8 ounces = 1 cup is the equivalent for measuring liquids. So since pasta is a dry ingredient, it’s measured by weight, and 1 cup of bowtie pasta does not weigh 8 ounces. 8 ounces of bowtie pasta actually measure out to about 3 cups. So this recipe could either say 8 ounces of pasta (meaning its weight, as in half a pound) or 3 cups pasta (by measuring it in a cup) to mean the same thing. I choose to list 8 ounces in this recipe because it’s easy to just eyeball half of a 1-pound bag. Also, different sizes of pasta can measure differently…so if I say 3 cups, a large bowtie pasta is going to fit less ounces per 3 cups than a smaller bowtie pasta, and that can throw off the proportions of the recipe. The main thing to remember is that only liquid ingredients will follow the standard of 8 ounces = 1 cup. I hope that long-winded explanation helps and makes sense. And I hope you enjoy this recipe if you decide to give it a try! 🙂
Blair Lutner says
Thanks so much for your answer! I guessed that’s what the recipe needed, 1 cup didn’t seem like nearly enough. I made this the other night and we all loved it, including my 17 month old who had seconds!
Nicole Dales says
Lasagna hamburger helper is my husbands’ favorite meal-he LOVED this homemade version!! It was so easy to whip up and delicious! I added some extra red pepper flakes and garlic salt at the end to make it perfect-thanks for sharing!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
So happy to hear that, Nicole! Growing up, I loved Lasagna Hamburger Helper as well, so it’s nice to have a from-scratch substitute in the ol’ recipe box. 😉 Thanks for taking the time to let me know this was a hit and hope you’re having a happy Friday! 🙂
Vince n Riley says
Hello there… I make this on a high high snow winter. Here in AK, n whatelse can I say???you nailed IT!! I’m proud to say this is my GO -TO taste on Lasagna GOD BLESS d COOKs?Just like ya?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Stay warm! 🙂
Katherine says
This skillet lasagna was DELICIOUS! Also a huge hit hit with my picky eaters!
Susan says
I’m going to assume you meant 5 teaspoons of Italian seasoning and not tablespoons. I used 3 tablespoons and it was way too much. Otherwise would be good. May try again.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Susan! This recipe doesn’t call for Italian seasoning…it calls for fresh chopped herbs, which are not as concentrated. So 5 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs is correct. If you wanted to use dried herbs instead, they are much stronger and you would only need to use one-third the amount. About 1 1/2 tablespoons of dried herbs/Italian seasoning (or less if the herbs are ground) is what I would suggest. Hope that helps in case you decide to try this recipe again!
Jamie says
Love this recipe but FAR too many pop ups & ads.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I’m sorry to hear that, Jamie. I’m always working to find the right balance and layout of ads. This blog is a full-time job for me and I invest a lot of money each month to keep it running, so unfortunately, ads are how I generate revenue. I would prefer to not have them at all, but since they’re a necessary evil, I don’t feel like they’re any worse on my site than most other recipe websites. I use my own blog recipes all the time and just ignore them — ha. Regardless, I do apologize that the ads interfered with your user experience and I’ll continue working to make them as unintrusive as possible. 🙂