Grab a fork and dig into this 30-minute Skillet Sausage Lasagna loaded with ground sausage, spinach, tomatoes, and pasta, all blanketed with melted cheese.
When you make lasagna, do you ever use the full box of noodles? I pretty much never do, but I use more than half, so there aren’t enough noodles leftover to make another pan of lasagna. I’ve been shoving an open box of lasagna noodles around my pantry for a few months, and yesterday I decided to put them to good use. I didn’t have the time, energy, or supplies to make real lasagna, so I came up with this skillet lasagna instead. It tastes just like the real thing but is ready in under 30 minutes!
I think one of the appeals of lasagna is all those pretty layers of sauce, noodles, and cheese. Yep, that sure is pretty… While this skillet sausage lasagna tastes like the classic dish, I’ll admit that it’s a bit lacking in the looks department. That’s OK. Maybe it would be good for a candlelit dinner so you can’t see your food that well. The taste is what matters, right?
This shortcut sausage lasagna has lots of ricotta cheese mixed in, which is what I think gives it that distinctive lasagna flavor. My aunt is famous among family and friends for her amazing lasagna recipe, but I never wanted to eat it as a kid because I didn’t like the ricotta cheese. Because she is so sweet and spoiled me, she always made a small batch for me without ricotta.
I need to go visit her soon and tell her I’m a big girl now and want to eat the real thing! Ricotta cheese has grown on me, which is why it’s prominent in this dish. (If you don’t like ricotta, you could try cream cheese instead, which would make it more like this Creamy Turkey Spaghetti recipe.) Either way, you’ll be very happy with this meal!
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Shortcut Skillet Sausage Lasagna
Grab a fork and dig into this 30-minute Skillet Sausage Lasagna loaded with ground sausage, spinach, tomatoes, and pasta, all blanketed with melted cheese.
- Yield: 5-6 1x
Ingredients
- 16 ounces ground Italian sausage without casings
- 14.5 ounces can diced tomatoes undrained
- 2 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup water plus a little more if needed
- 4 ounces uncooked lasagna noodles
- 3 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese just mozzarella is fine too
Instructions
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Spray a 12″ skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat. Add sausage, and sauté and crumble until cooked through.
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Pour in tomatoes, marinara sauce, and water. (Watch out for splattering in this step. You can remove the skillet from the heat and let it cool slightly before pouring in the tomatoes to avoid a mess.) Bring to a rapid simmer.
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Break lasagna noodles into small pieces and stir into the skillet. There should be just enough liquid to cover the noodles. Add up to 1/2 c. more water if needed. Cook at a low boil for the recommended cooking time on your noodles, approximately 15 minutes.
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Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in spinach a couple handfuls at a time until slightly wilted. Stir in ricotta cheese, and return to a simmer. Spread shredded cheese over the top, turn off heat, and cover pan for 5-10 minutes to allow cheese to melt and sauce to thicken.
Notes
You can use frozen spinach instead if you prefer. Just thaw it and squeeze it dry before adding it to the lasagna.
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Italian
Don’t miss these other skillet pasta dinners!
Joanne says
This looks so delicious!!
Andi - The Weary Chef says
Thanks so much, Joanne <3
Dorothy Winnicki says
Made this dish tonight and it was delish!!! Family Loved it!!! Thanks for making my dinner easy after a hard day’s work so simple and easy clean up! Love! Love! Love!
Andi Gleeson says
Thank you so much, Dorothy! This truly made my night!
Evren Ay says
Okay, these dishes look amazing!
Andi says
Thank you again for all your kind comments!
Meg @ The Housewife in Training Files says
Thanks for the amazing giveaway! And secondly, I usually stray from lasagna because how labor intensive it is…this dish though is gonna have to make its way into our rotation! So simple and quick!
Andi says
Good luck in the giveaway, Meg. This shortcut recipe is my kind of lasagna too because I’m kinda lazy ;) Thank you!
Auntiepatch says
I’m unable to add my name to anything on the Rafflecopter. Am I the only one having trouble?
Auntiepatch says
It’s fixed – thanks!
Angela A Simmons says
Wow thanks for the chance to win my husband would love this. You guys are awesome!
★★★★★
Andi says
Thank you, Angela! Good luck!
Nicole @ Or Whatever You Do says
I’m a huge ricotta fan also, but I also love cottage cheese in my lasagna. Weird, right? Skillet lasagnas are some of my favorites. My mom used to make one way back when and she called it “Mock” Lasagna. <3
★★★★
Andi says
Mock lasagna is a perfect name! I put cottage cheese in one of my mac and cheese recipes, so why not lasagna? I bet yours is delicious, Nicole!
Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy says
This looks amazing, Andi!!! I am a big girl now, too and LOVE ricotta! ;) I think this is a pretty dish (you crazy woman!) and perfect to serve guests for an easy dinner. Love it – pinned!
★★★★★
Andi says
Did you used to not like ricotta too? What were we thinking?? Thank you! xo
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
This sounds amazing! Perfect for weeknight dinners! Thanks for the giveaway!
Andi says
Thank you, Nancy! Good luck!
Ashlyn @ Belle of the Kitchen says
Um, this looks amazing, Andi! That cheesy goodness is calling out to me! And there is an open box of lasagna that is constantly getting thrown around my pantry, too! It drives me nuts! This is the perfect solution. :)
Andi says
Thanks so much, Ashlyn! This would also be good with a frankenstein combo of all sorts of leftover pasta. I always end up with bags and boxes of random kinds with a handful of noodles in each one.
Annie @Maebells says
Oh my gosh, I wish you understood how many times I have ranted about this hahaha! I will make lasagna and it fits perfectly in a regular size dish, then only have 1/3 a box leftover. What is the reasoning behind that?! Surely they know that at the noodle packing place! :) I really love this idea!
★★★★★
Andi says
That reminds me of how good your lasagna recipe is!! Maybe you can try this much more humble version with your leftover noodles next time. Thank you, Annie!
Sarah @ SnixyKitchen says
What are you talking about?! This is not lacking in the look department – it looks so delicious it’s making my stomach growl…at 11am!
Andi says
It is delicious but looks like more of a pile than pretty layers! Thank you, Sarah! xo
Beth @ The First Year says
I literally JUST finished eating lunch but now I am SO hungry for this!!
Andi says
I hope you get to try it, Beth! I used rice lasagna noodles, so it’s easy to make GF :)