Lasagna is a family favorite but that doesn’t mean there’s always ample time to make it. But there is this weeknight solution — One-Pan Skillet Lasagna — that achieves the exact same flavor in just 30 minutes and, yes, in just one pan.

What Ingredients Do I Need For Skillet Lasagna?

Mostly, you need the same things you need for regular lasagna:

• Lasagna noodles — 9 of them. Make sure it’s not the no-boil variety.
• Ground beef — but you could sub in Italian sausage.
• Your favorite marinara sauce.
• Some garlic.
• Italian seasoning.
• Ricotta.
• Mozzarella.
• Parmesan.

How Do You Make Skillet Lasagna?

It’s simple! First, you want to brown the ground beef.

Once that’s cooked through, you’ll add the garlic for a few seconds, and then stir in the marinara, some water, and the Italian seasoning. Break the lasagna noodles into chunks and stir those in too.

Bring the whole thing to a boil, then cover the skillet and lower the heat so you have a gentle simmer, and let the pasta cook until it’s tender, which will take about 15 minutes. You do want to stop by and stir this occasionally and check on the liquid level. If things are getting too dry, just add more water as needed.

Once the pasta is nearly al-dente, top it with the cheeses, dolloping the ricotta mixture around so you have nice pockets of cheesiness. Then you can do one of two things:

You can cover the skillet again and let it sit off the heat for five minutes until everything melts, or you can do what I like to do, which is to set the skillet under the broiler for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese. That way you get crispy bits. And everyone loves crispy bits.

You end up with classic lasagna flavor, but in a timeframe that works for your busiest weeknights. It’s a dinner I come back to again and again.

And you get some pretty incredible cheese pulls, which is always a good thing. Happy cooking!