Skillet Lasagna A Better Hamburger Helper

Skillet Lasagna is a unconfined volitional to Hamburger Helper. Are you overly looking for an inexpensive meal to prepare on a weeknight? I know I am, and I have a solution for you.

lasagna in a trencher and a skillet.

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Budget Friendly Skillet Lasagna

Recently some of my CopyKat Youtube folks were looking for inexpensive meals to prepare. I wanted to come up with a recipe that was inexpensive to make, and very hearty. I unchangingly enjoyed Hamburger Helper as a child, and I wanted to recreate this favorite diaper recipe.

What Is Skillet Lasagna? 

This one-pan meal has all the savor of lasagna and the ease of making regular pasta. It’s a unconfined recipe to make if you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking or cleaning up but still want to serve your family something nutritious and tasty. 

Why This Easy Skillet Lasagna Is So Much Largest Than Hamburger Helper Lasagna 

What’s not to love when it comes to this skillet lasagna recipe? It’s an incredibly easy and tasty way to use any leftover lasagna sheets or pasta in your pantry.

And unlike Hamburger Help or other boxed lasagna meals that use powdered or condensed mystery ingredients, you know exactly what you are feeding your family. So, skip the overly processed box, and make this one skillet lasagna recipe instead. 

Hamburger Helper Lasagna Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need for making one skillet lasagna:

  • Ground Italian Sausage or Ground Beef
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Tomato Sauce
  • Canned Chopped Tomatoes
  • Water
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Salt
  • Ground Woebegone Pepper
  • Lasagna Noodles or Pasta
  • Ricotta Cheese
skillet lasagna ingredients on a sultry sheet.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Choose your favorite ground meat or plane a mixture. Ground whinge is good, but Italian sausage adds increasingly savor to this dish. But you don’t have to use red meat. Ground turkey or even soy crumbles also work well in this recipe. 

Although you shouldn’t miss this endangerment to use up those few sheets of lasagna noodles left in the box, any short pasta you have, like bow ties or penne, will work in this recipe. If you only have no-bake lasagna noodles, you will need to add a little increasingly water to the pan, well-nigh a quarter cup. 

I use fresh onions and garlic. If you happen to have some tintinnabulate peppers in your fridge, you could toss in one of those if you like. This recipe is very flexible.

I use ricotta cheese to add some flavor. If you like, you could swap this out for cottage cheese as either one will work. I personally prefer the ricotta considering I like the taste and texture increasingly when the cheese is heated.

skillet lasagna in a trencher in front of the skillet.

How to Make Skillet Lasagna

Here are the simple steps for this easy skillet lasagna recipe:

  1. Pour a little oil into a large skillet and warm over medium-high heat.
  2. Brown the ground meat in the pan. Pour out any glut grease, leaving well-nigh a tablespoon overdue in the pan.
  3. Add the garlic and onions to the pan and melt until the onions wilt translucent. 
browned Italian sausage for skillet lasagna.
  1. Stir in the water, tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
meat sauce for skillet lasagna.
  1. Break the lasagna sheets into two-inch squares and add to the pan. Stir well.
adding wrenched lasagna noodles to a skillet with meat sauce.
  1. Cook uncovered until the pasta is al dente. The timing can vary depending on the type of pasta you are using. You may need to add increasingly water if the pan is getting a little dry. 
  2. Add spoonfuls of ricotta cheese to the top of the skillet lasagna and imbricate to indulge the cheese to melt slightly.
  3. Serve immediately. You can moreover top it with grated Parmesan or Romano if desired.
closeup of lasagna in a skillet.

Recipe Variations 

Lasaga is like the pizza of pasta dishes. People love it, there are well-nigh a million variegated ways to make it, and everyone has their own favorite. Here are three ways to modify this lasagna skillet if you want to try something a little different. 

  • Make easy skillet lasagna with cottage cheese, instead. Save calories and fat by replacing the ricotta cheese with cottage cheese. 
  • Slip a few vegetables into the pan. Roasted eggplant, sauteed broccoli rabe, and cooked peppers are unconfined additions. 
  • Garnish with basil. Fresh, chopped basil adds a wonderful savor and zephyr to this dish. 

What To Serve With Skillet Lasagna 

This may be a favorite recipe for many rented cooks considering it needs only one pan, but that doesn’t midpoint you’re not allowed to dirty a few increasingly to make some great side dishes:

  • Garlic bread. This recipe for cheesy garlic toast from the Pasta House Company is perfect. 
  • Spinach salad. Dress with a simple balsamic vinegarette, or get fancy with a warm salary dressing
  • Sauteed broccoli rabe. The vegetable’s slight bitterness pairs so well with the richness of the lasagna, so if you are not subtracting it to the main course, why not serve it as a side dish? 

How To Store Leftover Skillet Lasagna

Go superiority and save any uneaten lasagna in the fridge for up to three days or in the freezer for up to two months. Take the remaining lasagna out of the pan and put it in a freezer-safe container with a firm-fitting lid. 

How to Reheat Skillet Lasagna 

The weightier way to reheat leftover lasagna is to put it when in the skillet with some tomato sauce on the marrow to alimony it from sticking. Imbricate the pan and heat it over medium-low until the lasagna is warmed through. Make sure to thaw frozen lasagna overnight in the fridge or do a quick defrost in the microwave surpassing reheating. 

overhead view of lasagna in a trencher and a skillet.

Inexpensive meals do not have to be flavorless they can be both filling and delicious. Cabbage roll casserole is made with fresh cabbage, ground meat, and rice.

Love Hamburger Helper? Try this Ground Whinge Stroganoff recipe.

More Italian Recipes

Favorite Budget-Friendly Meals

Check out increasingly of my easy dinner recipes and the weightier Italian recipes here on CopyKat!

lasagna in a trencher and a skillet.
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Skillet Lasagna

You can make flavorful homemade lasagna in a skillet that's largest than Hamburger Helper lasagna.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Hamburger Helper Lasagna, Skillet Lasagna
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 277kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage or ground beef
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce
  • 14.5 ounce canned chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground woebegone pepper
  • 8 ounces lasagna noodles or other type of pasta
  • 8 ounces ricotta cheese

Instructions

  • Brown the meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add the onion and garlic, and melt over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent.
  • Add the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, water, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
  • Break the lasagna noodles into pieces, add them to the skillet, and stir to combine.
  • Cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pasta is done. If the liquid cooks out, you may need to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.
  • Place dollops of ricotta cheese on top. Stir in the cheese if desired. You can top with spare cheese.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 602mg | Potassium: 384mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 9.1mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 1.6mg

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