Skillet Zucchini Mushroom Lasagna
This Skillet Zucchini Mushroom Lasagna is an easy, one pan recipe for a hearty vegetarian lasagna that is ready in an hour.
One Pan Lasagna In A Cast Iron Skillet
In our house, lasagna makes the list of ultimate comfort food dishes. And, I love going full out and making a big lasagna that will give us beautiful leftovers for a full week or more.
There's one downside to real lasagna.
It takes time.
And dishes.
A saucepan for the tomato sauce, a skillet for the meat, a bowl for the cheese. And that's not even counting the lasagna dish!
It's a sink full of dishes, and an afternoon's worth of work.
Don't get me wrong, it's worth it.
But, what if all those dishes could be condensed into one skillet? (Ok, and maybe a bowl too.)
Suddenly, the pile of dishes isn't that overwhelming.
We love using our cast iron skillet to make this skillet lasagna because it heats so evenly.
No hot spots of burned lasagna on the bottom.
The heat is evenly distributed. Bottom, sides, and top (since we have a cast iron lid). This means your lasagna cooks in a similar way that it would in the oven: from all sides.
Why Make Stove Top Lasagna
So, we've already covered the #1 reason: less dishes.
Reason #2 to make stove top lasagna is time.
This lasagna can be on the table in a hour: prep and all.
What kind of lasagna takes an hour?!
Stove top!
Our Vegetarian Skillet Lasagna Recipe
For our vegetarian skillet lasagna, we first bring together an easy sauce full of zucchini and mushrooms. (Made in the skillet.)
Then, most of the sauce gets transferred to a bowl while you build your lasagna right in the skillet.
A layer of dry noodles. A layer of a ricotta cheese mixture. (Ok, there's a second bowl involved here.) More sauce. Noodles. Cheese. Sauce.
Done.
Cover that skillet and let it do its thing for 30 minutes, until the noodles are cooked.
Then add some cheese to the top and let the lasagna set until its melted.
Super easy. Super quick. Minimal clean up.
It might not be your traditional Italian Grandmother's lasagna. But, it's a great way to fill the craving when you don't have time to go all out.
Zucchini and Mushroom Skillet Lasagna
Recipe Yield: 1 (9 inch) skillet
Ingredients
For The Zucchini And Mushroom Sauce
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced, or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 medium zucchini, sliced
- 1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes, un-drained
- 1 (6oz) can tomato paste
- 1 c water
- 2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For The Cheese Mixture
- 1 c ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
Putting It All Together
- 6 oz lasagna noodles (roughly 6 large sheets), un-cooked
- ½ c mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
For The Sauce
- Heat the oil in a 9” cast iron skillet (or other non-stick skillet that is 2-3” deep) with a lid. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until soft, 3 min.
- Add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté 3 min.
- Add the zucchini and saute for 5 minutes longer, until the onions are golden and the zucchini is starting to soften.
- Add the tomatoes, paste, water, and seasonings. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
For The Cheese
- While the sauce is simmering, mix the ricotta, balsamic vinegar, parsley, salt, and egg in a medium bowl.
Putting It All Together
- Remove the skillet with the vegetable sauce from the heat. Transfer ⅔ of the sauce to a large bowl, leaving enough sauce in the skillet to coat the bottom.
- Place a single layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce in the skillet. Top the noodles with half of the cheese mixture. Spread half of the remaining sauce over the cheese. Top with another layer of noodles, the remaining cheese, and the remaining sauce.
- Cover the skillet and return it to the heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, 30 min.
- After 30 minutes, check the lasagna by inserting a knife in the center of the lasagna. If it goes through all the layers with ease, then the pasta is cooked.
- Remove the skillet from the heat. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the lasagna. Re-cover the lasagna and let it stand, for 5-10 min before serving, for the cheese to melt and any last moisture to be absorbed.
Notes
Nutrition
This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We've updated our pictures since we first made it, but we've left the originals here, in case you've found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
"And, the house really wasn’t clean enough for that." cracked me up. I know the feeling oh so very well. And I also know the feeling of how hard it is to make photogenic lasagna. I have yet to be successful with it enough to put it on my blog.
Very cool that this is cooked on the stove top! I love all the vegetables in this lasagna too!
This dish just jumped to the top of the list to make for my girls, Sarah! It looks wonderful. Love all the flavors and how easy you make it sound!
In our family, it's my little sister who is the master lasagna maker, even back when we were children. It was her specialty and still is!
Thanks Stacy! I wonder if every family that that one person who they depend on for the great lasagna? I think it's a gift!
I love this idea of a skillet lasagna! I made a slow cooker lasagna last week. It's so fun finding all these ways of making this dish. And I love the zucchini in this!! So perfect.
Tim's mom makes amazing slow cooker lasagna, and I have yet to master that one either! It really is amazing all the ways you can make lasagna!
Great twist on lasagna, Sarah!
Oh boy I love this. I am a HUGE zucchini lover and have been wanting to try a lasagna made with them.
I agree! I'll find any excuse I can to use zucchini!
I love a good skillet lasagna! This recipe looks amazing! 🙂
I really need to get a cast iron skillet, I NEED to make this!
My cast iron skillet is quickly becoming my go-to cooking dish. It so so versatile!
OMG, my lasagnas are always so ugly too! I love this idea, especially since I don't have to take into account the moisture of the veggies at that exact moment, and blah blah blah. Just a great veggie dish! Thanks!
Good to hear I'm not alone 🙂 !
Veggie lasagna cooked in a cast iron skillet?! love this!!!
You hade me at "skillet!"
Sarah, your veggie lasagna looks terrific!!! I would not miss the absence of meat one bit!!!
Your lasagna looks to die for! I love everything about it!!
This sounds delicious and looks so hearty and filling!
How fun! I love the idea of skillet lasagna! And vegetarian lasagna are my favourite!