This no boil lasagna is so easy to make in just 20 minutes! Made on the stove top in a cast iron skillet, this healthy lasagna recipe takes oven ready Barilla noodles, sauce and cottage cheese and creates an easy weeknight recipe your entire family will love! The best thing about this recipe is that it's in one pot - meaning easy cleanup!
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Lasagna is one of those easy comfort food meals that even picky eaters tend to enjoy! It can be a time consuming process to construct with boiling noodles, mixing up cheese and layering and that doesn't always work on a busy weeknight!
Enter no boil lasagna in a cast iron skillet! This deconstructed version tastes just like the classic flavor your family loves - only it's made in a fraction of the time, in one pot and with less fat and more protein than the original version.
If you love this recipe be sure to try some of my other easy pasta recipes like crock pot chicken alfredo, chicken penne alla vodka and instant pot hamburger helper! Or if you're into healthier lasagna recipes you will love these zucchini lasagna rolls!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- One pan makes less dishes and easy cleanup! One of my favorite lazy dinner recipes for busy nights.
- Lightened up and healthy version includes cottage cheese as a substitute for ricotta.
- Quick and easy to make homemade in just about 20 minutes (just about as quick as this ground chicken stir fry!). No soaking required for the lasagna noodle sheets.
- Kid friendly dinner that even picky eaters will love.
- Can easily be made vegetarian by omitting turkey sausage.
- Great for make ahead meals and having leftovers! You can make this recipe ahead up to 4 days and reheat throughout the week.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are the ingredients you need to make this recipe. Reference the recipe card at the bottom for exact measurements and the notes below for substitution ideas.
- Oven-ready lasagna noodles: I prefer Barilla lasagna noodles - be sure to select the no boil, oven ready version. Barilla also makes a gluten free oven-ready lasagne noodle if you prefer.
- Sauce: If you'd like, you can try making your own spaghetti sauce - I have a super easy instant pot tomato sauce you can try! Or jarred sauce will work too, I highly recommend Rao's.
- Cottage cheese: To make this recipe lighter, I make this version without ricotta cheese, instead I use 2% cottage cheese. You could also use ricotta cheese for a more classic version.
- Turkey sausage: You can swap out turkey sausage for pork sausage, ground beef, ground turkey or omit meat or use chopped mushrooms for a vegetarian version.
How to Make This Recipe
This is a step-by-step walkthrough of how to cook this recipe. The recipe card at the bottom shows the exact cook time and temperatures.
Expert Tips
- Texture: If you're concerned about texture of the cottage cheese, use an immersion blender or food processor to combine the cheese before dropping it into the cast iron skillet. This will help the texture to be more smooth and more similar to ricotta.
- Spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- Avoid burning: Once the skillet lasagna has been assembled and is ready to simmer for 15 minutes, be sure to simmer on low heat. The sauce can burn, especially if it is thicker. Add a little bit of water or chicken broth to your sauce if it's super thick to prevent burning.
- How to clean the cast iron skillet: If the sauce does burn (it's happened to me!) use baking soda to remove burn marks from your cast iron skillet.
- Before topping the cast iron skillet with foil, spray the foil with a bit of olive oil spray to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil.
- Allow cottage cheese lasagna to set for about 5 minutes before serving.
- For even more nutrition, stir in some spinach prior to adding the no boil lasagna noodles. It will wilt during simmering.
Storage, Freezing, Reheating & Make Ahead
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Freezing: No boil lasagna may be made ahead and cooled before storing in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. For ease, consider transferring to a disposable pan covered in aluminum foil and sealed within a large Ziploc bag. This makes for a perfect freezer meal for your family or to take to a family member or new mom!
- Reheating: The easiest way to reheat leftovers is by reheating them in the microwave in 60 second increments until heated through. To reheat the entire skillet, heat in a 350F oven until heated through.
- Make Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 4 days in advance. Portions may be put into meal prep containers for easy reheating and a delicious and easy weeknight meal!
- Serving: Serve with a green salad or a side of blistered green beans for a super simple dinner.
Recipe FAQs
In this recipe you want to select the no boil or oven ready lasagna. There is likely not enough moisture in the recipe to actually boil the lasagna noodles which is required when using regular noodles.
I almost always use cottage cheese instead of ricotta when making lasagna. The flavors are quite similar and I love the extra protein and less fat that cottage cheese has for this recipe.
No egg is required for this no boil lasagna! Egg helps to bind the cheese to the lasagna which is more important in a classic layered recipe versus this deconstructed skillet version.
Start with sauce, then meat and then cheese. It is very important that the sauce is not too thick and is on the bottom for this recipe to avoid burning.
They may not be getting enough steam during the simmering process. Use a spatula to press them down a bit into the sauce and then be sure that the foil is sealed around the cast iron skillet.
Related Recipes
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No Boil Lasagna with Cottage Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 16 oz turkey sausage
- 1 cup 2% cottage cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 8 sheets oven-ready, no boil lasagna
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add in turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink.
- Stir in sauce and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. If sauce seems too thick, add in a little water or chicken broth to thin the sauce. While sauce is simmering combine cheeses and Italian seasoning in a small bowl and set aside. After sauce has simmered for 5 minutes, stir in garlic.
- Scoop cheese mixture and evenly distribute across the skillet.
- Break up lasagna sheets and place evenly across the skillet. Spray a large piece of foil with cooking spray and cover skillet. Simmer on low for 15 minutes or until noodles are soft. Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving and top with fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
- Texture: If you're concerned about texture of the cottage cheese, use an immersion blender or food processor to combine the cheese before dropping it into the cast iron skillet. This will help the texture to be more smooth and more similar to ricotta.
- Spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- Avoid burning: Once the no boil lasagna has been assembled and is ready to simmer for 15 minutes, be sure to simmer on low heat. The sauce can burn, especially if it is thicker. Add a little bit of water or chicken broth to your sauce if it's super thick to prevent burning.
- How to clean the cast iron skillet: If the sauce does burn (it's happened to me!) use baking soda to remove burn marks from your cast iron skillet.
- Before topping the cast iron skillet with foil, spray the foil with a bit of olive oil spray to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil.
- Allow no boil lasagna to set for about 5 minutes before serving.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Freezing: No boil lasagna may be made ahead and cooled before storing in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. For ease, consider transferring to a disposable pan covered in aluminum foil and sealed within a large Ziploc bag. This makes for a perfect freezer meal for your family or to take to a family member or new mom!
- Reheating: The easiest way to reheat leftovers is by reheating them in the microwave in 60 second increments until heated through. To reheat the entire skillet, heat in a 350F oven until heated through.
- Make Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 4 days in advance. Portions may be put into meal prep containers for easy reheating and a delicious and easy weeknight meal!
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