This 30 minute Vegetarian Skillet Lasagna is perfect for busy weeknights and is going to become your go-to recipe! It's fast, easy, healthy, loaded with veggies, and yet will be gobbled up by the pickiest of the eaters!
We are big lasagna lovers, but let's be honest, most of us don't really have the time to prep a lasagna casserole on weekdays. Weeknight dinners are all about quick recipes that require minimal prep, but still pack in a tonne of nutrition. Enter this 30 minute vegetarian skillet lasagna. It's a quick and simple take on the traditional pasta dish, and my favourite way to make lasagna now. So much so that I rarely go the whole hog anymore!
Quick Walk Through: Vegetarian Skillet Lasagna
Reasons to make this recipe
- A creamy red sauce pasta dish that's loaded veggies and delicious stringy cheese to alleviate weeknight meals.
- Loaded with a tonne of veggies to make for a nutritious meal full of fibre, essential vitamins and minerals.
- Once everything's prepped, it's a pretty much dump and run kind of recipe that's ready in under 30 minutes.
- A one-pot, stovetop no-bake lasagna recipe which ensures minimal clean up post cooking.
Richa's top tips to make the best vegetarian skillet lasagna
- If you are lazy (like me) or want to make this dish even quicker, simply get some pre-cut veggies and pre-made pasta sauce and your lasagna will be ready in no time!
- I usually freeze a jar of my easy pasta sauce to save me a tonne of effort on a weeknight. You can also buy any pre-made red pasta sauce of your choice.
- Even though this is a vegetarian version, you can easily add in a protein of your choice like chicken, paneer, tofu or a meat sausage of your choice to make it even more nutritious.
- If you're making this one for the grown ups, then you can even sneak in a little wine while cooking the sauce for added flavour. About ¼th cup of red wine works really well in this recipe and helps intensify the flavours of this vegetarian lasagna beautifully.
Frequently asked questions
1. What pasta sheets should I use for this lasagna recipe?
For this recipe, I have used no-boil lasagna sheets. These pasta sheets don't need to be pre-boiled and they cook in the pasta sauce itself, thereby saving a lot of time. But you can easily use regular pre-boil lasagna sheets if those are more easily available to you. Simply boil the pasta sheets, assemble the lasagna in a skillet and cook as usual.
2. Does lasagna taste better the next day?
Lasagna usually tastes really nice the next day. Thanks to the all the layers, hot lasagna can be a little slippery and hard to eat. Once cooled down, all the different layers have had a chance to settle and the sauce also thickens a little bit, thereby making it a lot more delicious and easier to eat the next day.
3. Can lasagna be assembled earlier and cooked later?
Absolutely! Lasagna can easily be assembled and stored in the refrigerator up to 24 hours in advance. In fact, this is a great time saving hack for busy weeknights. Assemble all your layers in the skillet and cover with cling foil or aluminium foil. When you are ready to cook, simply take it out of the fridge, remove the foil and cook as usual. Easy-peasy!
4. How do you reheat cooked lasagna?
Place refrigerated lasagna in a microwave safe dish, sprinkle a little bit of water, and cover it with aluminium foil. Preheat your microwave and place your lasagna. Heat for about 20 minutes or until the lasagna is completely cooked through and you notice the sauce bubbling on the sides.
Once you try this simple yet delicious one pot lasagna, there is no going back. Even though this lasagna is perfect as is, you can serve it with some garlic bread to make it a complete meal. Be sure to make extras though, because this one gets wiped clean very quickly. You've been warned!
This 30 minute vegetarian skillet lasagna recipe post is sponsored by Big Banyan who make some of the best wines in India. Denver and I are particularly fond of their Merlot, a bottle of which is usually cooling in the fridge on most evenings.
30 Minute Vegetarian Lasagna Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoons Butter
- 5-6 Garlic Cloves finely chopped
- 200 grams Button Mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1 Red Bell Pepper roughly chopped
- 2 Carrots peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 Jar of your favourite Pasta Sauce
- ½ cup Big Banyan's Merlot or any other red wine
- ½ cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Chili Flakes
- 8-10 Lasagna Sheets broken into pieces
- ½ cup Loosely packed Basil leaves
- ½ cup Grated Mozzarella
- Salt to taste
- Freshly grated Parmesan for topping
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and butter in a 12 inch skillet or frying pan and add garlic. Saute for a minute being careful not to burn the garlic and add mushrooms, bell peppers and carrots.
- Cook the vegetables on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes and add the pasta sauce and merlot. Bring this to a quick boil and reduce the flame to a simmer. Simmer for a minute or two and add oregano, chili flakes, milk and salt.
- Mix this together and add the broken lasagna sheet to the pan, mixing them as you go. Reduce the flame to low and cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Mix in the basil leaves and top with mozzarella. Cover again for another 2-3 minutes or till the cheese melts.
- Top this 30 minute vegetarian lasagna skillet with freshly grated parmesan and serve with a glass of Big Banyan's Merlot.
Notes
- You can use any store bought red/tomato based pasta sauce. If you are looking to make it yourself, you can check out my Easy Pasta Sauce recipe for a basic red pasta sauce.Â
- Always use fresh basil as stale or old basil tends to be more bitter in taste causing it to overpower the dish.Â
- You can also use store bought pasta seasoning instead of oregano and chilli flakes.Â
Jessica says
This is DELICIOUS! I just made this for dinner tonight. Thank you for the recipe!
Richa says
So glad you liked it Jessica!!