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Our family favorite Skillet Lasagna is the answer to busy weeknight dinners! We use frozen cheese ravioli in place of lasagna noodles to keep things extra cheesy and extra easy.
In my family, we are all about the easy dinners. I mean, I obviously do a lot of cooking in my day to day life, creating recipes for this blog (and my low carb blog, too!). However, I can’t always plan that time spent cooking around dinner.
Sometimes I’m cooking dinner recipes at 8am and breakfast recipes at 3pm and by the time dinner rolls around at 6pm, I’m done. D. O. N. E.
I don’t want to make an elaborate meal.
I don’t want to find something to serve alongside the random recipe I created that morning.
I just want EASY. I want QUICK. And, obviously, I still want delicious and family-pleasing and fresh.
Hello, time for pasta. Isn’t pasta always the answer in situations like this?
This is a riff on our Ravioli Lasagna – a major favorite around here and super simple, but maybe not the quickest to make since it takes about an hour in the oven.
This time around we’re making skillet lasagna. Same vibe as lasagna, but cooked in a skillet and ready in just 25 minutes!!
Skillet lasagna is one of our go to meals on nights when I’d really rather not cook.
Ingredient Notes:
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Ground Beef – I’d recommend using lean ground beef so you don’t have to drain as much fat, but any blend will work. Ground turkey, chicken, pork, or lamb would also go great in this skillet lasagna recipe!
Garlic & Onion – Pretty much a requirement for any good pasta recipe! Some diced sweet onion and minced garlic will add lots of flavor to the ground beef while it cooks and will enhance the marinara sauce.
Marinara Sauce – When it comes to using store bought marinara sauce, the only brand I can possibly recommend is Rao’s! It tastes so much better than all the others, but feel free to use any brand you prefer. You could also make our homemade spaghetti sauce to use in this recipe!
Frozen Cheese Ravioli – You should be able to find this in the frozen section of most any grocery store. An variety is fine – we just prefer cheese!
Cheese –We’ll use ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella.
What We Love About This Recipe:
- Cheesy Goodness: Big dollops of ricotta cheese top this skillet lasagna off. So decadent!
- 30 Minute Meal: Enjoy all the comfort of classic lasagna without the assembly and bake time, thanks to this skillet recipe that streamlines the process while delivering the same mouthwatering taste.
- One-Pan Wonder: Dirty dishes filling the sink? No ma’am, not today. You’ll need one skillet + a small bowl to stir together the ricotta filling.
- Family Friendly: This skillet lasagna using cheese ravioli is bound to become a hit with the entire family, offering a crowd-pleasing option that both kids and adults will adore.
- Customizable: Play with different types of ravioli and sauces to make this skillet lasagna uniquely yours, allowing you to explore various flavor combinations and tailor the dish to your preferences. You can swap the ground beef for a variety of meats as well!
My Favorite Skillet!
Cast iron skillets are my favorite! They heat so evenly, get piping hot for searing, and nothing is better than bacon fried in a cast iron skillet.
How To Make Skillet Ravioli Lasagna:
Beef: Start by browning a pound of ground beef. Stir in some diced onions and minced garlic.
Marinara Sauce: Next, add a jar of your favorite pasta sauce to the skillet along with a little water. We love Rao’s but any brand works!
Cheese Ravioli: Dump your frozen cheese ravioli into the skillet and give it a stir. Cover the pasta in the marinara sauce as best you can and bring to a boil.
Cover the pan and let it cook for about 8 minutes.
Cheese: While the pasta cooks, stir together ricotta cheese, more garlic, Parmesan, mozzarella, and parsley.
Remove the pan from the heat and spread the ricotta cheese over the top. Sprinkle with a bit more mozzarella and pop the lid back on to melt the cheese.
Serve: Sprinkle with fresh parsley just before serving.
This skillet lasagna is seriously simple and it’s such a hit with my kiddos.
Serving Suggestions:
If you’re wondering what goes with our skillet lasagna, it’s pretty much anything you’d serve with pasta or an Italian recipe! A side salad is always a good choice, and I’ve got a few other great recipes below for you to serve with this:
- Tuscan Roasted Vegetables
- Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing
- Air Fryer Frozen Bread Sticks
- Cauliflower Risotto
- Vegetable Salad
- Air Fryer Frozen Garlic Bread
FAQs:
You can keep any leftovers of this skillet lasagna recipe stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
To freeze leftover lasagna, let it cool completely before placing it in a freezer safe container or dish and wrap it well with foil. It should last for up to a couple of months.
MORE PASTA RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- One Pot Spaghetti: You dump everything into one pot and cook it all together! No boiling the pasta separately!
- Alfredo Sauce: Serve this homemade Alfredo over fettuccine and you’ve got a restaurant quality meal!
- Homemade Hamburger Helper: Skip the box – this is better.
- Baked Spaghetti: If I had to marry pasta, I’d marry this one. ????
- Chicken Florentine Pasta: Chunks of juicy chicken, pasta, and sun-dried tomatoes, all cooked in one skillet.
- Shrimp Alfredo: My husband loves this one and swears it’s better than what he orders from restaurants.
Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 3 cloves minced garlic divided
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 18 ounces frozen cheese ravioli
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 3/4 cup grated Mozzarella divided
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup minced parsley
Instructions
- Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and break it up as it cooks.
- When meat is mostly cooked through stir in the onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Continue cooking until meat is cooked through. Drain fat and return to pan.
- Add the marinara, water, and cheese ravioli to the skillet. Stir to submerge the ravioli in the pasta sauce.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 8 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
- Stir together the ricotta cheese, Parmesan, 1/4 cup mozzarella, remaining clove of minced garlic, and parsley.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and drop spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture over the pasta. Spread to cover the pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
- Cover the skillet and let sit for 5 minutes to melt the mozzarella. Sprinkle with additional parsley before serving, if desired.
Erin Vasicek says
I love skillet lasagna but I’ve never had it with ravioli, game changer!
Penelope says
Looks very good and also very easy to put together. Thanks Karly!
Carissa Nelson | Spoonful of Easy says
So with you on the easy dinners! They are needed in my house! Love how quick this is, but you can tell it will be a kid pleaser for sure!
imogene stewart says
Can the ricotta be left out?
Karly says
You could skip the whole ricotta mixture, but then you’ll lose that lasagna flavor. Just sprinkle with Parmesan and mozzarella though, if you like.
Kelly | Foodtasia says
Looks delicious! Easy dinners are the best! I know exactly what you mean about the crazy food schedules- my kids are so patient to bear with me 🙂
Heather Seeley says
This looks like something my family will love! Going to try it this weekend. I have been loving your videos too, they make me want to stick my fork through the screen.
Karly says
Thanks, Heather!
Lexi @ Sempre Dolce says
This looks delicious (and btw, it is not a good thing for me to be looking at this near dinner time…) – give me a plateful! Please? 😉
Karly says
It’s so quick and easy, you totally have time to whip it up tonight! 😉
Kelly says
Will definitely have to try and locate these! This looks delicious, thanks for the heads up!
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
My mother made this often when I was young.Came straight from a box, but it was so good. Love seeing this amped up version. Can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks Karly!