This skillet lasagna recipe is an easy weeknight meal everyone loves

Do you sometimes crave lasagna but wish it didn’t have to be such a chore to make?  Sure, the lasagna that mama or grandma used to create might require a full day of making a sauce, boiling the noodles, preparing the ingredients and making the perfect layers of meat and cheese. But, today’s busy schedules don’t always allow for that kind of time to prepare.

There is no denying that this kind of lasagna is worth the effort, but what about those crazy days when you want to enjoy one of your favorite Italian meals but want to save time and your sanity?

We have some good news for overscheduled cooks. A little lasagna love from the kitchen doesn’t have to be an hours-long ordeal thanks to creative cooks who came up with the idea of the skillet lasagna!

All of the elements of a classic lasagna go into this recipe from Eating Well: pasta, meat and cheese. But, these cooks used some ingenuity to trim both the prep time and even some fat and calories from the traditional dish.

Right from the start, we love this recipe because it’s a one-pan prep meal. Usually, making lasagna requires all kinds of pots and pans to come together. You will only need one ovenproof pan for this skillet lasagna. We recommend a cast iron pan for a reliable stovetop to oven cooking experience, but any nonstick, oven-safe pan is a great option to make and serve this meal.

The ingredients for this meal are simple and require little fuss in putting together. You’ll need marinara, ground beef, uncooked lasagna noodles (but not the oven-ready kind), fresh parsley and basil, ricotta and mozzarella cheese and some spices you probably already have on hand.

The entire skillet lasagna is made inside the single pan, including the noodles, which boil in the sauce you make to add extra flavor. Follow the step-by-step instructions to put the recipe together before popping the pan under the broiler to get that melty cheese top we all love.

You get all of this goodness in under an hour from start to finish!

See the full ingredient list and instructions for Eating Well’s skillet lasagna recipe here.

And then add it to your weekly meal rotation! We think it will be a regular dinner choice for even the busiest families.