It’s always frustrating when I have a box of lasagna noodles that contains broken pieces of pasta—these don’t work very well in traditional lasagna. It recently occurred to me that I could use these to make “lasagna” on the stovetop. This dish has a flavor similar to that of traditional lasagna, but it is much easier to prepare!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground meat (I used turkey)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 6 broken lasagna noodles or 2 cups mafalda
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 6 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Place the meat, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the meat is brown, stirring occasionally. Drain if needed.
Stir in the remaining ingredients except the cheeses. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 12 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Stir in the ricotta cheese and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Allow the mozzarella cheese to melt before serving. Yield: 4 servings.
Notes
This dish was a big hit with my husband and daughter! I liked the flavor, too, but I was most pleased with the fact that it was a one-pot dish—it was a breeze to prepare and clean up! If you don’t have lasagna or mafalda on hand, then feel free to use other forms of pasta. It would also be tasty with other cheeses (e.g., provolone, cheddar).
The ingredients for this dish cost approximately $7.48, which is just $1.87 per serving. We served it with a vegetable on the side, which brings the cost to $2.02 per serving. Next time you need an easy-to-prepare dinner, give this tasty dish a try!
What do you think? Is Stovetop Lasagna a decent substitute for the real thing?
Shared on the following link-ups:
Home and Garden Thursday, Teach Me Tuesday, Frugal Crafty Home, Motivation Monday, Blog Fair, Making Your Home Sing, Saturday Soiree, Weekend Wind Down, Weekend Potluck and Inspiration Spotlight.
Visiting from the Dear Creatives link party.This looks really good! My family loves lasagna but it always seems like such a hassle to make. I am going to have to try your recipe.
Hi Jen,
This is very easy! I especially love that it is prepared in one pot. Feel free to customize it based on how you usually prepare lasagna. Enjoy!
This would also work for a Crock Pot meal. #WWDP
Hi Antionette,
Yes, it certainly could be adapted to work in a slow cooker. Great idea!
Great recipe for a warm fall day! My crew loves lasagna!
Hi Michele,
We love lasagna, too, and it is great in the fall…especially on busy days. 🙂
If making this in crock pot, how long to cook on low or high and would you set up recipe in crock pot as in stove top. Would cheese be added prior to serving?
I think you could mix everything except the cheeses into the slow cooker and cook it on low for 4-6 hours (in my experience,”low” is not the same temperature on every slow cooker…some are hotter than others so the best I can do is suggest a range of time for it to cook). Things tend to dry out a bit in my slow cooker, so I might add a little extra water. I’d then stir in the ricotta and sprinkle with mozzarella prior to serving. (You can add the ricotta in earlier, if you’d like. I just waited until the end for the stovetop recipe so I wasn’t boiling the ricotta.)
I’ve never tried this in a slow cooker, so I can’t say for certain how it will turn out. However, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Let us know if you give it a try. 🙂
Yum! You had me at “one-pot meal”! 🙂 Just pinned. Stopping by from Making Your Heart Sing Monday.
Hi Elizabeth,
These types of recipes are great, aren’t they? Thanks for visiting.