Skillet Lasagna is a great alternative to Hamburger Helper. Are you ever looking for an inexpensive meal to prepare on a weeknight? I know I am, and I have a solution for you.
Recently some of my Youtube folks were looking for inexpensive meals to prepare. I wanted to come up with a recipe that was inexpensive to make, and very hearty. I always enjoyed Hamburger Helper as a child, and I wanted to recreate this a favorite childhood recipe.
While I do use leftover boxed lasagna noodles for this recipe, you really could use any type of pasta that you like. I used Italian Sausage to help keep the costs down on the recipe which is often on sale at my local grocery store. I buy it fairly often at half the price of ground beef. I have also tried this recipe with just a half a pound of Italian sausage.
For this skillet lasagna recipe, I use fresh onions and garlic. If you happen to have some bell peppers in your fridge, you could toss in one of those if you like. This recipe is very flexible.
I use ricotta cheese to add some flavor. If you like, you could swap this out for cottage cheese as either one will work. I personally prefer the ricotta because I like the taste and texture more when the cheese is heated.
Inexpensive meals do not have to be flavorless they can be both filling and delicious. Cabbage roll casserole is filling and made with fresh cabbage, ground meat, and rice.
Love Hamburger Helper? Try this Hamburger Stroganoff recipe.
More Italian recipes to try:
- Instant Pot Italian Sausage Pasta
- Cheesy Italian Skillet
- Italian Style Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
- Olive Garden Five Cheese Lasagna
- Easy Cheesy Taco Spaghetti
Skillet Lasagna - Homemade Hamburger Helper
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage or ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 14.5 ounce canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 8 ounces lasagna noodles or other type of pasta
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
Instructions
- Brown the meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped onion and chopped garlic to skillet.
- Cook over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent.
- Add tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, 1 cup of water, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Break the lasagna noodles into pieces and add them to the skillet. Stir to combine.
- Cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pasta is done. If the liquid cooks out, you may need to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.
- Place dollops of ricotta cheese on top. Stir in the cheese if desired. You can top with additional cheese.
Aleshia
Hamburger Helper Lasagna was my favorite one by them when I as a child.. I can’t wait to try this!!!
Stephanie
Oh, yeah, I remember that one. I also loved the stroganoff one.
Karen
Do you plan to do any Cajun Dishes?
Can’t wait to try the Lasagna dish!
Dessert Meal
This recipe looks good n easy to make.Hoping to make use of the available pasta to make this dish tonight
L. Todaro
The “skillet” dinners were by Hunt’s and not Hamburger Helper. They came in a box with noodles, sauce and for the lasagna, a packet that had ricotta solids. Thanks for making at attempt at replicating Hunt’s Skillet Lasagna.
Stephanie
I didn’t know Hunts had a similar product. I always knew this as a ‘Hamburger Helper’ product. I appreciate the knowledge!
Low carb yogurt
This looks delicious! Did you use regular or oven ready lasagna noodles?
Rach's Recipes
I love lasagna and I do believe in using pork sausages too as it helps create a richer sauce as compared to ground beef. I generously added mozzarella, ricotta, and chopped basil for this too. Thanks for sharing.
Janeane Davis
This seems like a good recipe that will be tasty and that the entire family will enjoy having. It is nice because there is lots of room for interpretation and creativity.
Stephanie
I think those are the best recipes, where you can come up with your favorite additions to a recipe.
Keikilani
This looks so yummy! I have been looking for new hamburger recipes.
یو پی اس
Thank you for this post. Good luck.
Stephanie @CopyKat.com
Thank you very much. I think simple cooking is cooking at its best. You get to allow the natural flavors of the food to really shine. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Michael k meske
I would like to say that you do a very great job of bringing us simple food That looks great and taste fantastic thanks