Easy One Pot Deconstructed Lasagna

Deconstructed Lasagna is the perfect weekday comfort food. With seasoned ground turkey, tender lasagna noodles and lots of melty cheese, this easy one-pot dinner has all the flavor of classic lasagna and none of the fuss.

this recipe

Here we are at the start of September, and I don’t know about you, but after a delightfully lazy summer I forgot how frenzied the school year can feel. This week, we have four nights of after-school activities. After all that time driving the mom taxi, the last thing I want to do is come home and cook a complicated meal. This delicious deconstructed lasagna recipe (affectionately called lazy lasagna in my house), is a perfect one-pot dinner that can be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

This easy meal is full of lean protein, creamy ricotta cheese, melty mozzarella and tender noodles. I added some sneaky chopped up spinach for extra veggies (the kids won’t even notice!), and used store-bought marinara sauce and pantry staple spices to keep it simple. This recipe requires minimal prep and dishes, so cleanup will be a breeze!

Serve your one pot lasagna with a side of sautéed broccolini or a big salad for a quick and simple comfort food dinner your whole family will love. For other easy comfort food dishes, try my smoked gouda mac and cheese or creamy cajun chicken orzo.

You Will Love This

• Deconstructed lasagna is a simple one-pot meal with minimal prep and dishes. 
• This easy recipe has all the flavor of traditional lasagna but is on the table in 30 minutes, a fraction of the time of the layered version!
• Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food meal, and this recipe is sure to be a hit with even your picky eaters. 

Ingredients

To make one pot deconstructed lasagna you need the following simple ingredients (full ingredients list with exact measurements is included in the recipe card below):

Ingredient Notes

• Ground turkey: I used lean ground turkey in this recipe (93/7). You could substitute ground chicken or lean ground beef. You could also substitute sweet Italian sausage, but you will want to adjust the seasonings in the recipe to taste (less fennel for certain!). Also, make sure to drain any extra fat from the meat if needed.
• Chopped spinach: I have added extra veggies to our pasta sauce ever since our kids were little. It’s a great no-fuss way to get a little extra nutrition into them. Just chop the veggies up small and the kids will barely notice. Roughly chopped baby spinach works great in this recipe, as does as finely diced carrots or zucchini. If using a hardier vegetable (like carrots or zucchini) add them to the skillet at the very beginning with the onion so they get nice and soft.
• Marinara sauce: My family’s favorite is Rao’s homemade marinara, and that’s what I used in this recipe. Any store-bought or homemade spaghetti sauce will work – use your favorite!
• Ricotta cheese: I love creamy ricotta in lasagna, but it’s not my kids favorite. If you want to leave it out, you substitute some cottage cheese, add additional mozzarella, or sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on top! I used whole-milk ricotta, but part-skim ricotta would work too. 
• Mozzarella cheese: I used fresh mozzarella pearls in this recipe because I had them on hand, but any grated or thinly sliced mozzarella will work great.
• Fresh basil (optional): This is an optional garnish. It adds a great smell to the lasagna, but the flavor is on point without it, and when making it on the busy weeknights I often leave it out. You could also use fresh parsley as a substitute. 
• Red pepper flakes (optional): I love adding a pinch of red pepper flakes on top of the lasagna for a little added spice.

Instructions

Step One: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is just starting to soften. Add the ground turkey, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds and garlic powder. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break apart the turkey and incorporate the seasonings throughout, and cook until the turkey is fully browned.

Step Two: Add the chopped spinach to the skillet and sauté 2-3 more minutes, until the spinach has cooked down.

Step Three: Pour 1 cup of water and the marinara sauce into the skillet and stir to combine. 

Step Four: Break the lasagna noodles into small pieces and add them to the skillet. Stir the lasagna noodles into the sauce, and bring the sauce to a simmer.

Step Five: Once the pasta mixture is simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the lasagna to simmer until the pasta is cooked al dente (about 15-18 minutes) stirring occasionally to make sure the noodles do not stick to the bottom of the pan. If the lasagna becomes too dry before the noodles are cooked, add additional water as needed.

Step Six: When the noodles are cooked, taste the pasta and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Spoon dollops of ricotta cheese on top of the lasagna and scatter the mozzarella over the top. 

Step Seven: Return the skillet to the stove over low heat with the lid on for 4-5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Alternatively, if your skillet is oven safe you can place it under the broiler for a couple minutes to melt the cheese. Garnish the lasagna with fresh basil and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and serve! 

Storage

Lazy lasagna makes perfect leftovers. Keep leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator and reheat as needed. The flavors just get better over time.