I believe passionately that enjoying a healthy, balanced diet should never EVER leave you feeling deprived. What inspires my recipes here (and every recipe in my upcoming cookbook) is creating nutritious meals that taste so fabulous, you forget that what you are eating is “healthy.” This Skillet Lasagna with Basil, Italian Sausage, and Butternut Squash is the perfect example. Every forkful delivers the kind of wrap-you-up, grandma’s-cooking comfort that we seek from lasagna, but the ingredient lineup is shockingly good for you (just like in this Sweet Potato Pasta). We’re talking lean protein, whole grains, and (GASP!) hidden veggies (a lot of them). Here’s how the healthy skillet lasagna magic happens!
How to Make Healthy Skillet Lasagna That Tastes Like the Real Deal
The key to making a slimmed-down skillet lasagna that doesn’t skimp on a morsel of flavor is simple swaps. These are swaps you can apply to any recipe, not just lasagna, and are some of my most frequently used tips and tricks to cook more healthfully at home.
Use Italian Turkey Sausage or Italian Chicken Sausage. One of my favorite ingredients! While you might notice the swap if you were eating only a plain Italian sausage on a bun, when you use Italian sausage in a recipe that has other elements like this tasty skillet lasagna, you won’t notice one bit. It also has oodles more flavor than standard ground chicken or ground turkey and (this is key) it does not taste dry AT ALL.
A few of my favorite recipes using this Italian sausage: Sausage and Rice Casserole, Sausage and Peppers, Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers, and One Skillet Butternut Squash Gnocchi. I opted to make this a sweet Italian sausage recipe, but you can certainly swap spicy Italian sausage if you are craving some extra heat.
Herbs and Spices. These ingredients deliver mega flavor without adding to the calorie count. For this skillet lasagna, I used basil and parsley. The basil especially gives the lasagna a true classic Italian flavor.Whole Wheat Pasta. Another trick I love to keep up my sneaky-swap sleeve. Whole wheat pasta is higher in fiber than regular white pasta. This skillet lasagna recipe calls for no-boil (oven-ready) noodles to save on time.
If your store doesn’t carry oven-ready whole wheat noodles, they are available online. You can also parcook regular whole wheat lasagna noodles and then use them in the recipe as directed.
Fully Flavored Cheeses. Since cheese is a more indulgent ingredient, I like to use less of a cheese that has a stronger flavor so that the net taste is the same as if I’d used a larger quantity of a more mild cheese.
In this skillet lasagna recipe, my pick is fontina, an idea I picked up from (ironically) the Pioneer Woman. If you can’t find fontina, a mild provolone or a mild gruyere are good alternatives. If all else fails, mozzarella is classic, so you can certainly use it here too.
Hidden Veggies. Believe it or not, the sauce in this recipe is nearly half butternut squash! I sautéed, mashed, and then mixed the squash together with regular marinara sauce.
Not only is the flavor combination of the squash and marinara lovely (the sweetness of the butternut squash offsets the acidity of the tomatoes), you could not even tell the squash was there! Instead, it tasted like a particularly delicious tomato sauce. I also added a full pack of frozen spinach to the sausage mixture. Its flavor is so mild, you can’t taste it, though it does look green. If you have picky eaters who won’t touch the lasagna with green visible, you can omit it. This skillet starts out on the stove, then finishes in the oven. I tested a no-bake version but found that it took so long to cook through on the stovetop completely that it was worth popping in the oven to save time. You can make this a cast iron skillet lasagna if you have a skillet that’s large enough (heads up, it will be heavy). I used the 3.5-quart braiser you see pictured. Any deep, ovenproof dish with a lid will do nicely. Don’t own a skillet that’s large enough to hold all of the lasagna layers? You can cook the squash and sausage in a smaller skillet on the stove, then layer the lasagna in a regular baking dish instead.
What to Serve with Skillet Lasagna
Salad. A tasty salad like this Antipasto Salad would pair nicely.Veggies. Serve a healthy side dish like Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Roasted Zucchini.Appetizer. Start your meal off with these easy and delicious Pesto Pinwheels.
Other Tasty Lasagna Recipes
Vegetable LasagnaSpaghetti Squash LasagnaEggplant LasagnaCrock Pot Low Carb Lasagna
I am SO excited for the scrumptious and healthy recipes that I have in store for you this year. This Skillet Lasagna with Basil, Italian Sausage, and Butternut Squash feels like an especially wonderful way to begin.
