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Lasagna: It's the quintessential comforting casserole and a baked pasta dish that's as welcome at weeknight dinners as it is for special guests and holidays. It also freezes well, so it's a great make-ahead option to share with friends or new neighbors.
Classic Italian lasagna features pasta, tomato sauce, cooked ground meat (usually beef and/or sausage), and layers of cheesy mozzarella and creamy ricotta; finished with a final sprinkling of Parmesan and bright parsley. While this basic recipe is so well-loved, cooks and creative culinary types have ventured into other flavor profiles, putting their own spin on this layered favorite. What about creamy béchamel sauce instead of tart tomato sauce, or sautéed squash and leafy greens in place of meat? And how about using convenience foods to help speed up prep time for weeknight cooking, too?
We collected our favorite lasagna recipes, each with a unique flavor and cooking method, so you can find just the right spin on this pasta favorite.
Skillet Spinach Lasagna
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For weeknights, with little time to layer and stack a classic lasagna recipe, turn to this one-pot stovetop option. Everything you love from the original is here—pasta, tomato sauce, ricotta, and spinach—but it's baked into a sliceable skillet dish that's every bit as good as the original.
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Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
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This twist on lasagna intersperses layers of pasta with tender mushrooms and silky wilted spinach and swaps a luscious cream sauce for the marinara. It's easy to make and highly impressive, so use this when you need a dish that shows off.
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Slow-Cooker Squash Lasagna
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What's better than a lasagna bubbling away in your oven while you prep dinner? One that slowly cooks over several hours so you can complete an afternoon of chores, or finish a novel on your couch.
This slow-cooker lasagna recipe calls for pureed winter squash as the sauce, which adds a brightness to this cozy dinner. Don't worry, ricotta and mozzarella are still here, providing even more scrumptious flavor and next-level creaminess. Serve with a side salad topped with a tangy vinaigrette to offset the rich flavors of this unique meatless lasagna.
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Broccoli and Three-Cheese Lasagna
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Broccoli isn't typical in most lasagna recipes; but layers of pasta, sauce, Parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta brilliantly hide this stealthy, healthy ingredient. Kids and picky eaters will be so dazzled by its ooey-gooey cheesy layers, they'll ask for seconds long before they realize they're getting a hearty dose of vitamin C and fiber.
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Microwave Lasagna
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One of the most agonizing elements of cooking a lasagna is the long wait from when you pop the feed-a-crowd casserole into the stove until it's bubbling and table-ready. But this recipe promises a mixture of cheese, no-boil noodles, marinara sauce, and spinach ready in just 20 minutes. Be sure you're adding a box of no-cook noodles, which are designed for this microwave cooking method. (Regular lasagna noodles won't tenderize during the cooking process.)
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Stovetop Bacon Lasagna
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The adage "bacon makes everything better" certainly applies here. The key to the dish is maintaining distinct layers in the pan: First, spicy bacon-infused onions, then broken lasagna noodles, a layer of basil-infused tomatoes, and finally, generous dollops of ricotta and shredded cheese. The result is nothing short of perfection that, best of all (aside from the bacon, of course), comes together in under an hour.
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Last-Minute Lasagna
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This super-easy lasagna recipe is so simple, you can pull it together in mere minutes with just five ingredients. Substitute frozen ravioli for traditional noodles and a jar of well-seasoned pasta sauce for long-simmering meat sauce, and you have the makings of a quick weeknight meal. This dish will no doubt become a back-pocket recipe for a fast family-friendly dinner.
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Potato "Lasagna"
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This pasta-free twist on lasagna has layers of potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, bacon, and cheese. No, it's not the Italian dish you're used to, but its comforting nature it makes it ideal for brisk fall and winter evenings when you crave a decadent hearty meal.
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Slow-Cooker Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna With Romaine Salad
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When there's no time to prepare dinner, simply layer ingredients in your slow cooker and walk away. Just four hours later, frozen spinach will have tenderized and absorbed the herb-infused flavors of the sauce, and noodles will have softened in the moisture of the spinach and sauce. Add a crisp green salad on the side to finish off this easy weeknight dinner.
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Turkey Lasagna Rolls
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This lasagna-like dish swaps meat with turkey (cooked or ground) and adds creamed greens for a savory and creative Thanksgiving leftover idea.
But think of this as more of a guideline than a recipe—meaning toss in whatever you have that can be folded between layers of pasta: mashed potatoes, diced root veggies, stuffing, whatever. It's your lasagna, and hopefully a new tradition you can look forward to when it's time to clean out the fridge. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be rolling everything between two noodles.
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Pesto Skillet Lasagna
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Fred Hardy
Unlike a traditional lasagna with red sauce, this version is bright green, thanks to a creamy pesto that's packed with flavor. Spinach adds to the vibrant hue (and the nutritional quotient), while lemon zest brightens everything up.