30-Minute Ground Turkey Lasagna Casserole

Looking to make an awesome ground turkey lasagna? Why not make a one-pan lasagna casserole to make life a lot easier? This turkey lasagna combines extra lean ground turkey with a jar of your favorite marinara, onion and garlic, and a ricotta and Italian cheese blend to make a restaurant-quality lasagna in a single skillet.

It’s loaded with 36 grams of protein and just 12 grams of fat per serving, which is unbelievable when you look at how cheesy it is! I’ll walk you through the ingredients and recipe steps below, touching on substitutions and recipe modifications as we go. And you can find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post if you’re in a hurry.

Shortcut Ingredients for an Easy Ground Turkey Lasagna

This lasagna casserole can be divided into two parts. First, you have the turkey, sauce, and pasta. That’s all cooked together before an Italian cheese blend and a ricotta cheese and herb blend is layered on top before broiling until golden brown and crispy.

Here’s a quick look at everything you need for each component along with a couple thoughts on substitutions.

The Ground Turkey, Sauce, and Pasta

• Ground Turkey – I love this recipe because it allows you to get away with using extra lean (99% lean) ground turkey without it drying out or becoming too tough.
• Onion and Garlic – I always keep frozen crushed garlic on hand. And if you want to use the knife in the drawer, you can use another shortcut ingredient in frozen diced onions like in my turkey shepherd’s pie.
• Italian Seasoning and Calabrian Chiles – Feel free to use any dried herbs in place of Italian seasoning. And you can omit the Calabrian chiles or swap them for sun dried tomatoes or tomato paste in a pinch.
• Marinara – It’s hard to beat Rao’s, especially when you consider the convenience!
• Chicken Broth – If I have to choose between water and a flavored liquid of any kind, I’ll take the latter.
• Manicotti Shells – You can use any type of pasta for this lasagna casserole. Since this is a one skillet lasagna, lasagna sheets don’t exactly fit without breaking them up. I like how the manicotti shells slightly fill up with the turkey mixture as it bakes, but you’d be fine with something like farfalle or any type of pasta shape really.

Ready for a Grate Time?

• Ricotta Cheese, Egg, Parsley, and Parmesan – In a hurry? You can get away with ricotta on its own, but the parsley or some type of herb really adds a lot to this dish. Try to get those in at the very least.
• Shredded Italian Cheese Blend – Mozzarella works fine on its own, but I like the Trader Joe’s four-cheese blend for a convenient ingredient selection.

And that’s everything you need other than a bit of basil or extra chopped parsley to garnish the finished lasagna. Easy enough, right?

How to Make a One Pan Lasagna Casserole

I’ve pretty much given you the secret sauce already, but I figured I’d give you a look at everything coming together below. If you have a question about an ingredient substitution or a particular step in the recipe, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments at the bottom of this post.

Make sure to spend time properly browning the turkey to develop flavor via the Maillard reaction before adding the onion and other seasonings. Once the garlic, seasoning, and optional chiles are all worked in, it’s as easy as adding marinara and chicken broth. Bring that to a simmer and add your choice of pasta.

What you don’t see above is the makeshift lid (a half sheet pan) for my cast iron skillet. Since the recipe calls for simmering the pasta covered to fully cook before adding the cheese layer, you may need to get creative as well.

The type of pasta or pasta shape you use may affect the cook time slightly. If your pasta is taking longer than the recipe’s suggested 10 minutes and the sauce is a little too thick, you may want to add a bit more broth or liquid. Since the cheese is broiled and not baked, you want to make sure the pasta is fully cooked before adding the cheese layers.

What to Serve with Turkey Lasagna

Garlic bread, obviously. But garlic bread and breadsticks may not fit your macro goals so I’ve included a couple options below made with lower calorie Greek yogurt dough. Getting some extra veggies into your diet is always a great idea, and you’ll find a few options below for salads and veggie sides as well.

• Caesar Salad with Greek Yogurt Caesar Dressing
• Italian Cucumber and Tomato Salad
• Air Fryer Cheesy Garlic Bread
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
• 2-Ingredient Dough Breadsticks
• 10-Minute Air Fryer Lemony Green Beans
• Parmesan Roasted Zucchini

Sides and pairings, well, aside, I hope you enjoy this lasagna casserole. If you do, I always appreciate your recipe reviews and feedback.