This easy Pesto Skillet Lasagna with mushrooms and basil pesto is made on the stove top in 1 Pot! No layering or baking or precooking pasta required. Lasagna noodles cook with browned mushrooms, pesto and broth then topped with pesto and vegan cheese for an excellent lasagna dinner! Soyfree Recipe. Options for gluten-free Nutfree 30 g Protein!
Looking for a new family-style dinner to make on a busy weeknight or on a lazy Sunday? Make Pesto Skillet Lasagna.
This easy vegan Pesto Skillet Lasagna is a great way to change up a traditional lasagna recipe. Instead of vegan minced meat or veggie crumbles, we add some umami-rich mushrooms and homemade pesto. Plus, this recipe is way easier than a traditional lasagna as we actually make the whole thing on the stovetop in just One pan – no layering and precooking required here.
While the mushrooms brown, you add your broken up lasagna noodles. They boil to al dente perfection in the mushroom broth and then you only need to add big dollops of pesto and some vegan mozzarella and parmesan cheese for an amazing Lasagna dinner that your whole family will love!
Why you will love this pesto skillet lasagna
- it needs just one skillet
- It’s allergy friendly
- vibrant refreshing pesto adds amazing flavor
- mushroom add a deep umami flavor
- fantastic flavors with easy ingredients
More vegan lasagna recipes:
One Skillet Vegan White Lasagna with Tofu Bechamel
Spinach Alfredo Skillet Lasagna
Vegan Butternut Squash Lasagna with Caramelized Onion
Vegan Stovetop Meat Lasagna (Skillet Lasagna)
Recipe Card
Vegan Pesto Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup (82.67 g) pesto of choice divided, you can make my pesto or get a store-bought one (for the recipe see notes)
For the mushrooms:
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup (40 g) chopped white onion
- 16 oz thinly sliced mushrooms, (2 cups or more)
- 2 tbsp chopped green onions
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp pepper flakes
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup broth or 2 tbsp white wine
For the sauce:
- 2 ½ cups of broth or water
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast or use 1 teaspoon miso
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp prepared mustard or Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp ketchup optional
- 1/2 tsp salt use less if using salted broth
- 6 no-boil lasagna noodles broken into pieces or 5 regular lasagna noodles broken into pieces
- 1/4 cup (28 g) of vegan Mozzarella
- 3 tbsp of pesto from above
- 1/4 cup vegan parmesan
- pepper flakes and remaining pesto for garnish
Instructions
- Make the pesto if you haven’t already and set it aside.
- Cook the mushrooms; Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Note: You want to use a large skillet because we will make the lasagna in it as well. If it is too thin then the lasagna sheets tend to stick to the bottom. Hence use a thick bottom large skillet.
- Add in the mushrooms, green onion, salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes, and toss well. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the mushrooms start to get golden around the edges.
- Then, add broth or white wine and mix well. Cover the skillet and cook for another 3-5 minutes, depends of thickness of the mushrooms
- Once the mushrooms are done to your preference then open the lid and remove half of the mushrooms and keep them for topping.
- Add broth, nutritional yeast, thyme, oregano, mustard, onion powder, ketchup, and salt.
- Mix really well and bring it to a boil then, add the broken lasagna noodles and press them into the broth. If there isn't enough broth, you can add in a 1/4 cup of more broth.
- Cover and cook for 15-18 minutes. Stir once in between at 12 minutes, and see if the water isn't evaporating too much and the noodles are not sticking to the bottom. Stir well and dislodge sticking noodles. If there are larger pieces you can break them down.
- Open the lid, carefully taste and adjust salt and pepper and check of the lasagna sheets are cooked to preference. add in the mozzarella, some broth (if needed), and 3 to 4 tablespoons of pesto, and mix it in. Let it come to a boil for a minute or two. Then top it with the vegan parmesan, pepper flakes, and the remaining pesto and reserved mushrooms. Cover the lid and switch off the heat.
- Let it sit for 2-3 minutes for the parmesan and flavors to meld. Open the lid and it is ready to serve.
Notes
- Pesto recipe here
- Glutenfree ; use gluten-free lasagna noodles or pasta.
- Use about 5 oz. of pasta as a sub.
- Nutfree : Use a mix of pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds to make the pesto
- To make it creamier, add vegan cream like 1/2 cup of cashew cream or 1/4 cup of vegan yogurt and vegan mozzarella and bring it to a good simmer until it thickens.
- Onion garlic free: Use zucchini or more mushrooms instead of onion. omit onion powder. Use 1 teaspoon miso and 1 teaspoons dried oregano in the pesto instead of garlic.
- Tomato free: Omit the ketchup
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- I use no-boil lasagna noodles for this recipe. You want to break them into pieces. Regular lasagna noodles work as well. They will need a few minutes more to cook
- mushrooms – I used button mushrooms but portobello would also work
- the mushrooms are sauteed in oil along with garlic and white as well as green onions
- some broth or white wine is added to deglaze the pan
- broth is added to have enough liquid for the lasagna noodles to boil in
- herbs & spices: I like to add some pepper, dried oregano, thyme as well as onion powder
- a combination of mustard, ketchup and nutritional yeast ups the umami of the mushroom broth
- for the perfect cheesiness I use a mix of vegan mozzarella and parmesan
- pesto: I make my own pesto but store-bought green pesto also works
Tips:
- To make this gluten-free; use gluten-free lasagna noodles or pasta.
- Use about 5 oz. of pasta as a sub.
- To make it creamier, add vegan cream like 1/2 cup of cashew cream or 1/4 cup of vegan yogurt and vegan mozzarella and bring it to a good simmer until it thickens.
How to Make Pesto & Mushroom Skillet Lasagna
Make the pesto
To make the pesto: Add 2-3 cups of well-packed fresh basil, 1/2 to 1 cup of frozen spinach (thawed, I just add it for bulking it up and color), 1/4 tsp. of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice into a food processor.
If you need more liquid, add more lemon juice or a few teaspoons of water.
Add in a 1/4 cup of seeds like pumpkin seeds or a mix of seeds, pecans, or cashews.
Then process all of this until the nuts are broken down into a coarse meal and the basil and spinach are chopped pretty well
Adjust flavor, pulse a few more times if needed. Store this pesto in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Cook the mushrooms:
Add oil to a large skillet(12 inch) over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Note: You want to use a large skillet because we will make the lasagna in it as well. Use a thick bottom large skillet to reduce chances of lasagna sheets sticking to the bottom
Add in the mushrooms, green onion, salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes, and toss well.
Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the mushrooms start to get golden around the edges.
Then, add broth or white wine and mix well.
Cover the skillet and cook for another 3-5 minutes, depends on the thickness of the sliced the mushrooms.
Once the mushrooms are done to your preference, open the lid and remove half of the mushrooms and keep them for topping later.
Add broth, nutritional yeast, thyme, oregano, mustard, onion powder, ketchup, and salt.
Mix really well and bring it to a boil. Then add the broken lasagna noodles and press them into the broth. If there isn’t enough broth, you can add in a 1/4 cup or more broth.
Cover and cook for 15-18 minutes. Stir once in between and see if the water isn’t evaporating too much and the noodles are not sticking to the bottom.
Stir well and dislodge sticking noodles. If there are larger pieces you can break them down. Note: I usually check them around the 12-13 minute mark to check if the noodles are soft so you can break them into smaller pieces or if they are stuck then dislodge them. Add more broth if needed
Open the lid, carefully taste and adjust salt and pepper and check of the lasagna sheets are cooked to preference. add in the mozzarella, some broth (if needed), and 3 to 4 tablespoons of pesto, and mix it in. Let it come to a boil for a minute or two. Then top it with the vegan parmesan, pepper flakes, and the remaining reserved mushrooms.
Also, top it with some more pesto. Cover the lid and switch off the heat.
Let it sit for 2-3 minutes for the parmesan and flavors to meld. Open the lid and it is ready to serve.
Storage
Refrigerate for upto 3 days.
variations: Use other roasted veggies instead of mushrooms such as zucchini, asparagus etc. use non dairy cream instead of vegan mozzarella in the end for thickening the sauce. Use different pesto of choice
Kim
Love this recipe. Your pesto recipe is awesome and really makes the dish!
Vegan Richa Support
thank you! so glad you enjoy
Alli Klein
This is so good that I’m making it again tomorrow. I didn’t have mozzarella so I used extra parmigiana and I don’t like onions so I omitted them and added spinach. Next time I’ll add zucchini as well. Thanks for posting!
Vegan Richa Support
Yum! Great subs. Glad you enjoyed!
Renee
We have added it to our rotation. We follow the Mediterranean diet vegan-style, so we used whole wheat lasagna noodles and left out the vegan cheeses. It was still a keeper and we licked the bowls.
Vegan Richa Support
Wonderful!
Julie
I haven’t made this yet. It looks soo good – just looking over it and considering it. How many cups of pesto does your pesto recipe make in all? Do you know how much is leftover after using pesto in this recipe? Ty
Vegan Richa Support
The pesto recipe yields about 1 cup of pesto. You need 1/3 – 1/2 cup of pesto for the skillet lasagna, so you should have about 1/2 a cup remaining.
Susan
Very yummy – made without the vegan cheese because I just don’t like it – easy to make and delicious. Will have a hard time not overeating it!
Vegan Richa Support
Awesome!
Sue Koester
We loved it! My husband even said it tasted good. I thought it was easy and quick to make. I liked the one pan feature.
Vegan Richa Support
perfect
Sue
This was sooo yummy. We eat a lot of tomatoey meals; this was a deliciously flavorful change of pace! Thank you for another winner, Richa
Vegan Richa Support
Pesto is perfect for that, right? Thank you Sue.
in2insight
Looks awesome.
Question, would your liquid mozzarella work here and if so, how much do you think?
Thanks.
Vegan Richa Support
I think that would be a great addition or substitution for the vegan mozz! go for it!
In2insight
Wow!
One of the best meals we have made.
Even with making both the liquid cheese (with the added nosh and pickle liquid options) and pesto(both from this awesome site) everything came together quickly.
Used the onion/garlic free options (thumps for those as always!) and since we ran short on mushrooms added some diced baked tofu.
Next time will serve with plain sautéed Daring chicken.
Outstanding recipe.
Richa
Awesome! Forgot to mention to make a thicker mozzarella with less water. That would set faster
Eve-Marie
I gave this a try because I love your original skillet lasagna recipe and make it all the time. Wow! This was just as good if not better! I will be making this whenever I have leftover pesto to use up.
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you~I love pesto too.
CT
yum. where does all the protein come from?
Richa
Whole grain pasta, nuts or seeds in pesto.
Gwen McMullen
I made this yesterday! So tasty! I also made your Pesto recipe (so glad I did – even if I had shop bought vegan pesto in the cupboard) it was so fresh and lovely. Also a beautiful colour. I used pine nuts and sunflower seeds) I also made the mozzarella … thickened up beautifully and I think I’ll use the tapioca next time, as you suggested, to make it stringier. Anyway, we are having the remainder of the Pesto skillet lasagne for lunch today. Yum
Richa
Yay!! Thanks!
Sandy
This looks wonderful! Would thin spaghetti noodles work in this? If so, how many ounces would be used? Thanks!
Richa
Yes, use 5 to 6 oz
Sue
Your pictures are mouth-watering! I will definitely be making this. Thanks Richa.
Vegan Richa Support
Enjoy!