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Easy Skillet Butternut Squash Lasagna, an Italian-style fall favorite! This lasagna is so yummy. Broken lasagna noodles mixed into a butternut squash vodka cream sauce with spicy Italian chicken and cheese. Finish this one skillet lasagna in the oven until the sauce bubbles up and the prosciutto on top gets crispy. This is a great fall pasta to serve any night of the week, or for your next Saturday night dinner party!
I told you I was leaning hard into fall dinners and I really did mean it. But doesn’t this look just delicious? I love to use butternut squash and pumpkin in ways you might not think of. Oftentimes we only think to bake with pumpkin, and to make soup out of most of the winter squashes. All delicious, but using squash in other ways can be so yummy and fun! I find the seasonal gourds to be especially great in pasta dishes, salads, and more.
With this skillet lasagna, I sauteed the squash until it caramelized. Then lightly mashed it and created a butternut vodka cream sauce.
It really did end up being simple, and turned out so delicious. I am so excited to share the recipe!
Ingredients
- Dry lasagna noodles
- Ground Italian chicken sausage
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salted butter
- Butternut squash
- Shallots
- Garlic
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh chopped sage
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Chili flakes
- Vodka
- Heavy cream or milk
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Italian cheese, shredded
- Prosciutto
When I had this idea come to mind, I knew that I really wanted to keep the recipe easy. A lot of times these winter squash recipes can be time-intensive and very hands-on. That’s not the case with this skillet lasagna.
Aside from boiling the noodles, the entire meal is made all in the same pan with very little stress or effort. And most importantly, it really is so yummy. My mom actually just texted me and said, “Tieg, the lasagna was soooo delish!”.
Here are the details
Step 1: boil off the noodles
You can use any shortcut pasta, broken lasagna noodles, shells, or whatever you love most.
Step 2: make the sauce
I wanted this to be spicier, so I started with a spicy ground Italian chicken sausage. Our local Whole Foods carries this at the meat counter. They hand-make it. You can also use pork sausage too, or even omit the meat entirely.
Brown the meat in a large oven-safe skillet. I prefer to use only about 1/2 a pound, just enough for added flavor, but use any amount you enjoy. Then pull the sausage out of the pan and set aside on a plate.
Next, add olive oil, butter, and the butternut squash to the skillet. Then season with shallots, garlic, fresh thyme, sage, a tiny pinch of cinnamon, and nutmeg. The cinnamon may sound odd, but you have to trust me, it’s the secret to balancing out this sauce.
Cook the squash slowly in the olive oil until it softens and caramelizes. Now use the back of your spoon or a potato masher to mash the squash down into a puree. I leave my squash chunky, don’t stress about making this into a thin sauce.
Now add the cream, parmesan, and a splash of vodka. Cook until the sauce is super creamy and you no longer smell the vodka. Finish the sauce with lots of parmesan cheese.
Step 3: assemble and bake
Now that our noodles are cooked and the sauce is made, simply mix everything together and bake.
Add the sausage back to the sauce, then the pasta. Toss everything up to coat and finish with cheese. Then add the prosciutto, it will get crispy and delicious in the oven.
When this comes out of the oven, the sauce will bubble up from the pan and the cheese will be very melty. It’s such a creamy delicious skillet pasta bake that has all the flavors we love most this time of year. And it’s cheesy – very cheesy, so it’s beyond good. Think roll your eye back, go for that second serving, good.
Great for the end of October and then into November when the nights begin to get cold and long. The perfect plate to cozy up to by the fire!
Looking for other butternut squash recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Brie and Cheddar Butternut Squash Beer Soup
Creamy Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Pasta
Rosemary Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza
Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna
Butternut Squash Pasta Carbonara with Rosemary Bacon
Fall Harvest Roasted Butternut Squash and Pomegranate Salad
Hasselback Butternut Squash with Sage Butter and Prosciutto Breadcrumbs
Lastly, if you make this Easy Skillet Butternut Squash Lasagna be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easy Skillet Spicy Butternut Squash Lasagna
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 623 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 box dry lasagna noodles (broken into 2 inch pieces)
- 1/2 pound ground Italian chicken sausage (optional)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 2-3 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 2 shallots chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- kosher salt and black pepper
- chili flakes
- 1/3 cup vodka
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream or milk
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups Italian cheese, shredded
- 8 slices prosciutto (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook 5-6 minutes. Just before draining, remove 1 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking water. Drain. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.2. Heat a large, oven safe skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, if using, and brown all over, 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside. Reduce the heat a bit to medium low-ish.3. Add the olive oil, butter, butternut squash, shallots, garlic, thyme, sage, cinnamon, nutmeg, and season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the squash softens. Use the back of your spatula or a potato masher to mash the squash down into a chunky puree.4. Stir in the milk and vodka, cook 5, until you no longer smell the vodka. Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, and the parmesan. If needed, thin the sauce with additional pasta cooking water. Remove from the heat. 5. Mix in the pasta, sausage, and 1/2 cup of cheese. Scatter the remaining cheese on top, then drape the prosciutto over the cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling. Top with fresh herbs, and enjoy!
Notes
To Replace the Vodka: just omit the vodka and use extra pasta water.
This post was originally published on September 28, 2023
This was super tasty and makes a good amount! I used the oven ready lasagna noodles from Barilla for one less step, which made clean up super easy. It’s finally cooling off here in Phoenix and it was fun to enjoy a seasonal dish to celebrate!
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! Have a great week! xT
This was so flavorful and delicious but VERY rich when made with the heavy cream. I will definitely make again but with milk instead of heavy cream.
Thanks for letting me know Ellie! xT
What a great way to welcome Fall! I made this yesterday and husband and I thought it was delicious! I didn’t use sausage, but would next time to add a different level of flavor. The prosciutto is a brilliant addition–I love the crunch as well as the flavor it brings. I didn’t have lasagna noodles, so used campanelle and it worked fine. I kept an eye when I was adding the cooked pasta to monitor the sauce to pasta ration–I used probably 2/3 of the box. Will make this again!
Hi Amy! Hope you loved the recipe! Thank you so so much! xT
Delicious! I cooked it all (except the noodles) in a Dutch oven and baked it as directed, plus a couple minutes under the broiler to get the prosciutto nice and crispy. Used dried herbs and turned out scrumptious!
Thank you for taking the time to try out this recipe! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! xT
This recipe is DELICIOUS- I made it exactly as is , and the taste was outstanding. My only critique is that I would leave the prosciutto out completely- I don’t think it adds to the final dish! There is enough savory taste with the sausage. Perhaps if I didn’t use the chicken sausage, it would need the savory flavor from the prosciutto – but I would say one or the other. The sauce is absolutely delicious. I would make this again.
Thank you for taking the time to try out this recipe! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! xT
The sauce was out of this world! So so good. I made the squash and sauce exactly as described but substituted with spicy cooked chicken breast and shredded it the dish instead of the chicken sausage. Also used rigatoni instead of the lasagna noodles since I didn’t have any on hand. So it was more of a bake but it’s so tasty.
Thank you once again great dish
Thank you for taking the time to try out this recipe! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! xT
Absolutely delicious. When I make it next time I will likely add chopped walnuts on top for some added crunch.
Thank you so much Cassie! xT
Hi Tieghan!
When you say Italian cheese for the recipe, do you mean one of these blend packages from the store (usually mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan etc.)
Yes, that’s exactly what I mean! 🙂 xT
Once in one of the Italian restaurants I tried tomato soup with Stracciatella cheese on top. This was one of the most delicious soups in my life. I swear. Since then it has been my favorite cheese. By the way, this is the perfect warming soup for autumn evenings. You should try it. And since then I’ve been using Stracciatella cheese in Caprese salad (instead of mozzarella cheese).
Sounds yummy!!
Would regular noodles like Penne work in this recipe?
Hey Taylor! I think that should work just fine if you just turn it into more of a pasta bake rather than a lasagna! 🙂 xT
Not sure why you’re calling this a lasagna. This is a pasta bake. A lasagna is stacked layers of lasagna noodles with fillings and cheese.
Tieghan, why don’t you use pears in your recipes? Can you please answer 🙂 Can you please do more recipes with pears. Please please 🙂
Hi Sofia! Thanks for the suggestion! Love this idea! 🙂 xT
Tempting indeed, thank you for sharing.
Thank you so so much! xT
Temp for baking?
Hi there! You bake at 400 degrees 🙂 xT
Looks so good but what would be a good replacement for the heavy cream for a lactose intolerant family?
I would do homemade cashew cream.
Coconut milk should work ! xT
I make your butternut squash lasagna every Thanksgiving- this version is weeknight-friendly!!! Yum!
Thank you so so much Lori! xT
Can I replace the lasagne noodles with the “no boil” lasagne noodles….and not have to par boil the noodles.
Or can I just replace with another pasta shape?
Hi there! Yes, no boil noodles should work just fine! xT
Ruth, please let us know how it turned out with the no- boil noodles 😊
I plan to make a double batch for a family reunion. Can I assemble it all ahead of time, refrigerate and then add prosciutto and bake?
Has anyone tried this with the no bake noodles?
Did this work with the no bake noodles?
It does work with no bake noodles. I added extra 1/4 cup of water and baked 30 minutes
Thanks, Karen!