This savory Pumpkin Lasagna Skillet is the ultimate cozy fall dinner. Made in just one pan with pasta, pumpkin, cheese, and ground turkey, it’s high-protein, family-friendly, and weeknight-easy!
Pumpkin Lasagna (One Skillet)
If you’re craving comfort food this fall, you’ll love this simple Pumpkin Lasagna Skillet. It’s everything you love about traditional lasagna—cheesy layers, savory sauce, and pasta—made easier in just one skillet. The creamy pumpkin adds a seasonal twist, while lean ground turkey (or chicken) boosts the protein to keep it light yet filling. I even tested this on my husband, Tommy. He was initially skeptical, but he loved it so much he went back for seconds.
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Lasagna
I love one-pot recipes so much that I even wrote a cookbook about them: Skinnytaste One and Done. Lasagna is perfect for making in one skillet since you can skip all the layers and cook the noodles directly in the sauce. I also have this Skillet Lasagna if you’re looking for a more traditional version.
- Convenient: All the flavors of classic lasagna, made easier in one skillet
- High-Protein and Satisfying: Over 37 grams of protein per serving.
- A cozy fall twist with creamy pumpkin for extra nutrients
- Family-friendly: Even picky eaters, like my husband, love it.
See more pumpkin recipes here if you love pumpkin!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s everything you need to make this easy pumpkin lasagna.
- Olive Oil to grease the pan
- 93% Ground Turkey for lean protein
- Onion and Garlic for aromatic flavor
- Red Pepper Flakes for a bit of spice
- Salt to bring out the flavors
- Herbs: Fresh sage and thyme give this dish fall flavor. Finish by garnishing with parsley for a pretty presentation.
- Pumpkin Puree adds fiber, potassium, and vitamin A. Buy a can or make homemade pumpkin puree.
- Broth: Use regular chicken broth or bone broth for extra protein.
- Lasagna Noodles: Break apart the noodles and stir them in. They cook right in the sauce!
- Cheese: This three-cheese pumpkin lasagna uses ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella for a perfectly gooey bite.
How to Make Pumpkin Lasagna in a Skillet
Instead of boiling the noodles separately, they simmer in the sauce until tender. Don’t forget to stir occasionally! This helps prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan. See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Cook the turkey: Sauté the ground turkey, onion, and garlic, then sprinkle with salt and chili flakes. Cook until the meat is broken up and thoroughly cooked.
- Add the remaining ingredients: herbs, pumpkin, broth, and salt.
- Add the broken lasagna noodles: Bring to a simmer, then stir in the noodles, making sure they’re fully covered by the sauce. Lower the heat, cover the skillet, and cook until the pasta is tender and the sauce is thick.
- Add the cheese: Mix in the ricotta and half of the Parmesan, then top with mozzarella and the remaining Parmesan. Broil until the cheese is melted and golden brown—set a timer! Things can go from perfectly browned to burnt in a matter of seconds, so watch it closely. Garnish with parsley
before serving.
Variations
- Try a different protein, like lean ground chicken or beef or Italian chicken sausage.
- Switch up the pasta: Substitute any kind of short pasta, like rotini, farfalle, or ziti. You can use any gluten-free pasta if needed.
- Increase the protein: Swap ricotta with cottage cheese and choose a high-protein pasta.
- Vegetarian Pumpkin Lasagna: Omit the turkey, use vegetable broth, and sauté mushrooms or spinach with the onions and garlic.
- Experiment with different herbs: Use rosemary or oregano instead of thyme or sage, and replace parsley with chives.
Serving Suggestions
Add a Veggie Side Dish
Serve this one-pan pumpkin lasagna with a green vegetable to complete your meal.
Storage
- Refrigerate leftover lasagna for up to 4 days.
- Freeze it for 3 months. You can either store it in one large container to feed your whole family or in smaller ones to grab for quick lunches.
- Reheat: Thaw it in the fridge the day before. Then, microwave or bake it at 350°F until warm.
More Lasagna Recipes You’ll Love
Looking for more fall dinner ideas? Try one of my pasta recipes or these one-pan recipes to make clean up a breeze.
- Butternut Squash Lasagna
- Zucchini Lasagna
- The Best Lasagna Recipe
- Lasagna Soup
- Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups
Pumpkin Lasagna Skillet
Equipment
- 12-inch oven safe skillet with a fitted lid
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ pound 93% ground turkey
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, fresh
- 15- ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 ¼ cups chicken broth, or chicken bone broth
- 8 ounces lasagna noodles, broken into bite sized pieces
- ½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, divided
- ¾ cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
- Chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large 12-inch oven safe, nonstick skillet with a fitted lid over high heat.
- Add the olive oil, ground turkey, onion, garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt, and the chili flakes to the skillet. Cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon until cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Add the sage and thyme and stir to combine. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the pumpkin puree, broth, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt to the skillet, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Add the pasta to the skillet, stir to combine and spread into an even layer, make sure the noodles are submerged in the liquid.
- Reduce the heat to medium, simmer covered, stirring occasionally, being sure that the noodles don’t stick to each other or the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the pasta is just tender and the sauce has thickened, about 18- 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the ricotta cheese and 2 tablespoons of the parmesan. Top with the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese.
- Transfer to the broiler on the second rack from the top and broil on high until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top, 2-3 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Is there an easier way to double this for company, other than making two separate batches?
So delicious!!!!
Thank you!
This tasted really good but it never got thick enough. It was more like a soup.
Loved this recipe. Next time will try cottage cheese just to up the protein.
Loved this recipe!!! Next time will try using cottage cheese just to up the protein.
We liked it but didn’t love it. I think the ground turnkey is a little too mild for this dish. The next time I make it, I’m going to try chicken italian sausage.
Delicious, I used less pumpkin as hubby isn’t a big fan.
Will make again!! I love one pot recipes.
I am not a big fan of pumpkin, so like the others, I was skeptical. However, this is so good! I used venison, mixed with beef, & half the amount of dried herbs. The serving size is quite large, so if the points make you nervous, this could easily be six servings cutting down on points.
Made this for dinner followed by leftovers. We enjoyed it the first night but as leftovers it seemed bland. Usually it works the opposite but in this case….
Can I substitute roasted butternut squash for the pumpkin puree?
So good, so good, so good….
I kept to the script except I used rotini instead of lasagna noodles. I was a bit skeptical, but this lived up to your description. I could do a better job prep’ing for improved execution next time — there will definitely be a next time!
I was skeptical at first, but I’m OBSESSED with this recipe. Delicious. Substituted ricotta with cottage cheese and used fat free mozzarella just because that’s what I had 10/10
Glad you enjoyed it!
I misread (or assumed) and used 1 lb of ground turkey. I can’t eat onions or garlic, so left those out and the oil, though I do add to get the flavor. For those curious, I used vegan ricotta and mozzarella (though not as much mozzarella as called for) and I used gluten free ziti. Even with the extra meat. It turned out wonderful. I’m a little obsessed with it right now.
Easy to make. I used ground chicken. Thank you! Tasty, indeed.
YUMMY! Every one was a big fan of this one! Definitely a bit of a “treat” at 11 WW points (I get 23pts/day) but this one is worth planning for!
I’ve made this recipe twice in the past two weeks! I love it! More importantly, the first time I made it my husband said, “this is really good, keep it in the rotation”!
Perfect!
I love Skinnytaste recipes and appreciate all of the reviewer comments. This dish was good, but my family really loves pumpkin and I felt like it didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor. I will make again and maybe add another half a can.
Made this for tonight’s dinner and it was a hit. Used dried herbs and heart of palm lasagna noodles to cut the points further. Reduced the broth to 2 cups. Made it through step 4 the day before so I just had to add the cheeses and put under the broiler after work. This will be made again. Thanks for another terrific recipe.
This was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Made it exactly as the recipe stated (except for using dry herbs). My teenage daughter loved it too.
Perfect! 🙂
I was verrryyyy skeptical. I’m glad I was also curious and decided to go for it, because this was DELICIOUS. The picky family members had no idea what was in it (they would have absolutely said no) and it was a big hit. I used a full pound of turkey because I didnt want to end up with a random half pound of turkey. I didnt have fresh herbs so I used dried sage and oregano (thyme tastes like dirt to me). It was perfect. It also made a lot so it’s dinner tomorrow too.
This was delicious.
I did add nutmeg and used pecorino romano instead of Parmesan because their earthy flavors goes well with pumpkin. I also added black pepper.
My 2 yr old grandson said yum when he tasted it! I left out the onions and chili pepper flakes, accidentally mixed in all the mozzarella, used a chicken fryer pot instead of a skillet and added in some chopped bell pepper and cherry tomato halves. Leftovers warmed up nicely and was super easy to make.
This recipe was a great start to fall and will be on repeat! We bought a box of noodles for the lasagna roll ups and this recipe finished that box including the broken pieces!!
I found this a little bland. I ended up mixing in some fresh tomato sauce that I had on hand to give it a boost.
I might try it again, but I would roast seasoned squash and pumpkin cubes first to achieve caramelization and deeper flavor. Then, puree the cubes to make the sauce and proceed with the recipe.
Loved this, i did also do half ricotta and half cottage cheese with spiral noodles!! i was skeptical of the pumpkin but u cant taste it like i thought you would
Love the half ricotta and half cottage cheese!
This became an instant family fave last night. Its so tasty and reheats well for lunch the next day.
So happy you loved the pumpkin lasagna as much as we did!
Fantastic! Used cottage cheese v ricotta to save a little on points. So good. Family loved it. It made so much!
Delicious! I wasn’t sure when I saw Pumpkin in the name but I highly encourage people to try it!
I was skeptical about this recipe but decided to give it a shot. It was delicious!
We loved it, I did use cottage cheese, and increased ground turkey to one pound, mostly so I didn’t have to freeze it or think of something to do with another half pound. I think it worked well increasing it–I usually decrease amount of noodles and then cut back a bit on liquid accordingly–(to save a few calories)–and for us we can get 6 servings. Easy to make. Thank you!
Delicious.Easy to prepare. I used oven-ready lasagna noodles and mushrooms.
Love the mushroom idea!! Definitely going to try that next time!
Can’t wait to try this recipe. I have an Emeril electric pasta machine and wanted to know Can I use homemade lasagna noodles? If so would you still add them when the recipe says to as I know homemade pasta cooks quicker. Thanks.
I’m worried that since it is all in one pot that fresh wouldn’t hold up well.
Thank you for your response I had not thought of that but it makes sense. I am planning on making it tonight.
I would like to make this dish meatless. How much spinach and/or zucchini should I use? Tx
This recipe was a bit of a miss for me! I followed the instructions exactly (even weighing out the noodles) and it came out very soupy. It was also pretty bland. I love the concept though so I’m going to try again with less broth and add more seasoning like dried garlic, dried onion, and mustard to give it more flavor.
Interesting that it was soupy, that was not the case for me at all!
Have you tried this recipe using gluten free noodles? The GF noodles release so much starch that I wonder if the recipe would need adjusting. It sounds delicious though.
They should be fine!
Even my picky eaters liked it it’s so yummy reminds me of a soup dish! Well done Gina!
Thank you! Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Can I use a cast iron skillet?
Sure as long as you have a fitted lid.
Any liquid changes if I use artichoke lasagna noodles?
You can totally use artichoke lasagna noodles! No liquid changes needed—just keep an eye while it simmers, and if it looks a little dry, add a splash more broth. They may cook a bit quicker than regular noodles, so check doneness a little early.
Could you use cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese?
Yes, cottage cheese works great instead of ricotta! It adds even more protein. Just use the same amount!
Are you pre-cooking your lasagna noodles?
Nope, no need to pre-cook! The broken lasagna noodles cook right in the skillet with the sauce and broth until they’re tender. One less pot to wash!
Could you name or link the pan you are using in this recipe? Thank you!
This is an enamel skillet like a Le Crueset, but Lodge also makes a less expensive one.
Can you use oven-ready lasagne noodles?
Yes, but since oven-ready noodles are designed to absorb more liquid as they cook, so make sure your sauce has enough liquid. If the skillet starts to look dry, stir in a splash more liquid.
This recipe popped up just as I was putting together our weekly meal plan and grocery list and was quickly chosen for that night’s dinner. Absolutely delicious! The sauce tastes decadent despite being fairly low calorie, and the protein from the turkey and fiber from the pumpkin makes it filling. Everyone in my family absolutely loved it. This one will be going into regular rotation!
This looks great! Any timing/liquid changes if I use whole wheat lasagna noodles?
No timing change, I usually use Delallo whole wheat lasagna, just keep an eye on it in case it needs more liquid and test for doneness.