One-Pot Summer Vegetable Skillet Lasagna
One-Pot Summer Vegetable Skillet Lasagna- juicy tomatoes, corn, zucchini, and bell peppers are cooked in a skillet with pasta then topped with cashew ricotta and fresh basil for the ultimate easy-to-make summer lasagna. (vegan with GF option)
Am I the only one who craves lasagna in the summertime?
Okay, I crave lasagna all the time but there’s something about making it with ripe summer tomatoes and fresh basil that really gets my goat. Plus corn…because you know I can’t get enough of that stuff.
One thing I don’t love in the summertime is turning on my oven. With that in mind I decided to come up with a stovetop-friendly skillet lasagna so that we could have the best of both worlds.
In addition to tomatoes, corn and basil, we’re throwing some zucchini and bell pepper in the mix to use up all of those summer veggies.
Rather than prepare the pasta separately, everything gets cooked in one pot by covering the noodles in sauce made from a simple combo of tomato paste, seasonings and water. After all of the excess liquid gets absorbed, you’re left with a delicious thick sauce and perfectly soft pasta.
I used whole wheat lasagna noodles broken into bite size pieces but bow-ties would also work great. To make it vegan I topped it with a homemade cashew ricotta and cashew parmesan that I blended using my NutriBullet. I’ve found that I actually like it better than the Vitamix for making nut-based cheese or sauce. It’s so easy and it makes clean up a breeze.
If you don’t have a NutriBullet or a Vitamix (with a small container) then you can also use store-bought vegan ricotta. I haven’t had a chance to try it myself but I’ve heard that Kite Hill makes a delicious one.
Either way, I think you guys are going to love this lasagna. It’s the perfect summertime comfort food!
One-Pot Summer Vegetable Lasagna
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 20
Total Time: 30

Ingredients:
For the Lasagna
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 bell pepper, cored and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3-4 cloves)
- 2 medium-size zucchini, diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 and 1/2 cup corn kernels (about 8 ounces)
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
- 5 lasagna sheets, broken into 2-inch bite-size pieces*
- salt, to taste
- cashew parmesan (see notes) and fresh basil for topping
For the Cashew Ricotta
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked**
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Directions:
In a large (deep) skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, sprinkle with salt and cook for about 3 minutes. Next add the bell pepper, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes and corn. Continue to cook for 3 more minutes.
Add the tomato paste to the skillet with oregano, basil, crushed red pepper and 1 and 1/2 cups water. Stir to combine. Bring to a low boil then add lasagna noodles, pushing each piece down until they’re all covered with sauce. Cover with a lid and cook until noodles are soft and most of the liquid has absorbed, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile make the cashew ricotta by combining the soaked and rinsed cashews with lemon juice, sea salt and 3 tablespoons of water in a high speed blender or NutriBullet. Blend until smooth, scraping the sides of the blender as needed.
Once pasta is cooked, remove from heat and set aside. Top with large dollops of the cashew ricotta then garnish with fresh basil and cashew parmesan. The ricotta and parm add salt but feel free to add more to suit your taste. Serve warm and enjoy!
*can sub 8 ounces of your favorite bite-size pasta, gluten-free if needed.
**To soak cashews, bring a pot of water to a boil, remove from heat, then add cashews to soak for 30 minutes. Strain and rinse before using in the recipe.
To make your own vegan cashew parmesan, combine 1 cup raw cashews with 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback!
YES for recipes like this when it’s just too darn hot to turn the oven on! haha and lasagna is one of my favorites! YUM!
Oh I love that this is vegan! That cashew ricotta looks so creamy and I am loving all the hearty veggies :) Pinning!
I’m craving alll the veggies now! I’ve never tried a skillet lasagna, but considering how much time regular lasagna takes, I think I’d be a fan!
Wow, I love this idea SO much! Perfect way to use all those summer veggies!
This looks delicious! I love veggie lasagna and your spin with summer veggies and all in one pot is fantastic! can’t wait to try!
I do crave meals like this in the summer so this is killing me right now (in the best possible way)! I love this stove top version with all of that amazing summer produce. This is happening VERY soon!
those veggies look so beautiful! i’ve never seen a pepper that color before, and those zucchinis look 500x better than the ones i get at my grocery store haha. this recipe is totally up my alley – saving it!
What a delicious way to use fresh vegetables this summer. I think this will be a hit with my kids! I can’t wait to try it!
This is exactly how I want to eat my vegetables this summer! Beautiful!
You are speaking my language! This looks absolutely FABULOUS – and the colors are so vibrant, too!
SO creamy, delicious and hearty! I looove lasagna too and have made stovetop lasagna, but not with a fabulous flavor profile you’ve created here. That corn… those peppers (the color of that one is incredible!!). I can’t wait for fresh bells from the farm. I’ve gotta give that cashew ricotta a go! Delicious work Sarah!
This is actually a wonderful recipe – being dairy free, soy free and vegan. I mean I can’t eat the cheese but everything else is so perfect and I always look at various ways to incorporate veggies!
What a cool recipe. I think I will have to give this one a try soon!
Thanks Kelli! Hope you have a great weekend at that gorgeous pool! ;)
This was so delicious! It was really easy to make, too. I didn’t change anything and it came out perfect. I’ll be repeating this one!
I’m so glad it was a winner, Kelli! Thank you! xo
I’m in love with this!! It’s so pretty and skillet lasagnas are perfect for the summer! Look at all those beautiful veggies packed in there! :)
Hi there! I’m a click-thru from the website Hummusapien : ) I made this one-pot summer lasagna recipe for lunch today for me and my teenage girls. I made the recipe as written, but did add some Trader Joe’s vegan Italian faux sausage. I typically don’t use processed food–even vegan ones–but I wanted to add just a little more bite to the recipe so it would keep my girls fed and satiated for several hours (my girls are always hungry). Of course I was tempted to still cook the noodles separately, but resisted the temptation and decided to make it as you directed. And it turned out just as planned! My girls sprinkled parmesan cheese on their portions, but me, I used your cashew ricotta and it was yummy. So this recipe is versatile for vegans and non-vegans : ) I’ll be filing under “Make Again”. And did I tell you I love the one-pot aspect of this recipe?!
I’m so happy to hear that, Eva! Thanks for trying out my recipe and for leaving feedback. :)
This was really flavorful! I made it today and my husband, sister, and I really liked it! I wasn’t expecting it to actually taste like lasagna, but it did! Especially with that cashew ricotta. I’ll be making this again! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you! :)
I made this for dinner tonight! It’s delicious, love the summer veggies and it was so easy and quick. I’m not vegan so I opted for a regular ricotta cheese and stirred it all in at the end. Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow! Will definitely make this again when I’m craving lasagna but not the hassle!
Yay! So happy it was a hit, Angie. Thank you!
Do you think fusilli pasta will work? Or is it too big?
Yes, I think that will work fine!
Do you think this would work in a slow cooker? I need to use a slow cooker 1-2 nights a week due to the kids crazy schedules! It looks amazing and will make it either way!
Hi Amy! I haven’t tried making it in the slow cooker so it’s hard for me to say for sure but I think it could work. Please let me know if you give it a try!
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I doubled the recipe and used twice as much cherry tomatoes because who doesn’t love more sauce!? I tossed in some baby spinach at the end. So yummy! Definitely will make this many times over.
More tomatoes is always a good idea. :)
Thank you for the review!
I made this for dinner tonight. My 16 year old son gobbled it up and said it was really good. In fact he said it was a shame I hadn’t made it sooner!
I had to cook the noodles quite a bit longer than 10 minutes and added a bit more water, stirring every few minutes at the end to prevent burning on the bottom. Also I added a little bit of organic unsweetened almond milk while making the ricotta as it was too thick in my food processor. It turned out creamy and perfect! I used fresh basil from the garden and cooked fresh corn on the cob in the pressure cooker before cutting it off the cob. It always makes the corn so sweet and tender and you can totally tell it isn’t the frozen corn. I am so grateful for your recipes. I went vegan after being diagnosed with breast cancer recently and it is fun to try recipe s that are healthy and fit into my diet. Thank you!
Your comment made my day, Nora! It warms my heart so much to know that I am able to help you in some small way along your journey battling breast cancer. I can’t even begin to imagine how scary getting that diagnosis must have been for you. You are in my thoughts. Thank you again for the kind review! :)
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Hi! Currently trying the One-Pot Tomato Basil Quinoa with the Cashew ‘Ricotta’ from this recipe–How long do you recommend saving the ricotta in the fridge with leftovers? Thanks!
Hey Jen! I recommend storing it separately in a sealed container and it should last for up to 4 or 5 days. :)
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Made it tonight! Delicious! I had to add water to the bowtie pasta and cook it a bit longer though. I’m thinking of making this as a one pot camping dish and the prep would be easy. Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was very easy and came together quickly. I added mushrooms because wanted more veggies. My family loved it. A keeper for sure
Thank you for the review, Amy! I’m happy the whole family enjoyed it. :)
We absolutely LOVED this recipe will definitely be making it again and again thank You
I made this last night and it truly tasted like summer in a pan! I didn’t have lasagna so I used regular pasta, and i didn’t have cashews so I didn’t get to make the ricotta (next time!) But it was still phenomenal
I made this last night and it was so good!! The two guys I feed had seconds and we wiped out the whole batch in one meal :) It was a perfect way to use up all my veggies before my next Imperfect Produce delivery today! I had a little trouble with my cashew ricotta. It ended up more like the chunky, drier texture of real ricotta (v. the creamy mix I see in your photos.) Next time should I add extra lemon juice or water? It still tasted tangy and salt and delicious :)
Thank you for the review, Carrie! What kind of blender did you use? A Vitamix or NutriBullet will work best to get it smooth as possible. You have to blend, scrape down the sides then blend again until it’s smooth. You may have needed a little extra water or lemon juice to get it going but you have to be careful not to add too much or it will be too runny. I hope that helps!
I used a Vitamix which was a little larger vessel than I’d prefer for this but ultimately I think a tiny bit more water / lemon juice would have done the trick. Will try this next time!
I really like the NutriBullet for smaller batches! It does just as good of a job getting it nice and smooth. But I agree you could make it work in the Vitamix. You just have to be careful with how much water you add as it can turn thin pretty quick!
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I can’t wait to make this! Is there a share button?
It looks like my share plug-in stopped working! I’ll have to get that fixed. If you want to pin it to a Pinterest board you can hover over one of the images and you’ll see the P in the top right corner. :)
We make this ALL the time. It never fails…SO DELISH!
Thanks so much for the review, girl! <3
This was even more delicious than I expected it to be. I had no lasagna on hand so I used fusilli (it was what I had in the pantry). I added spinach and cauliflower rice so it was even more nutrient dense. The flavor was amazing and that cashew ricotta was so delicious it was ridiculous. My (garbage eating) husband even liked it. I would give it 10 stars if I could. This is definitely going to be in repeat!
Your garbage eating husband? LOL. Thanks for the giggle, Donna! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and always appreciate the review. :)
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Wow, I just went plant based and this was the first recipe I tried and omg! This was so flavorful and bomb! My bf and I loved it!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for the review!
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I enjoyed this delicious dish for dinner tonight. I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, so subbed a can of diced tomatoes for the fresh and a little schmeer of pesto for the basil. I also omitted the corn. Super tasty and hits the mark for a comforting pasta dish with also being very veggie. Next time I’ll try adding some sliced mushrooms.
My husband and I love this meal – we make it multiple times every summer! We use regular pasta, ricotta, and parmesan and cook it for longer than 10 minutes (more like thirty minutes) and it’s perfect. We love this recipe and will make it for years to come! Thank you!
I was planning a complete vegan week when I came across this Vegetable skillet lasagna! Made it thrice consecutively and everyone wanted me to cook it again! Can you imagine?
Absolutely love this recipe! I had a small garden fresh eggplant, so I added that into the skillet as well. I have a Ninja blender, which I love. With that, I know that I have to let cashews soak in hot water for an hour for a creamy texture. Loved having the cashew ricotta in it , too! Great addition!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! :)