This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Vegan French Onion Skillet Lasagna – that’s sweet and savory caramelized onion, spinach, and vegan bechamel cooked on the stove alongside lasagna sheet pasta! No baking required! An easy One skillet dinner your family will love!
Dinner tonight! This Vegan French Onion Skillet Lasagna is going to be a new fave for you!
I’m obsessed with one-pan meals like this French Onion Skillet Lasagna for their easy preparation and clean up. They make the perfect weeknight meal as this easy vegan pasta recipe is family-friendly, uses just 1 skillet, and is ready to eat in about 45 minutes!
Reasons to love this vegan skillet lasagna:
This meal is quicker than making a regular lasagna as we do not bake it but cook it in a skillet on the stovetop. No oven required and way fewer dishes to clean than with a traditional lasagna. Plus no layering needed which also cuts down on prep time. That pasta just goes in with all the other ingredients.
It is still going to be a little labor of love. Think of french onion soup! You have to take the time to caramelize the onions properly – it takes about 25 minutes to get them where they should be. It’s a rewarding little dinner project and best to do when you feel like spending some quality time in the kitchen.
More vegan pasta recipes:
- Cauliflower Alfredo Spinach Artichoke Lasagna.
- Lasagna Bolognese
- Lasagna Grilled Cheese. Nut-free Soy-free Vegan Recipe
- Creamy Vegan Cajun Pasta
- Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake
- Vegan Mushroom Fettucine Alfredo
- Cajun Cauliflower Pasta
- Vegan Lemon Asparagus Pasta
- Creamy Mushroom Spinach Pasta
Creamy cheesy vegan white sauce and lots of caramelized onions, mushrooms and some spinach cooked on the stovetop alongside lasagna pasta sheets.
Give.me.the.whole.pan. Right?
French Onion Skillet Lasagna
Ingredients
Caramelized French Onions
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar , or 2-3 Tbsp red wine
- ½ - 1 cup mushrooms, Thinly sliced
White Sauce
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 20 mins in hot water, see notes for Nutfree option
- 1 cup broth
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp italian seasoning - I use a mix of oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp miso
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
For the lasagna
- 5 lasagna pasta sheets, (5 regular or 7 no boil) broken into pieces, or use 4-5 oz any other flat pasta shape
- 1-2 cups spinach, firmly packed
- 2 cups broth , or water
- Red pepper flakes, optional for serving
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium heat then add butter with onions and cook for about 8 mins, or until onions start to look translucent
- Add in the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and continue to cook until onions turn a golden color
- Add the balsamic vinegar or red wine and mix well, continue to cook until onions begin to caramelize. Remove ¾ of this mixture and save to use as garnish later
- Add in the mushrooms and mix well, continue to cook for 1-2 minutes
- Meanwhile make your white sauce - blend all ingredients together until smooth. Add the white sauce to the onion skillet and mix
- Add in the broken pieces of lasagna sheets and 2 cups of broth(use the value in ingredients if you change serving size) , press down the sheets so they are completely submerged under the broth completely
- Cover the skillet and cook for 12-15 minutes or until lasagna sheets are cooked - make sure to check for doneness and make sure to stir once in between so mixture doesn’t burn on the bottom. Reduce the heat if the mixture starts to stick to the bottom. You can also add in more water if the mixture has thickened too much. (No boil cook abit faster and regular depending on the brand and your stove might need a few extra minutes. )
- Once the lasagna sheets are cooked, taste and adjust salt and flavor, mix in the spinach and stir. Remove from heat and cover, let sit for 3 minutes to allow spinach to wilt
- Top this with the reserved caramelized onion mixture, some red pepper flakes (optional) and serve warm. Serve with garlic bread or any side dish of choice
Video
Notes
- To make the pasta nut-free, you can use my nut-free Alfredo. or use silken tofu like my Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake. Use 4-5 oz firm or silken tofu instead of cashews.
- soyfree, use chickpea miso
- To make the sauce without nuts and soy: use my pumpkin seed alfredo and use that sauce.
- To make this Glutenfree, use Glutenfree lasagna or pasta
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients for French Onion Skillet Lasagna
- lasagna noodles – obviously. You can use gluten-free.
- for the onions, we slowly sautee white onions in vegan butter along with salt, garlic, thyme and pepper until perfectly brown. A splash of wine or vinegar helps the caramelization process.
- some mushrooms and spinach – because any white lasagna just calls for those additions
- For our vegan bechamel sauce we are blending cashew nuts with broth and lemon juice. I add some nutritional yeast and miso paste to make it cheesy.
Tips & Substitutions:
- This recipe is perfect for using up those broken lasagna sheets you always get at the bottom of the pack. You can also use other flat pasta of choice
- And yes, you can make this entire thing ahead of time and reheat. Or just make the onion mix and the bechamel as part of the prep. That’s a great idea if you really want to have this on a weeknight.
- While caramelizing the onions, spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook slowly, stirring occasionally.
- Depending on how strong your stovetop burner is you may need to reduce the heat to medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning or drying out.
How to Make French Onion Skillet Lasagna:
Heat a skillet over medium heat then add butter with onions and cook for about 7-8 mins, or until onions start to look translucent
Add in the garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and continue to cook until onions turn a golden color.
Add the balsamic vinegar or red wine and mix well, continue to cook until onions begin to caramelize. Remove ¾ of this mixture and save to use as garnish later.
Add in the mushrooms and mix well, continue to cook for 1-2 minutes
Add in the broken pieces of lasagna sheets and 2 cups of broth, press down the sheets so they are completely submerged under the broth completely
Cover the skillet and cook for 12-15 minutes or until lasagna sheets are cooked – make sure to check for doneness and make sure to stir so the mixture doesn’t burn on the bottom. Reduce the heat if the mixture starts to stick to the bottom and makes sure to keep stirring
Once the lasagna sheets are cooked, mix in the spinach and stir. Remove from heat and cover, let sit for 3-4 minutes to allow spinach to wilt
Top this with the reserved caramelized onion mixture, some red pepper flakes (optional) and serve warm. Serve with garlic bread or any side dish of choice
Store refrigerated for upto 3 days. It will thicken so add jn some broth while reheating.
You can make the caramelized onion and the blended sauce ahead of time to make this a shorter cook time dinner!
Ah-mazing!!! This was so deliciously rich and creamy! Doubled the recipe, worked great!
yay!
Why would it say prep time is 5 minutes?
Updated it. It’s about 10-15 mins
I can only ever find brown miso, does that make a difference? A few of your recipes have called for white and I can’t get that at my local grocery store. Just wondering if it makes a difference,
Thanks
Allison
White miso is much more mild than brown. You could still use it, but it will make a difference in flavor, especially the saltiness.
Can this be made in the oven?
definitely could, just bake like a typical baked lasagna.
I haven’t tried this recipe, but speaking of caramelised onions, I do them in bulk in my ninja foodi and you could do the same in your instant pot.
I’d read about doing this in a slow cooker so I tried slow cook mode first, but found it was too slow. Sauté mode on low or medium works great though.
My method is:
-Chop loads of onions
-Put them in the pot with plenty of oil
-Set to sauté mode and cook on high while stirring to get them started
-Turn down to medium or low-medium
-Leave cooking for 4-6 hours with the lid off until they’re caramelised how you want. Stir a couple of times during cooking. With a low enough temperature they don’t need to be stirred at all, but then the Ninja auto turns off before they’re done
Once they’re cooked I spoon into ice cube trays and freeze so I always have caramelised onions ready
Two thumbs up. This dish reminded me of a mushroom stroganoff, absolutely delicious, rich and satisfying. I subbed corkscrew/spiral pasta.
Wonderful!
Delicious
thank you!
This was sooo good. I could have sworn I had lasagna noodles, so I broke up some rigatoni noddles and used those instead. The sauce is divine. I am thinking of making the sauce and thickening it up to use as a gravy.
Thank you for great and simple skillet dish.
Trina
nice substitution !
I made an old fashioned bechamel with oil,flour and broth, as I didn’t have cashew nuts. I added all other ingredients as provided in recipe…was delicious… will make again.
great news, thanks kaylee
This was delicious! We found it only made about three servings, though; next time well double it so we have leftovers.
Thanks for letting me know!
We made this for a special occasion. It is absolutely amazing how all the flavors come together! Highly Recommended.
so kind of you
Hi! Just letting you know the notes don’t have anything re: nut free option. I noticed because my grocery store did not have raw cashews so I was poking around for substitutions. Sadly I can’t eat soy so tofu, the most obvious sub, is out and all I have at home is raw almonds, which the internet claims can be subbed for raw cashews. Any thoughts on whether this might work? Thanks for your recipes 🙂 your cookbook is a staple in my kitchen and full of bookmarks, notes, and dog-eared pages.
Notes have my cauliflower alfredo and pumpkin seed Alfredo linked as well as a tofu based sauce linked. Use pumpkin seeds. Almonds might stay a bit gritty. Soak them overnight and blend really well. Also add a tbsp of flour to the sauce to help thicken