Nothing is as good as a ready meal after a busy day!
Crockpot Lasagna has all of the rich zesty flavors, creamy cheese, and tender, juicy ground beef found in a traditional lasagna recipe!
The slow cooker is an easy way to prepare this favorite and let it cook all day while you’re busy.
An Easy Crockpot Meal
We love any and all Crockpot recipes, but this one has a special place in our kitchen!
- This recipe is easy to put together and no pre-cooking of the noodles is required.
- It’s great to make ahead (even the day before) and cook while you’re out or at work.
- It’s the perfect entrée to add to a potluck or dinner party since all you need to do is plug the Crockpot in to keep it warm.
- It’s versatile, too, and can easily be changed up with other favorite lasagna ingredients.
Lasagna Ingredients
3 Cheese Filling – Traditional lasagna uses ricotta cheese, but cottage cheese works, too. Parmesan adds flavor while mozzarella makes it gooey and cheesy.
Sauce – This easy ground beef version uses a marinara sauce that’s already seasoned, but we add some of our own homemade Italian seasoning. If you have the time, make your own easy marinara sauce, too! Leftover meat sauce can be used, too.
Optional Add-Ins –
- Add some fresh or frozen spinach to the cheese mixture.
- Layer in cooked veggies like peppers or mushrooms.
- Swap half of the ground beef for Italian sausage.
How To Make Crockpot Lasagna
Let the slow cooker do all the work for this delish dish!
- Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic. Add sauce, tomatoes, and seasonings.
- Combine cheese filling.
- Layer cheese mixture, meat sauce, and noodles until the final layer is pasta sauce topped with cheese.
- Cover and cook per recipe below.
Important Tip: Once cooked, be sure to let the lasagna rest with the lid ajar for at least 30 minutes (or up to 40 minutes). This allows it to cool slightly and the layers to set up.
What To Serve With Lasagna
Lasagna doesn’t need much more than a fresh, crispy salad and garlic toast! Here are a few of our favorites!
Salads: Tossed salad, Italian salad, Caesar salad
Bread: Homemade garlic bread, dinner rolls, French Bread, no knead bread
How to Store Leftovers
Lasagna keeps very well in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Make sure it is covered tightly. Sprinkle a little extra mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top and reheat in the microwave.
As with any lasagna, this recipe freezes great as well!
We Love Lasagna!
Did your family love this Crockpot Lasagna? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Crock Pot Lasagna
Equipment
Ingredients
- 9 lasagna noodles uncooked
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
Sauce
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 15 ounces petite diced tomatoes
- 36 ounces marinara sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Cheese Filling
- 24 ounces ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in a large saucepan until no pink remains. Drain fat.
- Stir in sauce, diced tomatoes with juices and seasoning. Simmer 5-7 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, mix cheese filling ingredients.
- Spread 1 ½ cups sauce in the bottom of a 6 qt slow cooker. Top with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break them to fit in the slow cooker as needed).
- Create layers of cheese mixture, sauce, and noodles. End with pasta sauce and finally top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
- Cover and cook on low for 3 to 3.5 hours or until pasta is cooked through (the edges will be brown and crispy). Turn the slow cooker off, open lid slightly to allow steam to escape and let rest 30 minutes to set.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Pasta, Slow Cooker
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I have to try your Recipe for Crock Pot Lasagna .
A better lasagna on tap; we need to start eating this!
Hi Holly,
I have a 4.5 quart slow cooker. Do I half the recipe? Thank-you.
Carol
Hi Carolyn, a half recipe should definitely fit in your crockpot.
Hi Holly,
Absolutely LOVE this recipe! You have this suggestion in your bulleted items.
* It’s great to make ahead (even the day before) and cook while you’re out or at work.
I know this is probably a stupid question, but I just need to confirm that you are saying I can actually make the whole thing and layer in slow cooker and stop there, refrigerate and then cook it the next day. Am I understanding that correctly? (I wanted to make sure that I don’t cook it first then refrigerate for the next day and basically it would be like just warming it up.)
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. Have a blessed day!
Sincerely,
Lynn
That is correct! Follow the instructions up to step 5 then refrigerate and cook the next day. I hope that helps!
Looks yummy. If I make a serving of 12 should I use 2 crockpots?
I haven’t tried making 12 servings so I can’t say for sure Vivian. Depending on the size of your Crock Pots likely 2 will work, you will want to make sure they are 1/2 to 3/4 full. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
love this Lasagna tastes great so easy to make
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Michael!
Can you substitute something for the ricotta cheese, as none of us are fans. This sounds wonderful and easy, minus the ricotta.
You can substitute the ricotta for cottage cheese Diana!
My family hates chunks of cooked tomatoes in our food. If I leave out the diced tomatoes, do I need to add more marinara sauce to compensate? If so, how much more?
You can replace it with 15 ounces of marinara, or try blending the diced tomatoes for a smoother texture as well.
This was great! Definitely a keeper in my “what’s for dinner “ book :-)
So happy to hear that, Tina!
My husband and family LOVED this. I served it on Christmas Eve. I was a little worried about how Lasagna would turn out in the slow cooker but it was great!
We liked it enough that I am making it again for tonight!
So happy to hear that, Linda! I am glad this recipe was such a hit for you.
Still making for sons birthday tomorrow… too hot to bake in the oven! What do I set the crock pot at? Low/med temperature or high??
Hi Tori, as listed in step 6, we cook this on low. Have a great birthday celebration!
Hi, I love your recipes and your regular lasagna is my go to. Need something easier so trying this crockpot version. Can I use oven ready lasagna noodles? I hope so, cause that’s all I have!
Hi Mary, we have never tried this recipe with oven-ready noodles but would love to hear how yours turned out!
Not sure what you do with the meat mixture. What layer is this? Noodles, meat, cheese, and then repeat noodles?
You would layer noodles first, cheese mixture second, and meat sauce last then repeat the steps!
Oh my gosh this was soooooooo delicious. I used 1/2 beef and 1/2 Italian sausage. I used whole milk Ricotta (my weakness) and all ingredients and directions worked perfectly! I’d give it 10 stars if I could. The best thing is I could cook this in the afternoon while I was still energized and have it come out perfectly for dinner when I’m winding down. (it does take 1 1/2 24 oz. jars of marinara. Decided to Try Rao”s for the ultimate!
So glad you loved it Patti!! Roa’s is one of our favorites too!
It was delicious, but
1. I could find 32 or 45 oz of marinara, but not 36. I probably added 4 oz by adding water to marinara jar to get rest out.
2. What do you do with the egg?
I will be making this again. It was a hit!
Hi Stephanie, the egg is added in step 3 when the cheese filling ingredients are combined.
TL;DR: The set up time at the end is critical.
For those of you who have never made lasagna before (in a crockpot or old fashioned roasting pan), that ‘resting time to set up’ is critical. No matter what the cooking utensil used. I recall about 15 or 20 years ago, I got a call from a long-time friend’s mom whose lasagna I had already enjoyed at previous occasions, asking me what had gone wrong with her batch at this time (she was doing the cooking at her son’s place, which I think threw her off). When I asked what the problem was, she told me that the lasagna came out like soup. She had made it that afternoon and they were going to eat it that day. I think in the past she made the dish a day ahead so when it came time for us to eat, it had already set up. So that day, everyone was in a hurry to eat. Lesson learned.