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Crock pot Lasagna is the ultimate cozy comfort food made right in the slow cooker. Layers of tender noodles, rich meat sauce, and creamy cheese cook together for a hearty, flavor-packed meal.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: It has all of the rich, zesty flavors, creamy cheese, and tender, juicy ground beef found in a traditional lasagna recipe.
- Tools: A 6-quart slow cooker is a must for this recipe to prevent overflowing.
- Budget Tip: Use cottage cheese in place of ricotta for a tasty swap that lets you save a few dollars.
- Swaps: This slow cooker lasagna recipe is so versatile! Swap the meat, mix up the cheeses, or toss in some extra veggies for a fun twist.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve it alongside homemade garlic bread and a Caesar salad or an Italian salad.
Ingredient Notes
- 3 Cheese Filling: While traditional lasagna uses ricotta cheese, cottage cheese works well, too. Parmesan adds flavor while mozzarella makes it gooey and cheesy.
- Sauce: Use pre-seasoned marinara sauce, or add your own Italian seasoning. Control the flavor and make your own marinara sauce or save time with leftover meat sauce.
- Noodles: Use classic lasagna noodles for this recipe. No pre-boiling or oven-ready noodles needed (but they still work well)!
- Ideas for Add-Ins: Add spinach or shredded zucchini to the cheese mixture, layer in cooked peppers or mushrooms, or swap half of the ground beef for ground pork or Italian sausage.
How to Make Crockpot Lasagna
- Prepare the marinara sauce.
- Combine the cheese filling.
- Layer cheese mixture, sauce, and noodles into the crockpot.
- Cover and cook (full recipe below).
Leftovers That Last
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-safe container or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: If frozen, let it thaw overnight in the fridge. Sprinkle with extra mozzarella and Parmesan and reheat in the oven until hot and bubbly.
Lasagna Favorites
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Crockpot Lasagna
Make this juicy and cheesy Crockpot lasagna for a dinner that's delicious and super easy to prep.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 9 lasagna noodles uncooked
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Sauce
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (36 ounce) jar marinara sauce
- 1 (15 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Cheese Filling
- 24 ounces ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until no pink remains. Drain fat.
- Stir in sauce, diced tomatoes with juices, and Italian seasoning. Simmer 5-7 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, in a separate mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, and egg until fluffy.
- Spread 1½ cups of the sauce mixture 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). Then add a layer of the cheese mixture.
- Create layers of sauce, noodles, and cheese mixture. End with pasta sauce and finally top with 2 cups mozzarella and ½ cup 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
Layering order (you may or may not be able to fit 3 whole noodles on each layer, depending on the shape of your slow cooker):
- 1.5 cups of sauce- 2 ½ to 3 noodles- 1/3 of cheese mixture
- 1.5 cups of sauce- 2 ½ to 3 noodles- 1/3 of cheese mixture
- 1.5 cups of sauce- 2 ½ to 3 noodles- 1/3 of cheese mixture
- remaining sauce – mozzarella
Nutrition Information
Calories: 619 | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 1152mg | Potassium: 771mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1330IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 518mg | Iron: 4mg
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.
Have not made it yet but was thinking of doing for a party that is hot appetizers, how easy is it to take out of the crock pot??????
It can be a bit tricky. A great option would be to line your slow cooker with heavy duty foil/parchment paper and you could easily lift it out.
This looks like a recipe I had years ago except…2 10 oz. cartons of frozen spinach, thawed and drained. That would be added to the filling.
Tasting delicious! Italian sausage this time. Beef was delicious.My hubby is in love.