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.
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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
Did your family love this Crockpot Lasagna? Leave a rating and comment below.
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.
will it turn out if I cook it on low for 8 hours in the crockpot?
Hi Brenda, it will be overcooked and the lasagna noodles may be too soft to hold everything together.
Favorite lasagna recipe!
I thought this was quite a good lasagna. I followed the meat sauce directions but my husband doesn’t like cheese, so I made a bechamel sauce and used that in place of cheese (as I typically do in baked lasagnas). Used oven-ready noodles, since that’s what I had in the pantry. Had fresh herbs. My crock pot seems to run hotter than others; lasagna was definitely done after 2.5 hours on low. Very tasty!
I made this yesterday. Success!! I used no boil noodles, 15 ounce of ricotta and cottage cheese. I had some spinach so I layered that in. It turned out so creamy. Crispy edges. easy to make!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Jocelyn!
Hi Holly!
I have made this twice ad we absolutely love it. So easy too. I follow the recipe exactly including the cook time of 3-1/2 hours on Low in a 6qt crock pot. Each time I’ve made it, it has scorched along the sides of crock pot leaving the outer side of lasagna blackened and that burnt taste. Ick. Am I doing something wrong? Should I reduce the time to 3 hours or spray the inside of crock pot before adding ingredients? I’m at a loss what to do.
Thank you for whatever advice you may have. Love your recipes!
I’m sorry this is happening to your lasagna, Moonie! I would try spraying the sides of the crockpot to ensure nothing sticks to it while cooking, and you can check the lasagna at 3 hours to see if it’s done at that point! Please let me know how it turns out if you try it again
I apologize if I am overlooking it, but what are the instructions on preparing in advance? Would you just assemble all the ingredients in the slow cooker and put in the fridge until ready to coo?
Hi Haili, yes that is correct! Follow the instructions up to step 5 then refrigerate and cook the next day. I hope that helps!
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 ½ to ¾ 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.