Easy Slow Cooker Lasagna

Cooked lasagna inside the insert of a crock pot.

Making lasagna for dinner just got so much easier with this Slow Cooker Lasagna recipe. Just layer everything in the slow cooker - even the uncooked noodles!

Course Dinner, Slow Cooker

Cuisine Italian

Keyword crock pot lasagna recipe, how to make lasagna in a slow cooker, slow cooker lasagna

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 5

Total Time 5 25

Servings

Calories 640kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Equipment

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 yellow onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic (minced, pressed, chopped from jar, or garlic paste)
2 jars (24 oz each) marinara pasta sauce
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese divided
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese divided
1 large egg
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
13-15 uncooked lasagna noodles

Instructions

Spray the insert of a 6 QT or 7 QT slow cooker with cooking spray.
In a skillet pan, over medium-high heat, cook and crumble the ground beef, onion, and garlic until beef is no longer pink. Drain the excess grease from the pan.
1 lb ground beef, 1 yellow onion, 3 cloves garlic
Stir in the marinara sauce until combined. Let this mixture simmer while you prepare the rest.
^{* You may need to turn the heat down to medium-low or low if it starts to splatter.}
2 jars (24 oz each) marinara pasta sauce
In a mixing bowl, stir together half of the mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, half of the parmesan cheese, egg, Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and black pepper.
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper
Layer The Lasagna
Spread 1¼ cups of the ground beef pasta sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Layer 1 : Top the sauce with lasagna noodles, breaking them as needed in order to create an even layer of noodles.
- Layer 2 : Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles.
- Layer 3 : Top with 1¼ cups of the ground beef pasta sauce.
Keep alternating the layers of lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese mixture, and ground beef pasta sauce until you're on your last layer of lasagna noodles. Top the last layer of lasagna noodles with the remaining ground beef pasta sauce and sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top (the remaining half of mozzarella cheese + remaining half of parmesan cheese).
Cover the crock pot with the lid and cook on LOW heat for 4-6 hours or until the noodles are cooked to your preference (al dente or softer).
^{* Mine is usually done around 5 hours.}

Notes

Marinara Pasta Sauce : Use a pasta sauce that you love the flavor of! I prefer using Rao's Homemade marinara sauce. Feel free to use any variety or flavor of marinara sauce just make sure you use 48 ounces total ( two 24 ounce jars).

Even Layers : Make sure that you evenly spread each layer over the previous one. Especially the sauce on top of the lasagna noodles layer. The sauce needs to completely cover the noodles in order for them to have enough liquid and moisture to cook.

Crock Pot Size : Depending on how big or small your crock pot is, determines how many layers you can get from the lasagna recipe. I recommend sticking with a 6 QT or 7 QT crock pot for this lasagna recipe. I use a 6 QT slow cooker.

Make It Ahead of Time : Prepare everything layered inside the crockpot and instead of cooking it, cover the crock pot insert with plastic wrap and then a layer of tin foil. Refrigerate overnight. The next morning, take it out of the fridge and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours. It will take slightly longer to cook just because it started so cold from the fridge.

Nutrition