One of the most popular posts on this site from a couple of years ago was an easy slow cooker lasagne recipe. I made it for the first time in months last week and remembered how dead simple it is to put together AND all five of my children practically licked their plates clean, which is genuinely a cause for rejoicing on my part. So I decided it was time to repost the recipe, along with a quick video showing everyone just how easy it really is.
The lasagne cooks in your crockpot for 5-6 hours on low, and only takes a few minutes of prep time. Just mix cooked ground beef and jarred spaghetti sauce, some cottage cheese and seasonings, and layer everything in the slow cooker at lunchtime. By dinnertime your house will smell delicious and all you have left to do is open up a bag of salad and slice a loaf of french bread!
This recipe calls for jarred pasta sauce–I like the thick & chunky garden veggie variety, but you can use whatever kind your family likes best. Also, there’s no need to precook your noodles OR to use oven ready lasagne noodles – the normal kind soften up nicely in the slow cooker. I do use more sauce than usual in this recipe since the noodles suck up quite a bit of the moisture, but that leaves the lasagne with a lot of flavor. It cuts and serves beautifully.
NOTE: Please be sure NOT to use no-boil or oven-ready noodles, as they will get too mushy. Normal lasagne noodles work perfectly!
Here’s a quick video to show how it goes together:
Crockpot Lasagne
Ingredients
- 1/2 to 1 lb Ground Beef
- 36 oz Spaghetti Sauce about a jar and a half
- 16 oz Cottage Cheese
- 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 9 Lasagne Noodles uncooked
- 8 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
- Brown Ground Beef.
- Mix in spaghetti sauce.
- In a bowl, mix together cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, and italian seasoning.
- Spray crockpot insert with nonstick spray.
- Pour about 1/3 of meat sauce in bottom of crock and spread evenly.
- Break 3 lasagne noodles to fit and lay on top of meat sauce.
- Spread half of cottage cheese mixture over noodles and top with half of mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat layers: 1/3 of the meat sauce, 3 noodles, remaining cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese.
- Top with remaining 3 noodles, the pour on remaining sauce.
- Cover and turn crockpot on to low.
- Cook for 5-6 hours until noodles are tender.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that I can make it in the summer without turning on the oven and heating up the whole house. Definitely a win-win.
Lynn decker says
I make almost the same recipe!
My only amendments are:
1. I add about 1/2 jar of water to the sauce/meat mixture, so the noodles have more moisture to soak up (can be dry otherwise)
2. I run the noodles under some water before layering (same reason as #1)
3. I use ricotta, not cottage cheese
4. I add an egg to the ricotta/cheese mixture
It’s fabulous!!!
Oh! and if you’re feeling lazy, you can use bowtie pasta — you get the feeling and flavor of lasagna without the “work” of layering.
Vicki Pedersen says
I’ve definitely got to try this. Traditional lasagna takes too long, but I think I can handle this.
kathy says
yummy….looks good
Carl says
Cottage Cheese?!?!?! Try Ricotta cheese mixed with some Italian spices for a REAL Italian taste.
Cottage cheese is disgusting in lasagna. Gross gross gross!!!
B.Taylor says
What spaghetti sauce is the best for this recipe?
Tea says
Made this and tasted wonderful ! I only had one jar of sauce and had to add approx 1/2c of water. I wasn’t able to layer it as much and it cooked faster. We just ate a little earlier. The noodles were perfect! Great recipe!
Charlotte Meek says
Thank You for this recipe! Love it; and it’s so simple! I had never cooked lasagna in the crock pot before, so I was a little hesitant; but I’m sure glad I tried it. Love the fact that I don’t have to mess up a pan to cook the noodles. I live on the East Coast though, and I find that mine is done after 4 hours on low. It could be my crock pot; or I’m wandering if the difference is our altitudes? My sister moved to Colorado from Maryland and she had to adjust all of her recipes (due to altitude she has to cook stuff longer living in Colorado than when she lived on the East Coast). If anyone lives a few feet above sea level, may want to check doneness after 4 hours. Love this recipe! Thank You!
autumn says
So glad to hear it worked out for you – thanks!