Slow Cooker Lasagna – our favorite lasagna recipe made in the slow cooker! SO easy! No need to boil the noodles – just toss them in the slow cooker uncooked. They will cook along with the lasagna in the slow cooker. Italian sausage, cottage cheese, egg, parsley, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, lasagna noodles, mozzarella, and parmesan. Serve with some garlic bread and a salad. Can freeze leftovers for later. We LOVE this lasagna casserole recipe!!
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Lasagna is a holiday tradition in our family. We would always have lasagna on Christmas Eve so I could eat the leftovers for my Christmas dinner. I’m not a big turkey fan, but I LOVE lasagna. I do eat a little turkey now, but we still make Lasagna on Christmas Eve.
This year I am changing our traditional recipe up a bit and making it in the slow cooker. This recipe requires little effort to make and it tastes great! Layers of pasta, meat sauce, and three kinds of cheese. You can assemble the casserole ahead of time and cook it the next morning. Perfect for busy days and hectic holidays. This recipe has quickly become a family favorite.
How to Make Slow Cooker Lasagna
This lasagna is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a large skillet, cook Italian sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain excess grease. Add a jar of spaghetti sauce and two cans of tomato sauce to the skillet. Stir and set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together cottage cheese, egg, and parsley.
Spray the crockpot insert with cooking spray or olive oil. Spread one cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Spread ⅓ of the cottage cheese mixture over the layer of noodles. Top the cottage cheese with ¼ of the mozzarella cheese slices. Top the cheese slices with ⅓ of the remaining meat sauce and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese.
Repeat the layers two more times – noodles, cottage cheese, mozzarella, sauce, and parmesan cheese. Top the lasagna with the remaining mozzarella slices. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW heat. Let the lasagna rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Garnish the pasta with some chopped fresh basil
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- Can substitute ground beef or ground turkey in the meat sauce. If using ground beef, add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning.
- Feel free to add fresh chopped onion and green peppers to the meat sauce.
- Can substitute ricotta cheese.
- This recipe uses regular lasagna noodles. There is no need to boil the lasagna noodles. Just layer them in the slow cooker uncooked.
- I took a major shortcut and used a jar of pasta sauce in this recipe. I usually make my own sauce for lasagna, but it takes hours to make and I wanted something quick this time.
- My favorite jarred sauce is Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), I also love Rao’s and La Famiglia DelGrosso jarred pasta sauces.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
What to Serve with Easy Lasagna Recipe
This is the easiest lasagna recipe I’ve ever made. I might have eaten two GIANT pieces! Sorry, not sorry! Leftovers are equally delicious. I actually think the lasagna tastes better reheated the next day! We serve this with our favorite Garlic Bread and our Creamy Italiano Salad. Perfecto! I am counting down the days until we make this again!! Comfort food at its best. Whip this up the next time you need an easy meal the whole family will love.
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Slow Cooker Lasagna
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 1¼ pounds Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 1 (26-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
- 2 (8-oz) cans tomato sauce
- 4 cups cottage cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1½ Tbsp dried parsley
- 16- oz mozzarella slices
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 12 lasagna noodles uncooked
Instructions:
- In a large skillet, cook Italian sausage until crumbled and no longer pink. Drain fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Set aside.
- Combine cottage cheese, egg and parsley. Set aside.
- Spray a 6-qt Slow Cooker with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of sauce in bottom of slow cooker.
- Top sauce with 4 lasagna noodles, breaking to fit. Spread ⅓ of cottage cheese mixture of on top of noodles. Top with ¼ of mozzarella slices. Top mozzarella with ⅓ of remaining sauce. Sprinkle ⅓ of parmesan cheese on top of sauce.
- Repeat layers two more times. – noodles, cottage cheese, mozzarella, sauce and parmesan. Top lasagna with remaining mozzarella slices.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
Notes:
Steph
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How do you fit 12 whole noodles in the crockpot? I can hardly fit 6-8 unless I am layering the noodles on top of eachother
Well, you layer them in the slow cooker……
I hate cooking- which is why I do the slow cooker recipes. This was super easy and sooooo good! Thanx for proving all of the “u can’t cook lasagna in a crock pot” haters wrong!!! I even got permission to make it again!
SO glad it was a hit!!
I don’t do sausage, so I’m gonna sub shredded chicken. Any pointers on that?
I’ve never made this with chicken, so I can not say how much to use in place of the sausage. It would just be up to you.
Can this recipe be cooked in an oven?
Can I prep everything the night before?
Can you omit the cottage cheese? My husband does not like ricotta or cottage cheese.
Thanks
Penny Z.
Easy and delicious. I added sautéed onions and mushrooms but followed the rest of the recipe exactly.
This sounds delicious and easy! Can this be made in the 9×13 crockpot?
I don’t see why not
This is one of the best lasagna recipe I have had. EASY, DELICIOUS. The family loved it. Coming from an Italian who knows her lasagna, this is worth trying. Thank you!!!
WOW! Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it, Christine.
Can u use ricotta instead? N do us till mix with egg like the cottage? I’ve ever tried cooking lasagna, plus not great cook, is why I ask
If there isn’t water added, what is the extra liquid added?
tomato sauce
How much water do you use? I added 1 cup water, that’s what I saw on other recipes
there is no water in this recipe
Could you use beef and Sausage both
Absolutely! Enjoy!
Can I use Ricotta instead of cottage cheese?
That should be just fine. Enjoy!
are the lasagna noodles"oven-ready" or the other kind?
I used regular lasagna noodles not the "oven ready" type.
Can you assemble the night before?
That would be fine
Which jar spaghetti sauce do you use?
I listed all my favorites in the text above the recipe
can you cook this longer then 4 hrs on low?
sure! It should be fine cooking a little longer.
Could you preboil lasagna noodles a bit ,how long do you cook it on low
Kristin – if you precook the noodles , you will also need to adjust the liquid in the recipe. The liquid in the recipe is for I cooked noodles.