This all-in-one Italian classic is a cinch to make and the magic is done in the slow cooker.
Layering with cooked meats and cheese with raw lasagna noodles will have a banquet meal without all the fuss of cooking and draining the pasta in a hurry!
The kids love all the cheesy goodness and the flavors all meld together perfectly.
This meal always amazes me that a slow cooker can make such a delicious meal easily.
The meats can even be cooked the night before and the assembling for this is super easy using all store-bought ingredients.
Your crockpot lasagna could also be made with all Homemade Traditional Sunday Italian Tomato Sauce if you prefer over storebought and have the time.
Shopping List
- lasagna noodles or use any pasta
- jarred tomato sauce
- crushed tomatoes
- ricotta cheese
- grated cheese
- mozzarella
- ground beef
- loose sausage
- assorted spices
Optional Filling Suggestions
- diced or sliced tomato with shredded melted mozzarella filling (Caprese Style with chopped garlic and basil) with the tomato sauce
- Italian loose-cooked sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms as a filling
- leftover chili with sharp cheddar cheese melted, black olives, and green chiles for a chili mac lasagna
- cream cheese, sauteed shrimp, scallops chopped, and Swiss cheese melted
- use them after they've been roasted and fill them with your favorite pasta salad, bacon, lettuce and tomato-filled, chopped deli meats with shredded lettuce tomato, mayo, and bacon
- chopped leftover rotisserie chicken, or diced chicken tenders, and melted cheddar with enchiladas sauce instead of tomato sauce
- make your favorite meatloaf mixture and use the sauce with cheddar or another cheese you prefer
- add some cooked boneless chicken with alfredo sauce, a slice of ham, and swiss cheese
- add a spinach layer instead of meat with a ricotta layer and assemble the same way
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Crockpot Lasagna
Yield: 12
Prep time: 15 MinTotal time: 15 Min
Layered lasagna noodles are made easily in a slow cooker/crockpot
Ingredients
- 2 - 16 ounce jars of either store-bought or Traditional Sunday Sauce homemade
- 1 - 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes mixed with 1/2 cup of water
- 1 container 1 lb (16 ounces) of ricotta cheese mixed with 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped then set this aside
- 1 - lb of loose Italian sausage fried and oil drained
- 1- lb of ground beef or turkey, fried, drained, and seasoned with 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of fresh minced garlic after cooked set aside
- Note: store-bought frozen meatballs can be thawed and crushed for ground beef to save time
- 1 lb. box of any lasagna noodles (or you can use any dry-shaped pasta it works fine just looks different ( great for baked ziti as well)
- 2-packages of. (16 oz) whole milk mozzarella cheese shredded
- Note: if you prefer another item in your lasagna, mushrooms, peppers, or what you use in the traditional style your family makes, add it in one of the layers.
Instructions
- Break up lasagna noodles or the pasta you're using into smaller pieces to fit your crockpot/slow cooker.
- Mix the jarred sauce with the crushed tomatoes and water together.
- Note: you may not need all of it and can save some for serving.
- Starting with the raw pasta layer, add some sauce, mozzarella, and grated cheese the top with a layer of ricotta cheese mixed with the eggs as stated in the ingredients section.
- Add another layer of raw pasta and add sauce on the cheeses and then a layer of a combination of meats (sausage and beef cooked).
- Add more sauce on the meat layers, and cheeses, and top with the remaining lasagna noodles.
- Ending with sauce, mozzarella, cheese, and parsley sprinkle garlic powder over the top.
- Set on high for 3-4 hours check to see if the noodles are soft and it's not burning.
Notes
Optional Filling Suggestions
- diced or sliced tomato with shredded melted mozzarella filling (Caprese Style with chopped garlic and basil) with the tomato sauce
- Italian loose-cooked sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms as a filling
- leftover chili with sharp cheddar cheese melted, black olives, and green chiles for a chili mac lasagna
- cream cheese, sauteed shrimp, scallops chopped, and Swiss cheese melted
- use them after they've been roasted and fill them with your favorite pasta salad, bacon, lettuce and tomato-filled, chopped deli meats with shredded lettuce tomato, mayo, and bacon
- chopped leftover rotisserie chicken, or diced chicken tenders, and melted cheddar with enchiladas sauce instead of tomato sauce
- make your favorite meatloaf mixture and use the sauce with cheddar or another cheese you prefer
- add some cooked boneless chicken with alfredo sauce, a slice of ham, and swiss cheese
- add a spinach layer instead of meat with a ricotta layer and assemble the same way
Pin this for later
More Recipes To Try
Cacio e Pepe
Tomato Basil Pasta
Amatriciana
Rigatoni alla Zozzona