This Easy Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe does NOT require you to boil your noodles ahead of time! So easy and delicious.
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Cris here. We are sharing another great recipe from Gooseberry Patch’s Busy Day Slow Cooking today! And, Mikey has a video for all you youtube fans!
Cris here. I love me some lasagna… SERIOUSLY. It is one of my favorite foods. One of the first recipes I ever taught myself as a young wife was a version of this 30 minute “lasagna-in-a-skillet” style lasagna. I still make it quite regularly. BUT there are times when I need that traditional stacked texture that only a baked up lasagna knows how to provide ;).
As much as I love me some lasagna… I hate boiling noodles and handling hot noodles (and I can’t stand the texture of the special no boil noodles). This is where the slow cooker comes in SUPER handy. Crock pots are great at keeping moisture in… SO if you work your recipe right, you have absolutely NO need to boil those noodles ahead of time and you can use your favorite REGULAR lasagna noodles!
Easy Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe
Note: Scroll to the bottom of this post for a printable version of this recipe.
Ingredients for Easy Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe
1 lb ground breakfast sausage
1/2 cup onion- chopped
3 15 oz cans Italian style tomato sauce
2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz package mozzarella shredded cheese
15 oz tub ricotta cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese or shredded
15 lasagna noodles uncooked and divided
How to make Lasagna in a Crock Pot
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Brown sausage and onion until cooked and then drain.
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Add tomato sauce, basil and salt and stir well and then set aside.
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In a bowl mix 1 cup mozzarella cheese with the ricotta and parm, setting aside the remaining mozzarella in the fridge for later use.
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Place 1/4 of the sauce in the bottom of a 6 qt slow cooker.
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Place 5 noodles over sauce, overlapping and breaking when necessary
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Top with half of the cheese mixture.
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Add another 1/4 of sauce, top with 5 more noodles and top with remaining cheese mixture and another layer of sauce.
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Top with last 5 noodles and the remaining sauce.
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Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours and then top with remaining mozzarella.
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Continue cooking until cheese melts.
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Cool for 15-30 minutes if you want your lasagna to set up better. (Overnight for best results)
Notes on Easy Crock Pot Lasagna
- This Recipe is from Gooseberry Patch’s Busy Day Slow Cooking.
- You will need a 6 qt slow cooker to make this recipe. You can use a casserole crock pot to make this recipe, however, I prefer to use my rectangular Cuisinart or Ninja because I feel like my casserole crock pot sometimes traps too much liquid and the recipe just seems to set up better in my Cuisinart/Ninja.
- The Ninja and Casserole Crock Pot have an advantage for those folks that like their cheese to have a nice golden browned cheese on top of their lasagna. You can take either of these slow cooker inserts and throw in the oven/broiler for a few minutes to brown up your cheese. The Cuisinart has plastic handles, so I don’t put it in the oven.
- You can serve this lasagna about 15- 30 minutes after slow cooking. However, my favorite way is to cook it the day before and cut my pieces cold and reheat to eat. It is so much better the next day and it sets up into a really nice lasagna stack.
- As with any of our recipes, calorie counts and nutritional information varies greatly depending on which products you choose to use when cooking this dish.
- All slow cookers cook differently, so cooking times are always a basic guideline and should always be tested first in your own slow cooker and time adjusted as needed.
Printable Recipe for Easy Crock Pot Lasagna
Easy Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground breakfast sausage
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 45 oz Italian style tomato sauce (3-15oz cans)
- 2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz package mozzarella shredded cheese
- 15 oz tub ricotta cheese
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated or shredded
- 15 lasagna noodles uncooked and divided
Instructions
- Brown sausage and onion until cooked and then drain.
- Add tomato sauce, basil and salt and stir well and then set aside.
- In a bowl mix 1 cup mozzarella cheese with the ricotta and parm, setting aside the remaining mozzarella in the fridge for later use.
- Place 1/4 of the sauce in the bottom of a 6 qt slow cooker.
- Place 5 noodles over sauce, overlapping and breaking when necessary
- Top with half of the cheese mixture.
- Add another 1/4 of sauce, top with 5 more noodles and top with remaining cheese mixture and another layer of sauce.
- Top with last 5 noodles and the remaining sauce.
- Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours and then top with remaining mozzarella.
- Continue cooking until cheese melts.
- Cool for 15-30 minutes if you want your lasagna to set up better. (Overnight for best results)
Video
Notes
- This Recipe is from Gooseberry Patch’s Busy Day Slow Cooking.
- You will need a 6 qt slow cooker to make this recipe. You can use a casserole crock pot to make this recipe, however, I prefer to use my rectangular Cuisinart or Ninja because I feel like my casserole crock pot sometimes traps too much liquid and the recipe just seems to set up better in my Cuisinart/Ninja.
- The Ninja and Casserole Crock Pot have an advantage for those folks that like their cheese to have a nice golden browned cheese on top of their lasagna. You can take either of these slow cooker inserts and throw in the oven/broiler for a few minutes to brown up your cheese. The Cuisinart has plastic handles, so I don’t put it in the oven.
- You can serve this lasagna about 15- 30 minutes after slow cooking. However, my favorite way is to cook it the day before and cut my pieces cold and reheat to eat. It is so much better the next day and it sets up into a really nice lasagna stack.
- As with any of our recipes, calorie counts and nutritional information varies greatly depending on which products you choose to use when cooking this dish.
- All slow cookers cook differently, so cooking times are always a basic guideline and should always be tested first in your own slow cooker and time adjusted as needed.
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I can’t find Italian Tomato Sauce, only the plain stuff. Should I add some italian spice mix to it?
We haven’t tried it with plain tomato sauce and Italian seasoning, but think that might work. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
I love this site!!! I have made this lasagna before and it was delicious . I made it again today, can’t wait for dinner. Love every recipe I have tried from this site. Thanks
That’s wonderful Jackie! We love hearing when our readers enjoy our recipes. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak life into us! We greatly appreciate it!
Since one is using uncooked lasagna noodles, I assume it would be OK to use the “no boil” noodles in this recipe. Is this a correct thought?
You can, but there is no need. We prefer the texture or regular noodles. If you give it a try with no boil noodles, let us know what you think!
I just love your site, I am trying to cut our $$$$$ spent in the grocery store. I love all kinds of cheese, but Ricotta is so pricy. Can I take the small curd cottage cheese and blend it so it will be more like Ricotta when I spread it out? I used to make lasagna this from scratch, with 4 different at least cheeses, but just got cost prohibitive.
Hi Kathy!
That should work just fine. Enjoy!
Cris, would any other type pasta work if I don’t want to use lasagna noodles? Like a curly tubular noodle?
Thanks,
Deb
Question here… The lasagna noodles I have has “oven ready” on the box. Will they work in this recipe?
Hi Sharon! You can use them but isn’t necessary in future. Enjoy!!