Crockpot Lasagna is a delicious slow cooker meal with the best sauce ever. Make this recipe and come home to an amazing and comforting dinner.
I’m not sure if there is anything that says comfort food to me in the same way lasagna does. Noodles, delicious sauce, and cheese come together in a magical way to make a dinner that just the smell of makes you feel warm inside.
This Crockpot Lasagna is everything you love about a traditional lasagna without boiling noodles or the need to be home while it cooks. Our slow cooker lasagna comes together while you are busy dealing with other things, and is perfect to come home to. Your family will love this amazing and delicious recipe.
Positively the best lasagna ive ever had! Easy Peasy!! Don’t have to worry about heating up the house with the oven in the summer time!
Why Make Lasagna In a Crockpot
The major benefit to this recipe versus lasagna in the oven is that you don’t have to be home while it cooks. In a world where we are often running kids here and there and leading busy lives, the ability to leave the house to get stuff done while dinner cooks is priceless.
How to Make Crockpot Lasagna
This is just a brief overview of the recipe so you can see how it comes together. Make sure you get the full instructions and ingredient measurements in the recipe card below.
- Make the sauce. On the stove-top brown ground beef, garlic, and onion. Next add tomato sauce, tomato paste, and seasonings.
- Make the filling. In a bowl mix together ricotta cheese, eggs, and Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
- Put it all together. Add a small amount of sauce to a greased crockpot. Layer uncooked lasagna noodles (you may have to break them up to fit). Add a layer of the cheese and egg mixture. Repeat the layers until you’ve used all the ingredients.
- Add cheese to the top. Cover the last layer with more mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
- Cook on low for about 4-6 hours.
Skip Boiling the Noodles
One of the things we love about this recipe is that there is no need to cook the noodles before layering the lasagna. There is enough liquid in the tomato sauce mixture to cook the noodles thoroughly. A huge bonus is that they take on the flavor of the delicious sauce. Everything bakes up brown and bubbly right there in the crockpot.
Lasagna Noodles
Please note that in this easy crockpot lasagna recipe we are using regular lasagna sheets. This recipe has not been tested by me with the no boil sheets. That being said, oven-ready lasagne in this recipe has been tested by some readers with good results.
The Best Lasagna Sauce
The sauce in this lasagna is an incredibly delicious meat sauce! It comes together with simple ingredients and can be used on lots of other pasta dishes. It’s thick and rich without being too spicy or overbearing. Trust me, when I tell you it is the star of the whole recipe!
While you might be tempted to use a canned spaghetti sauce or a store-bought marinara sauce, I urge you to take the time to make the sauce as written in the recipe. You won’t be disappointed.
Shredding Your Own Cheese
Another vote here for shredding your own cheese from a block rather than buying pre shredded cheese. You will see me advocate for this in all of my recipes.
The reason I always make a point of saying this is because it really can make a huge difference in a recipe. Pre shredded cheese does not melt as well as block cheese you shred at home. It is covered in preservatives that help it keep its shredded form, but also keeps it from melting well. I firmly believe you won’t be as satisfied with the results if you use pre-shredded cheese.
Please take the extra five minutes to do this, it is well worth it. This is my favorite cheese grater. It comes with a container to catch the cheese that makes life a little easier.
A Note on Salt and Pepper
You will notice that I suggest you taste the sauce at the end of making it. This is an important step; please do not skip it. The sauce is delicious and makes the whole recipe, but only if you love it. You should taste it and add more salt and pepper to accommodate your tastes.
Salt can make or break a recipe. Start by adding just a little bit more, tasting, and adding a tiny bit more (for example less than 1/8 teaspoon) until you get the taste you like.
What Size Crockpot to Use for Crockpot Lasagna
You’ll need at least a six-quart crockpot or larger for this recipe. You’ll notice that the lasagna fills the whole crockpot pictured here. If you have a smaller slow cooker, you can cut the recipe in half for a smaller batch.
Crock Pot
Storing and Freezing Leftovers
Since first publishing this, I’ve been told two important things. First, so many readers have told me that this is even better when it is made the day before. Second, readers have told me that this freezes very well.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to four days in an airtight container. If you’d like to freeze the lasagna, cut it into individual portions and flash freeze it four eight hours before transferring it to an airtight container. Frozen lasagna can be stored for up to three months. Please use your best discretion when it comes to leftovers.
Substitutions and Variations
- Change out the ricotta. I have so many readers who don’t like ricotta cheese. While I love ricotta, if you don’t, I’ve been told that cottage cheese makes a great replacement. You may consider blending it so it has the same consistency as ricotta.
- Make the recipe gluten free. One of my readers told me that they made it with no cook gluten free noodles and it turned out perfect.
- Change out the meat. If you don’t like ground beef, you can substitute it with ground turkey or ground chicken. You will likely need to add oil in step one to keep the meat from sticking. Alternatively, you could also make this with Italian sausage.
What to Serve with Crockpot Lasagna
- Garlic Bread is the perfect pairing with lasagna and can be made in a snap.
- Parmesan Roasted Broccoli is one of our family’s favorite sides and perfect for this recipe.
- Mediterranean Salad is a light side dish that comes together very fast.
- Caesar Salad if you are serving guests, this is a great option. It is upscale but so easy to make.
I can’t wait for you to enjoy this cozy crockpot lasagna with your family. Please leave a comment below with questions or comments on this or any of my other recipes. Enjoy!
Crockpot Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef (453.6 grams)
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 44 ounces tomato sauce 29 ounce and 15 ounce can of just tomato sauce, not spaghetti sauce with seasoning (1247 grams)
- 6 ounces tomato paste (170 grams)
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (if you only have table salt, start with less)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 12 ounces lasagana noodles the regular kind, not the no boil kind (340 grams)
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese (425 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 16 ounces mozzarella shredded, read here why shredding your own cheese is so key (452 grams)
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese (100 grams)
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the ground beef. Cook until it begins to brown, breaking it up as you cook. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Drain the excess fat.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, oregano, basil, and pepper to the meat mixture and set aside. Taste and add more salt and/or pepper to taste.
- Set aside 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. This will be for topping at the end.
- In a large bowl mix together the ricotto, eggs, and the remainder of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Spray your 6 to 8 quart crockpot with cooking spray. Add a ladle full of the sauce and meat mixture to the bottom. Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. You will need to break them and rearrange them to fit. Top the noodles with some of the cheese mixture and then more sauce and meat. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients (save the set aside cheese). Top with the set aside cheese.
- Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Cooking times on crockpots vary greatly. It was finished in my crockpot after four hours.
Ramona says
How can I make the ricotta creamy
Ricotta is pretty creamy on its own. I love it just as it is for this recipe.
Donns says
I made this several times , I used marinara sauce instead of your recipe for a quicker dinner. I never have any any left overs everyone wants seconds. I made it often for company.
I’m so glad that this is a hit!
Maria says
I just made this recipe and it was delicious. I did use the oven ready lasagna noodles because that’s all I had and they worked perfect. I cooked it for 4 and a half hours.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
Karen says
Do you need to brown the ground beef on the stove, or can you just break it up raw in the Crockpot & move on with the rest of your Sauce ingredients?
It really needs to be browned.
Peggy H says
Hi! I started to panic when I made this for the first time. I made 2 batches last Sunday. I was worried that I didn’t layer enough noodles. I only used a total of 12 lasagna noodles per crockpot (3 layers of noodles). But it was perfect! Everybody loved this. It was done in 4 hours on low- even a bit burnt on edges which I loved!!
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Reva says
Could I assemble this the night before, leave in the fridge overnight and then pull it out and start it cooking the next day?
I can’t think of a reason this wouldn’t work except that the noodles might be soggy. If you try it, let me know what you think.
Kristen says
Wait. Which cheese is the topping? The one without the egg correct?
You are going to pull out 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and set it aside – that is to go on top. With the cheese you have left, you are going to make the filling and you will add the egg to that.
Tiffany says
Shredded or grated Parmesan cheese?
Either will work great. I always recommend using cheese that you shred/grate yourself as it will melt better than pre-shredded.
Maureen says
This came out really good. I did use Italian sausage bulk instead of ground beef though. But very good. Mine only took about 3.5 hours. Definitely a keeper
I’m so glad that you like this recipe as much as I do!
Dee says
My family doesn’t like ricotta or cottage cheese. Can I just use the mozzarella? Thank you!
I’m worried that you will be pretty disappointed with this recipe and the filling if you leave out ricotta.