Lasagna - Crock Pot

By Becky Jo

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 29 oz can tomato sauce
• 8 oz pkg. lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from creatingthroughlife.com

Preparation

Step 1

Crock-pots are amazing! It's so nice to prep for a meal in the morning and it be ready to enjoy when you get home after work. Making lasagna in the crock-pot is so convenient and it makes a ton. You can have it for multiple days or you can freeze the leftovers.

Directions

1.) Spray the inside of the crock-pot with cooking spray

2.) Brown the ground beef

3.) Stir the tomato sauce in with the ground beef

4.) Spread 1/4 of the meat sauce on the bottom of the crock-pot

5.) Arrange 1/3 of the uncooked noodles over the sauce (I usually break them up so they fit better)

6.) Combine the cheeses in a bowl. Spoon 1/3 of the cheeses over the noodles.

7.) Repeat these layers twice

8.) Top with remaining sauce

9.) Cover and cook on low for 4hrs (I've started the crock-pot on high in the morning while I get ready for work and then put it on warm before I leave and it's perfect when I get home)

10.) Let the lasagna stand in the crock-pot with the lid off for at least 10 minutes

* Variations

Add chopped onion and garlic to the ground beef in step 2

Use Italian sausage in place of ground beef or with ground beef

Add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to the cheese mixture. Replace cottage cheese with Ricotta.

Add 1/2 cup additional shredded mozzarella cheese to the top of lasagna 5 minutes before serving

Posted by,
Creating Through LIFE

I used canned tomato sauce. If you use spaghetti sauce you might want to add a little water to thin it out. Good luck!


This turned out great! I used spaghetti sauce, turned it on High for only about 15 mins, then left it on warm for 10 hours. When I got home I sprinkled a mixture of mozzarella, romano, and parmesan, put the lid back on and turned it on high for about 20 mins.


The recipe calls for three layers. I kept adding layers until I ran out of ingredients. Hope that helps!

I found this on Pinterest. I'm gonna make it tonight. : D Can't wait to try it!

There are a lot of variables to consider when making this recipe - the thickness of your sauce, the quality of your noodles, how your crockpot functions. I added water to my sauce to thin it out, and only had to cook the lasagna for about 2 1/2 hours on low. So, you may need to make adjustments to get this recipe to turn out, but it is worth it!

A trick I learned years ago with crock pot cooking is to cover the top of the crock (down to just above the food level) with aluminum foil. This holds in the heat and the moisture.

I'm so excited to make this! Thanks! Can you tell me about how many can be fed with this recipe? Thanks!

Should make 6-8 servings. Enjoy!

Made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!! This was my first time making lasagna. For some reason I always thought lasagna was too much work, but with this recipe it's so very simple! Thank you for providing us with a way to make it in the crockpot. I turned my crock pot on low while I was browning the meat and preparing everything (to get it preheated). Cooked it in low for 3hrs 50 minutes, and then let it sit on warm for about 45 minutes while I made garlic bread. It was PERFECT! Possibly the best lasagna I've ever had. My husband and I scarfed it down, lol. This will be a regular in our home =)

Saw this on Pinterest and it looks great! One idea -- if not using Italian sausage or spaghetti sauce, add 1-2 tsp each (or only one, don't have to use both) dried oregano and dried basil to the meat sauce. Could also add garlic powder or garlic salt, 1/4 - 1/2 tsp to taste. That way your sauce is nicely seasoned.

To the family who doesn't like Ricotta or Cottage cheese, have you had lasagna before? Most lasagna will have that kind of cheese and it tastes different when cooked in the dish. You might want to try and see what you think. This kind of cheese will add a little extra moisture to this dish which is important for crock-pot lasagna so I'm afriad if you just use mozzerella it won't work as well. I would also imagine it would be very stringy and maybe difficult to eat. You might could try a cream cheese mixture instead. I'm just not sure though since I've never tried it myself. Please share if you decide to experiement and come up with a great solution!

use a mixture of ricotta,garlic, basil, parmesan, mozzarella, a egg, maybe spinach? if you mix all these things in the ricotta cheese it will change the consistency and it will add to the flavor. now because you don't then have the moisture of cottage cheese, just add a little water to the sauce, it will still work the same. something else people can add is a layor of pepperoni? or spinach, or eggplant? some people put a layor of ham? a layor of fresh basil? peppers(cooked)? be creative, have fun! I make amazing lasagna and I have added all these things in the past?

I would follow the recipes directions and cook the lasagna on low for 4 hrs. If all goes well you should smell a delicious aroma and be able to see through the lid that the noodles have softened. It's really important that you don't open the lid to check on the food too early because the steam will escape. Once you get more comfortable cooking with the crock-pot you can try altering the recipes more. I hope you try it and you have a yummy success!

I wasn't really thinking about the size of my crock pot..but it must be larger than the one you use for your receipe, because I ran out of ingredience!! I even used 2 lbs of hamburger! Next time I am using 3 lbs of meat and more sauce. Our family enjoys left overs and I like to share with others. This will make for a great lunch for the week day. Thanks for sharing.

I made this the other night & it was great. I didn't quite have enough mozzarella cheese at first, so I just used my 2 cups of mozzarella and added an extra half cup of cottage cheese. I cooked on high for 40 min. then on low for 4 hours.

I made this for dinner tonight. YUMMY! Even my 11 year old son loved it. I added a layer of fresh spinach leaves on top of the cheese layer and it was amazing...if I must say so myself. Added color and vitamins to an already yummy meal.

Love the addition of spinach, great idea Nadine!

Has anypone ever just cooked it on high alone? Got all the ingrediants in at 3:30 and the crock pot was turned on High about 20 mins before that so it was hot when ingred. was added. We have people coming over tonight and I didn't want to eat at 7:30 or 8. Thinking about cooking it on high for about 1 hr and then turning on low for 2.5 hrs?? Anyone tried like this?

I just made this,,and I must say I will not make lasagna any other way now!!..Being Italian I made my own sauce that I used in it..and of course ricotta cheese,,just make sure to use plenty of sauce..I preheated the crockpot first before assembling and started cooking it on high for 1 hour then 4 hours on low,,I added the top layer of mozzerella at the end and replaced the lid and it melted just fine..I haven't made lasagna in a long time because in the past it always came out dry,,but the crockpot version solved that!!,,I even made another one with gluten free noodles and it cam e out perfect also!,,Natalie from MI

Crock pot liners are amazing!! They are in the same area as the zip loc bags and foil, I have the Reynolds slow cooker liners. I use them every single time I use the crock pot, makes clean up so easy! I used one today with the lasagna so I will let you know tomorrow if it effects the recipe at all.

It might be the safest for you to prepare it before hand and then cook it on high when you get home from work. Another thing you can do is cook it on a Sunday and reheat it throughout the week. You should have plenty of leftovers unless you have a big family. Good luck!

Made it, turns out great, I left mine in a little long (the full 4 hours, tisk my crockpot runs hot and it's not automatic), but had awesome crunchy bits on the bottom I ate right away. I made mine without meat because I didn't have the time/energy/want to brown meat, and it was juuuust fine. I eyeballed the ingredients, used a 'regular' size jar of spaghetti and added about a quarter jar (high tech spaghetti jar measuring) of water to make sure it was liquidy enough to steam the noodles. Turned out great despite my slacker approach, and I'm doing it again tonight and changing some ingredients up to feel fancy (mushrooms?! crazyness)! I love this recipe because it's low fuss, it's actually good, and fairly quick to cook. I'm gone 10hrs so with a manual crockpot I usually have to stay up late to start it (so it's 6-8hrs) and turn it off in the morning.

Got this from Pinterest. I made it yesterday, it was great! Thanks for sharing, will definitely make more soon!

Love Pinterest and I have this recipe in my crockpot as we speak...I only had 2 layers total. Not sure if that makes a difference. I didn't measure anything, I used a bag of Mozz that was already open and used the remainer of my cottage cheese as well. So I just dumped, mixed and spread. I pray it turns out ok...but it was last minute decision and I didnt have time to run to the store. I also have it on high for now, but will check on it regularly. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

I used a pound of ground beef and two spicy italian sausages (squeezed it out of the casing) and dumped in a jar of Ragu original, my kid's favorite spaghetti sauce. Mixed up the mozza with some ricotta, went a little less on this as kid's are picky about too much cheese (boo hoo, I love cheese, the more the better!!). Used up all my leftover boxes of lasagna noodles, score! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out tonight, thanks for the recipe!

I too have an older crock-pot that was passed down from my mother, that must be why mine cooks so hot. I'm glad to see that people are not afraid to change up the ingredients. It really makes it your own that way. I hope you and your family enjoy the results!

Thank you for this! This turns lasagna from a "gah, I don't want to go through the fuss of making it" meal, to a once a month meal. The possibilities are endless now! I always have noodles on hand, so I have a feeling I don't always have to use lasagna noodles. This makes me endlessly happy, I can't even tell you. I have the feeling I'm going to have fun experimenting with this technique. I added finely shredded veggies to my first round of awesome, I can't wait for the next! This is simply brilliant.

Msking this on Saturday, I feel super prepared with all the variations and through others trials and-although very few-errors! Found this on Pinterest, I almost started a blog about the things I have done since Pinterest came around lol! But I see that Heather (and probably lots more) have had the same experience! I will keep you posted!

Oh, and wanted to add that I used ground turkey and used onion and garlic powder and also put in fresh basil with the cheese.

I made this last week and it was AMAZING!!! My friends loved it! Making it again tonight! :-) Very easy for a busy college student to make!

Add me to the long list of people who tried it and LOVED it.... Family loved it too. As easy as it looks. WOW!

Love it! Not a cook. Never bought cottage cheese in my life. LOVE this recipe. Easy smeezy. I used a 1.5 quart pot. Cooked it on low for almost 4 hours. For me, I need to add more lasagna noodles next time, but other than that, it is fabulous. Great for the college life! Thanks!

I was finally able to make this tonight and was pleasantly surprise how well this came out in a slow cooker! The flavor was actually better than when I make lasagna in an oven! And to not have to deal w/ slippery noodles was a plus.

I did make a slip up that I think I'll stick to. Read the ingredient list wrong and only bought a 15 oz tomato can of tomato sauce. I compensated by adding a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes I had on hand. Loved the chunkiness of it! Also, I added garlic powder, minced onion, & Italian seasoning to the meat sauce. This, I think, enhanced the flavor. I suppose I could have just used Italian diced tomatoes to make this even simpler!

trying your recipe, i loaded it into the crockpot tonight. i added a couple cloves of chopped garlic, half of a chopped green pepper, half of a red onion chopped up and about a quarter tsp of dried oregano to the sauce, i also used to jar of a 4 cheese tomato sauce, and i used the non-cook noodles; i'm really nervous about how this is going to turn out. i'm debating whether or not to pour some water into it since others are saying it needs a little liquid (if you don't use the tomato sauce listed in the recipe), but would it still need the liquid with the no cook noodles? i hope this turns out right. it sounds very yummy!

Sounds delicious! Don't be nervous, cooking should be fun. Besides if it doesn't turn out exactly right you can try it again with some adjustments. The onion and other veg will add moisture and as long as the lid stays on enough steam will be created and cook the noodles. It's like magic! I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for the advice. I asked a friend of mine today, and she also thought I shouldn't do it. Maybe a good rule for cooking is if you feel iffy about it, it's not worth it (safety-wise)! :-P She suggested that I make it in the crockpot the night before (after we eat dinner), then all I have to do the next night is heat it up. I think I'll use that idea. The 2 chicken recipes I'm going to try are:

Hello, I made your dish and it was a hit in our family. I made my own sauce and put some sweet basil in the cottage cheese for a little more flavor. I did it for 4 hours on low cause my crock pot does not have a warm setting, and added mozzarella cheese to the top of it and let it sit for 5-10 minutes and it melted beautifully. Thank you for the wonderful idea will be making this at least twice a month as it's cost effective and easy to make....thanks again Cynthia

This was delicious! I made this last night and I couldn't be happier! I only had about 2 1/4 cups worth of mozzarella, so I put 1/2 cup of parmesan and 1 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar mixed with the cottage cheese. I cooked mine for 30 minutes on high and about 2 1/2 hours on low and it was done, so I just set it to warm for the couple hours we still had left til dinner. It turned out really good and I will definitely be making it again soon!

Sounds good! Let us know how it turns out. Previous people who have tried poultry had problems with it being overcooked/dry. I'm assuming it might be because there's not as much grease to keep things moist. You might want to add some water. Best of luck!

Quick question, how is this a time saver? When I make lasagna, I brown the meat and onions, mix with sauce, and then layer it in the pan. Once that is done, I bake it for about an hour at 375'F It seems that all the steps are the same until it comes to the crockpot/oven time.

Just wanted to add that I'm the newest Pinterest fan--worked perfectly! I've never really made lasagna before because the crazy hard versions always scared me, haha! This one was a cinch! :)

This came out fabulous! I actually browned my meat and added my sauce (I prefer Rizzos, doctored up by adding an uncut onion with cloves placed in it, bay leaves, and parsely I then remove the onion and bay leaves) used a whole thing of ricotta and almost two bags of mozarella cheese and assembled this in my crock pot insert so it would be ready to go the next day. Cooked on high for 30 minutes (4-6hr setting) and then placed it on warm from 9am to 3pm, then placed on high for 20minutes and everything was cooked. It was a big hit and super easy to make! Thank you so much this is a new crock pot fav!

I just tried this recipie. It was my very first crock pot meal. I followed the directions as posted, the only things I changed were the cheeses, I used riccotta cheese and I added chopped spinich to my cheese mixture. This was soo delish! I will definitely be making it again! Thank you for a great meal!

http://www.prevention.com/food/cook/easy-recipes-use-pesto-make-healthy-dinners

From what I can tell, the crock pot I used was 2 qt. It looks like the ones I could find online (they don't make the one I have, it's nowhere on the internet). This filled it up about 2/3 when I turned it on, when it was finished, it was about 3/4 full (using 2 cans of tomato sauce around 30 oz). I followed the directions very loosely. I have no idea how much of the different cheeses I used, I added spinach to the meat sauce, added seasonings to the meat, and used ricotta cheese instead of cottage. It was delicious! Thanks for the base recipe! Add the things you like in lasagna! I think I may add some zucchini and carrots next time (I'm always sneaking in veggies to the boys' food).


Is it okay to use the oven ready noodles? That's what I have on hand and I really want to make this!! :)

I got mine cooking now! Was super easy to make! Going to do this from now on, never buying a frozen one again.

Do you think you could make these with the large pasta shells and stuff them with the cheese mixture?