This crockpot lasagna is layers of pasta, cheese, with meat sauce, all slow-cooked to perfection. A classic Italian American dish that always hits the spot!
Enjoy this with salad and cheesy garlic bread for the ultimate dinner meal.
Why I Love This Crockpot Lasagna
- After making instant pot lazy lasagna and baked lasagna for years, I just knew I had to give it a try in the crockpot, and I’m so glad I did! This is the easiest lasagna ever.
- It’s cheesy, a bit spicy, rich, and comforting!
- Perfect for those cold winter evenings.
- Tons of flavor and makes the best leftovers.
Ingredient Notes
Pasta – Make sure you purchase store-bought oven-ready no-boil lasagna noodles.
Beef – I used 90/10 ground beef but feel free to use ground turkey or a combination of beef and spicy Italian sausage.
Crushed Tomatoes – Feel free to use store-bought marinara sauce instead. Although I highly recommend making your own sauce using canned crushed tomatoes.
Calabrian Chili Peppers – If you don’t have it on hand, use a generous amount of red crushed chili flakes.
How To Make
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and Calabrian chili paste. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, fresh basil and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the sauce simmers, add the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, to a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spread about 1 cup of meat sauce to the bottom of the crockpot. Top with noodles. You will have to break a couple of noodles to fit the edges.
- Spread about 1/4 cup of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Sprinkle about 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Repeat this process until you run out of sauce and noodles. You should get about 3-4 layers.
- Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 6 hours. Once the noodles are fully cooked through, add some extra mozzarella cheese on top, cover, and cook for an additional 10 minutes on high or until the cheese melts completely.
Top Tips
- If you like it extra spicy, add more Calabrian chili paste. If you don’t like it spicy at all, simply omit the Calabrian chilies.
- Feel free to add red wine to the meat sauce.
- Place any leftovers in an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Make sure you let the lasagna cool completely before refrigerating.
- If you’re not a fan of ricotta cheese, use cottage cheese instead.
More Crockpot Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. And consider following me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Crockpot Lasagna
Servings: 8
Calories: 639kcal
This crockpot lasagna is layers of pasta, cheese, with meat sauce, all slow-cooked to perfection. A classic Italian American dish that always hits the spot!
Equipment
- Crockpot
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs ground beef 90/10
- 1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese whole milk
- 1 egg
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese or to taste
- 1/2 onion finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves finely minced
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 3 tbsp parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
- 1 tsp Calabrian chili peppers or to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp fresh basil
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and Calabrian chili paste. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, fresh basil and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the sauce simmers, add the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, to a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spread about 1 cup of meat sauce to the bottom of the crockpot. Top with noodles. You will have to break a couple of noodles to fit the edges.
- Spread about 1/4 cup of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Repeat this process until you run out of sauce and noodles. You should get about 3-4 layers.
- Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 6 hours. Once the noodles are fully cooked through, add some extra mozzarella cheese on top, cover, and cook for an additional 10 minutes on high or until the cheese melts completely.
Notes
- If you like it extra spicy, add more Calabrian chili paste. If you don’t like it spicy at all, simply omit the Calabrian chilies.
- Feel free to add red wine to the meat sauce.
- Place any leftovers in an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Make sure you let the lasagna cool completely before refrigerating.
- If you’re not a fan of ricotta cheese, use cottage cheese instead.
Nutrition
Calories: 639kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 147mg | Sodium: 646mg | Potassium: 759mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 935IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 475mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @cookedbyjulie or tag #cookedbyjulie!
Leave a Reply