Slow Cooker Lasagna is an easy set and forget version of an Italian dinner. The house will smell great and it only has a 20 minute prep time!
My Ultimate Meat Lasagna and Easy Ravioli Lasagna Bake are equally delicious but take a lot longer and are best for the weekends when you have more time on your hands. With just a little prep of this Slow Cooker variation you will be able to come home to a hearty Italian classic any night of the week!
Sabrina’s Slow Cooker Lasagna Recipe
The process of making lasagna on weeknights isn’t usually convenient. Between assembly, baking, and cooling it can be a multi-hour process before you’re ready to eat. The magic of this crockpot recipe is you prepare it in the morning, come home and remove the insert from your slow cooker to allow it to cool gently and it’s ready to eat!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef , (85/15)
- 1/2 yellow onion , diced
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 6 cups marinara sauce , (or two bottles of pasta sauce with two added cups of water)
- 1 box lasagna noodles , don't use the no-boil variety
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
- 6 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven or skillet, add the beef and onion on medium high heat, breaking it apart into small crumbles as it cooks, about 6-8 minutes.
- Drain any excess fat from the pan.
- Add in the basil, oregano, fennel seeds, Kosher salt and crushed red pepper flakes and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add in the marinara sauce and stir to combine.
- Add enough sauce to cover the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Into your slow cooker evenly layer in the following order (take care to make sure the layers are as flat as possible): • Lasagna noodles broken to fit the shape of your slow cooker (a little overlap is totally fine here). • Spoon a third of the meat sauce. • Add a third of the ricotta in small spoonfuls along with a third of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Cook on low heat for 5-6 hours or on high heat for 3-4 hours.
- If you want the slices to come out clean, as with any lasagna you would have to wait 15-20 minutes for it to cool a bit. Remove the insert from your slow cooker and place on a heat-safe surface.
Notes
- You will likely have some noodles left over, using them all in the slow cooker would be difficult.
- If your liquids are not fully covering the noodles, add more water to just cover them.
Nutrition
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Sabrina Tips
Homemade Quick and Easy Marinara is a super flavorful and easy sub recipe you’ll want to have for this dish. I make batches and freeze them so I can have them ready to go. If using jarred sauce, use two jars and thin with water. Make sure your sauce rises to the level of the pasta so the lasagna stays moist and not dried out. If there is not enough sauce, add some water around the edges until it does.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
The miracle of this Beef Lasagna is that it takes almost no time at all! No boiling of noodles, you use a classic noodle but you still don’t have to boil it ahead! This takes a step out of your recipe with no effort at all. No long simmer times for the tomato sauce because the flavors in this recipe build all day long as it cooks low and slow! The smell in your kitchen will remind you of a Sunday sauce you’ve been working all day on.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Prep the Night Before: Prepare the beef and onions the night before. Cool and refrigerate them to make prep quicker for you in the morning. You can even assemble the entire recipe in the crockpot, place it in the fridge overnight, then put the insert in before you leave for the day.
- Know your Slow Cooker: Make sure you know if your slow cooker has hot spots. Some of them can be severe leading to part of your pasta drying out. With a roast this is less important but for pasta dishes this could ruin the dish.
- Check Early: Check the doneness at the lower end of the times given, if not quite done cook for the additional hour.
Pairing Suggestions
Add my Classic Wedge Salad and bake some Garlic Bread after you have pulled the insert from the slow cooker to cool on your stovetop surface. If you want a veggie side, add Sautéed Asparagus to round out the meal.
How to Store
- Serve: After cooking this recipe don’t leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Do not leave on keep Warm function, this will continue to cook the pasta and dry it out.
- Store: Once the lasagna has cooled to room temperature you can remove it in pieces from the slow cooker and store it in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: This is also a great recipe to keep in the freezer for 2-3 months. To reheat the meal after freezing, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake or microwave pieces with a bit of additional cheese on top.
Frequent Questions
The prep time is just 20 minutes, but the cook time is 3-4 hours on high as there is a lot of pasta in the slow cooker that has to cook through.
Yes, absolutely. This is one of my favorite ways to cook pasta, just adjust the cook time to about half of your normal slow cooker recipes so the pasta doesn’t dry out.
Variations
- Sausage Flavor: I use all beef in this recipe, but the sausage flavor in most restaurant versions is one I love duplicating. To do that easily here without using sausage, I add in some fennel seeds which goes a long way in making it taste like my traditional meat lasagna.
- Garnish: Sprinkle on a bit extra of dried basil at the end. Or garnish with fresh parsley.
Related Recipe
More Lasagna Recipes
Photos used in previous posts
I love this recipe! I use two large jars of Rao Marinara sauce. I am confused.
Do I also need to add water; if so, how much? Also i have cooked on high for 4 hours. It seems a little overcooked. Next time I will try 4 hours on low. Thanks for this yummy recipe!
I have a question, can cottage cheese be substitued for the ricotta cheese?
Hello Lucy,
Yes you can. Just keep in mind that light and mild cottage cheese is your best bet. Cottage cheese is runnier and less creamy than ricotta so choose a small-curd cottage cheese—the large-curd form is a bit too lumpy.
Enjoy,
Sabrina
Can I add another jar of sauce instead of the 2 cups of water?
Do you pre boil the noodles or put them in dry?
I use to cook large amounts of Bolognese and I freeze them in portions. So there is a really fast assembly, when I decide to prepare lasagna. I have only to remember to take it out in advance.
Great dinner for the whole family! Thanks Sabrina
Why are you not supposed to use no-boil lasagna?
I don’t prefer them because they are par-cooked and lose their starch surface.
DELICIOUS- I will never make lasagna the old fashioned way again! This was SO EASY – I halved the ingredients & since I didn’t have any ricotta cheese I substituted with Greek yogurt & a little olive oil. I only used a total of 6 lasagna noodles because I could only fit 2 per layer and I didn’t want to overlap for fear it wouldn’t completely cook. My crockpot runs HOT so my noodles were a little mushy after 2 hrs on high but it didn’t stop the family from demolishing this.
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I accidentally bought the non boil noodles haven’t made it yet but I hope it turns out ok
Love this recipe! However, my top noodles always get hard and burn at the edges. ? I’ve added more cheese hoping that would work but it doesn’t. What can I do? I use 2 jars of sauce and only do 2 layers.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the dish. It sounds like your slow cooker might run a bit hot. You can always line the slow cooker with foil to help avoid this or add water in with your sauce. Hope this helps for next time.
How many layers do you do
3
I used 1lb hamburger and 1lb Italian sausage and 15 oz of ricotta cheese. It was DELICIOUS!! I took to work and there was no leftovers!! Two people asked for the recipe I used!!
This makes me so happy! Thanks for coming back to let me know.
Can I use this recipe without the meat(vegetarian)