1 1/2lbs.ground beef*1 pound ground beef works too, ground Italian sausage would be great in place of ground beef
2(24 oz.) jarsMarinara/Spaghetti Sauce*any brand, any flavor
12lasagna noodles, uncooked*NOT OVEN READY NOODLES, you may have extra noodles, see notes
2cupsRicotta Cheese
1cupshredded Parmesan cheese
2cupsshredded Mozzarella cheese, split into thirds
1 1/2tspItalian Seasoning*or more to taste
1tspgarlic salt*or more to taste
Instructions
Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray.
Brown/cook your ground beef over medium heat in a skillet. Drain and set aside.
While your ground beef is cooking, in a medium sized bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, Italian Seasoning and garlic salt together. Adjust the seasoning to your liking. This is your creamy ricotta cheese layer.
Take about 1/2 cup of marinara/spaghetti sauce from one of your jars of sauce and spread it on the bottom of your greased slow cooker. All you need is enough to cover the bottom.
Mix the rest of the jars of sauce with your ground beef. This makes your meat sauce.
In your slow cooker (with the the bit of sauce in the bottom) place enough lasagna noodles to cover the bottom in a single layer. You will have to break them up. I usually can lay one full noodle down the middle, then break up noodles to fit for the rest of it. Just try and get a full layer of noodles down.
Next, spread 1/3 of your meat sauce on top of the lasagna noodles. (Just estimate what 1/3 is…it does not need to be super accuarate). Then top with 1/2 of the creamy ricotta cheese mixture. And last, sprinkle 1/3 of your shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
Repeat another layer just like before: noddles, 1/3 of the meat sauce, the rest of the creamy ricotta and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese.
Then end with a layer of noodles, the last of your meat sauce and the last of your mozzarella cheese.*Here is a quick recap of the order: plain marinara sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker, uncooked noodles, 1/3 of the meat sauce, half the ricotta cheese mixture, 1/3 of your shredded mozzarella cheese, uncooked noodles, 1/3 of the meat sauce, the other half of the ricotta cheese mixture, 1/3 of your shredded mozzarella cheese, noodles, the last of the meat sauce and the last of your mozzarella cheese.
Let your lasagna cook on low for 4 hours. After cooking you can let it sit for a little bit for easier serving but we just dig right in!
Notes
I use a 7 quart slow cooker. It makes a good sized lasagna. If your slow cooker is smaller your layers will be a bit thicker in sauce and ricotta cheese.You can use any of your favorite marinara pasta sauce for this recipe. You can see the blog post above for what I use.DO not use oven ready lasagna noodles. Oven ready noodles will cook too fast. You will have to break up the noodles to fit in the slow cooker, so I state in the recipe you will need 12, but you may use less. Just break them and fit them the best you can.This will cook perfectly in 4 hours. Each slow cooker cooks a bit different. If your edges get a bit crispy that is ok, just cut around it when serving.*I have never tried cooking this on high. If I were to try it, I would estimate that it would cook in 2 hours … keep an eye on it. It will be done when the noodles in the center are cooked and soft.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.