5 from 29 votes

Crock Pot Lasagna means no need for an oven! Lasagna noodles, meat sauce and cheese made all in one pot. Easy and delicious!

CROCK POT LASAGNA

Name: CROCK POT LASAGNA
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 375 min
Total time: 385 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 small onion, (finely diced); 1 tbsp garlic, (minced); 1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce; 1 cup water; 1 (15 oz) container small curd cottage cheese ((or ricotta cheese)); 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, (divided use); 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, (divided use); 1 egg; 2 tbsp fresh parsley, (chopped (optional)); 4-6 lasagna noodles, (uncooked)

I’m always looking for new ways to use my Crock Pot (a.k.a. slow cooker.) It really is one of the most used items in my kitchen. I think one of the things I love most about it is it can be used year round. Don’t want to heat up your kitchen in the summertime by turning on your oven? Use your Crock Pot. Want to save on your electric bill when you’ve had your electric heat cranking all winter? Use your Crock Pot.

VIDEO INCLUDED BELOW:

CAN I SUBSTITUTE COTTAGE CHEESE FOR RICOTTA?

Yes, of course. However, there is a reason I use cottage cheese in this recipe. It’s to keep it all from drying out. Ricotta is a drier, crumbly cheese. It can dry out pretty quickly in this recipe if it’s cooked too long. So, I use cottage cheese to keep it all nice and luscious! Be sure to check out my CROCK POT CHICKEN ALFREDO LASAGNA – I use ricotta in that one! 🙂

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

ground beef

onion

garlic

spaghetti sauce

water

small curd cottage cheese

mozzarella cheese, divided use

parmesan cheese

egg

parsley (optional)

lasagna noodles

HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT LASAGNA:

Brown and crumble ground beef in a large skillet. You need a larger skillet for this because you’ll be adding the spaghetti sauce and water to it later. Then add in onion and garlic and cook for additional 1-2 minutes. I like to season my beef mixture with a little salt & pepper at this point too.

browning the ground beef in a large skillet

Drain excess grease from beef. And put back into skillet.

Pour in spaghetti sauce and water.

spaghetti sauce and water added to cooked ground beef in a large pan

Give it all a good stir (you can turn the heat off at this point.) Give it a taste test, add additional salt if necessary. In a separate bowl, mix together cottage cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese, egg, pepper and chopped parsley. Put your remaining cheeses back in the fridge, you’ll be using those as a topping later.

cottage cheese, Parmesan Cheese, egg, mozzarella cheese and parsley stirred together in a bowl

Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Scoop approximately 1 cup of meat sauce into bottom of slow cooker.

spaghetti sauce layered in bottom of 6-quart oval slow cooker

Top with one layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. Just do your best to break them up to fit into your crock pot.

lasagna noodles layered in a slow cooker

Next top with a layer of cheese mixture.

mozzarella cheese mixture layered on top of lasagna noodles

Keep adding layers, ending with meat sauce. I was able to get 3 layers in my 5-quart slow cooker.

Put the lid on and cook on low for 4-6 hours. You want most of the liquid to be absorbed and noodles should be soft.

fully cooked lasagna in 5-quart oval slow cooker

When it is finished cooking, add remaining cheeses and sprinkle with a bit of parsley.

final topping of shredded mozzarella cheese and parsley added on top of lasagna

Put the lid back on for about 10-15 more minutes until cheese is melted.

finished, slow cooker meaty lasagna with melted mozzarella cheese

Slice and serve it up with a salad and some garlic bread.

Crock Pot Lasagna slice on a plate with garlic bread with salad

Enjoy!

Originally published: February 2012
Updated & republished: June 2019

Edited to add: The original post had a giveaway. That giveaway has ended.