Crockin’ Lasagna

I have made this SEVERAL times & it’s always perfect! I used 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 Italian sausage. Added some diced onion and bell pepper, garlic and fresh basil, along with a splash of red wine to the meat/marinara. Just wonderful and I’ll never make the oven lasagne again!!!

Lacey, cottage cheese will be fine.

Can I make this one with cottage cheese instead of ricotta? Need to know because the nearest place to get ricotta is 50 miles?

Brenda, I do not have much experience with gluten free noodles. If you can find gluten free lasagna noodles, I would think it would cook the same.

??? How could we make this work with gluten-free noodles? Would I have to pre-cook the noodles or put them in uncooked, like the lasagna noodles? I only have g-free shells or tubes, unfortunately. Help!

This is SOOOOO easy and delish, my Boyfriend requests it at least once a week, we love it!

Sorry my prior post got cut off, but this was absolutely delicious!!! Perfect in every way. I made 3 layers instead of two, we have a large family. I even had company over for dinner and they loved it, I told them later it was made in the crock pot and they said no way!!! They couldn’t believe it!!! I added the baby spinach hesitantly because of small children in the house, but so glad we did!! It was an amazing touch and blended in well. I will definitely be making this again!! My husband was amazed a lasagna this good came out the crock!!!

This was absolutely

Fixed this last night and it was a BIG hit. I didn’t put any spinach in as I didn’t have any on hand, I added a little extra mozarella cheese, and I actually cooked it for 3 1/2 hours. It turned out perfect ! Thanks Gals !!!!

I made this last night and we all loved it! I will do more layers next time because we like more noodles than just the two layers but this had an awesome taste and was definitely a keeper!

I made this last night, thank you ladies for opening up a new world to me. I went out and bout a crock pot and have been doing this for three nights now and I’m not stressed in the evening about what to fix, or spending time making dinner for everyone instead of time with my family. THANK YOU again. This was wonderful and my husband was really surprised, as he has been with the last two meals. He didnt know something could taste so good coming out of the crock. I had a lot of extra cheese and I was also able to make three layers. I froze the extra cheese for next time.

Made this recipe yesterday and my family LOVED it. I have some very picky eaters, including adults who if they see anything green in the meal, they tend to provide negative comments BUT I chopped up the spinach and mixed it with the cheese. They thought it was seasoning. Love tricking them. This one is for sure a repeat.

Delicious! My husband is a tough critic on food, and he said this dish is “restaurant quality”!
Pretty impressive. ;)

Made this today for a church potluck and people were raving about it. I used a tub of cottage cheese instead of ricotta and it turned out great. It does make a lot. I used my 6 qt crockpot and it was full. Even added nearly the whole bag of spinach and didn’t hear any complaints. Will make again, thanks! Oh, also made the chocolate lava cake and also got rave reviews. Thanks for both recipes!

Everyone in the family liked this! Makes a ton. Way more than our family of four could eat. Next time I’ll only do one pound of meat. I like a 1lb meat to two jars of sauce ratio.

Made this without the spinach. (I like it, but rest of family doesn’t.) I used about a 1/2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning and will use a little more next time I make this. Cooked for 3 hours. It was set-up nice and firm. Will be making this again for sure!

I cut the recipe in 1/2 for my family and it was YUMMY! I will never go back to the old way of making lasagna in the oven! Shared it with my girlfriend and she loved it too!..

Thank you! Trying it tonight!

From our experience, Debbie, those that have used no-boil noodles have complained about the less-than-ideal texture…

I think you could leave the egg out, Veronica. If you’ve made lasagna w/o egg in the oven, this will be no different. It may not bind as well, but it shouldn’t affect the flavor.

My husband is allergic to egg, can you leave out the egg? or can i substitute with something else?

going to try the lasagna for a pot luck at work on Friday. Has anyone tried the no boil noodles in the crock pot?

just made this today in the uk after a friend reccomended this site and recepies,its marvellous!!! love it,love,love it!!!! so easy to prepare and tasted wonderful,i cant wait to try my next recipie!!!!

I was so excited to find a great tasting recipe for lasagna in the crock pot. This one was very good!

Love, love this receipe. I added some fresh zucchini and yellow squash just because I had on hand. This is so simple and delicious. Actually, it is even better the second day after it sets up a bit.

I made this Lasagna but I did not use the spinach.It was a big hit with my familly, they loved it. I will be making this again for sure. Thanks girls..I enjoy your site, your recipes and watching you both on your videos. Merry Christmas to you and your familes.

The recipe seems to be missing.

I really loved this! Only problem is I cooked it in a round crock pot and it would waste less uncooked noodles and serve up easier in an oblong crock pot! So I bought one! This is better the next day as everything settles and seeps in! Next time I think I’ll cook and stash for the next day!

Made this for an event at my church and everyone loved it!!! It is a keeper

Sure, Melissa. You may need to crock it a little longer. Allow yourself a little extra crockin’ time. If it’s ready in 3 hours like the recipe states just keep it on warm until serving!

Can you use wheat noodles?

We’re using a 7qt slow cooker in this video. You could use a 6qt, but 5qt and less would likely be too small. General rule of thumb is to not fill your crock more than 1/2 to 2/3 full. Now, I have broken this rule in the past when making the lasagna. I’ve used a 5qt, and it was to the top! A little scary, actually!

What size crockpot is that? Does it matter with size? Thx

Hi Gals! I just made this Sunday night and added kale (since my b/f grows it in his garden) and added sriracha sauce (red bottle with the rooster on it) to my meat sauce..it added some spice and the kale made it super healthy! Just thought I would share :)

Sure, Jessica! We just like to sneak in some veggies for our kiddos :))

Do you think it would still be ok without the spinach? My boyfriend doesn’t eat anything green.

Yes, Terri! But you need to set another timer because you don’t want it to cook more than 3 hours.

My crockpot has 2 low settings and 2 high settings.Should I use the lowest setting possible? It says Low 10 hours.

Thanks!
Terri

Have this in my crock now. Can’t wait to try it! I can’t believe it will feed 6-8, but I guess I will find out. I think I just have big eaters, and I know how much I need for 6-8! Good thing I only have 4 home for dinner tonight!

This is a super quick and easy lasagna recipe. My family loved it, and I loved the fact that I could put in the crock, set the timer on my iphone, and basically forget about it until it was ready. The only thing I will do differently next time is to use a half of second jar of sauce. That’s just my personal preference it was great. Thanks so much for sharing all your fabulous recipes with the world. As a working Mom I will definitely be using your recipes often.

Cheers,

Michelle

I think it’s worth a shot. If that is what your family likes then I think you have to try it out.

The jars are 24 oz size.

Oops, i meant to say sliced boiled eggs.

My recipe for lasagna (that I cook in the oven) calls for boiled eggs on the layers. My family loves it and the last time I made the crock pot lasagna I left them out, and they were missed. Do you think I could add them to the layers? By the way, even without the eggs, this recipe is great!!

What size Marinara sauce do you use?

Thanks,

Sure, Kassie! We have used a mix of ricotta and cottage cheese, too.

I have made this two times and my family absolutely loves it…I use Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles and it’s Yummy!!!

This was the 1st time making Lasagna and using a crockpot. We ate it for 2 nights and I froze the rest for a later date. Everyone loved it ! I would say this is just as good as Pan Lasagna.. Thanks Crockin Girls !

Now I’m making the TUscan Beef Stew.. I’m totally addicted to Crockin!!

Can I use cream cheese instead of ricotta? Was going to pinch off the cream cheese and add it that way?? Was curious how this would do in the crockpot….

Thanks!

I usually never comment on these things, but I HAVE to this time. I make lasagna a lot and always make my own sauce, so I decided to use this recipe yesterday and do it in my crock, and my family absolutely LOVED it! I know when my husband says that its amazing and I outdid myself, that its a hit! Thanks so much for putting this up there and for the great ideas. Next time I will be adding a lot more spinach, and I made my own sauce with italian sausage and used cottage cheese instead of ricotta and it was delish! Thank you!!!

made this tonight and it was AWESOME!!! 3 hour cook time was spot on, and don’t be afraid to pile on the spinach!!!! seems like you’re adding a TON, but it really does cook down! think maybe i’ll do more layers next time, as ricotta filling was pretty dense, but taste was AMAZING!!!! thanks for a GREAT recipe girls!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

Yes, April! If y’all don’t like spinach, you can leave it out. We just try to sneak in some veggies for our kiddos anytime we can..LOL! But it won’t change the texture of the recipe or anything :) cROCK on, girl!

This recipe makes LOTS of lasagna! I used an Italian blend cheese as opposed to just mozzarella (and I used twice as much, what can I say, we LOVE cheese). It was very tasty, however, I will leave the spinach out next time.

Hey ladies! Can this be made without spinach? Or is it that liquid that cooks the pasta! Im sorry of someone already asked this…

Sure, Heather! You could do a half-and-half mixture of ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, or you could just use cottage cheese, exclusively. Hope he likes cottage cheese!

was wondering.. My husband isn’t a big ricotta cheese fan is there anything else I could sub even if its just half in place of it.

ok so I watched the video.. and my question was answered… thanks! :)

Havent made this recipe yet but I was curious to know how many this recipe serves?
thanks

This was an amazing dinner! My husband took leftovers over to my in-laws and they loved it too! Great recipe!

We haven’t, Cristian, but I don’t think you would have to change the cook time. In fact, if you crock it too long you’ll get a bunch of mush!

Has anyone tried this with gluten free lasagna noodles? Wondering if it would require longer cooking time.

thought that it was amazing…we have included different ingrediants every time. And it has always come out perfect. Great for football practice/games…3 hours is ideal.

Instant Family Favorite!! I have not made lasagna in years but after making this I can’t remember why… This will become a favorite, often asked for dish. My seven year old who does not like tomato sauce loved this! I used a combination of one jar of sauce and the last of my home made sauce from last year and it was great. My husband who does not like spinach loved it as well. My intention was to freeze half for later…never made it to the freezer we had it for dinner, we all had seconds and lunch and dinner again it was that good!

Has anyone tried using the ready to bake noodles??

Thanks Ladies! I tried this last night and I used ground tofu instead and added red, green and yellow peppers into the mix! So good. My husband didnt know it was tofu LOL

So glad y’all like this one! It is sooooo much easier to make lasagna in the slow cooker compared to the oven. Yes the spinach can get a little watery, so if you want you can always put it inside paper towels and try and squeeze as much water out as possible before laying it in the lasagna.

Another great Crockin Girls recipe! I have never made lasagna before but I have always heard how time consuming it is. So, with that in mind I wasn’t sure what to expect from a crock pot lasagna recipe and if you would still get a lasagna out of it or mush. This recipe was incredibly easy and turned out great. Easy to throw together and a nice comforting meal. My only complaint was there was a little more juice in the end result than I like…I’m assuming from the spinach cooking. Still a great recipe and will make again!

I make this for work, church potlucks and home. It is definitely a crowd favorite! My co-worker is moving out of state and asked me to make this for him before he leaves!

I first tried this at Christmas time with my side of the family. My husband is not a lasagna fan, but he has asked for me to make this one again!!! It is a great one to put together on Saturday night, put in the fridge, and then on Sunday morning pull it out and cook on Low and it is ready when we get home from church. The first time I made it just as you said and it was a bit runny. I have since added more layers and that really helps adding more pasta. Thanks so much for putting this together! You ladies cRock!!!

This is definitely my family’s favorite! So easy….. My husband ate it for lunch just about every day as leftovers! Thanks for sharing this keeper!

Hey, Lisa! Sorry for the confusion. Sounds like you did just what you needed to do. In the attached video we even showed how we broke up the noodles to make them fit in our crock…just like you!

I made this lasagna last night and it was great! I was just a little confused about the lasagna noodles. The recipe calls for a box of noodles but I didn’t use near that much. I’m using a big oval crock pot and I just laid one down the middle and broke a couple up to fit on each side. Should I have added more on top of those as well? It was fine like it was but I wasn’t sure what you do about the noodles. I did 2 layers like the recipe says but I still have a lot of leftover noodles.
Thanks!!

Has anyone ever frozen the leftovers? I was wondering how to reheat them?

This turned out so good! I used gluten-free lasagna noodles, seasoned the beef with italian herbs, added chopped fresh basil to the ricotta/mozzarella mix, as well as some sliced mushrooms to the spinach. Will definitely make again … soon!

Made this last night for my family of 4 and everyone loved it! We even ate the leftovers for lunch today and it was even better than last night! I will be definitely be making this again…YUMMMY!

Thank you girls for the wonderful recipe! I am a VERY novice cook and even I was able to do this one. I tend to follow recipes to the “T” (since I am a nervous cook) so I had a couple of issues.The ingredient list should really say 2 cups of mozzarella. I made it before watching the video and one was really not enough. The only other thing was the way it’s written made me think it should only be 2 layers of pasta. Most people would probably know it should be more like 3 – but I didn’t – so it came out a little more like a yummy spaghetti sauce. Still great though!

Thanks for your sweet comments, Jenna. So glad the lasagna came out perfect for y’all. Glad you are crockin’ with us.

This was my first experience with a CG recipe and I absolutely LOVED it! The lasagna came out perfectly and it was so easy to make! I’m pretty sure I had a harder time trying to open the ingredients than actually preparing this dish. ;) Can’t wait to keep crockin’ in the future!!!

super quick and easy to throw together….i added more seasonings as i LOVE flavor….i also used a tomato basil red sauce. I usually make my own sauce for the lasagna that i bake, so i was hoping this turned out good, and it did! i was very happy with the results!! We have a family of 5 and this left us with leftovers for me to freeze for a whole other meal!! I love it when that happens!! I make white chicken lasagna and also a red sauce lasagna, and this is just another i can add to the varieties of lasagnas that i make….glad i tried it :)

I love this receipe. My husband says it was the best lasagna I’ve made. This was super quick and easy as far as preperation. Usually with the oven method I have to stay home until its ready. But with this slow cooker method it was so nice to be able to leave out knowing dinner will be done when we get home! This ones a winner in the Roseboro house! Thanks girls.

Lisa, sounds like your lasagna needed to crock a little longer. Some like their noodles al dente, but if you want your noodles a little less firm then you should try crockin’ it for about 30 more minutes….

I made this last night. While it had a good flavor, I did not like the texture of the noodles. They tasted like they weren’t quite done yet they were gummy. I know I am picky about how my pasta is cooked. Is this just the trade off of not baking it?

Made this last week and it was awesome. I did half hamburger and half Italian sausage, I didn’t have any spinach so I left that out. Will be making this again. Using a crock-pot liner made clean up super easy!!

So glad y’all didn’t get sick, Debbie! You’re brave….don’t think I would have tried to cook it after sitting out that long :/ I guess we just have weaker stomachs than y’all…LOL. Subbing the cottage cheese for some of the ricotta is a great way to make a healthier version of lasagna:) And CONGRATS on your soon-to-be wee one!! I think you will find that crockin’ after the baby is born makes life so much easier!!

I’ve made this several times – everyone raves about it. It does make a lot. Which is why I’m making it now, I’m 34 weeks pregnant and it will freeze well for when when I don’t feel like cooking (or not able to). The crockpot has been a life saver this pregnancy :)

When I made it back at Easter, I forgot to plug it in before we left for church, so it set out for a good 3 hours before I started cooking it. It still turned out fine and no body got sick from it sitting out, not cooking and the noodles weren’t mushy.

I’ve noticed in another recipe (spinach lasagna) that it says you could split the ricotta with cottage cheese, so I’m trying that this time.

Loved it!! Very, very easy for all those busy mom’s. I must say you need to make sure all of your noddles are covered with the meat sauce. Will make again!

I like your style, Amy. Way to sneak in those veggies. Glad y’all liked it.

Yummy! Doesn’t replace your traditional pan lasagna, but its very yummy for those quick family time meals. Instead of layering the spinach I put the spinach in the food processor and added it to the meat sauce. The kids didn’t even notice!!!

Kristen,

I think you would run the risk of your noodles becoming rubbery if you tried to cook it on warm. Sorry bout that girl. Can you cook it at a different time and then heat it up for dinner?

My crockpot has a “keep warm” setting. Do you think I could use that setting and leave it on for 8 hours?

My family loved this recipe. It was super easy and delicious. I cut the recipe in half and used my small crock since the recipe mentioned it feeds a crowd. It made 8 good-size portions. And it tasted just as good as leftovers the next day. I will make this again and again.

Robbie, You use regular lasagna noodles. Hope it turns out yummy for you.

This recipe is so yummy! It worked really well for me. I only changed 1 thing. I used 1 pound of Italian sausage and 1 lb of hamburger instead of doing all hamburger and it was so good. Thanks y’all!

It was easy enough, but way too much ricotta. 2 lbs is a ton! I like the spinach addition but next time I will use my own personal recipe which is actually easier and costs less! My family thought it was too much ricotta also and asked me not to fix this again.

Can’t wait to try this recipe. Do you use regular lasagna noodles or the “No Boil” kind?

Awesome, House didn’t have to get all hot for me to enjoy some Pasta!

So sorry your lasagna fell apart. You will definitely want to go to a smaller jar. Thanks for your suggestions.

First, I absolutely love the cookbook and was so excited when it arrived in the mail the other day. All the recipes I’ve tried off of your site have been wonderful. However, this one…not sure what I did but it completely fell apart. I did see where someone asked what size jars of marinara sauce…I used two 24 oz. jars of Ragu sauce and maybe that’s why. The taste was great, but it was just one big mess. Maybe you should add that to the recipe, the size of the jars. Any suggestions of why this completely fell apart??

Chandy, most seasoning brands have an Italian mix in the seasoning aisle of your store. Most have basil, oregano, garlic, and parsley. Looks like Alison gave some gook advice as well. Keep Crockin’!

I didn’t know what seasonings to use either, so I went to the store and bought an “Italian Herb Grinder” mix of seasonings. :) It tasted great! … on the bottle it says it has rosemary, black pepper, red pepper, garlic, onion, sea salt, tomato, & parsley.

I am very new to this…what kind of italain seasonings do you use. Thanks

I make mine with crushed pineapple and no spinach. It is so good!!!! My family won’t eat lasagna without it now.

Brittney, go ahead and drain the meat before adding it to the sauce.

I haven’t read this in any other previous questions, but when I brown the hamburger meat, do I drain before adding the marinara?

24 oz jars

Great! Thank You :)

I am going to make this for dinner tonight! Just one question…what size jars of sauce did ya’ll use?? Thank You! Ya’ll cROCK!

Thanks for the tip, Tyree!

Regarding using frozen spinach – defrost it and sponge excess water out with paper towels – should work fine then. I usually sponge mine out several times until the paper towels appear almost dry.

Hi Thelma…we make ours in a 6-7 quart crock, so if you are going to cut the recipe in half then I would use a smaller crock, too. I would check to see if it’s done after 2 1/2 hours instead of 3 and make sure your pot is at least half to 3/4 full for best results. If you have any leftovers, this freezes really well :) Glad y’all are crockin’ with us!

I am cooking for 2 and would like to down size if I cut in half ingredents what do I do about the cooking time? Do I use a smaller crock?

I made the lasagna over the weekend & it was a HUGE hit!! We had half a crock leftover after the 4 of us ate… It was delicious!! We were so “fat” & satisfied that we forgot to put the leftovers away! :(… Will make sure not to make that mistake ever again!!!

Deena, you cook the lasagna on low. Everything but the noodles are done so you just want the pasta to cook and cheese to melt.
Kim, glad it was a hit.

I am new to this site. Do you cook the lasagna on low or high? My crockpot is about 18 yrs old…..

OMGosh! Thanks for the heads up, Kim! This is a little fix I actually know how to take care of. You’ll LOVE this lasagna!!! Happy Crockin’, girl!

Wasn’t sure if ya’ll noticed that you have “Peanut Clusters” as the title of the ingredients/recipe… Just for a headsup! ;) I plan to try this tomorrow for dinner! Can’t wait!!!

Karmin, we haven’t tried it with frozen spinach. I only wonder if there is a higher water content in frozen spinach? I think it would be ok, but if there is more water in the frozen spinach it might make everything a little more mushy than normal…hmmm :/

Do you think using frozen spinach would work? I generally don’t keep fresh spinach on hand, but frozen spinach is a staple in my house.

I did this last night and everyone LOVED it. I used ground turkey. One thing I wanted to share — I did my layers all nice and perfect, closed up the crockpot, and then realized I never sprayed the inside of it first with cooking spray LOL But nothing stuck to the sides! So it might not be necessary. =)

YAY, Deb! We agree…it’s crazy how crockin’ easy it is!! Happy Crockin’ y’all :)

Tried this last night..it does definately make a LOT of lasagna..lol..i love it, was great..3 hours in my crockpot was a bit longer than it needed so I accidentally overcooked the noodles so next time i will check it more often and it probably will only take 2-2.5 hrs but it was still very delicious!! Sooo nice not having to boil and deal with the hassle of trying to pull apart cooked noodles and that helps with not wasting as well. I will make lasagna in the crock from now on for sure-thanks girls!

OH! OK I just saw the answer to my question. Thank you! :) Sorry, I didn’t see it at first. :P

Me too. I asked if there was a printer friendly version of the recipes… anyone seen if there was an answer? Thanks

Tyree, Add the remaining cheese mixture to the top. :)

Thanks Selena, it is on our to do list.

Going to try this today. I too would like a “print” button but in the interim, you can use the Microsoft Snipping Tool. You should have it already if you have Windows Vista. If not, it’s a free download. This recipe was small enough for me to capture the entire recipe in one snip without having to print the entire screenshot.

I doubled recipe. Used two jars Newmans tomato basil sauce and three pounds lean ground beef. Two containers of ricotta and only one pkg of mozz. I put it in our large oval crockpot. 6 quarts I think. Turned out amazing. I want to play around with this and maybe add more spinach or some thinly sliced zucchini. Yum!!! I think this will easily feed 8 – 10 people doubled

Also in Step 6 – is this the cheese mixture or grated mozarella cheese?

I agree that it would be nice to be able to print out the recipe insteaf of having to write it down

Caroline – we’ve only used regular noodles.

Oops Beth – we’ve got an extra “cooking spray” in there. Thanks! We’ll get it fixed ;)

Wynnette – serves about 6-8 people. It makes A LOT of lasagna. We always have enough left over for another meal or some to share with friends.

And Angie – we’re workin’ on adding a printer friendly recipe tab to the website. It’s at the top of our “to do” list :)

cRockin’ Roll!!

Can you get this recipes in a printer friendly version? thanks

How many would you say this would serve?

On the first line of directions what do you mean by “cooking spray brown hamburger meat” …..I’m alittle confused!

Can you use “no boil” lasagne noodles or do they need to be the regular kind? Thanks!

Melissa, brown your sausage with the hamburger and make sure to drain it really well. I think it would be really yummy!

Has anyone ever added sausage to the hamburger meat? Wasn’t sure if it would be to greasy in the crock pot or not. I always do hamburger meat and sausage in my lasagna.

We loved this and think it turns out better than in the oven!!! would like you to tell us what size crocks you use!!

We used a 7 qt. slow cooker

This recipe was very good. My family loved it! Easy, will definately make it again.

Nancy…haven’t tried that before, but I think the noodles would get too mushy. If you have a little 2 quart crock, maybe you could make a test batch and try it out to see if it would work. If it flops, you haven’t lost much :/

Do you think this could be assembled ahead (in the morning before work) and then cooked later in the afternoon? I’m wondering if even just sitting in the ingredients for that long would soften the noodles too much? Any thoughts?

Glad y’all like it, too. Our hubbies LOVE lasagna in the crock! And Andra…what a huge confidence booster for your granddaughter! Tell her, “she cRCOKS!” :)

This is wonderful–quick, easy to make and delicious!!

The lasagna eaters in my house loved this! Didnt look like it would serve alot but it was very filling and had plenty of leftovers.

This is my favorite recipe on this site! Delicious!

Im making this today.. And was so easy to put together..Cant wait for my family to try it in a few hours..
Having salad and garlic bread with it too..MMMMM great dinner..Thanks girls..

This is one of my favorites!! Both my family and co-workers love this. I put everthing together one morning, then plugged this in and cooked it at work for a work lunch – It received rave reviews!!

I made this for a meeting at church. Everyone loved it and said they expect to see it at the next potluck!

This was fun to make. Even had my 14yr granddaughter who can barely cook an egg try it and she made it for her family later. Easy recipe, delish!!

This was very good and easy to make! I would make this again.