Easy Crockpot Lasagna with Ricotta

This easy crockpot lasagna layers meat sauce, a ricotta and mozzarella cheese mix, and regular lasagna noodles that go in dry and soften right in the slow cooker. No boiling and no babysitting the oven. Just layer it at lunchtime and dinner is ready in about 5 hours.

Look, I don’t want to throw my mama under the bus here or anything, but I have to tell you something…

The only lasagna I ate as a kid was the frozen kind. 

I mean, I get it. 

She just hadn’t discovered crock pot lasagna and didn’t really know how truly easy lasagna can be!

Now we’re all lasagna snobs over here. Homemade or bust, my friends! 😉

We love this crockpot lasagna recipe because it’s so simple to throw together. There’s no need to boil the noodles first. Regular lasagna noodles go in dry and soak up the sauce as everything cooks together.

Slow cooker lasagna is made just like traditional lasagna. The big difference is that you don’t boil the noodles, and you can start it well before the dinner rush so it’s ready when you are. I use a 6 to 7 quart crockpot for this recipe.

3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe

• No boiling noodles. Regular lasagna noodles go in dry and cook right in the sauce, so there’s one less pot to wash and no floppy noodles to contend with.
• Hands-off dinner. Assemble it at lunchtime and it’s ready by dinner. The oven stays free for garlic bread.
• Real-deal lasagna. Meat sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Readers say it tastes like the oven-baked kind.

Crock Pot Lasagna Ingredients:

Lasagna Noodles – Use regular lasagna noodles, uncooked, straight from the box. Skip the oven-ready (no-boil) noodles. Readers who tried them found they turned the lasagna soggy, since they’re thinner and soak up the sauce too fast. You’ll need 12 ounces, which is about 3/4 of a standard 16-ounce box.

Meat Sauce – You’ll make a quick meat sauce with ground beef, garlic and onion, marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste. Jarred spaghetti sauce works in place of marinara, too. The tomato paste adds rich tomato flavor, and the cup of water gives the dry noodles enough liquid to soak up as they cook. If you’re feeling ambitious, make our homemade spaghetti sauce.

Cheese Mix – The cheese layer is a mix of ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan, plus minced garlic and fresh parsley. You can swap the ricotta for cottage cheese. If you don’t love the curds, one reader tip is to blend the cottage cheese until smooth first.

How to Make Lasagna in the Crockpot: 

Meat Sauce: Brown the beef with the onion and garlic. Drain off any excess fat once the meat is cooked through, then stir in the marinara, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and 1 cup of water. The sauce should be a little looser than usual. That extra liquid is what cooks the noodles.

Cheese Mix: Prep your cheeses by combining ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic, and parsley. You can use cottage cheese in place of ricotta if that’s more your speed.

Layer: Crockpot lasagna layers just like traditional lasagna: meat sauce, noodles, cheese, repeat. Start with 1/4 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the crockpot. Top with noodles, breaking them into pieces to fit. Don’t worry if they overlap a bit. Then add 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat for three layers total.

Slow Cook: Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours, until the noodles are tender when you poke a knife through the center. Every crockpot runs a little different. Readers have reported anywhere from 3 1/2 to 5 hours, so start checking around the 4-hour mark and set to ‘warm’ until ready to serve.

Try serving this easy Crockpot lasagna recipe with some of my favorite cream cheese garlic bread!

FAQs:

• Baked Spaghetti: Similar to a lasagna, but with spaghetti. 
• Homemade Italian Dressing: An easy and low carb salad dressing!
• Homemade Alfredo Sauce: So creamy and so easy!
• Pork Tenderloin: Topped off with a garlic butter sauce. 
• Eggplant Parmesan: This classic Italian recipe is so easy in the air fryer!
• Turkey Meatballs: Serve these with some spaghetti and marinara for a healthier take on spaghetti and meatballs.
• Baked Ziti with Meat: The white sauce makes this recipe extra special.

This recipe was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated with new photos, tips, and answers to your most common questions. Original photos below.