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Our Slow Cooker Lasagna recipe is the ultimate set-it-and-forget-it comfort food! All the rich, cheesy, meaty layers of classic homemade lasagna made effortlessly right in your crockpot.
The Slow Cooker Lasagna That Practically Makes Itself
Using your crockpot/slow cooker is without a doubt the easiest way to make lasagna! You don't even need to pre-cook the noodles! Regular lasagna noodles cook right in the slow cooker as everything simmers together. Just layer them in (break the noodles to fit, as needed) and they turn out perfectly tender every time. I love a good classic homemade lasagna, but when I'm in a time crunch or don't want to turn on the oven, this crockpot lasagna saves me every time!
I whip up a quick homemade pasta sauce using canned tomatoes, since it's way less expensive (and tastes better) than a jar of spaghetti sauce. Cook the ground beef and sausage ahead of time to make this meal even quicker.
Try more of my Italian recipes, like Instant Pot Spaghetti, Pink Sauce Pasta, Meatball Subs, or One Pan Chicken Alfredo!
How to make Slow Cooker Lasagna:
Brown the Meat: Cook ground beef (or Italian sausage) with onion and garlic until browned. Drain, then stir in your favorite marinara sauce and set aside.
Cheese Mixture: In a mixing bowl, combine mozzarella, cottage cheese, and parmesan cheese.
Assemble: Spread a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom of the slow cooker, then layer in uncooked lasagna noodles (broken to fit), meat sauce, and ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat the layers.
Cook and Serve: Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours until noodles are tender. Add shredded mozzarella in the last 20 minutes, then serve this crockpot lasagna topped with fresh basil and parmesan. Make sure to try my Skillet Lasagna if you need something quicker.
Slow Cooker Lasagna
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage, or pork sausage
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large onion, , chopped*
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 29 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 8 ounces lasagna noodles, , uncooked
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese, (or ricotta)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Brown Meat: In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef, Italian sausage and onion.½ pound lean ground beef, ½ pound ground Italian sausage, 1 large onion
- Make Red Sauce: Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, parsley, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, tomato sauce, sugar, and water. Stir and simmer 15-20 minutes. (You could make the sauce in advance!)1 ½ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 6 ounce can tomato paste, 29 ounces tomato sauce, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 ¼ cups water
- Assemble: Spread a fourth of the meat sauce into the bottom of your slow cooker. Arrange a third of the noodles over the sauce (break the noodles to fit, if necessary).8 ounces lasagna noodles
- Add Cheese Mixture: Combine the mozzarella, cottage cheese and parmesan cheese; spoon a third of the mixture over noodles. Repeat layers twice.4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 ½ cups cottage cheese, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Finish Layers: Top with remaining meat sauce and sprinkle with extra mozzarella cheese, if desired.
- Cover and cook on low for about 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I first shared this recipe February 2015. Updated March 2018, September 2023 and August 2026.
Do you think it would work to cook the sauce and the meat and do the layers the night before, refrigerate, and then cook the following day? My morning prep time is minimal. Thanks!
Hi Joy, I think that should work great!
I’m planning on making this for tomorrow. I’m in the same boat of minimal morning time and was thinking good idea to prep the whole thing the night before and just plug it in in the morning, how’d your’s turn out doing it that way?
You put all that water in before all the ingredients?
Hi Jill, the water gets added in with all of the sauce ingredients in step one. Hope that helps…
Looking to cook lasagna this week. 2 questions….
1. Will “oven ready” noodles work?
2. Will low for 8hrs yield a burnt lasagna? My crock pot tends to be on the slow cooking side.
Thanks!
Hi Devon, I’ve never tried the oven-ready noodles in a crock pot but I imagine they would be fine if you cook the lasagna for less time. I wouldn’t cook it for 8 hours with oven ready noodles. And I’m not sure if it would burn–I’ve never cooked mine for that long….Sorry to not be of more help! I hope you enjoy it.
I am making this recipe tomorrow. I was just wondering if you’re to add an egg to the cheese mixture? Looks GREAT!!
Hi Kelly, no, I don’t add eggs to this recipe. Hope you like it!
Do not cook for full 5 hours! Left home and came back to a very burned lasagna!
SO not sure if you’ll see this by tonight, but I’ll give it a shot.
I’m running way short on time. Do you think it could be cooked on HIGH for 2 hours and have the same results? I love the idea of it slowly cooking, but just a question! It might just have to be a later dinner 😉
Hi Leah, I sure hope I catch you in time! I would par cook the noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes or so and then I’m sure it will be perfect in 2 hours on high! Hope that helps!
I will never again make regular lasagna! So easy! So good! I cooked the meats and onion the night before so it went together really fast. I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese (less moisture) but otherwise followed recipe exactly. It was perfect! I was having 5 guests and the recipe said it served 5, so I made 2 batches (the doubled recipe filled my 7 qt and smaller (5 qt?) slow cookers) but we didn’t even touch the smaller crockpot (it will freeze fine I’m sure so we’ll have it again in a week or two). I did make some roasted squash, a green salad and garlic cheese toast to go with it, so maybe people took less. Also I made small caprese skewers for an appetizer which saved us cuz half the guests were stuck in a freeway nightmare. The caprese skewers were great…tided us over but didn’t fill us up. Everyone raved about the lasagna and I have already sent all 5 guests the recipe (at their request)! One of the reasons I loved it so much was cuz I was able to sit and be with my guests and not be a slave to the kitchen! The lasagna was started 3 1/2 hours before guests arrived and I had the caprese done and the veggies and bread ready to pop in the oven…all I had to do was put them in the oven for 20 minutes and put the dressing on the salad and we ate as soon as the guests were all there. A perfect luncheon…and one I will repeat again and again! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!!!!
I am definitely going to try this slow cooker lasagna this week I love slow cooker recipes so easy to do and takes so much stress away!
I accidentally grabbed oven read lasagna noodles. Can that be used?
Hi Heather, that should be fine–you wont need to cook it quite as long 🙂
The meat sauce is awesome! My family loved it.