Lasagna in the Slow Cooker
Wouldn't you love a slow cooker full of delicious lasagna awaiting you when you get home. Easy, just put it together the night before, pop it into the slow cooker the next morning and come home to a piping hot lasagna for dinner. Leftovers freeze well for simple lunches.
We have played with this recipe for years and find we absolutely LOVE making this super simple slow cooker lasagne. We look at the recipe and immediately start craving it, it is that good. Ideal for company, when you need to prepare to feed a crowd!
- ¾ pound Italian sausage (we used Coleman’s Organic Chicken Mild Italian)
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 4-6 garlic cloves
- EVOO
- 2 15 oz cans Italian style tomato sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons dried basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 15 oz container of part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 12 oz. (3 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 12 uncooked lasagna noodles – 12 oz package
In a large skillet pour a dollop of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, cook sausage with onion and garlic. Since the Coleman’s Organic Chicken Mild Italian sausage is already cooked in links, we simply cut the links into slices, then chopped them up. The idea was to get as much sausage spread throughout the lasagna as possible!
Add tomato sauce, spices and salt, mixing well.
Reserve 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. In a medium bowl, mix the cheeses together.
Spray crock, you will be glad you did!
Now for the layers!
Spoon ¼ of the sausage mixture on the bottom of the crock.
Top with 4 noodles, breaking into pieces to fit.
Top with HALF of the cheese mixture
Top with ¼ of the sausage mixture.
Top with 4 noodles
Top with remaining cheese mixture
Top with ¼ of the sausage mixture.
Top with 4 remaining noodles
Top with sausage mixture
Cover and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours. OR, since I had a doctor’s appointment on the snowy day this was planned for, we made it at noon and ate it at 6 pm, cooking on high for 5 hours. Somewhere along the line, my crock pot turned off, yet this turned out fabulous! Crock pots are very forgiving!
Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and if you want to add color, some parsley. Put lid back on and let sit for 10 minutes.
Serve with a green salad and enjoy thoroughly!
We served this the first night of our Bible study and got raves on it! We fought over the leftovers – it was THAT good!