Slow Cooker Lasagna with Ricotta or Cottage Cheese – A Casserole Crock Pot Lasagna

Slow Cooker Lasagna uses ricotta cheese or cottage cheese and uncooked lasagna noodles, and is a recipe with a secret ingredient that adds another level of flavor to this popular hearty dish. With some prep work the night before, you can put this into a Casserole Crock Pot on a weekend morning before errands, ballgames or piano lessons and it will be ready and waiting for lunch!

Slow Cooker Lasagna Uncooked Noodles

Slow cooker lasagna is sure to satisfy the hunger of everyone in your family. The secret ingredient is pre-made Bloody Mary Mix as the tomato base to complement the cheesy layers of mozzarella and ricotta (or cottage cheese).

If you can’t find Bloody Mary Mix, then go ahead and use V8 juice or tomato juice.  If you do this, taste the ground beef tomato sauce, and add extra seasonings to your preference before adding to the crock pot insert.

What’s even better? There is no pre-cooking of your lasagna noodles.  This crock pot lasagna uses uncooked lasagna noodles.

Casserole Crock Pot Lasagna

This crock pot lasagna with ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese) works best in a casserole crock pot.  If you don’t have one of these versions, do not fret.  You will just have to break your lasagna noodles to better fit in a regular crock pot insert.

It takes 3 to 4 uncooked lasagna noodles to fit in a casserole crock pot.

I like to line the bottom of my casserole crock pot with foil and then spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. This step is optional, but worth the extra effort to help with clean-up later.

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

Recently, Barbara had friends coming for lunch, and she had no time to cook since the girls had basketball games all morning.  So, she prepped the meat sauce and cheese mixtures the night before, and assembled this Slow Cooker  Lasagna with uncooked lasagna noodles before leaving for the games.

When they got home for lunch, this Crock Pot lasagna was ready to feed the whole crowd.  It was a hit with the kids and the adults.  Her favorite part of this compared to her regular Extra Cheesy Beef Lasagna, is that you do not have to boil the lasagna noodles.

Recipe FAQs

• We use ground beef, but you could absolutely use ground chicken or ground turkey if you desire.
• Feel free to mince fresh garlic if desired.  We keep a jar of minced garlic in the refrigerator out of convenience.
• You can use ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, or a combination of both, for the cheese layer.
• For easier clean up, we lined the entire crock pot insert with aluminum foil and sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray.  This can be omitted but be sure to spray the insert generously with non-stick spray.
• We think this recipe is perfect for a casserole crock pot, but it will work just as well in a regular crock pot. You will just need to break up the lasagna noodles to fit accordingly.
• Prep some of the elements of this recipe the night before to make assembly fast in the morning. Make the ground beef/Bloody Mary sauce and refrigerate. Also, go ahead and prep the ricotta cheese mixture and refrigerate.
• Use V8 or regular tomato juice for Bloody Mary Mix if needed.  Taste the hamburger tomato sauce and adjust seasonings if desired.
• If you have a smaller container of Bloody Mary Mix, add water to thin it out and get it to the 46 ounce amount.

How to Make Slow Cooker Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese of Cottage Cheese

Step by Step Instructions

1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and diced onions; drain excess grease.
2. Add tomato paste and garlic to the ground beef and cook for one minute.
3. Reserve one cup of Bloody Mary Mix; add the rest to the ground beef.
4.  In a separate bowl, mix ricotta cheese, eggs, parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
5. In the prepared crock pot insert: assemble as follows:

• Layer one: reserved Bloody Mary Mix (1 cup)
• Two: 4 uncooked lasagna noodles
• Layer three: 1/2 ricotta cheese mixture
• Four: 1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese
• Layer five: 1/2 ground beef sauce
• Six: 4 uncooked lasagna noodles
• Layer seven: 1/2 ricotta cheese mixture
• Eight: 1/2 mozzarella cheese
• Layer nine: 1/2 ground beef sauce

Cover tightly with slow cooker lid. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.  It is done when the noodles are cooked through.  Let sit unplugged and uncovered for 10 – 20 minutes before serving.

Storage Instructions

Let leftovers cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Full recipe for crock pot lasagna with ricotta is at the bottom of this post in the recipe card.

Recipe Variations

• Add some sautéed veggies such as mushrooms, celery, zucchini or carrots. Or add a couple handfuls of fresh spinach into the meat or sauce.
• For more flavor, use Italian sausage.
• Ganesh with fresh basil or parsley.

Old Fashioned Italian Recipes

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Pie

Impossible Chicken Parmesan Pie

Low-Carb Baked Spaghetti Squash casserole.