Hi, friends! I’m so happy to be back in this space. It’s been *a while* and I’ve missed the creative outlet this space provides. Over the next few months I’ll be sharing some of the recipes I developed a couple years back for the Easy Weeknight Meals E-Book. Many of you purchased it back when it launched and now I’m excited to share the recipes in case you never got your hands on it.
Slow Cooker Lasagna is one of my favorite easy weeknight meals. I’ve been making it more often over the winter months when our schedule is packed and it’s been great both for dinner and for leftovers.
Slow Cooker Lasagna
Before making slow cooker lasagna part of my life, lasagna was one of those dishes my husband loved and I hated to make. But this recipe changed the game for me. It’s easy to make and since it’s a slow cooker recipe, the mess can be made and cleaned up in advance!
Ingredients
1 lb. lean (at least 80%) ground beef or ground Italian sausage
2 (24 oz.) jars marinara sauce (I like Rao’s best!)
15 oven-ready lasagna noodles*
24 oz. ricotta whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning blend
Additional grated Parmesan
Directions
Brown the ground beef or sausage; drain. Return meat to skillet, turn off heat and stir in the two jars marinara sauce.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan, 1 cup of the Mozzarella cheese, and the Italian seasoning.
Spoon 1/4 of the sauce mixture into the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Top with three of the lasagna noodles. Spread 1/4 of the Ricotta mixture on top of noodles in an even layer. Repeat with the sauce, noodles and Ricotta layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with the lasagna noodles and sauce. Top with the remaining 1 cup of of Mozzarella cheese.
Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours or until noodles are tender and cheese is melted and bubbly. Turn off heat. Let stand at least 30 minutes to set up. Cut into pieces to serve. Sprinkle with additional grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.
*Note: There are different kinds of over-ready lasagna noodles. Be sure to get the oven-ready lasagna noodles that look like regular lasagna noodles but say “oven ready” on them. Not the oven-ready noodles that look like small flat squares without the ruffled edges.