Crockpot Lasagna
Crockpot Lasagna

Description:
I've made this off and on for a couple of years. The original recipe came from a sweet lady on one of my scrapbook message boards. Then last year I got a new Cooking Light Superfast Suppers cookbook, and found this almost exact recipe in there!
Category: Crockpot Prep. Method:  
Course: Dinner Calories:  
Cuisine:   Serves: 0
Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1 - 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup water
8 lasagna noodles -- uncooked
1 - 4.5 oz jar mushrooms
1 - 15 oz carton ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
seasonings -- to taste
Directions:
Cook ground beef and seasoning; drain.

Combine spaghetti sauce and 1/3 cup water in a small bowl. Original recipe didn't call for seasonings, but here I add seasonings such as more Italian, garlic powder, onion powder, Tony's, dash Tobasco, etc. Season to taste

Place 4 lasagna noodles in bottom of lightly greased 5 quart slow cooker. Layer with half of beef, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, then spread ricotta cheese, more mushrooms and half of mozzarella cheese. Do a second layer in the same order.

Cover crockpot and cook on high for 1 hour; reduce to low and cook for 5 hours.

Stacy's Notes - I think the spaghetti jars now are more like 25 or 26 oz so this might be a little low on sauce. Still good. Not as good as an oven-baked lasagna, but the taste is good (just doesn't make a good presentation). I like this one and the skillet lasagna both, much easier! I think the recipe as listed is very bland, so I add a lot more seasonings to my beef mixture. I also use low-fat ricotta and part skim mozzarella, so that may take away some of the flavors also, but does help lighten it up a bit.

More Stacy's Notes - I've always made this in my traditional crockpot, but not my West Bend (oblong cooker). I tried it in the West Bend Nov 2009, with pretty good results. I overcooked it, but just the bottom was burned and the rest was really good. The noodles and sauce fit better as a more traditional shaped lasagna in the West Bend, but it heats from the bottom, not all the way around like a ceramic crockpot does. I cooked it on seting #4 for 2 hours, lowered to setting #3 for another hour, then to setting #2 for another hour or so. It was not overcooked, except that the bottom noodle layer was burned. Next time, try cooking for no more than 2 1/2 to 3 hours using the West Bend. Still tastes really good!
Rating: ()   printed on: November 25, 2024
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