Crockpot Lasagna Casserole

Our easy Crockpot lasagna casserole recipe with spaghetti sauce and uncooked noodles tastes like the Old Fashioned version but deconstructed! No boiling required for lazy lasagna. Just dump your ground beef, cheese, sauce and pasta in.

I have made a lot of things over the years but last night I decided to make what we are calling, lasagna casserole.  It’s now one of our favorite pasta crockpot recipes because boiling the pasta is not required but it is made with the same ingredients we have made for years.

I love my slow cooker, it just make my life easier and meals simple in the kitchen. We both work full time in this house, and manage 3 kids on top of that. The goal is to also put a hot meal on the table for us and eat together a few nights each week, this makes it possible.

When I first starting using all of my countertop appliances I made a batch of Instant Pot lasagna casserole. It was such a hit that I wanted to figure out how to cook lazy lasagna like this low and slow prepped in the morning. It too was amazing!!

This is often called lazy lasagna vs. the traditional where you would layer each thing. This one skips that tedious step of assembling sheets of pasta, ricotta, meat sauce, and cheese in multiple layers. Instead you just cook the noodles in the sauce with no boiling ahead of time.

I know, sounds like a dream and not possible right? We have made crock pot lasagna before, but this uses smaller noodles to make it more of a throw together casserole. I like this more than the traditional way because kids can eat it easily and it can fit on the fork with each bite.

Ingredient Notes

The only real prep you need to do beforehand is to brown the meat. There are several choices as far as that goes too. Use ground beef, most common, but our most favorite would be a roll of spicy ground sausage from Jimmy dean. Adds a ton of flavor to the dish and a bit of heat too.

To make things easier I just use 1 jar of pasta sauce, jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce typically. If you only have tomato sauce I would add some Italian seasonings too.

I like my large 8 qt. crockpot for this one so it has lots of room to bubble up. You can use any small uncooked noodles but we like medium shells or elbow macaroni the best so you get a few in your mouth with each bite.

Can you use frozen ground beef?

Yes! If you forgot to defrost it beforehand, follow these directions on how to defrost ground beef fast first and then brown before adding. That is really the only prep you’ll need to do outside of your slow cooker.

Mozzarella cheese is traditional for either way, it should be shredded. Ricotta or cottage cheese are optional but gives it a creaminess for sure. If we have parmesan cheese we will put some on top when serving this

I will add 1 packet of taco seasoning (yes, it works great) with my Diced tomatoes (I like the petite version personally, or Rotel for some heat) for a whop of flavor.

Substitutions

An alternative to that one would be cottage cheese. I have even found dairy free varieties so my husband can enjoy this dish with us. Daiya has options for everything except without the lactose.

It literally cost under $10 to make and feed all of us PLUS there was enough for me to eat the next day for lunch, bonus!! One of many easy cheap crockpot recipes on our site.

If you like a wetter consistency just add more spaghetti sauce. Then try our favorite Crockpot Lasagna Soup with the same flavors! Healthy and the kids will love it because it’s super flavorful.

How Long to Cook Lasagna Casserole in Slow Cooker

You are looking for a total of about 6 hours from start to finish with this. It really is a set it and forget it meal except that the last 30 minutes you will need to add the noodles and cheese if you would like to finish off the dish.

Can you add the noodles uncooked?

Yes, that is the beauty of this dish. I have calculated how much liquid you need in order to cook the uncooked noodles with all the other ingredients until they are al dente or as soft as you’d like, right in the sauce. You just submerge them near the end, NO boiling required.

How do you know when it is done?

You precooked the meat ahead of time so you don’t have to worry about that aspect so it is just about getting the noodles tender really. If they are submerged into the sauce they should be the right texture in about half an hour or so. If you like them more al dente check after 20 minutes, for softer allow to cook this way for up to 45 minutes.

Our favorite side dish would be this refrigerated biscuits pull apart bread. In each dish, top with remaining cheese and serve together or 1/2 hour before serving melt cheese on top of the whole thing in the pot. You can print recipe below. It is complete with nutritional information too, i.e. saturated fat and calories per serving.

How to Save Leftovers

If you want to freeze this after some has been eaten, you can put leftovers into airtight plastic containers or freezer bags. Always allow food to completely cool to room temperature before packaging it up and putting it in the fridge or freezer. If you don’t it can grow bacteria easier when cooled and make you sick.