No-Boil Slow Cooker Lasagna

Slow Cooker Lasagna Recipe 

I love lasagna, but I sure don’t love boiling lasagna noodles. It’s tedious, they always stick together, and honestly, I just like to avoid extra steps when I can. So while I generally bake my lasagna in the oven, it’s usually a no-boil recipe. Even so, lasagna is still more of a weekend project, as it takes enough time that I don’t usually turn to it on weeknights when my free time is scarce. But it turns out you can make lasagna in your slow cooker, and there’s no boiling of noodles. It’s a layer-up, close the lid, press a button, and walk away kind of lasagna situation. That means your slow cooker can handle the work while you take your kids to soccer practice. 

For starters, you’ll need two jars of marinara sauce. While you could certainly add some meat to this, we’re keeping things fast and easy, so jarred sauce is the way to go. Layer a bit in the bottom of your slow cooker just like you would if you were making this in a baking pan. 

Then, make your ricotta mixture. Just stir together some ricotta, some parmesan, an egg, some mozzarella, some Italian seasoning, some fresh basil, and some salt and pepper. 

Your first layer will be your lasagna noodles. Buy a no-boil variety — I like the flat sheets made by Barilla, but any will do. Break them up to fit and create an even single layer. 

Top the noodles with a layer of the ricotta mixture and repeat those layers two more times, then top with mozzarella. 

Put the lid on your slow cooker, press a couple of buttons, and walk away. There’s no oven to preheat, no worries about cheese sticking to foil, and no timing to fret over. This can cook while you’re at work, running errands, or playing chauffeur to your kids. 

You sacrifice a little bit in texture for the sake of convenience here — the noodles are softer than in the baked variety — but sometimes in life, we need a little convenience. And weeknight lasagna that’s cheesy, easy, and comforting… What more could you want?