I tried the great “slow cooker lasagna” experiment last week for my family, thinking that it would be fun to try but not something I would actually do in the future. Scratch that! I’m sold on this Slow Cooker Whole Wheat Spinach Lasagna!
Although I love those cute Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups that I’ve made so many times before, I’m done with that time-intensive method. I’m moving on to this easy one. This slow cooker lasagna took no time at all to put together, especially since it’s meat-free and I didn’t have to cook the noodles in advance. Plus, it came out perfectly moist throughout. No more burnt top or edges or dried out lasagna. Hurrah!
The key to this Slow Cooker Whole Wheat Spinach Lasagna, though, is three-fold:
1 – Use LOTS of sauce. This recipe calls for 2 whole jars. You’ll feel like it’s too much, but trust me, it’s not. The noodles just soak it up while cooking and the whole thing is perfectly saucy.
2 – Do not overcook this! It takes about 3 hours on LOW. If you cook it much longer or at a higher temperatre than that, you’ll be left with burnt baby food at best.
3 – Spray a large slow cooker crock generously with cooking spray before layering in the ingredients. This will make for easy clean up. You can also buy the crock pot liners, which makes for ZERO clean up. You cook right in the liner.
Last thing to note: This feeds an army! Our family of five ate only half of it the first night and we have been eating leftovers all week. So I would say this could easily feed 8-10 adults.
Ok, really last thing to note: Slow Cooker Whole Wheat Spinach Lasagna would make a perfect make-ahead meal for a large group. Just put the casserole together ahead of time. Store the slow cooker crock in the fridge until you’re about 3 hours away from your dinner time. Then, start the slow cooker and let it do the work. Enjoy!
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This is the easiest and most moist way to make lasagna in my opinion. Delicious! Crock pot for the win!
Ingredients
- 13-14 pieces (most of a 16 ounce package) uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided (separate out 1 cup)
- 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2-3 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 (28 ounces) jars marinara sauce
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, eggs, garlic, parsley, basil, pepper, salt, spinach, and Parmesan cheese.
- Generously coat the inside of the large slow cooker crock with cooking spray. This will help tremendously with clean up!
- Layer the lasagna in the slow cooker as follows. Remember to be generous with the sauce and use all of it!
- – SAUCE: Start by spreading a base layer of marinara sauce over the bottom.
- – NOODLES: Layer noodles next, breaking them apart as needed to fill in the gaps.
- – SAUCE: Spread another layer of sauce over the noodles.
- – CHEESE: Spread the ricotta cheese mixture over all the noodles.
- – REPEAT X2: Repeat the noodles/sauce/cheese layers two more times.
- Top the casserole with one last layer of noodles (so you’ll have four noodle layers total), one last layer of sauce, and then end with the 1 cup of shredded mozzarella over the top. (Note: You will not have a ricotta cheese mixture layer for the top.)
- Cook on LOW for 3 hours. Do not overcook!
Do you think I can prepare this in the crockpot the night before, refrigerate it and then cook it 3 hours right before a luncheon at noon? Will it get soggy sitting all night? Thanks!
Yes, I think that would work great!
What vegetables would be tasty in addition to the spinach, how would their cooking time work?
Good question. I haven’t tested any others. But, some that come to mind that could work: par-cooked, finely chopped broccoli, shredded zucchini, blanched kale, finely shredded carrots (might want to precook a little, so they get done all the way). Does anyone else have any suggestions?
Thanks sooo much! This is so easy to make and I had plenty of time to do other things while it’s cooking. To top it all off, my meat loving family absolutely loved it!
Oh, and it’s going to feed us twice more. Wow!
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear that, Michelle. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Since this “feeds an army”, what size slow cooker did you use? 8 Qt?, 10 Qt?
Good question. 6 quart.
What is the recommendation for altering the other ingredients if I wanted to add meat?
Hi Kristin. I haven’t tested this recipe with meat, so I’m sorry to say that I don’t know. My guess is that if you browned ground beef, drained it, seasoned it, and then added it in the layers, it will probably cook at the same rate. But, that’s my educated guess.
I’ve just put this together in the pot, but my slow cooker goes either high for 4-6 hours, or low for 7-8 hours. Trying to figure out the conversions. Can I just cook it for 3 hours on its regular low setting? It looks delicious – can’t wait to dig in!
Yes, 3 hours on Low should do the trick.
I made this tonight (using cottage cheese instead of ricotta due to a shopping mishap) and it tasted AMAZING!! It even restored my husbands faith in crockpots! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Sweet!!! Mission accomplished. Ha! 😉
Would this method work for zucchini lasagna?
I have used a layer or two of zucchini lasagna and even large pieces of roasted red or green peppers. The only thing is that the zucchini adds extra moisture so I have tried baking it first and using less sauce so that it does not turn into lasagna soup. I like the substitutions, but would probably not serve it to company. I love this recipe and it freezes well.
★★★★★
does the noodles needs cooking before placing them on the slow cooker? or just dump em there raw?
★★★★
Nope, they go in uncooked.
I can’t wait to try this!! Was curious if the layers or measurements would differ depending on the size of the crock pot? I know that’s a silly question, but I have a fairly decent sized one and 2 jars of sauce doesn’t seem like it’s ever enough?
I’m not quite sure since I’ve only made this in my big oval crockpot. But, I’m sure you wouldn’t mess things up to add more sauce, if you’re concerned about it. The noodles seem to really soak it up while cooking.
Thank you! 🙂
This was delicious! How best to reheat the leftovers? Microwave (how long) or oven (bake)? Thanks!
We just used the good ole microwave, nuking in 30 second increments until warmed through.
How do you thaw/reheat after freezing it?
I would not suggest freezing this one.
I had my doubts about lasagna in a slow cooker, but it is delicious. I added onions and used cottage cheese instead of ricotta and had to cook it a little longer. Thanks for posting and the notes!
Glad it worked for you! I need to make this again soon.
Frozen leftovers are just as yummy as it is fresh!
Wow, good to know! I haven’t tried that yet.
I have tried lasagna in the crock pot before, I agree it needs a ton of sauce. I shared your recipe in my April Real Food Meal Plan. Thanks for posting.
What a fabulous idea – both to use a bunch of fresh spinach and to put this in the crock pot. I will have to try this soon for a church fellowship meal
Thanks! It’ll be a crowd pleaser!