This is an easy slow cooker lasagna that can be made in a casserole Crock-Pot or a regular slow cooker. No pre cooking the noodles, they cook in the sauce!
Cook the sausage in the sauce pot. For links, you can cook them in water for about 15 minutes on medium. Cut into small bite sized pieces after cooking.For ground sausage, fry in a pan or pot breaking up until it is cooked or most of the way cooked. It will change colors once cooked. Drain fat.Precooking the sausage keeps the excess fat out of your lasagna.
1 lb sausage
Once the sausage is cooked, add it to the sauce. If using jarred sauce, you just need the sauce to be heated through. Homemade needs to be cooked about 25 minutes.
52 ounces homemade lasagna sauce
In a bowl mix together ricotta, egg, 2½ cups shredded mozzarella, parmesan, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.
15 ounces ricotta, 1 egg, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Cooking in casserole Crock-Pot
Spread about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Doesn't have to be exact amount but the bottom needs to be covered.
Place 4 noodles across the bottom, they will likely need to overlap a little.
Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles and top with ⅓ of the remaining sauce.
Repeat layers once. Top with remaining noodles and sauce.
Cover and cook on high for 2½ to 3 hours, until noodles are tender.
Top with remaining 1½ cups mozzarella cheese and cook on low for another 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Allow lasagna to sit about 20 minutes before serving.
For regular slow cooker
Spread about ¼ of the sauce in the bottom of the dish.
Place 3 noodles over the sauce, probably need to break them up a little to fit.
Spoon ⅓ of the cheese mixture over the noodles and top with ¼ of the sauce.
Repeat layers twice and add the remaining 1½ cups mozzarella cheese to the top.
Cook on low for about 4-5 hours, until the noodles are tender. Allow the lasagna to sit for at least 20 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Serving sizes are estimated and nutritional values are estimated based on 8 servings. It may change depending on the sauce you use.You can leave the sausage out or even replace it with ground beef if you prefer. We use either ground sausage or sausage links cut into small bite sized pieces.If using the homemade sauce, you will use the whole batch of sauce. The amount of ounces is estimated. If using jarred, go with 2 jars that equal about 24 ounces each so you have about 48 ounces of sauce. I recommended shredding the mozzarella from a block, but you can use already shredded. Freshly shredded cheese melts so much nicer.