Lasagne has to be an all time favourite comfort food, I have created a delicious version of Easy Slow Cooker Lasagne that you will love!
My usual method of baking a lasagne is a bit of an ordeal if I am honest, but of course the outcome is divine and so popular with the family that I make it this way often – you can find how I make my traditional lasagne here.
The best bit is when I make this easier version my son tells me this is hands down the best lasagne he has ever eaten…..so I will take 30 minutes prep over an hour or more any day!
For my oven baked version I tend to use every pot in the cupboard and have three going at once! Then the assembly and finally baking. So I thought if I was going to share a Slow Cooker version that makes life easier then I better make the method easy too!
In this lasagne I have not made a cheese sauce, certainly not one from scratch like I normally do. The bechamel sauce is of course one of the high points of a lasagne but I can assure you that my cheats version is absolutely delicious! The secret is Cream Cheese!
For this Easy Slow Cooker Lasagne I have used a combination of cream cheese, sour cream, egg and cheese to replace the cheese sauce. It works so well and is super quick to whip together.
With regard to the ground beef mince, while I want this recipe to be easy, tasting great is so important too. Which is why I always brown off my mince before I add it to the slow cooker. This is for two reasons, the first is that I can drain off the grease and fat. When that sits in the slow cooker for hours it can give a greasy after taste to the meals, no one wants that
The second reason is the taste, i feel it just tastes better if I have browned off the mince, broken it down into finer pieces and in this case added the tomato pasta sauce, herbs and garlic to simmer before I add it to my slow cooker. You have to trust me on this, it is so much better.
I use a can of pasta sauce for my mince recipes always, whether it be lasagne, spaghetti bolognese, nachos etc. If you have a favourite brand of pasta sauce just use that, you can often find one that already has herbs, garlic or onion in it, or use a simple passata sauce with extra herbs and garlic.
The key is to create a sauce that is not too wet – the slow cooker of course makes things lovely and moist, but if you start with a sloppy meat sauce then it will only make things worse when it comes to serving. Will taste good but will be harder to get onto the plate!
The ingredients are incredibly simple, the steps even more so. You can use any sort of lasagne pasta you like, it does not need to be precooked. I have used dried lasagne sheets here, broken into different sizes to fit the dish, or you can use lasagne noodles or other dried pasta.
Assembling an Easy Slow Cooker lasagne goes like this
- Tomato Meat Sauce
- Pasta
- Tomato Meat Sauce
- Cream Cheese Mix
- Pasta
- Tomato Meat Sauce
- Cream Cheese Mix
- Grated Cheese
- Pasta
- Tomato Meat Sauce
After this has slow cooked for 3 1/2 hours you can then add an additional layer of cheese until melted, allow it to stand to set and then serve with your favourite crusty bread & salad. So easy! I highly recommend you try my crusty Slow Cooker Cheesy Savoury Loaf, it would go perfectly with this.
So onto the recipe, incredibly simple, does not take too long to prepare, then slow cooked to perfection! My Easy Slow Cooker Lasagne
Slow Cooker Lasagne
Delicious Easy Slow Cooker Lasagne, only a few steps to create a very tasty family meal
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
- 1 KG Ground Beef Mince
- 420g Tomato Pasta Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Water (add this to the can of sauce to get all the sauce!)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic, Minced
- 1 teaspoon Mixed Herbs
- 250 grams Cream Cheese
- 125 grams Sour Cream
- 1 Egg
- Pinch of Salt & Pepper
- 250 grams Grated Cheese, 2 Cups, aged hard cheese or mozzarella etc
- Pasta Sheets or Noodles
- Up to 125 grams Grated Cheese, 1 Cup, aged hard cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan etc
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan
- In two batches, brown the ground beef mince and break up any clumps of meat, and drain off any fat into a separate bowl (discard this fat safely later once cold)
- Add the batches together in the frying pan and add the pasta sauce, add the half a cup of water to the pasta sauce jar or can if using and swirl around, then add this to the beef mince
- Add the garlic and mixed herbs and stir this all well, allow to simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes
- While this is simmering, in a medium bowl prepare the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, salt & pepper and grated cheese in a bowl and mix together well. Set aside.
- Spray or grease the inside of the slow cooker then follow the order below
- Add a thin layer of the tomato meat sauce
- Place in the pasta sheets, you may need to break these up to fit the bowl
- A thin layer of the tomato meat sauce
- Dollop spoonfuls of the half cream cheese mixture over the meat sauce
- Place another layer of pasta sheets
- A thin layer of the tomato meat sauce
- Dollop spoonfuls of the remaining cream cheese mixture over the meat sauce
- Place another layer of pasta sheets
- Finally spread the remaining tomato meat sauce over the top of the pasta sheets
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 3 1/2 hours on LOW
- You want to cook this until the pasta sheets are soft and cooked through but it does not begin to dry out, so check at 3 hours.
- Once this occurs add the final Cup of grated cheese and cook for a further 30 minutes until completely melted
- Turn off the slow cooker and allow the meal to stand for 30 minutes to set before spooning onto plates
- Serve warm with crusty bread and salad
- Enjoy!
Notes
If your meat sauce is too wet when it goes into the slow cooker your lasagne may be soggy - delicious but soggy. The ideal is to have a lovely moist meat sauce but not too liquid.
Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my latest recipe and others on my blog. If you are not already be sure to follow me on Facebook or Instagram for more Slow Cooker deliciousness, and you can register your email in the subscription box below to receive all my recipes as I publish them.
Happy Cooking!
Anna
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Only two layers of pasta? I always think of five as a minimum, with very thin layers of sauces between.
I have used three here, that is a suitable amount for the amount of meat sauce I use, which is on 4 layers. You are of course welcome to make it how you prefer, can add an additional layer on the base. It is a lovely versatile recipe.
Is it possible to replace the cream cheese and sour cream with a packet cheese sauce? I realise the flavour will not be the same – just from a budget perspective.
Yes if you prefer. Or a jar of béchamel or the proper lasagne cheese sauce made from scratch with butter, flour, milk and cheese
Hi Anna,
Do you think it would taste just as good if I boil the mince and let it stand over night to let the fat form on the top, then scrape off. (old fashioned nan)
Hi Ngaire. You could but it’s much quicker to drain it off as you cook it. I am all about saving time!
Hi Anna, what size and shape is your slow cooker?
Should there be an instruction 13.5, to add a layer of 2 cups grated cheese? Or have I misunderstood?
Defo giving this a try.
Hi, that’s mentioned on step 5.