Spinach and mushrooms are layered into this rich and cheesy crockpot lasagna that slowly cooks into perfectly sliceable layers.
This crockpot lasagna is vegetarian, but it's not light and skimpy. Rich, thick layers of mozzarella, parmesan and an extra-creamy layer of ricotta and creme fraiche are stacked with marinara sauce, mushrooms, spinach and noodles.
Why Cook Lasagna in a Crockpot?
Convenience: Layer it up, program the slow cooker and leave the house (or just leave the kitchen) to live your life while dinner cooks itself.
Feed a Crowd: Crockpots are great for cooking big portions of food, and this rich and filling lasagna recipe will satisfy a big group or a smaller family who wants leftovers.
Eat Dinner in Shifts: Some of your kids are hungry at 5pm. Others will wonder into the kitchen at 6pm. You aren't hungry until 7 pm. Just leave the lasagna in the crockpot (on warm or turned off - it will still hold it's heat) and everyone can eat when they're hungry.
Have Your Kids (or partner) Start Dinner: You can layer this lasagna up the night before and keep it in the fridge. The next day, whoever happens to be at home in the afternoon can put the insert in the slow cooker and simply press start.
Don't Heat Up Your Kitchen: As a person who lives in Los Angeles without central air conditioning, this applies to me year round. I love recipes that let me avoid turning on the oven.
What You Need to Know About Crockpot Lasagna
- Know your slow cooker. How hot the "low" and "high" settings cook can vary a lot, which is why most slow cooker recipes give an approximate, not exact, cooking time.
- Unless the "low" heat on your slow cooker is very low, cooking lasagna for 6 to 8 hour in a crockpot is probably too long. In my experience, the the noodles are mushy and the edges scorched.
- My experience is that 3 to 4 hours is an ideal cooking time for crockpot lasagna. The noodles are tender but not too soft, and the edges brown just a little bit but don't scorch.
- If you work from home or it's a weekend, this is a perfect recipe to put in the crockpot around 1 or 2pm so it's ready for dinner.
- I like using regular lasagna noodles for crockpot lasagna (not the no-boil, oven-ready noodles). Both types of noodles will work, but the regular noodles keep their texture better and help create distinct layers.
Tips for Thick, Sliceable Layers of Lasagna
- Water is the enemy of lasagna layers. This recipe doesn't add any water and quickly pre-cooks the mushrooms and spinach so the veggies don't release too much moisture in the crockpot.
- Use thick, regular lasagna noodles with the frilled edges (and don't pre-boil the noodles)
- Add a little bit of creme fraiche to the ricotta, which makes it thicker and creamier
- I use a 6-quart slow cooker, which is the right size for creating a high, thick lasagna.
- Let the lasagna sit for at least 30 minutes after you turn the slow cooker off. This gives it time to settle into layers.
What is Creme Fraiche?
Creme fraiche is cultured cream. It’s thick, rich and creamy. Buy creme fraiche that doesn’t have any added stabilizers or thickeners. The only ingredient should be cultured cream. My favorite brand is Bellwether Farms. Creme fraiche is sold in the refrigerated dairy aisle, sometimes near the cheese and sometimes near the sour cream.
Mixing a little bit of creme fraiche with ricotta makes the ricotta layer richer, smoother and creamier.
More Vegetarian Pasta Recipes
- My Favorite Vegetable Lasagna (oven-baked)
- One Pot Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Kale
- Roasted Cauliflower Pasta
- Instant Pot Artichoke Spinach Dip Pasta
Crockpot Lasagna {Vegetarian }
Spinach and mushrooms are layered into this rich and cheesy vegetarian crockpot lasagna that slowly cooks into perfectly sliceable layers.
I use a 6-quart slow cooker, and this size creates nice thick layers of lasagna.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours plus 30 minutes to set
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Crockpot
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups frozen chopped spinach or kale
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 12 to 16 uncooked lasagna noodles (regular noodles with frilled edges, not oven-ready noodles)
- 4 cups pasta/marinara sauce (from two 24-ounce jars - see notes below*)
- 1 15-to-16 ounce container whole milk ricotta (part-skim will work too)
- 4 to 8 ounces creme fraiche (see notes below**)
- 16 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil (optional, but highly recommended!)
Ingredient Notes:
*You’ll need to buy two 24-ounce jars of pasta/marinara sauce to get 4 cups of sauce, but you’ll only use about half of the second jar.
**Mixing creme fraiche with ricotta makes the ricotta layer richer, smoother and creamier. You don’t have to add a full 8 ounces of creme fraiche, which is delicious, but makes the lasagna very rich.
Instructions
- Put the mushrooms and frozen spinach/kale in a microwave safe bowl. Mix in the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Microwave for 4 minutes, stirring once, until the mushrooms are soft and liquid has released from the mushrooms and spinach.
- Transfer the mushrooms and spinach into a colander over the sink to drain out any liquid that has collected in the bowl. Shake the colander a few times and press against the mushrooms and spinach with a spoon to release more liquid. Get out as much liquid as you can, but don’t spend too much time on this. Some liquid remaining with the mushrooms and spinach is perfectly fine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese and creme fraiche. If you want, you can also mix in chopped fresh basil.
- In a third bowl, combine the mozzarella and parmesan.
- Take your three bowls (mushroom&spinach, ricotta&creme fraiche, mozzarella&parmesan) and set them next to the slow cooker with the marinara sauce and uncooked noodles.
- Brush a thin layer of olive oil over the bottom and sides of the crockpot insert (or spray with cooking spray).
- Spread ½ cup of marinara sauce over the bottom of the crockpot.
- Layer the ingredients in the crockpot in this order (in total, you will make 3 complete layers):
- 3 to 4 lasagna noodles (you will need to break up some of the noodles to fit in the crockpot. This is fine, all the pieces will meld together as they cook)
- 1 cup of the ricotta/creme fraiche mixture (spread evenly with a spoon)
- ½ cup of mushrooms and spinach (spread out with a spoon)
- 1 cup marinara sauce (spread evenly with a spoon)
- 1 cup grated mozzarella/parmesan - After making 3 layers, finish with a layer of noodles, ½ cup red sauce and 1 cup grated mozzarella/parmesan cheese.
- Cover and cook for about 3 hours on low heat (see cooking note below). You'll know the lasagna is cooked when the noodles are tender, the cheese is melted, and the edges are slightly browned but not burnt.
- Turn off the heat and let lasagna sit for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Cooking Notes: The "low" and "high" settings on slow cookers tend to vary in how much heat they put out, which is why most slow cooker recipes give an approximate, not an exact, cooking time. My Hamilton Beach crockpot is 10 years old and the "low" setting gets quite hot - I rarely use the "high" setting. In my crockpot, 3 hours on low is plenty of time to cook the noodles. However, all slow cookers are different. If your crockpot doesn't get as hot and the noodles aren’t tender after 3 hours, you'll need to extend the cooking time to 4 hours.
Notes
This recipe is made in a 6-quart slow cooker.
Keywords: crockpot vegetarian lasagna, slow cooker lasagna, lasagna, vegetarian lasagna
Jen
A very rich and decadent lasagna, especially if creme fraiche is added.
★★★★★