Did you know you can make lasagna in your slow cooker and it comes out fabulous!? And, I promise you won’t even miss the meat in this yummy vegetable lasagna. This dish has tons of flavor, simple ingredients, and it’s packed with fresh hearty veggies. This is a perfect meal for the summer if you want to avoid heating up your kitchen with the oven.
Ingredients:
* 24 oz. jar plus one cup tomato pasta sauce
* 9 long lasagna noodles, uncooked
* 2 1/2 cups chopped veggies (I used mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and spinach)
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 15 oz. container Ricotta cheese
* 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese – reserve 1/4 cup for very top (I used a mozzarella and parmesan mix)
* 1 egg
Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix 1 and 1/4 cup shredded cheese, egg, and ricotta cheese. Reserve 1/4 cup of shredded cheese for the very top. Sautee chopped veggies on the stove with olive oil and minced garlic for about 3-5 minutes. Add one jar plus 1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce with the veggies. Take off heat. Spread about a fourth of the veggie sauce mixture on the bottom of slow cooker. Add 3 of the uncooked lasagna noodles, and break them apart to fit. Spoon on 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Layer more sauce, 3 more noodles broken to fit, the remainder of the ricotta cheese mixture, more sauce, 3 more noodles, the last of the sauce, and sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese on the very top. You should have a total of 4 layers of veggie sauce, 3 layers of noodles, and 2 layers of ricotta cheese mixture total.
Cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours (or on HIGH 2 to 3 hours) or until liquid is absorbed. If you opt to cook on high, watch the bottom carefully to ensure it doesn’t burn – mine almost did at the 3 hour mark on high. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if you choose. Serves about 7-8 people.
Notes: I’ve made this meal a few times now and one jar of pasta sauce isn’t enough and one and a half is a little too saucy. My family absolutely loves this recipe! The veggies taste fantastic and it’s amazing how the noodles cook perfectly in the slow cooker! I love that you can use whatever combination of vegetables your family likes and that you have on hand. It makes great leftovers too. Enjoy!
