source: Mandi Ehman
As predicted by my crock pot-loving friends, my crock pot challenge week a few weeks ago really changed my view of the crock pot, and it has become a regular part of my weekly menu planning!
The most important lesson I learned was that the more I can prepare for dinner early in the day, the easier it is for me to get motivated to actually make dinner, which includes crock pot meals, casseroles and other meals that can be prepped ahead of time.
Of all the meals we tried, this crock pot lasagna is by far our favorite. I think I’ve pretty much perfected it at this point (which is not something I can say about too many dishes!), and I’ve had quite a few people ask me for the recipe, so I made it again last week just so I could take a picture.
| Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe |
- 1 pound ground beef
- 26 ounces pasta sauce
- 1 cup water
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 cups italian cheese
- 1⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon dried parsley
- 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
- Brown meat and drain. Add pasta sauce and water and mix well.
- Hint: I like to buy ground beef in bulk, brown it and freeze it in 1-cup portions to make preparing this (and other meals) even easier!
- In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, 1-1/2 cup mozzarella, parmesan, egg and parsley.
- Add 1 cup of the meat sauce to the bottom of the crock pot. Break up four of the noodles to cover the bottom. It’s okay if they overlap. Cover with half the cheese mixture and 2 cups meat sauce.
- Repeat layers.
- Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and let sit for 15 minutes until melted.
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Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces. |
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