Slow Cooker Lasagna

This recipe for Slow Cooker Lasagna is a sponsored post for HemisFares™ brand that is available exclusively at Kroger family of stores.  All opinions are honest and 100% my own.

Who has time for a special occasion meal during the week? Certainly not our family. Both kids are on swim team but two out of four nights their practices are at completely opposite times. Add in a weekly Boy Scout meeting for our son that runs past 9 pm and Monday through Friday dinners are usually a rushed experience served out of my slow cooker. 

Who else thinks of lasagna as a special occasion meal? If done correctly like the Italians do it can be a meal that takes a couple of hours to prepare. Slow simmering sauce and careful layering of the ingredients takes time. The end result is worth it but it’s not a weeknight meal anymore for us. 

Watch how to make Slow Cooker Lasagna:

I’m usually underwhelmed by jarred pasta sauces. Not so with this HemisFares™  Sausage and Fennel Ragu with Barolo Wine Pasta Sauce.  It tastes like the Italian countryside bottled in a jar. Opening the lid the slow cooked sweet wine and bright tomato scent filled my kitchen with visions of rolling vineyards and cobblestone streets. I visited Italy once so I am lucky to speak from experience. The sauce is truly gourmet – a surprising find in my local Kroger store for sure. 

The really great thing about making lasagna in the slow cooker is it can be eaten in shifts. An important consideration for us these days. I made it and photographed it earlier in the afternoon. I set it back on LOW heat for a couple of hours and then turned it down to WARM – by 8:30 that evening it was still perfect. It hadn’t burned or gotten weirdly soggy – something I’ve experienced with other types of pasta dishes in a slow cooker before. So why not treat your family soon to a special occasion meal of Slow Cooker Lasagna the next time you have a busy week ahead?

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Slow Cooker Lasagna

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 hours hours

Total Time 5 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 jars HemisFares™  Sausage and Fennel Ragu with Barolo Wine Pasta Sauce
• 1 9 oz box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
• 3 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

• In a large bowl combine the cottage cheese, three cups of the shredded mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic and salt. Mix well to combine.
• Spray the insert of a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
• Pour half of the first jar of HemisFares™  Sausage and Fennel Ragu with Barolo Wine Pasta Sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker.
• Break five of the no-boil lasagna noodles into about eight pieces each. Scatter the broken lasagna noodles over the sauce. 
• Top the noodles with one-third of the cheese mixture. 
• Top the cheese with the second half of the first jar of pasta sauce.
• Top the sauce with the second set (five noodles) of broken lasagna noodles. 
• Top the noodles the second third of the cheese mixture.
• Pour in the first half of the second jar of pasta sauce. 
• Top the sauce with the final five lasagna noodles, broken into pieces.
• Top the noodles with the remaining cheese mixture. 
• Top the cheese mixture with the remaining pasta sauce. 
• Top the sauce with the reserved half a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. 
• Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook the lasagna on LOW heat for four to five hours.