Easy Cooker Spinach Ricotta Lasagna

A hearty, vegetarian lasagna made easy in your crock pot! This Slow Cooker Spinach Ricotta Lasagna is a healthier take on your favorite comfort food!

Easy Cooker Spinach Ricotta Lasagna

I like to serve this Slow Cooker Spinach Ricotta Lasagna with a green salad and some toasty garlic bread.

 If you prefer to use jarred marinara sauce, you can replace the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, and salt with 2 (26 ounces each) jars of your favorite marinara sauce. Season with pepper and continue with the recipe as written.

Easy Cooker Spinach Ricotta Lasagna
 A hearty, vegetarian lasagna made easy in your crock pot! This Slow Cooker Spinach Ricotta Lasagna is a healthier take on your favorite comfort food!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes*
• 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• 10 whole wheat lasagna noodles (uncooked, not no-boil)
• 1⅓ cups part-skim ricotta cheese
• 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
• 2 ¾ cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat.
2. Spread a thin layer of the sauce/mushroom mixture over the bottom of the slow cooker. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, breaking them into smaller pieces as needed. Spoon ⅓ cup ricotta cheese over the noodles, scooping little dollops of it to spread it out over the noodles. Pour 1 cup of the sauce evenly over the noodles and ricotta. Top with ⅓ of the spinach and ¾ cup mozzarella.
3. Repeat layers two more times: noodles, ⅓ cup ricotta, 1 cup sauce, spinach, ¾ cup mozzarella.
4. Then make one more layer on top with noodles, the remaining sauce, ⅓ cup ricotta, and ½ cup mozzarella.
5. Cook lasagna in your slow cooker on low heat for about 3 ½ hours, until noodles are tender. Let stand, covered, for 30 minutes before serving.

More recipe, Source: kristineskitchenblog.com