Slow cooker butternut squash lasagna
Aka one of the easiest and most nutrient-dense recipes I’ve made in a while! It’s gluten-free (no grains at all!), packed with veggies and protein, and cooks in the slow cooker. “Set it and forget it” for the win.
Hi friends! How’s the morning going? Hope you’re having a great day so far. <3 The weather finally cooled down again, so I’m excited to take the pups for a long walk -they’re still recovering from their own “Disneyland” which was a weekend with our awesome dog sitter- and catch up on some work around the house.
Some adventures from lately:
Yesterday the Pilot was off work, so I was able to catch a midday Orangetheory class, which was a special treat. And by “special treat” I mean I got my booty handed to me on an orange platter. One of the many things I love about OTF is that it never gets easier. You work within rounds, you choose your weights, and you push yourself as hard as you can at that time. The fact that you can scale it according to your level and how you’re feeling that day is one of the things that makes it an appealing workout option for so many.
It was coach Jolen’s birthday, so we all cheered for him while he did his birthday burpees after class. (Note to self: skip OTF on my birthday. hahah)
Yesterday we worked on some projects around the house, and P and I played before heading to pick up Liv from school. I had to show you her new chambray shirt.
I can’t even. (Also, her 11-month update is up on the Family page if you’d like to check it out!)
I’m excited for today’s post because it’s one of those super easy throw-everything-together recipes that came out surprisingly well. I was thinking about my beloved butternut squash lasagna, and thought it would be fun to change it up a bit and use the squash for the noodles. While this recipe is easy enough on its own, the slow cooker also does the cooking process. You layer everything together, and dinner is happily waiting for you hours later.
I peeled and sliced the butternut squash noodles carefully
(random: if I touch peeled butternut squash with bare hands, my skin gets all weird and itchy. The same thing happens with white potatoes)
and sautéed the filling on the stovetop. I was stoked to find organic chicken sausage at the nearby market, and used that along with sweet onion, garlic, zucchini, spinach, oregano, salt and pepper.
Layered it up with the “noodles,” sauce, feta cheese, and topped with fresh basil, and boom.
Dinner was cooking away! It took about 15 minutes to put together while P banged on pots with a wooden spoon.
Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give it a try!
Healthy slow cooker butternut squash lasagna
A delicious grain-free dinner recipe, packed with veggies and protein. This is great to make at the beginning of the week, and enjoy the leftovers for lunches.
- Prep Time: 15
- Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled and sliced into “lasagna noodles”
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 bag of spinach
- 12 oz chicken sausage, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
- Cheese of choice
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
Instructions
- 1. In a large saucepan, saute the onion, garlic, and season well with salt and pepper. Cook until fragrant- about 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken sausage and spinach, and cook until the spinach is wilted and the sausage is browned. Remove from heat.
- 2. In the bowl of the slow cooker, add a spoonful of sauce, and using the back of your spoon, smooth out to coat the bottom. Add 1/3 of the butternut squash noodles, 1/2 the chicken sausage mixture, and sprinkle with cheese of choice. Add 1/3 of the remaining sauce.
- 3. Top again with butternut squash, filling, cheese and sauce. The top layer will be butternut squash, sauce, cheese, and 1/4 cup of fresh basil.
- 4. Cook in the slow cooker on low for 5-6 hours, or high for 3-4 hours, until the butternut squash is soft and tender.
- 5. Serve with extra cheese and fresh basil on top.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
Have a wonderful morning and I’ll see ya soon!
xoxo
Gina
23 Comments
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Filing this recipe away for future meal planning! Also, I got my little that same chambray shirt – it is seriously TOO CUTE!
I love new slow cooker ideas. Now that the days are shorter (Noooooo!) and it’s getting cooler I’m all about the fluffy sweaters and warm dinners! Plus anything sweet potato. I just made some sweet potato black bean burritos last night and just can’t get enough of sweet potatoes.
Boy that shirt really makes P look grown up. Almost a YEAR already? Wow
thank you for reminding me of sweet potato and black bean combos. so good!
and yes. it’s crazy!
LOVE little chambray shirts! So adorable! I’m not a fan of squash and sauce, but the rest of the combo sounds really good, so I might just try stuffing a butternut squash with that filling.
First of all – little chambray. It’s too much. Too cute!!
Second of all, this lasagna looks delicious! And so simple. I’m all about every simple recipe, so this one will definitely be making the list.
Thanks for the tip!
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
please let me know what you think 🙂
That same thing happens to me when I handle any kind of gourd! It’s the worst when I carve a pumpkin. I think it has something to do with the starches binding to the oils in your skin because I get a similar reaction when handling corn/potato starch for any reason. It’s just a theory, but I think it makes sense.
think you’re right! i googled it years ago and it was something like that. it’s so weird!
I just made a butternut squash lasagna for one of the sites I write for. I used Sundried tomatoes and it was so good! I’ll have to try your crockpot version!
that sounds amazing!
This looks so yummy! I totally thought that squash was cheese! haha
it does kind of look like cheese!
This looks delicious! I don’t eat meat, but I bet it would be good with extra veggies instead of the chicken sausage. Also, I found Jam Jar wine at Trader Joe’s yesterday…it was only $8!! Our TJs had a “new” sign on the Jam Jar display, so I thought I would have to tell you in case it was new at yours as well! Cheers! 🙂
This looks awesome! Love your slow cooker recipes. Your sweet potato chili from the Valdizzy days is always on heavy rotation in my house. Glad I had a chance to stop and leave a comment today.
i’m happy you could too!
Looks delicious!! Any 21 day fixers out there have an idea for container count per serving? thanks!
What’s the best way to cut squash into “noodles?” Yours look so good!
i peeled the entire thing, then separated the top part from the round “bulb” part. the top part was easy to slice into noodle shapes with a shape knife. for the round bulb part, i scooped the seeds out and then sliced into thick moon shapes. (they just went in the middle of the lasagna instead of on top) 🙂
Going to try this, I love butternut squash – never thought to make lasagne noodles. BTW, my hands get the same feeling with butternut squash, not potatoes though. It is a numb feeling for me.
it’s so weird!!
Hi Gina! I just made this and tried it. Sooo good! I used goat cheese and omg I just love it. Excited to have leftovers for lunches this week at work 🙂 thanks for sharing!
yay, i’m so happy to hear!
OMG, I thought I was the only one who got the weird itchy hands from potatoes!! My mom and husband thought I was making it up to get out of peeling potatoes at Thanksgiving…glad I’m not the only one!!