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Kid Friendly Veggie Packed Slow Cooker Lasagna

Ingredients

For the Veggie Meat Sauce:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil or butter
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 bell pepper diced
  • ½ head cauliflower chopped small
  • 4 ounces of mushrooms sliced
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 lb grassfed ground beef
  • 1 – 32 ounce jar marinara sauce
  • Sea salt & pepper to taste

For the Creamy Bechamel Sauce

  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup white rice flour
  • 2 ¼ cups full fat coconut milk or regular milk
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 2 eggs whisked

For the Slow Cooker Lasagna

Instructions

Make the Veggie Meat Sauce:

  • Over medium high heat, warm the olive oil and then sauté the onion, bell pepper, cauliflower, and mushrooms for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and soft.
  • Add the garlic, spinach, and tomato paste, and stir to combine.
  • Add the ground beef with a big pinch of sea salt and pepper, and brown the beef, stirring it into the cooked veggies.
  • Once the beef is fully cooked, add the marinara sauce, stir to combine, simmer for 5 minutes, and then set aside.

Make the Creamy Bechamel Sauce:

  • Use a medium saucepan and melt the butter over medium high heat.
  • Whisk in the white rice flour, making a paste, and then gradually stir in the coconut milk, whisking along the way. Add the sea salt and pepper.
  • Keep the heat on high and whisk the mixture until creamy and smooth. This takes a minute or 2.
  • Turn the heat off. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl and gradually add little bits of the egg at a time to the bechamel sauce whisking along the way until full incorporated.

Assemble and Cook the Lasagna

  • Spray the slow cooker with avocado oil spray before you assemble the lasagna.
  • Scoop enough of the veggie meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker to generously cover the bottom.
  • Layer your uncooked lasagna noodles over the meat mixture. You’ll have to break up the noodles a bit to cover the area.
  • Pour about 1/3 of the creamy bechamel sauce over the noodles, and then scoop some of the veggie meat mixture over the top of the bechamel sauce, spreading it out to cover all of the surface of the noodles.
  • Add another layer of noodles, bechamel sauce, and veggie meat sauce.
  • Add the last layer of noodles, the last of the bechamel sauce, and the last of the veggie meat sauce, and then sprinkle with shredded cheese of your choice.
  • Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours. Turn the slow cooker off and let the lasagna rest for at least 30 minutes to soak in the juices and set up before cutting and serving. Up to 2 hours is even better and will still be hot!