Slow Cooker Meatless Lasagna

I love meat. It tastes good, has easy to digest proteins, B vitamins, and iron.

But it can be a killer to my grocery budget – even when I use all my tips to save on meat.

To offset this, I serve a meatless main dish to help stretch our budget, like this slow cooker meatless lasagna. That doesn’t mean we don’t get protein though!

One of the biggest responses to eating less meat is a concern of eating less protein, but selecting lower-cost protein means slashing your grocery bill without sacrificing nutrition. Eggs, beans, Edamame, and Greek yogurt are all high in protein, but low in cost.

Cottage cheese is another item that’s frugal yet high in protein, and that’s why we love this slow cooker meatless lasagna so much. I have not nailed my own cottage cheese recipe, but this one is pretty good.

Related: 7 Cheap and Healthy High Protein Foods // Free One Week Vegetarian Meal Plan 

Slow Cooker Meatless Lasagna

This recipe is a slight variation of my meat version, where I add ground turkey to the sauce, but my family likes this one just the same and they don’t even miss the meat! In fact, one serving of this slow cooker meatless lasagna (1/8 of the recipe) boasts 31g protein!

We’re relying on cheese for the protein in this dish, but to keep the cost of cheese down, I buy cheese in 5 lb bags at Costco for $2-$2.50 a pound because it’s easier with my family of 8. On the other hand, block cheese is usually less expensive than shredded and it’s not dusted with anti-caking fiber.

Whether you choose pre-shredded or block cheese is up to you, but you can still save by buying in bulk, dividing it into smaller portions when you get home, and freezing it.

This slow cooker meatless lasagna is my personal favorite because it’s incredibly easy to throw together and since it cooks in the slow cooker, it’s virtually hands-off. Plus it works with two different cooking times, so if I happen to forget to prepare it in the morning, I can take care of it at lunch, and dinner will still be ready on time.

More Meatless Main Dishes

Frittata

Starting with a cast-iron skillet makes it easy to take a frittata from the stovetop to the oven. This recipe uses 2-4 cups of vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, or bell peppers.

We usually eat this towards the end of the week and let it be a dumping ground of sorts from the leftover vegetables from meals earlier in the week. My go-to frittata recipe makes 8 servings with 12 g protein each.

Black Bean Burgers

This simple recipe tastes like a burrito on a bun and is easily adaptable to whatever vegetables you have on hand. The original recipe just has green onion and carrots, but bell pepper, olives, corn, and tomatoes are nice too. My black bean burger recipe makes 14 burgers, each with 10g protein.

Dry beans are cheaper than canned, so I typically keep a good stock of beans. I’ll make a big batch of beans and store portions in the freezer so they are ready to go whenever I need them. The slow cooker, Instant Pot, and even the traditional stovetop method are all easy ways to make beans.

Calico Bean Soup with Cornbread

Calico bean soup is essentially a mix of different beans. You can get a bag premixed in most grocery stores, and both the 5 bean or 9 bean mixes work great. However, creating your own mix is likely the more frugal option, especially since you can choose beans that your family likes.

This dish is delicious on its own, but it’s great with leftover ham or sausage too. We like to add homemade cornbread, and with calico bean soup, each serving is about 14g protein.

More Meatless Soups: Minestrone Soup // Kung Fu Panda Soup // Red Lentil Vegetable Soup // Great Northern Beans and Ham 

Flautas

Flautas are little rolls made with homemade flour tortillas and filled with just about anything you want. Traditionally they are deep-fried, but we like them just as well baked (plus it saves money in oil). Sweet potato black bean flautas are my family’s favorite, but we sometimes will substitute 2 cups homemade refried beans for the sweet potatoes when they’re not in season.

We also like to dip them in a sauce made with 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning mix with ½ cup each of plain Greek Yogurt and homemade salsa. Each flauta contains 12g protein.

Do you incorporate meatless meals to save money? What’s your favorite meatless meal?