This Slow-Cooker Baked Ziti is made completely in the crockpot—even the pasta! It is so much easier than the traditional version but packs all of the same flavor! The recipe includes a step-by-step video.
Love your slow cooker as much as we do? Check out my 15 Best Crockpot Recipes, these Easy Crockpot Meals or these quick-to-prep Dump ‘n’ Go Slow Cooker Meals!
Table of Contents
- Why we love this Crock Pot Baked Ziti:
- Easy Baked Ziti Ingredients:
- How to make this easy Crock Pot Baked Ziti recipe:
- Tips for cooking Crock Pot Pasta:
- Reader Rating
- Variations on this Slow Cooker Baked Ziti:
- How to store this cheesy Baked Ziti:
- Can I freeze Crock Pot Baked Ziti?
- Serving suggestions:
- More Crock Pot Pasta recipes:
- Slow Cooker Baked Ziti Recipe
Slow Cooker Baked Ziti is the perfect comforting dinner, made with hearty pasta smothered in rich sauce, combined with tender ground beef and gooey cheese. It’s a comforting dish that practically cooks itself!
Once you sauté the beef with onion, garlic, and seasonings, you throw everything into the crockpot (minus the cheese) and let it cook! The best part is that the pasta cooks right into the sauce, so there’s no need to whip out an extra pot.
If you’re looking for a delicious meal to make on busy weeknights, this delicious slow cooker recipe is for you!
Why we love this Crock Pot Baked Ziti:
- Family Favorite: Once you try this dish, it’ll quickly become a regular in your rotation! It’s hearty, satisfying, and something everyone at the table will love.
- Best Comfort Food: With layers of pasta, savory ground beef, and melted cheese, every bite feels like a warm hug after a long day.
- Low-Fuss: If you’re looking for an easy dinner, this recipe has you covered. Just throw everything into the slow cooker, and you can go about your day without any hassle.
Easy Baked Ziti Ingredients:
- Ground beef turkey or Italian sausage: use any fat-content ground beef you like! You can also keep things lean by using ground turkey or more decadent with Italian sausage.
- Aromatics: onion and minced garlic are sautéed with the meat and seasonings for flavor. You could swap them with onion powder and garlic powder if you don’t feel like chopping!
- Spices: I use a combination of salt, dried basil, and dried parsley, but you could also use Italian seasoning and salt instead!
- Diced tomatoes: these add a little texture.
- Pasta sauce: use your favorite type of marinara sauce.
- Chicken broth or beef or vegetable broth: this is used to cook pasta and add flavor. Use low-sodium broth to reduce the sodium content if you like.
- Short pasta (like Penne or Ziti): any type of short pasta shapes will work! For a heartier version, you could use whole wheat ziti or penne.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: You could also use parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, or any other type of Italian cheese you like!
How to make this easy Crock Pot Baked Ziti recipe:
Once you cook the beef, this meal practically cooks itself! Scroll down to the recipe card for the full list of instructions.
- Cook the ground beef and onion until browned.
- Stir in garlic and spices, then cook briefly.
- Add meat mixture, tomatoes, pasta sauce, and broth to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Stir in the uncooked ziti. Top with cheese, cover, and cook until melted.
Tips for cooking Crock Pot Pasta:
If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that figuring out how to cook pasta in the slow cooker was pretty life-changing for me.
Take this Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Chili Mac for instance, or this Slow Cooker Healthier Hamburger Helper. We can’t get enough!
But there are a few tricks to getting it just right!
- Small pasta is best, but long pasta is doable. Short pasta like macaroni, penne, rotini, and others work best in this Slow Cooker Baked Ziti because they’re less likely to clump and stick together. Long pasta cuts like spaghetti and fettucini are doable, but you may have to stir a couple more times in between.
- Turn your slow cooker to high when you add your pasta. It’s going to take longer to cook than if you were boiling it, but we don’t want it to take forever, so crank it up and let it go for 15 minutes or so until it reaches your desired tenderness.
- Push your pasta down into the sauce — try to make sure you don’t have too many sticking out, or they may be dry.
- Don’t overcook — cooking pasta in the slow cooker takes longer than in boiling water, but it’s not going to take more than 20-25 minutes, so check at the 15-minute mark and then try to gauge how much longer it needs at that point.
Reader Rating
“Phenomenal recipe! My whole family really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing 🙂” Cassidy
Variations on this Slow Cooker Baked Ziti:
I have one other confession: my Ziti is not Ziti. It’s Penne.
But you know what?
Ziti is not that easy to find around here, and since my “Baked” Ziti isn’t all that traditional in the first place, why cause a big fuss about it? (If you’re looking for another untraditional “Baked Ziti” recipe that doesn’t cook all day, try this One Pot Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage!)
If you insist, you can easily swap the penne for ziti noodles, and nothing will change.
Here are a few more ways to mix things up if you want:
- Try swapping ground beef for loose Italian sausage for a slightly spicy, extra flavorful kick.
- Try swapping ½ cup of the broth for ½ cup of cream for a creamy, tomato-based pasta.
- You can easily swap the penne or ziti noodles for spaghetti and end up with spaghetti and meat sauce — just cut down the cooking time on the noodles and stir every 5 minutes until cooked.
- You can easily bump up the veggie content by adding shredded carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, finely chopped kale, or spinach — and no one will know!
How to store this cheesy Baked Ziti:
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
To reheat, add a splash of water or broth and microwave until heated through.
Can I freeze Crock Pot Baked Ziti?
Yes! Keep in mind that after thawing the pasta will have a softer texture.
Just pop individual servings into airtight containers and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave.
Serving suggestions:
I love serving this hearty meal with some garlic bread to scoop up that cheesy marinara sauce! If you want to keep things light, serve with a green salad or some roasted vegetables.
More Crock Pot Pasta recipes:
- Cheesy Crockpot Chicken Spaghetti Recipe — creamy with a bit of kick!
- Crockpot Chicken and Noodles recipe — perfect comfort food.
- Crock Pot Mac and Cheese recipe — complements so many different meals!
- Healthier Slow Cooker Hamburger Helper Recipe — this one is always a hit with the kids!
Slow Cooker Baked Ziti
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (or turkey or Italian sausage)
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 650 ml jar pasta sauce (about 2 ½ cups)
- 2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth (or beef or vegetable)
- 375 gram box Penne or Ziti or other short pasta (about 4 cups)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion until browned. Stir in garlic, salt, basil and parsley and cook 1 minute. (OPTIONAL: you can also add the raw onion and spices right into the slow cooker to save on time)
- Add beef mixture, tomatoes, pasta sauce and broth to a 4qt (or larger) slow cooker. Stir.
- Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
- Turn slow cooker to high. Add pasta and stir until combined. Cover and continue cooking for 15-30 minutes (depending on how hot your slow cooker is) — check and stir at the 15 minute mark.
- Sprinkle with cheese and cover for 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Nutrition Information
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James says
Here’s what I Lazy Night Slow Cooker “Baked Ziti” with a Twist (aka Pantry Goulash Goodness)
So I was craving something cheesy, saucy, and comforting—but I wasn’t about to hit the store. I made a version of slow cooker baked ziti, but with a twist (or ten), and honestly? It turned out so good.
Here’s what I did:
-I didn’t have ziti, so I used elbow noodles—classic pantry move.
-Used one can of ground beef (yes, canned! Pantry gold).
-Chopped up one large onion, but not finely—more of a rustic chop.
-Went heavy on fresh garlic because life’s too short for one teaspoon.
-Tossed in a big can of diced tomatoes and a large jar of blush pasta sauce I had on hand.
-Skipped the chicken broth—wasn’t needed.
-Added ground pepper, crushed red chili flakes for a kick (especially since I used a blush sauce), and a bit of garlic salt with parsley.
-Mixed in about 4 tablespoons of Italian herb paste (basil, oregano, rosemary—yum).
-Threw in some frozen peppers I prepped a while ago. They added amazing flavor, texture, and color.
Cooked on HIGH for 4 hours in the slow cooker. At the 2-hour mark, I gave it a stir—it was very liquidy, but I trusted the process.
By hour four, half the liquid had cooked off.
Then I stirred in a box of elbow noodles (half a box if you want a smaller portion) and let it cook for another 30 minutes on HIGH, then switched to LOW until dinnertime.
Finishing Touch: Scooped a portion into an air fryer-safe bowl, topped with Sam’s Club shredded Mexican-style 4-cheese, and popped it in the air fryer at 370°F for 7 minutes—got that bubbly, toasty cheese crust we all love.
Served it with garlic bread, and let me tell you—it was lusciously gooey, hearty, and exactly the kind of lazy comfort food I needed.
You can totally customize this, but if you’ve got some random pantry goods and a craving for something cozy? This one hits.did differently:
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing!
Laura says
Can this be made without meat?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes I’m sure it can!
R says
This was a no for me. Followed the recipe exactly as written and it came out watery, acidic and lacking in flavor. My kids didn’t like it.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m sorry you didn’t like it!
Carly says
What if it cooks for 7 hours?
Ashley Fehr says
Before adding the pasta the cook time is very flexible! 7 hours will be just fine. You just have to watch it after the pasta is added
Ashlee says
It says to cook the ground beef first but then says to put it in the crock pot for several hours. Why would you need to do it for so long if it’s already cooked?
Ashley Fehr says
You cook the sauce so that the flavors come together and so it is hot enough to cook the pasta when it is added.
Julie says
I want to make this, but would need to leave the crockpot on warm for about 4 hours, do you think the pasta will get squishy?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes the pasta will not be good after 4 hours. I would recommend cooking it separately if you need to leave it that long, but then you will need to reduce the liquid.
Sharleen says
How much less liquid would you use? I need my new ready as soon as we walk in the door, so I want to cook the pasta tonight and just mix it in at the end…
Ashley Fehr says
You can likely skip the broth entirely if cooking the pasta separately.
Jen says
I’m a little confused. Do I cook it the stuff in the crockpot for 3 hours on high then add the pasta for the 15 minutes? Or am I missing something?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes that’s correct
Michael says
Could I add mushrooms to this?
Ashley Fehr says
Absolutely!
Tami Jennings says
Can this recipe be doubled successfully?
Ashley Fehr says
It could be, if you have a very large crockpot!
K says
When you add the diced tomatoes, do you drain their liquid first?
Ashley Fehr says
No I do not drain them
Lonathan says
Been trying to work on eating out less and cooking more, for other dishes I’ve tried from other websites I’ve felt the urge to just go eat out but whenever I have this in the fridge I always look forward to it! So easy to make, easy to reheat and always tasty! I recommend holding off on the cheese until you reheat it and then add your desired amount of cheese on afterwards, that way it feels like you just pulled it out of the pan.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m SO glad you’ve enjoyed it! Thanks for the tip!
Victoria says
When would you add mushroom and bell pepper ? Would you cook them in the skillet with the beef or just add straight to the crockpot at the beginning?
Ashley Fehr says
You could do either!
Jane says
It says it can all be made in the crock pot but then it says to fry the ground beef first. Can I just add the raw ground beef to the crock pot or does it have to be cooked first?
Ashley Fehr says
You can, yes, but it will release all the fat into the dish.
Patrik f says
Do I boil the noodles before I add it to the crock pot?? Thank you
Ashley Fehr says
No you don’t need to 🙂
Laura says
If I don’t have crushed tomatoes can I use another jar of pasta sauce?
Ashley Fehr says
You can use an equivalent amount of pasta sauce, yes.