Crock Pot Million Dollar Pasta (+Video)
Crock Pot Million Dollar Pasta has layers of sauce, pasta, beef and a delicious cream sauce all topped with melty, gooey mozzarella cheese!
A SIMPLE, FLAVORFUL CROCK POT MEAL
A yummy, creamy, flavorful sauce with tender pasta all topped with a gooey, melty cheese? Yes, please! For me, pasta is the perfect leftover food. So I don’t mind if I have a lot leftover. This recipe is made all in one pot and it also takes your traditional pasta and sauce meal to something just a bit more special!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
No. For this recipe you are not going to cook the pasta beforehand. They will go in dry.
My personal favorite spaghetti sauce is Rao’s Roasted Garlic. But it can be pretty pricey since you need two jars for this recipe. I’ve used the Walmart brand (as you see below.) I’ve used the Aldi brand as well and they all work fine. You can use any of your favorite marinara/spaghetti sauce that you enjoy.
Cottage cheese is my go-to as a substitute for ricotta cheese. It’s a more budget-friendly choice and you honestly don’t taste any real difference in this recipe.
Of course not. You can leave it out if you don’t want a meaty pasta. You can switch it out for ground Italian sausage, ground turkey, etc.
Pasta makes for fantastic leftovers! Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- ground beef
- cream cheese
- sour cream
- ricotta cheese
- garlic
- spaghetti sauce
- water,
- cavatappi, cellentini or macaroni pasta
- mozzarella cheese
HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT MILLION DOLLAR PASTA:
Brown and crumble ground beef (season with salt and pepper.) Drain excess grease and set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, ricotta cheese, minced garlic and parsley.
In the bottom of a 6 quart (or larger) oval slow cooker, add half a jar of spaghetti sauce. Evenly layer half the box of the cavatappi pasta on top of sauce. Pour remaining jar of spaghetti sauce over noodles. Pour on half a jar of water.
Then layer half the cooked ground beef mixture over top.
Dollop the entire cream cheese mixture evenly as possible over the beef layer. Do not stir.
Evenly layer the rest of the cavatappi pasta on top of the cream cheese layer.
Top with remaining jar spaghetti sauce. Pour another half jar of water on top of spaghetti sauce. Finally, layer the rest of the cooked ground beef on top. Cover and cook on low for about 3-4 hours. After cooking, gently stir mixture. Then layer with 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover for an additional 15-20 minutes (until cheese is melted.)
Then dig in!
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Crock Pot Million Dollar Pasta (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 (24 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce, divided use
- 24 ounce jar water
- 16 ounce box cavatappi pasta
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Brown and crumble ground beef (season with salt and pepper.) Drain excess grease and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, ricotta cheese, minced garlic and parsley.
- In the bottom of a 6 quart (or larger) oval slow cooker, add half a jar of spaghetti sauce.
- Evenly layer half the box of the cavatappi pasta on top of sauce.
- Pour remaining jar of spaghetti sauce over noodles.
- Pour on half a jar of water.
- Then layer half the cooked ground beef mixture over top.
- Dollop the entire cream cheese mixture evenly as possible over the beef layer. Do not stir.
- Evenly layer the rest of the cavatappi pasta on top of the cream cheese layer.
- Top evenly with remaining jar of spaghetti sauce
- Pour another half jar of water on top of spaghetti sauce.
- Finally, layer the rest of the cooked ground beef on top.
- Cover and cook on low for about 3-4 hours.
- Stir mixture and make sure pasta is fully cooked. If not, cover and allow to cook for another hour. Then evenly layer the top with 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Cover for an additional 15-20 minutes (until cheese is melted.) Sprinkle with a little dried parsley for color (optional).)
Video
Notes
- Use as much or as little cheese as you like. If two cups on top is too much for you, just cut back on the amount used.
- Ground Italian sausage can be for the ground beef.
- Use any corkscrew style pasta or similar size pasta that you enjoy or can find.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: October 2016
Updated & republished: June 2019
This was really good. I know every slow Coker is different and I think mine cooks a bit more on the hotter side so I really paid attention to the pasta and it didn’t need that long to cook. I wouldn’t just throw it in and come back a few hours later. LOL Turned out great!
I do not want to add any meat and concerned about the amount of water for the recipe might make it too soupy. Do I need to cut back on the water since I am not including 2 pounds of cooked meat to absorb some of the water?
That’s a good question and I really don’t know. The water really doesn’t do much for the meat, it’s for the pasta, but honestly, I’ve never tried it. The only way to know sometimes is to experiment and I don’t like to guess unless I’ve actually tried it myself – especially since ingredients are so costly these days. I don’t want anyone upset they wasted ingredients because I steered them wrong.
I substituted the water with chicken broth for a little more flavor, and I added some Italian herbs and added both cottage cheese and ricotta. Delicious!!
We really enjoyed this. I think the key is not to let it overcook to the point that it might get mushy. Turned out good for us though!
I prepped this last night and plugged it in at the end of lunch on my break from work. Hoping it comes out okay. I am nervous about the noodles sitting overnight in the fridge but fingers crossed it’ll be good. I did let the ground beef cool for about 10-15 min before I layered it in. I did not want it to warm up the cheese since it was going in the fridge overnight. Here’s hoping!
Can this be doubled? It was so good would like to make for a crowd.
I wouldn’t double it in the same crock pot. It would be too much and the bottom would possibly get mushy. If you really want to double it, I would do it in a separate crock pot 🙂
would I need to make any changes if I use gluten free pasta
Hi Michele! I don’t think I would do this with gluten free pasta. It would end up turning to mush unfortunately.
Can you use this as a meal prep and make the ingredients in advance to cook in the crock pot later?
I think you probably could. I haven’t personally done that myself but it seems like it would work 🙂 If you give it a go, I’d love to know how it turns out for you!
Absolutely amazing! Super easy to put together and make and taste sooooogood, my family inhaled it!
Yay! Thanks so very much Erica!
I haven’t made this yet but will this weekend. Personally, I use Bertoli jarred sauce… the olive oil and garlic is close to home made. Surprisingly , Publix own brand of pasta sauce is quite good as well. Classico is good in a pinch… their spicy tomato basil is a winner. Just thought I would throw out these ideas to your cooking fans, of which I am one! By the way, I am Italian heritage. I think I can recommend a good sauce!
Great tips Doris! Love hearing what everyone enjoys! My new favorite is Rao’s. The garlic is amazing and has fresh ingredients. Nothing weird in there. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive – gah!! Thanks so much for being here and commenting!! 🙂
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I substituted spicy sausage for the ground beef. Definitely a crowd pleaser. Thanks!
This was a hit in our home.
Made it by recipe. My children really enjoyed it!