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!
WANT MORE SCRUMPTIOUS RECIPES?
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
Thank you for the quick response. I had already browned half the meat and told my husband I thought it would be too much if I doubled it and would use 2 slow cookers which fortunately I have. I must have bee reading your mind since I took a break between the two batches of meat to check e-mails and you confirmed my suspicions, Can’t wait to try it, just reading the ingredients makes my mouth water. thanks again
Ha! I was hoping I would get my response in time before you made it!! Hope everyone enjoyed it!!
Someone asked on Nov.7th of last year if this could be doubled and there’s been no reply. Plannig to do that for a church pot-luck this Sunday so may be too late for a reply. Wondering if it would need to cook longer
I wouldn’t double it in one slow cooker. It would be far too much to cook evenly. I would recommend two separate slow cookers.
Can this be cooked in the oven ? If I cook the pasta noodles ? I’m running low on time.
Absolutely amazing. Shared with all my mama friends
Thank you so very much Elizabeth!! 🙂
I cooked my noodles first and still added the water is it going to be too watery now?
Yikes, possibly?
Can this be converted to a non – crockpot version? I’m short on time but want this meal… Haha
This was really good. I am very busy and didn’t have time for the crock pot so I tried it in the pressure cooker. It was so delicious. I will definitely make it again.
Can it be cooked even quicker? Skillet maybe? I can’t wrap my brain around it right now. ????
I bet it could. You could turn it into a one pot spaghetti but not sure how the layering would work.
How long did you cook it?
I cooked it for about 10-12 minutes
Kristyn,
You just followed the recipe exactly as written except cooked it in your Instant Pot at 10 min on manual high? Did you let it vent naturally? Thank you so much!
LOL! Your hubby must be my long lost brother/cousin, etc! I don’t like pasta either except for Chinese lo mein. But I do have a family of pasta lovers and I love having some good pasta recipes on hand for them. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Anytime I mention that we’re having any type of pasta, his shoulders drop like a disappointed five year old. LOL
If you read the recipe it states the amount clearly. Two 24 oz. jars.
When you say jar how many ounces is a jar?
Wow! This was amazing. For those of you wondering…I cut the recipe in half and cooked for 3 hrs/10 minutes and it was perfect!! Next time I’ll try Italian sausage! So good!
If I cut this recipe in half, how long should I cook it instead?
Donesha, I haven’t tested that out to be honest so I couldn’t really give you a proven time. I think you could perhaps cut it back by a couple of hours but you’ll have to play around with the time yourself to see what works best.
I don’t often have time or the energy to make anything fancy anymore. I always loved having a crockpot to make easy meals, but never thought of making something like this in a crockpot. I thought that I would give it a try. I used some of my own seasoning when cooking the burger. When we came home for dinner, I was amazed at how good this was. Easiest recipe to make and SO GOOD!
I don’t want to bother with pasta any other way. And my family is fine with that.
Hi Kathy!! Yay! Absolutely love hearing that! Thank you so very much for taking the time out of your busy day to come back here and leave such a great comment!
This is SooOo good. I used Italian sausage but that was all I changed because I wanted some. Daddy and my 18 month old Loved it! There’s enough for dinner tonight, too. Can I just reheat this in the crockpot on low? Or do I have to reheat plates in the microwave?
Hi Jamie! Sorry for my delay in responding! So, so happy you loved this one! You could reheat in the crockpot. The key is not letting it dry out. So, I tend to cover with a paper towel and just reheat in the microwave. 🙂
Hey there making this tonight! Would halfing the recipe work? Will it affect anything?
Shouldn’t be a problem! Just keep an eye on the cooking time. Hope you love it!
Do you have to use cavatappi or can you use any kind of noodles??
Hi Dawn – you could really use any kind of noodle. I like the cavatappi because it kind of grabs and holds onto the sauce and cheese.:)
It’s very good!! I recommend trying it, i used italin sausage and onion too
Thank you Rake!! So happy you loved it with the Italian sausage too! 🙂
Looks great. I don’t have time to pick up ricotta could I leave out or should I replace with more sour cream and Parmesan?
Hi Sarah, I haven’t tried it but it should work. Let me know how it turns out for you!
We don’t eat red meat. Was wondering if ground turkey instead.
Do you think I can eliminate the crockpot all together and just bake it in the oven? Obviously cooking the meat beforehand, possibly the pasta too?
Hi Jessica! You sure could! Cook the pasta and brown the ground beef and don’t add the water. 🙂
Do you think I could eliminate the water and cook pasta and then follow layering directions in a baking pan and stick in oven like a lasagna?
Hi Britney – yes, I would think so! 🙂
I’m actually going to try this in my instant pot as is and just cook it as slow cooker…fingers crossed all goes well!!!
Hi Kim i was going to ask the same would this work with instant pot and if yes what settings works best
I would like to use a crock pot liner when I make this. Any issues with using a liner ? The liner makes clean up so easy.
Nope! I’m cooking it now with a liner!
Hello! Can this be made in a four quart pot successfully? I need a lot so I don’t want to half the recipe but I don’t want overflow either. Help!!
That would be pretty tight. And it may not cook evenly if it’s close to overflowing… 🙁
Can this be doubled simply by doubling the ingredients or are there other adjustments needed?
Hi! this looks so amazing!! I plan on cooking this for 4 hrs then it will go to low for 1-2 hrs. Do you think it will dry out that way? Also, Do you think this would be good to freeze afterwards?
Thanks!
I have made this several times and love it. I plan to make it for a work pot luck tomorrow! Can you make ahead the night before, leave in fridge, then cook the next day?