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
Thoughts on using chicken broth instead of water? Plus, I am thinking of adding some sort of frozen veggies, like an italian blend, or maybe some spinach, tho I’m not sure how it would turn out.
Is there a reason to layering it all at first when once it’s cooked you stir it all together anyways? Just wondering if it would be the same turnout?
Hi,
Have you made a vegetarian version? Or for a potluck? Any advice? Thanks
would rigatoni work or would it get too soggy? i am trying to clean out the pasta in my pantry.
Hi Brittney – I imagine you could. I haven’t tested it with rigatoni but if you give it a try – let me know!
Haa anyone tried to double the batch? Have a big crowd to feed, maybe needs to cook longer?
Hi Julie, I would do it in two separate crock pots. Doubling it in one won’t allow it to cook properly. 🙂
Can I put this together the night before? It looks wonderful
Made this in a 4 QT for dinner and it turned out perfectly, seriously addicting plus my son who normally hates sauce on his pasta was obsessed!!!!
Score one for Mom! Ha! Love hearing that Kirsten! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment!
I’m going to make this without the ground meat, but adding spinach. Thoughts?
I never say not to spinach. 🙂
Could I use mostocchioli noodles? Would the cook time be different since noodles are bigger? Thanks
Forgot to add that I used shells and it held the sauce and cheese beautifully.
Following up…Kids loved it. Made as described just added seasoning salt, dried oregano, dried basil, onion powder, garlic salt and diced onions while cooking the beef. We like spices. Also threw a handful of.mushrooms that I diced and a few teaspoons of white sugar on the top while cooking after it was layered. Took 3 hours in an Instant Pot on slowcooker low vent open. I haven’t heard a word since it was served except “Wow this is the best pasta ever!!!” from “Mr Picky” followed by a quick “Yes” from “Miss I Hate Red Sauce” and my oldest “Mr Garbage Disposal” didn’t even come up for air… just silently hoovered. Guess it must be good. ???????????? Saving this one for sure! Thank you for the new super easy recipe. Can’t wait to try the different variations but this recipe is solid! Love this new way to cook pasta.
I am cracking up Carol! I absolutely loved reading your comment!! Thank you so very much for taking the time to come back and leave all of this great feedback!
Thank you for the super easy, throw together, delish meal. Has anyone tried this this with 1 part red sauce & 1 part white garlic sauce OR 2 parts white garlic sauce with chicken, broccoli or broccolini and parmesan? Just curious. I like to make my lasagna like my hubby’s grandmother from Italy/Sicily with either all red OR half white garlic and half red sauce with fresh chiffonade basil on top symbolizing the Italian flag. Might be good with some mushrooms and finely chopped olives too :).
I love the mix of the two sauces. Now I’m drooling. Ha! I think you could totally do some chicken, broccoli and white sauce!
Can I use a different type of pasta? Like a garbanzo bean based pasta or a lentil based one? Thank you! It looks delicious!
Is there another replacement for ricotta instead of cottage cheese?
Thank you.
Maybe mascarpone cheese? You may want to add a tad bit of salt to the mascarpone because it’s more of a sweeter style cheese.
I set up the crockpot the night before and cooked it the next afternoon. Only use 1/2 a jar of water and dont put it in until you start cooking it. Also I would suggest seasoning with salt both when cooking your meat and before you add the mozzarella cheese.
Can this recipe be made the night before and be kept in the refrigerator?
My kids LOVE this pasta! The 8 year old asked me yesterday to make “that thing with the noodles I really like” lol I used 1lb of ground beef and 1lb of ground sausage the first time i made it and it was so good that I’m not gonna change it. I also just throw in whatever small pasta I have on hand at the time. Tonight we are using halloween shapes!
Nothing makes me happier than to hear when the kiddos love a recipe! Thank you so much Jessica!!
Making this for dinner tonight…..how long if I cook it on high?
I haven’t tested it on high yet Xiomara. You could try cutting the time in half. You have to be careful with burning though.
Can elbow macaroni be used instead of cavatappi?
This looks so delicious!! There’s only two of us. Could this recipe be cut in half? Thanks
Will this work as well with a jarred Alfredo sauce. We don’t care for red sauce.
This sounds absolutely delicious. I have a question about the number of servings. The recipe states that it serves 6, however it calls for 2 pounds of ground beef. That seems a lot for just 6 servings. Is the number of servings listed correct?Thank you for sharing such great recipes!
Could you freeze this and then cook it?
I haven’t tried it. It’s hard to say because you are putting in the noodles uncooked. I don’t think it would cook properly from frozen…
I was wondering if I could make this recipe ahead of time? For example, put all ingredients in the crock pot and leave in in the refrigerator until I’m ready to cook it?
I was wondering this also. Did you try it?
Hello, just wondering how cottage cheese would be in replace of ricotta cheese. Thoughts?
Hi Maranda, It should work fine in this recipe. I have a recipe for Crock Pot Lasagna that uses cottage cheese and it comes out great!
Thanks so much!