Crock Pot Baked Ziti

Name: Crock Pot Baked Ziti
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 260 min
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef ( or Italian sausage); 1 onion (small chopped); 2 cloves garlic ( crushed); 1 cup ricotta cheese; 1 egg white; 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated ); 1 1/2 tsp salt (divided); 1/2 tsp dry parsley; 28 oz crushed tomatoes; 1 1/2 teaspoon basil; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional); 2 cups dry ziti noodles; 2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded )

Feb 20, 2023 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · Last modified: Oct 29, 2024 · 67 Comments

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Cooking time: 4

Delicious Crock Pot Baked Zit has delicious meat sauce, three kinds of cheese, plus uncooked pasta baked in the slow cooker. You can have the best Italian pasta for dinner tonight.

You may confuse it with the taste of the best lasagna. It is perfect for special casual family meals or an easy dinner without spending all day in the kitchen.

🥣Ingredients

Ground beef—or Italian sausage
Cheese—ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella
Tomatoes—crushed
Aromatics—garlic and onion
Pasta—ziti or penna pasta
Egg—white only
Pantry ingredients—parsley, basil, crushed red pepper (optional), salt, and pepper

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🥣Ingredients
👨‍🍳How to Make Crock Pot Baked Ziti—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
⏲️How long to cook
✔️Variations and options to make it perfect every time
Pasta tips
Crock Pot Italian Recipes
↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size " recipe
Serving and Leftovers
❓FAQs
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Baked Ziti

Featured Comment from Kathleen:
"I have made this several times for my Husband. He is a very picky eater…he absolutely loves this!!! It is a 5-star rating for us!!"

It is outrageously good, with gooey melted cheese, great meat sauce, and tender pasta—now you can have the best-baked ziti—loaded with wonderful tasty meat sauce, tender pasta, and three types of cheese.

This recipe takes about 20 minutes of prep and 4 hours of crock pot time. Using uncooked pasta saves a step, but mainly to prevent the mushy texture of crock pot pasta recipes.

👨‍🍳How to Make Crock Pot Baked Ziti—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

burger with egg and ingredients for ziti.

1. Use the pasta you want—usually ziti or penne pasta.

adding chopped onion to burger in a fry pan.

2. Brown ground beef with chopped onion and crushed garlic— about 9-10 minutes.

3. Combine ricotta cheese with egg white, grated Parmesan cheese, dry parsley, and salt—do not over-mix.

mixing crushed tomatoes with spices in a bowl.

4. Mix crushed tomatoes, basil, optional red pepper, salt, and pepper.

5. Drain the meat of extra fat and combine it with the sauce.

pouring uncooked pasta on the meat sauce.

6. Using a 3 to 4 quart or larger slow cooker, lay meat sauce with uncooked pasta.

adding cheeses to the first layer of pasta.

7. Add half the ricotta cheese mixture by placing spoonfuls on the pasta. Top with shredded Mozzarella cheese.

8.Repeat the layers all the layers.

spoonful of baked ziti over the crock pot.

9. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. But check the pasta one hour early and closer to the end. End cooking early if needed to prevent overcooking of the pasta.

For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.

⏲️How long to cook

Cooking on low is recommended for this recipe. You are less likely to overcook your pasta. On low, it takes about 4 hours. Check on the pasta about an hour early since crock pots can be unpredictable.

If you decide to cook on high, it should take about 2 hours, but check the pasta at 1 and 1 ½ hours into cooking.

✔️Variations and options to make it perfect every time

Meat tips

If you want, leave the meat out. But, in our home, ziti always has meat. It may be ground beef, Italian sausage, ground chicken, or ground turkey.

Any ground meat must be browned before adding it to a crock pot recipe, or it will be a clumpy mess and leave drainage in the dish. I also took the opportunity to precook the onion and garlic here.

Sauce tips

You can change up the spicing of the homemade sauce if you prefer another flavor.

Add vegetables like bell pepper or mushrooms if you like.

You can use jar marinara sauce, but this recipe's sauce is much better.

Pasta tips

Cooking pasta in a crock pot can be a bit tricky. Crock pots vary in their temperature curve, and the other ingredients can affect the cooking. The most important variable is the pasta itself. I suggest using a similar pasta each time to learn how it will cook by this method.

Smaller pasta will tend to cook faster. The recommended cooking time for your pasta will give you a clue. The penne pasta I usually use has a suggested cooking time of 12-14 minutes.

Pasta with very short cooking times will not be a good choice, and If you use non-standard pasta, like whole wheat or gluten-free pasta, the results may or may not be good.

Crock Pot Italian Recipes

Crock Pot Italian Chicken Pasta

Delicious Crock Pot Italian Chicken Pasta is loaded with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, tender chicken, and pasta. It is cooked in an easy homemade marinara sauce that cooks the dry pasta and chicken while it simmers. You will love this cheesy Italian bake.

You may also like these crock pot Italian recipes like Crock Pot Chicken Baked Ziti, Crock Pot Pizza Casserole, and Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore. This recipe is featured in Smaller Crock Pot Recipes and Valentine's Day Recipes roundups.

↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size " recipe

It is already "cooking for two" friendly, but you may make it smaller in a mini crock pot or larger for a family meal in a full-size slow cooker. The full recipe makes 4 servings in a 3 to 4-quart crock pot—perfect for our "for two" household for two meals. But you can adjust down or up according to your needs.

Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
If you cook a half recipe in a 2-quart mini crock pot, watch the pasta closely since smaller cock pots may have more temperature variation—check early and frequently. The main downfall of mini crock pots is temperature control.
A double recipe works well in a 6 ½ quart or large slow cooker.
Cook for the same amount of time on low. But heed the warning about checking your pasta early due to crock pot temperature variations, especially in mini crock pots.

Serving and Leftovers

Serve like any great Italian. A green salad and garlic bread are perfect.

Store leftovers in an airtight container refrigerated for 4 days or frozen for 3 months.

To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If frozen, reheat in the microwave or cover in the oven.

❓FAQs

What is baked ziti?

Baked Ziti starts with some tomato-based sauce, usually with meat in my house, but you could skip the meat if you must. Add some cheese and pasta, and you have a classic Italian dish. There are variations, but that is it.

What is the difference between ziti and penne pasta?

They look similar but not quite the same. Ziti is a bit bigger and has straight-cut ends. The penne is a little smaller with angle-cut ends. But they cook the same and can be used interchangeably. I like my pasta a bit smaller, and penne is readily available, and ziti pasta is not around me.

📖 Recipe

Inspired by a Pioneer Woman recipe for Baked Ziti, it is a bit more lasagna-like than some recipes with ricotta and Parmesan cheeses and was not a crock pot recipe. I adapted.

Editor's note: Originally published December 5, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.