Crockpot Million Dollar Pasta
This Crockpot Million Dollar Pasta recipe is so easy to make with 10 minutes of prep, the slow cooker does all of the cooking for you. It's rich and delicious, plus uses pantry ingredients. It's one of our family's favorite pasta recipes and we're sure it will be yours too!
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 8 oz block cream cheese room temp
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 2 24 oz jars spaghetti sauce, divided
- 24 oz jar water
- 16 oz box cavatappi pasta
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Brown and crumble ground beef. Drain grease and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, ricotta cheese, minced garlic and parsley.
- Add half a jar of spaghetti sauce to crockpot and layer half the box of the pasta.
- Pour jar of sauce over noodles. Then fill the sauce jar halfway with water and pour over noodles and sauce.
- Layer half the ground beef.
- Dollop the entire cream cheese mixture. Do not stir.
- Evenly layer the rest of the pasta, then sauce, half jar of water, then the rest of the cooked ground beef
- Cook on low for about 3-4 hrs. Stir.
- Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and cover for 15-20 mins. Sprinkle dried parsley for garnish.
Notes
Storage:
This million dollar pasta recipe also makes the best leftovers! Store in an airtight container in the fridge, where it should stay fresh for about 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven until just warmed through before serving.
You can freeze this pasta bake as well, we just can't guarantee the texture will be great once it thaws. You'll want to defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
When it comes to making this slow cooker pasta recipe in advance, that's the magic of the crockpot. Just toss the ingredients in the slow cooker and you can go about your busy day. It's such a nice feeling to have dinner ready when you get home!
Tips:
- Brown the beef before adding it to the slow cooker. You don't want to add it raw, by browning it in advance, you add more flavor to the pasta recipe and also make sure it's cooked all the way through.
- Layer the million dollar pasta ingredients correctly. In order to guarantee the texture and flavor turn out perfectly, make sure you layer according to the instructions and don't stir! The slow cooker does all of the work for you.
- Swap the beef for another protein. You could also use ground chicken, ground turkey, or even ground chicken sausage in this recipe.
- Make it spicy. Add a pinch of red chili flakes to the sauce for an added kick!
- Grate the cheese yourself if you have time. The pre-shredded cheese has a powdered coating on it that can prevent it from melting as nicely. If you have a minute, grate the cheese yourself on a box grater.