This easy Crock Pot Baked Ziti recipe only takes 10 minutes to prep using uncooked noodles layered in cheese and marinara sauce. Delicious comfort food for any busy night!
Looking for more crock pot recipes? Try Chicken Tikka Masala, French Dip Sandwiches, or Creamy Ranch Pork Chops!
Why I love this recipe:
- Quick Prep – All you need is 10 minutes to place the ingredients in the slow cooker and dinner will be done on time!
- One Pot – A true dump and forget meal. It’s completely hands off cooking, and no mess!
- Delicious – This three cheese ziti is a crowd pleaser, and my kids are always asking for more!
How to make Crock Pot Baked Ziti:
Make Cheese Layer: Add cream cheese, sour cream, and ricotta to a mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixers until smooth. Stir in garlic and basil.
Make Sauce: In a large bowl, combine both jars of pasta sauce, tomato sauce, and water.
Assemble: Add 2 cups of sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with ⅓ of the uncooked penne, then dot half of the ricotta mixture and spread with a spoon. Top with grated parmesan cheese.
Repeat Layers, then pour remaining uncooked penne on top followed by the remaining sauce.
Cook: Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-2 ½ hours or LOW for 3-4 hours or until pasta is tender.
Top with Cheese: During the last few minutes, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and return the lid to allow it to melt. You can place it under the broiler in the oven for 2 minutes to make the cheese golden and bubbly if you’d like.
Serve this crock pot pasta with easy homemade breadsticks and a green salad!
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The riccotta cheese mixture and the pasta sauce can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge in separate airtight containers until ready to assemble and cook.
To Freeze: Leftovers from this crock pot ziti can be frozen in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months. Let thaw in the fridge completely before reheating. The pasta may be a little softer than when it was freshly made.
Recipe Variations:
- Oven Baked Ziti
- Add Meat: Add 1 pound cooked ground beef or ground sausage to the red sauce before layering.
- Add veggies: sautéed veggies, chopped small and layered over the red sauce would make a delicious addition. Try adding zucchini, spinach, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms.
- Pasta: Penne pasta could also be substituted.
Serve Baked Ziti with:
- Easy Homemade Breadsticks
- Cheesy Breadsticks
- Garlic Knots
- Apple Pecan Salad
- Spring Pea Salad
- Orange Pomegranate Salad
- Mixed Green Salad with Berries
- French Green Beans (Haricots Verts)
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Recipe
Crock Pot Baked Ziti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 24 ounce jars marinara pasta sauce or two batches of homemade marinara
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 16 ounces UNCOOKED ziti pasta (or penne)
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves , chopped
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil, for topping optional
Instructions
- Make Cheese Layer: Add cream cheese, sour cream and ricotta to a mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixers until smooth. Stir in garlic and basil.
- Make Red Sauce: In a large bowl, combine both jars of pasta sauce, tomato sauce and water.
- Assemble: Add 2 cups of sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with about ⅓ of the uncooked penne. Dot on half of the ricotta mixture and use a spoon to gently spread it out evenly. Top with ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese.
- Add another 2 cups of sauce. Top with ⅓ of the uncooked penne. Add remaining ricotta mixture and spread. Sprinkle on the remaining ¾ cup parmesan cheese. Add the remaining uncooked penne. Top with the remaining sauce. Make sure the ziti noodles are covered by the sauce so they cook appropriately. Top with mozzarella cheese.
- Cook: Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 2 – 2 ½ hours, or LOW for 3 ⅓ -4 hours, or until pasta is tender. Serve garnished with fresh basil, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe September 2017. Updated May 2022.
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Go do I make this without a slow cooker? Just put it in a casserole dish, foil, and bake?
Here is my baked version: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/one-pan-baked-ziti/
Made tonight and liked it. Felt there was not enough ricotta mixture. There is no way I can spread it out and have anything but a see-through layer, so put most in the middle of the crock. Would double to ricotta mixture next time. For my family (3 at the meal tonight) this gave us tons of leftovers.
Can this recipe be doubled in a standard crock pot?
I haven’t tried this but I think you might need larger.
Make this all the time! Taking it to a friend today that just had a baby! Love this recipe!
Hi!
Can I substitute the sour cream with something else.
Also, i would like to try it with italian sausage ground beef should i pre cook the meat or should i add it j. The pot un cooked?
Thanks
Yes, precook the meat. You can leave the sour cream out and just add a little more cream cheese and/or ricotta with a splash of milk.
If you substituted with gluten free noodles, would you still put the noodles in uncooked or do you recommend cooking them prior?
Hi Lisa, I’ve never tried gluten-free noodles so I can’t say, but I would probably add them like the recipe calls for, and you may not need to cook it as long.
I made this for my grandfather’s wake. My family loved it, said it was the best dish up there (in competition with several lasagnas). I took away 1 star because the timing for cooking. After 2 hours of cooking in high the noodles were pretty mushy. Definitely check after 1 1/2 hours.
Hi! I love this recipe. I am wondering where you get the straight cut macaroni from. Velveeta used to have one called pre-cut spaghetti and it was the same as a straight macaroni noodle. Fideo is too small but it is the type of pasta in Kraft macaroni and cheese it’s not made into a c shape. I’m looking for what you show in your original picture. Thanks!
The noodles im using in the photo are ziti noodles. 🙂
I want to make this with some chicken so it’s like a super easy chicken parm. Can I use raw chicken bits or precooked? I’m trying to not fry and to make it easy!
Hi Leah, I haven’t tried it but I think raw chicken would work fine, as long as it was cut into very small pieces so that it has enough time to cook all the way through.
I made this and now my boyfriend, his dad, my son, and my aunt won’t stop hounding me to make it again. Lol. I added a pound of hamburger last time, but I’m going to add some Italian sausage as well when I make it again tonight. It’s the bomb!
hello my names Danielle Im going to try to make this meal was just wondering if with the hamburger meat do I cook it first also the sausage would I cook first
If you want to add ground beef or sausage you will need to cook them first. Sounds delicious!
Hi was wondering after what step should I add the ground beef? Thanks in advance 🙂