The creamy, sauce-y cheese ziti that you love, made in your slow cooker!
I’ve got another one pot wonder for you guys today: Slow Cooker Three Cheese Ziti. Complete comfort food bliss!
Baked ziti has always been high on my list of favorite cheesy pastas. It’s usually my go-to if we’re ever eating at olive garden. It’s simple amazing, especially paired with their awesome breadsticks (here’s my homemade olive garden breadsticks, in case you want to make them yourself!).
I have a one pan baked ziti recipe on my blog that I shared a little while ago. It’s one of my family’s favorites and it contains a yummy meat sauce. This slow cooker three cheese ziti recipe is a little different. First, it’s easier than the other (although both are made in just one pan, so you can’t go wrong!).
This one has even more cheesy-ness going on than the other. It’s reminds me of my favorite slow cooker lasagna recipe in the way that everything is layered in the crock pot. I love how the noodles are added, uncooked, straight from the box. You don’t have to cook or pre-prep anything before making this.
This meal is a total winner in the “fix it and forget it” category and the end result is tender noodles sandwiched between layers of cheesy deliciousness.
Consider trying these popular slow cooker recipes:
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Slow Cooker Three Cheese Ziti
Ingredients
- 2 24 ounce jars marinara pasta sauce
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 16 ounces UNCOOKED ziti pastas (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
Instructions
- Add cream cheese, sour cream and ricotta to a mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixers until smooth. Stir in garlic and basil.
- In a large bowl, combine both jars of pasta sauce, tomato sauce and water.
- 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 3/4 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 3/4 cup parmesan cheese.
- Add the remaining uncooked penne. Top with the remaining sauce.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, or LOW for 3 1/3 -4 hours or until pasta is tender.
- During the last few minutes, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese to the top, and return the lid of the machine to allow it to melt. After mine melted I stuck it under the broiler of my oven for 2 minutes to make the cheese golden and bubbly, but you don’t have to!
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Jeanell says
I made this for a group of 8 today. Everyone loved it. It was enough that some had seconds. Next time I make it I’m going to add veggie beef crumbles for even more protein (I’m a vegetarian). I made just a couple of changes by adding rosemary and thyme to the sauce so that it infused into pasta.