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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I made this a few weeks ago and we loved it so much that we’re making it again for our family’s Mother’s Day dinner tomorrow. I made a few substitutions. We don’t like ricotta so I doubled the cream cheese and sour cream. I used penne because we prefer that over ziti and I probably doubled the mozzarella (didn’t measure). I also added ground beef. Thank you so much for so many delicious recipes. This was such a big hit and I’m sure the rest my family will love it too.
While the taste is good, it is VERY rich. I used penne, and made the marinara from scratch (just a simple one). I only had dried basil, and omitted 1 of the 3 TBs from conversion in the cheese mixture. Also used cottage cheese which turned out well. The cheese mixture is hard to spread so ended up making very small dollops from a spoon. It might actually be easier if you made the cheese mixture ahead of time, put it between some waxed paper or saran wrap and rolled flat, the refrigerate; cut into small slabs for a thinner layer of the cheese mixture. I think that was my last favorite, was the rich dollops of cheese in the bites. The pasta was slightly gummy and al dente, but.. not? A bit strange. Cooked on high for 2.5 hours. My husband thought it was very good. He has the constitution of a bear. I am unused to eating pasta very often. So between us, he enjoyed it very much, while it was a bit too much richness for me. A success overall since if he’s happy, it’s good.
I had to give this a 5-star rating as my kids asked for seconds! I typically follow recipes as they are written; however, for some reason I did not have sour cream and ended up using regular vanilla yogurt instead. This recipe was quick and easy to make after coming home tired on a Friday from work.
I doubled the recipe to feed my crew of 10 tonight. Everyone loved it from the 2 year old to the 80 year old. I will be making it again soon but might try adding ground turkey to the red sauce.
Wasn’t my favorite! It was okay, just not the usual 5 stars of TBFS! The consistency was a little off; made recipe exactly as is.
I agree not our favorite either, I even followed some tips others suggested like check after an hr and a half, make more cheese mixture. And it just made so much sauce and some of the noodles throughout were different texture, so I put in oven in a 9 ×13 dish.. just a disaster. Maybe my fault for making changes. (More than likely ) I love almost all of Lauren’s recipes! But won’t be trying this for a while. Traumatized lol. I’m sure it’s some people’s cup of tea.
I added chop meat and carrots! Wonderful
I added sweet italian sausage to mine and crushed red pepper. The recipe is satisfying and oh so easy
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.