Crock Pot Baked Ziti with Three Cheeses

Name: Crock Pot Baked Ziti
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 360 min
Total time: 375 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound ziti noodles (uncooked); 15 ounce low-fat ricotta cheese; 1 egg; 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (divided); 1 ½ cup low-fat mozzarella cheese (divided); ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon pepper; 48 ounces pasta sauce (two 24 ounce jars); 2 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves (7-8 leaves sliced thin or ½ teaspoon dried basil)

By Marjory Pilley October 2, 2017 114 Comments

Let’s address the elephant in the room right up front. The title says “baked.” But, there is no baking involved in this recipe. Crock Pot Baked Ziti is cooked 100% in a slow cooker.

That’s right, you don’t even have to boil the noodles on a stove top first.

I had no intention of deceiving anyone.

There just isn’t a better way to describe this recipe…it tastes just like the baked version and it looks like it came out of the oven too. We use the same process to make Crock Pot Vegetable Lasagna and it’s delicious too!

It’s just a whole lot easier to make this three cheese pasta favorite in a slower cooker. I still love traditional pasta dishes like 30 Minute Pasta with Olive Oil, Garlic and Mushrooms. But, it’s hard to resist the appeal of a meal that requires so little work and tastes so good!

Crock Pot Baked Ziti Step-by-Step

Here’s the makeover of an old family recipe with tips along the way:

1. Coat the inside of the crock with cooking spray. (There is very little mess if you do this…really!) A liner does not work well in this recipe.

2. Rinse the noodles in a colander and set them aside. (This step seems to get the process of softening the noodles started.) Do not cook the noodles first.

3. The cheese mixture is made with ricotta cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper. (A little minced garlic would be nice too.) Use full or low-fat depending upon your preference.

4. Layer the ingredients in the crock pot as follows:

Place half the noodles (about 2-1/2 cups) in the bottom of the crock.
Pour 2 cups of pasta sauce over the noodles. (FYI – A 24-ounce jar has 2 1/2 cups of sauce.) I stirred the pasta and sauce together to coat the noodles and then used a spoon to make sure the noodles were in an even layer.
If you want some meat or vegetables in your baked ziti, add them here. Sprinkle cooked ground beef or sliced vegetables, like mushroom and spinach, to make the next layer. (Or, as we do at our house, make the layer half meat and half veggies.)
Divide the cheese mixture in half. (I just take a spoon, eyeball it and draw a line down the middle of the bowl.) Drop small spoonfuls of the cheese mixture all over the top of the previous layer and then use the back of a spoon (or your fingers) to gently press the mixture into an even layer.
Repeat the layers.
Pour the remaining cup of pasta sauce over the top and use a spoon to evenly spread it.

5. Cook the ziti on low for 4-6 hours. (To test if it is done, use a fork to dig out a few noodles to taste.)

6. Remove the lid and sprinkle additional mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the top and garnish with basil. Turn off the slow cooker. Put the lid back on and allow cheeses to melt. It takes about 10 minutes.

7. Serve crock pot baked ziti right out of the slow cooker.

This recipe was a bit of a reminder for me that a slow cooker can be used for many, many things…things you may have read about, but not tried before. Check out all of our crock pot recipes here.

If your slow cooker is collecting dust from limited use (as mine was,) I suggest you drag it out and try this crock pot baked ziti recipe right away! You won’t be disappointed.

As for my crew, they can look forward to a lot more “baked” pasta in our dinner rotation. 🙂

Video: Crock-Pot Baked Ziti

Watch the easy process:

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