Crock Pot Baked Ziti
on Jun 03, 2023, Updated Feb 11, 2025
This easy Crock Pot Baked Ziti recipe is a great recipe to feed a crowd! It is so simple to assemble and even the noodles cook right in the crock pot.
The Best Easy Baked Ziti!
This baked ziti recipe is so easy to prep and will feed a crowd. Even the noodles cook right in the slow cooker.
I love that the slow cooker does all the work for me with just a few minutes of prep work. Normally when making a pasta dish, I would spend extra time dicing up onion and garlic to get that extra depth of flavor.
For this baked ziti crock pot recipe I didn’t add any extra spices (except fresh basil) and it was so good!
Ready for the step by step? I’ll show you just how simple it is! (full ingredient amounts are included in a recipe card at the bottom of this post).
Ingredients & Notes
- Jarred pasta sauce: go for a good quality pasta sauce for the best flavor
- Tomato sauce
- Uncooked penne pasta: yes, the pasta will go in raw. No need to boil it at all first!
- Ricotta cheese
- Eggs
- Freshly chopped basil: I don’t suggest leaving this out or substituting it. The fresh basil really makes the flavor of this dish!
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
How to make crock pot baked ziti
Step 1: Add the 15 oz of ricotta cheese, basil, and 2 eggs to a bowl. Mix it up until it looks like what is pictured below.
Fresh basil really adds a lot of flavor, so don’t leave this part out!
Step 2: Mix together the pasta sauce and tomato sauce in a bowl and divide your penne pasta into three equal amounts. Now it is time to assemble the baked ziti.
Recipe Tip
Before beginning, spray your crock pot with cooking spray. This will help cleanup be a lot easier!
Step 3: Measure out 2 and 1/3 cups of sauce mixture and pour it into the bottom of the crock pot. Next, measure the penne into three equal amounts and add 1/3 of it to the top of the sauce.
I have eye balled it in the past and usually mess it up, so it’s worth taking the extra minute to divide evenly into three bowls before you begin layering.
Step 4: Add half of the ricotta/egg/basil mixture. You can either add the ricotta in dollops, or spread in an even layer.
Step 5: add half of the parmesan cheese in an even layer.
Step 6: repeat the steps for the next level: another 2 and 1/3 cups of sauce, 1/3 of the uncooked penne, the remaining ricotta mixture, and the remaining parmesan cheese.
Add the rest of your penne on top. And lastly, the rest of your sauce! Spread it out as evenly as you can, so that the noodles on top cook properly.
Step 7: Place the lid onto your crock pot and cook the baked ziti on high for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
I have tested this recipe several times, and the perfect amount of cook time appears to be right around 2 and a half hours, before the noodles get too soft. After the 2 hours and 15 minutes, it should look like this image below.
Step 8: Time for the last step which is the mozzarella cheese on top!
I have used both asiago and mozzarella, and both are delicious. Basically any italian cheese you can get your hands on will be great!
Several readers have commented with their substitutions that turned out to be delicious. After the remaining 15 minutes of cook time, the cheese will look all melted and amazing like this.
It’s time to eat! One note: this makes enough to feed a crowd, so you will need a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
The flavor of this crockpot pasta is just out of this world delicious. If you have never made pasta in a crock pot, this is a great recipe to start with!
This is a family favorite in our house, and I can always count on it coming out perfect every time! I have tested this recipe to perfection and it gets RAVE reviews every time I make it.
Serving idea
We like serving ours with roasted veggies and garlic bread! My favorite is pairing it with my oven roasted frozen broccoli. Super simple and delicious dinner with barely any cooking!
The layers of pasta and cheese are so good. I love getting the bites of fresh ricotta and basil. And the noodles cook in the sauce so they soak up all the yummy flavor!
Can I substitute the ricotta cheese?
Cottage cheese is a commonly used substitute for ricotta in baked ziti as it has a similar texture. You could also try using cream cheese in place of the ricotta.
Reader Dee says, “Cottage cheese works just fine, the eggs act as a binder. Cream cheese also works well. I’ve made this recipe many times.”
How to store
Leftover baked ziti can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
More Pasta Recipes
Crock Pot Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- (2) 25 ounce jars of pasta sauce
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 1 pound UNCOOKED penne pasta
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup basil, freshly chopped
- 2 cups parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, and fresh basil in a bowl and stir well.
- In a large bowl, combine both jars of pasta sauce and the tomato sauce together.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese and set aside.
- Grease the inside of a 6 qt slow cooker.
- Add 2 1/3 cups of pasta sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add 1/3 of the uncooked penne. It's worth measuring the penne into 3 parts. before you begin to ensure an evenly cooked dish.
- Dot on half of the ricotta mixture and spread out evenly.
- Add half of the Parmesan cheese (1 cup).
- Add another 2 1/3 cups of sauce mixture.
- Add an additional 1/3 of the uncooked penne.
- Dot on the remaining ricotta and spread out.
- Sprinkle on the remaining parmesan cheese (1 cup).
- Add the last 1/3 of the uncooked penne.
- Top with the remaining 2 1/3 cups of sauce mixture.
- Cover the crock pot baked ziti and cook it on high for 2-3 hours, or until the pasta is al dente. Mine was perfect right around 2.5 hours.
- During the last 15-30 minutes, add the mozzarella cheese to the top and allow it to melt.
- Serve alone or topped with red pepper flakes and served with garlic bread and a side salad.
IF I HALF THIS HOW LONG SHOULD I COOK FOR?
Easy to make and turned out pretty good. I added thawed out meatballs and followed recipe. I used an older round crock pot and it boiled over a little. The overall flavor was very good, but the noodles soaked up all the liquid. Leftovers will probably need a little tomato juice added, but will still taste good! I will make again!
Made this tonight and it was very yummy! I added about 1.25 lbs ground beef. It was very saucy (which is better than being too dry) but I think I’ll add more pasta next time. Great quick and easy recipe that was perfect for a night I had to work late.
@Ashley, did you cook ground beef and then put that in first ? On the bottom of crock pot?
@Jenny, I too have used ground beef, cooked first, and included with each layer. I have also cooked my pasta first (only about half the time required on the box) and it continued to cook the rest of the way in the crock pot. It has turned out great and very saucy. Great recipe!
Can you add hamburger to the sauce??
Can this be cooked on a low setting??
Can this be cooked on the low setting in crock pot
Can this recipe be made ahead and stored in the freezer?
Could you use cottage cheese or something else in place of the ricotta cheese?
@Nicole, I used to substitute rinsed cottage cheese for ricotta in my pasta recipes; if you just add the cottage cheese, it will be too soupy. Put the cottage cheese in a strainer and run water over it to rinse off the milk. All you have left is cheese curd. This works great, and economical too. 🙂
@Nicole,
Don’t use cottage cheese, yuck. If you can’t use ricotta, move on to another recipe. Just sayin’. The taste and texture would be all wrong!!!
@Nicole, cottage cheese works just fine, the eggs act as a binder. Cream cheese also works well. I’ve made this recipe many times.
@Joanne, I always replace half of ricotta with cottage cheese in recipes like lasagna and stuffed shells. I’ve never had a complaint from anyone. I don’t care much for ricotta.
@Joanne, Don’t yuck other people’s yum.
Made this last night for a group of girlfriends and my family. It turned out great. I did have to do a few adjustments for what I had. If you purchase your jarred sauce from Costco like I do they are 32 – 34 ounces. So I used two jars and added about a 1/2 cup of water in the jars to rinse and added it to the bowl and skipped the can of tomato sauce. I also added one pillow pack of Italian sausage (about 1 lb) that I browned with onions and garlic to the sauce. It made a ton. Fed 8 of us with a to go pack for one of my girlfriends kids and enough for lunch the next day for two. Will make again.
I bought 1 pound of penne and measured out 3- 1/3 cup and didn’t use the whole box of pasta? Still had a good bit left over. Is that normal?
you need 1/3 of the pasta for each layer, not 1/3 cup. So you should use 1/3 of the 1 lb box for each time a pasta layer is done 🙂 Hope that makes sense!
I realized that I don’t know how much 1/3 of the package is ! LOL I had 2 packages anyway so I dipped into the 2nd and will use it for cold pasta salad now.