With oozing, bubbling cheese, tender noodles, and a hearty pizza and tomato sauce blend, Crock Pot Baked Ziti is a savory and comforting Italian-style meal. This easy, one pot recipe makes a lot, is kid approved and vegetarian friendly, and is the perfect choice to feed a crowd at get togethers and holiday gatherings.
This crock pot baked ziti recipe is a total gamechanger and will have you forget all about the baked version you used to make.
Just like Three Cheese Eggplant Italiano, this meal is super savory and cheesy. Thanks to slow cooking, the flavors really come together in this easy recipe. The noodles (okay, you got me...I use penne!) come out perfectly tender, and are filled with oozing cheese and robust Italian flavor. I'm salivating right now just thinking about it!
This is dump and go cooking at its best. All the ingredients, including the dry noodles (no need to boil them ahead of time), are layered in the crock pot from the start. There's no meat in this recipe, so no extra steps or saucepan to clean. Then you set it and forget it until ready to serve.
It seriously can't get much easier--or cheesier. And, because this crock pot ziti recipe makes a lot, it's a great choice for potlucks, holidays, and any time you're craving cozy bubbling cheese and noodle comfort.
Serve with garlic bread and Asparagus Tomato Salad or English Cucumber Salad for a complete meal.
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🥘Ingredients
- petite diced tomatoes + juice- I prefer petite because they're easier to eat; they also blend in better with the sauce
- pizza sauce & tomato sauce- I use a combination of both for a sweet, peppy flavor
- uncooked ziti or penne- the noodles are added dry and absorb the sauce as they bake; no need to add water
- ricotta cheese- for a more authentic baked ziti taste and texture; I use part-skim
- eggs- bind the ricotta and seasonings together
- Italian seasoning, garlic powder, crushed red pepper- seasonings for the ricotta cheese mixture
- shredded mozzarella cheese & grated parmesan- I use full fat for maximum gooiness; choose to grate the parmesan for better flavor and meltability or buy refrigerated freshly grated to save time
See recipe card for quantities.
🔪Instructions
- Step 1: Place ⅓ sauce mixture in bottom of well greased crockpot; add ⅓ uncooked ziti.
- Step 2: Top with half of the ricotta mixture and ⅓ of the shredded cheese mixture.
- Step 3: Repeat layers of sauce, noodles, and cheeses in same order and quantities.
- Step 4: For the final layer, place the remaining ziti on first, followed by the remaining sauce and the remaining shredded cheese. Cover and cook on low for 2.5-3 hours.
Hint: Make sure all the noodles in the top layer are covered by the sauce and cheese so they don't dry out while slow cooking.
🥣Substitutions
- Sauce - instead of pizza and tomato sauce, you can use marinara or your favorite spaghetti sauce
- Ricotta - swap this with cottage cheese if desired
- Mozzarella - use fresh mozzarella instead of shredded for a creamier taste
📖Variations
- Spicy - use spicy pizza sauce and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- With meat - cook 1 lb lean ground beef or turkey; drain; mix it in with the sauce to form a ragu (reserve 2 cups of sauce without meat for the top layer)
- With veggies - add sliced canned mushrooms and/or finely chopped bell pepper to the sauce (reserve 2 cups of sauce without veggies for the top layer)
See Beef Ragu Italiano for another Italian comfort dish that bakes in the oven.
🍽Equipment
- 6 quart slow cooker/crockpot (well greased or lined)
- measuring cups & measuring spoons
- one small, one medium, & one large mixing bowl
- cheese grater
🍶Storage
Store Crock Pot Baked Ziti in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
The ziti can also be frozen for up to 3 months in freezer safe packaging; defrost overnight in the fridge.
To reheat leftovers, break up large clumps, add a little extra sauce if desired, cover and bake at 325°F for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.
💭Top tip
Don't skimp on the sauce! Follow the recipe instructions and make sure you have adequate levels of sauce for this recipe. Too much causes the meal to be sloppy and soupy; too little can be drying and the noodles won't cook properly.
🗨️FAQ
How to keep pasta from getting soggy in a crock pot?
I haven't run into that problem with this recipe, but if this is a concern, place a clean, old kitchen towel in between the lid and crockpot. The towel will absorb the moisture as the meal slow cooks.
Typically, the best type of sauce is marinara. This recipe uses a combination of pizza sauce, tomato sauce, and petite diced tomatoes to mimic that consistency, but with a richer and stronger aromatic flavor.
🥄Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
🍴Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Crock Pot Baked Ziti:
📋Recipe with step-by-step instructions
Crock Pot Baked Ziti
Equipment
- 6 quart slow cooker/crockpot (well greased or lined)
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- small mixing bowl
- medium mixing bowl
- large mixing bowl
- cheese grater
Ingredients
- 14.5 oz (1 can) petite diced tomatoes + juice
- 30 oz (2 jars) pizza sauce
- 23 oz tomato sauce 1 (15 oz) can + 1 (8 oz) can
- 16 oz (1 lb.) uncooked ziti or penne
- 15 oz part skim ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
Instructions
- Mix the tomatoes and their juice, the pizza sauce, and tomato sauce together in a large mixing bowl. Then add 2 cups of this mixture to the bottom of a well greased crockpot.
- Add ⅓ of the dry noodles on top of the sauce in the crockpot.
- Mix the ricotta, eggs, and all seasonings in a medium mixing bowl. Place ½ of this mixture on top of the uncooked noodles.
- Mix the mozzarella and freshly grated parmesan cheese together; sprinkle ⅓ of this mixture (1&⅓ cups) on top of the ricotta mixture.
- Repeat the layers by adding 2 more cups of the sauce, followed by ⅓ of the noodles, the remaining half of the ricotta mixture, and ⅓ of the mozzarella mixture.
- For the third and final layer, add the noodles first, then the remaining sauce, and top with the remaining mozzarella mixture.
- Cover and cook on low for 2.5-3 hours. Keep warm until ready to serve. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
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