A slow cooker beef and cheese pasta that is cooked long and slow to bring out the best cheesy meat sauce!
Here’s a really simple meal to throw to together that’s pretty kid friendly too. It has ground beef, pasta, tons of flavor, cheese and spinach.
I felt like having some meaty pasta and decided to try it out in the slow cooker. Usually I’ll make the meat sauce and let the flavors marry once it sits in the fridge. The longer it sits, the better it gets so I figured this process could also be done in the slow cooker.
As for the pasta, I cooked it al dente and tossed it in towards the end. Putting in cooked or uncooked pasta in the beginning will make for one soggy mess. I have not tried using uncooked pasta but it’s entirely possible, I just have not tested it yet. I read somewhere that you should add it in 30 minutes towards the end though with enough liquid to fully coat the pasta.
The marinara sauce is mildly sweetened to balance out the tartness from tomatoes. I’ve also added some beef bouillon cubes and Worcestershire sauce to enhance the beef flavor. It’s more than a bland marinara and pasta sauce with some beef dumped in. The seasonings bring it a depth of flavor.
The ground beef should be pre-cooked to get rid of any fat. While you can technically make this pasta in the oven as a pasta bake or on the stove top, a long cooking time that comes with slow cooking allows the flavors to marry. Richer, deeper flavors.
I used frozen spinach but if you want to use fresh spinach, toss in the cleaned leaves once it’s all done cooking and mix. The residual heat will be enough to cook them. It’s the same reason I tossed in the cooked frozen spinach last. Cooking spinach for too long will make it tough and leathery. There’s no such thing as undercooking spinach since you can eat it raw anyway but there is such a thing as overcooking it!
It’s pretty important to do the taste test before slow cooking the sauce so you have it just the way you like it. It’ll be a little tougher to do once you’ve mixed everything together.
And if you like mushrooms, you can toss it in with the onions and let them cook down awhile. Mushrooms always release a lot of liquid once they’re fully cooked so this has to be done in the skillet. Cook them until their liquid boils down so you don’t thin out the pasta sauce.
And that’s about it! Like I said, a really simple meal if you’re craving some meaty pasta and happen to like cheese!
PS: If you liked the flavor of this and wanna do a baked pasta version, try out my baked ziti. And if you’re wanting an appetizer, these Parmesan garlic knots pair really well!
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Slow Cooker Beef and Cheese Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
A slow cooker beef and cheese pasta that is cooked long and slow to bring out the best cheesy meat sauce!
Ingredients
- 2 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 15 oz. marinara sauce
- 15 oz. stewed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Red pepper flakes to taste
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 10 oz. frozen spinach, cooked
- 1 lb. penne/rigatoni/bow tie pasta, cooked al dente
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Over medium high heat, brown the beef until cooked. Drain any fat
- Remove beef and saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent
- Transfer onions and beef to a slow cooker and pour in marinara sauce, tomatoes, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, crumbled beef bouillon cubes and sugar
- Stir to mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Cook for 6-8 hours on low
- Cook the pasta till al dente, according to package instructions. Drain well and add cooked pasta, Parmesan and Mozzarella to the meat sauce and stir to combine
- Cook on high for 30 minutes
- Mix in cooked or raw spinach leaves and stir well
- Dish and serve hot
152 Comments
Kelly Hershey
October 1, 2018 at 7:23 PMMade this tonight. Hands down it was delicious. The only thing I did different is I added the spinach when I added the noodles and cheese. bon appétit
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 22, 2018 at 4:19 PMThanks for trying it out, Kelly!
Sue York
February 12, 2019 at 7:10 PMAwesome Recipe! Easy and very flavorful. We will be fixing this again and again at my house. Loved it. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 30, 2019 at 1:28 PMYou’re very welcome Sue. Thanks for leaving some love in the comments and for trying it out! 🙂
Kasie Bernal
October 22, 2019 at 2:23 PMWould this work in the instant pot? Any ideas how to convert?
The Cooking Jar
October 30, 2019 at 3:41 PMI’d love to be able to answer your questions but I haven’t had the opportunity to test out an instant pot yet. It’s on my to do list. I’m going to be doing one month of instant pot meals so I can teach myself the ins and outs of it. In the meantime, I hope you manage to figure out the conversion yourself. Good luck!
Diane
December 8, 2019 at 9:12 PMVery good and I also cut the cooking time in half. This dish is a favorite.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 11:01 PMThanks for trying it out. Diane! Glad to know if works cooking in half the time as well. It should help others when they search for tips in comments.
Rose
December 16, 2019 at 8:37 PM5 stars with some adjustments!! Made on stovetop in dutch oven pot. Cooked the beef with onion/garlic then dumped everything but the spinach, pasta and cheese. I used 1 1/2 cans of tomatoes and reserved the remaining 1/2 can until the end. Simmered the meat mixture for 45 minutes. I had to add way more seasonings (at least double or more!) and added some granulated garlic. At 45 minutes I cooked the pasta al dente then added to meat mixture with 8oz fresh spinach, parm and mozz cheese. I also added the remaining 1/2 can tomatoes. The sauce really cooks down the tomatoes so this allowed for some tomato to bite into. Stir and cover until the spinach is wilted (about 5-10 mins). Done!! It came out fantastic!!!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 11:03 PMHappy you managed to build off it, Rose! You sound like me; I love flavors that punch me in the mouth 😉
Kelly Donoway
February 6, 2020 at 8:08 PMI made this today and did not change one thing. It is delicious!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 11:03 PMYay! Happy it worked out for you, Kelly! Thanks for taking the time and ingredient to try it out 🙂
Tina Marie Allen
March 27, 2020 at 7:42 AMI am making this today …wish me luck
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 11:04 PMHey, how did it turn out? I hope it was okay for you!
Sarah
July 12, 2020 at 7:04 PMI have found a new favorite!! Oh my gosh does this taste amazing! I tweaked it a bit and did sausage instead of ground beef (I like sausage better) and added some mushrooms.
The only thing…I think when I make it next time I’m going to half everything. It was MASSIVE. Made waaaay more than 8 servings (probably in the neighborhood of 13-15 minimum). Guess I’ll freeze some, and I don’t have to cook for a while 🙂
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 11:06 PMSounds good to me. I love mushrooms as well! Oh my gosh, maybe the hubby and I just eat HUGE portions then. Or you eat less than most? Thanks for trying it out anyway and I hope the leftovers tasted okay!
Susan
September 27, 2020 at 10:30 AMVery good sauce.I like the various depth of flavors. I used fresh spinach. Everything turned out great but if I would change one thing I wouldn’t use 1lb of pasta. I think 12oz would be enough and would make it a little more saucy and flavorful. I definitely recommend this recipe. It’s a keeper.
★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2020 at 11:08 PMThanks Susan 🙂 I spent about 10 years perfecting the sauce. Adding in one ingredient each time to tweak it to my personal taste. I’m glad you like it too! I used 1 lb. of pasta because it’s easier to just use one box that’s sold in grocery stores and they usually do it in 1 lb. boxes. Makes no sense to have folks leave a few noodles out and waste them!