Slow Cooker Pasta Bake

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the pasta bake recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: you can get everything you need to make the recipe from the grocery store. They are year round available easy to get your hands on simple ingredients. The best part of course is that many are pantry staples so you might find that you have some at home already!
• Set and forget: that is the beauty of slow cooker recipes! Some people like the term 'dump and go', I prefer the term set and forget. Towards the end stages of this recipe we do cook some pasta on the stove, but that takes less than 10 minutes so you could say 'set, forget and then a little cook'. It makes for an amazing meal that the whole family will love.
• Family friendly: everyone from little kids to the young at heart will enjoy this easy slow cooker pasta. It is loaded with vegetables and has a tomato flavored bolognese style sauce making it perfect for young and old! It will become a family favorite in no time 😉👌.
• Freezer friendly: If meal prep is your thing, you can whip up a batch of this slow cooker pasta on the weekends. Then let cool, portion and freeze for nights or work lunches when you know you won't have a lot of time.
• Comfort food: we have pasta, beef, sauce and cheese so we are ticking all of the comfort food boxes! This is an easy meal that makes for the perfect winter food being belly warming from the inside out.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the slow cooker ground beef pasta recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the slow-cooker pasta recipe calls for:

• Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning in the recipe. We also use some black pepper cracked over the finished dish to serve it.
• Garlic: you can use 2-3 fresh garlic cloves chopped, chunky chopped garlic as you see in the photo above or store bought minced garlic from a jar or tube. Choose whichever type you find the easiest 😉👌.
• Worcestershire sauce: a great versatile thin sauce with a whole lot of flavor! This works for adding oomph to many recipes including this one!
• Bay leaves: used to bring a depth of flavor to the pasta bake. These get removed before adding the cooked pasta.
• Italian herbs: we only use a small amount of this, yet the dried herb goes a long way!
• Tomato paste: thick and rich in tomato flavor. This is a handy pizza sauce too if you ever need a quick solution! It is one of the sauce ingredients that packs a punch.
• Celery: we simply trim the leaves and ends then finely slice the celery into small pieces.
• Onion: we want to peel a brown onion and then dice ½ of it into small pieces.
• Carrot: peeled and chopped into pieces.
• Diced tomatoes: we want to get a plain tin of tomatoes, without additional herbs or 'Italian style' flavors.
• Passata: also known as tomato puree. This is thick and the perfect way to start a tomato based homemade sauce.
• Beef stock: beef stock or beef broth. You can use the stock to make things easy or use beef stock cubes and water to create the stock (this is a cheaper option).
• Beef mince: beef mince or ground beef is an inexpensive cut of meat that is always available, versatile and easy to cook.

🍝 Crock Pot Pasta Bake

Of course, we also have some garnishes to finish off the dish and these are seen in the photo below:

• Basil: bright and fresh, basil leaves are an excellent way to garnish the dish for serving.
• Cheese: you can use your favorite cheese. One that melts well is best as we want the pasta to have a 'cheese topping'.
• Pepper: we use a little bit more pepper to sprinkle over the dish ready before serving it.
• Macaroni: we cook this on the stove top and add it (cooked) to the pasta sauce so that it doesn't become soggy or make the pasta bake mushy.

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by layering the ingredients into the slow cooker insert.

• Add the onions (Photo 1)
• Then add the carrots (Photo 2)
• Add the celery (Photo 3)
• Then add the beef mince (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker Pasta Bake

To make the slow cooker pasta bake we start with the vegetables. Add the peeled and diced onion to the slow cooker insert, followed by the peeled and chopped carrot and sliced celery pieces.

Next add the raw beef mince to the bowl and then dollop in the garlic, followed by sprinkling in the salt, pepper and Italian herbs. These steps are shown in the photos below.

• Add the garlic (Photo 5)
• Then add the salt and pepper (Photo 6)
• Sprinkle in the Italian herbs (Photo 7)
• Add the tomato paste (Photo 8)

Next we begin to our liquids to the bowl. Start with the tomato paste, then add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth.

• Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock (Photo 9)
• Then add the passata (Photo 10)
• Add the diced tomatoes (Photo 11)
• Stir to combine (Photo 12)

Next add the passata, diced tomatoes and when ready use a wooden spoon to give everything in the bowl a gentle stir.

When ready place the 2 bay leaves into the bowl as you see in the photo below.

• Add the bay leaves and cook (Photo 13)
• Cook the pasta, reserve some water (Photo 14)
• Add the drained pasta to the slow cooker (Photo 15)
• Add in the reserved pasta water (Photo 16)

Let the pasta sauce cook for about 5 hours and 30 minutes. During this last half an hour read and follow the instructions on the packet to cook the pasta in a medium sauce pan of boiling salted water. Moments before it is al dente (a little bit chewy) scoop out 1-2 cups of the pasta water and set this aside.

Then use a colander over the sink to drain the rest of the water and discard it.

Next add the drained hot pasta to the slow cooker bowl as you see me having done in the photos above.

Then measure and add ½ cup (125ml) of the reserved pasta water and pour that over the top of the pasta. Next use the wooden spoon to gently toss and stir till the pasta and sauce is consistently mixed together.

Flip the spoon over and level the surface of the pasta bake so it forms an even layer, then grate some cheese over the top like you see in the photo below.

• Add cheese and garnish the dish with pepper and basil (Photo 17)

Now you can call everyone to the table as you shout 'dinner is ready!'.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

If you are a pasta and cheesy garlic bread person then you might like to try the Tortilla Garlic Bread, Turkish Garlic Bread, Garlic Ciabatta or the Garlic Pizza Bread.

For a side salad, try the Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad, Healthy Panzanella Salad or the Fresh Herb Salad.

This is a filling an satisfying meal so you might prefer to consider it as a meal in one and pop it in some bowls and the hard work is done!

If you are after a wine pairing try a chilled rose, crisp chilled white wine such as a pinot grigio or a smooth tasty red like a pinot gris.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Let the dish fully cool. Then portion any leftovers into a sealed airtight container. They can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

As above allow the dish to fully cool. Then portion the pasta bake into airtight containers and stack in the freezer. They can be kept for 2-3 months and are best fully thawed before being reheated.

How to Reheat

For refrigerated leftovers, add them to a bowl and pull a layer of cling wrap over the top. Reheat on high temperature in the microwave in 1 minute increments until warmed through.

For frozen portions of the dish, allow these to full thaw. Once they have, transfer them to a bowl and follow the above steps to reheat them in the microwave. These portions will take a little longer to heat through. So test the centre of the bowl before leaving the kitchen to make sure the dish is hot throughout and that it doesn't need extra time in the microwave.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use ground pork or ground chicken in place of the ground beef if you wish too.
• Crushed tomatoes can be used in place of the diced tomatoes.
• I like using macaroni as the pasta. You can do the same or try spaghetti, penne pasta, ziti noodles, rigatoni or spiral pasta.
• The best cheese to use is one that melts well. Try cheddar, colby, tasty or mozzarella cheese. That being said mozzarella has a mild flavor, so it is best combined with another cheese rather than being the only cheese used. Or simply use a store bought tripled cheese blend for convenience.
• Where I am using fresh basil leaves for garnish, you might like to use curly or flat leaf parsley for an alternative fresh herb.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• You don't need to spray the slow cooker with oil, cooking spray or to grease the bowl at all before adding the ingredients.
• There is no need to brown the beef mince on the stove 1st. It can simply be added raw to the slow cooker.
• After adding all of the liquids to the bowl we want to use a wooden spoon to give everything a good but gentle stir. Much the same as cooking mince on the stove, we want to break it up a little so that it doesn't cook as a big lump.
• You do need to remove the bay leaves prior to serving. The best time to do this is when you have removed the lid of the slow cooker before adding the hot drained pasta. They can then be simply discarded.
• It is much easier to scoop out more pasta water than you need (using a heatproof jug) and then measure the ½ cup from this. That way you are not standing over the hot stove with the bubbling water trying to accurately measure with the steam getting all up in your face 😂👍.
• If you are not going to serve the pasta bake straight after it is finished cooking, you can change the temperature to 'warm' and then add the cheese moments before you are ready. This way the cheese later will be freshly melted and gooey when you portion into the bowls.
• If you love slow cooker recipes, you might like to also try the Chicken And Corn Soup Dahl, Pulled Lamb, Lamb Stew, Slow Cooker Lamb Ribs, Pork Chops With Apples or the Spaghetti Bolognese 😉👌.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to pre boil pasta for pasta bake?

Yes, it is best to boil the pasta before adding it to the pasta bake. This helps to release starch into the water and we can use some of this water for the sauce also.

How to stop pasta bake from drying out?

To ensure that your pasta bake stays moist and doesn't dry out follow the step including adding the right amount of liquids to the dish. Pasta bake can dry out if there is not enough liquids used in the recipe.

What cheese is good for pasta?

For a cheese to sprinkle over pasta parmesan cheese or pecorino romano are good choices. For a cheese to go on top of a pasta bake, choose colby, cheddar, mozzarella or a combination of mozzarella and colby or cheddar.

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

If you are looking for inspiration to get dinner on the table without resorting to the same thing every night, then you have come to the right place! Here are some recipes to help you keep things interesting!

• Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pasta
• Chorizo Pasta Bake
• Chicken Pesto Linguine
• Shrimp Chicken Fried Rice
• Roast Pork Shoulder
• Chorizo Fried Rice
• Greek Leg Of Lamb
• Pork Leg Roast
• Mince Pasta Bake

It is time to get our slow cooker pasta bake on my friend! You can also find all of my comfort foods or dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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