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Pasta with meat sauce in grey bowl with basil leaves on top.
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5 from 1 vote

Slow Cooker Pasta Bake

Slow Cooker Pasta Bake is a family friendly dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights. With hearty beef, tomato sauce, pasta and cheese.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time6 hours
Total Time6 hours 10 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: slow cooker pasta bake
Servings: 6
Calories: 613kcal
Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Beef Sauce

  • 1 medium onion peeled and diced, Note 1
  • 2 carrots peeled and diced, Note 2
  • 4 stalks celery leaves and end trimmed and finely sliced, Note 3
  • 500 grams/ 16 oz beef mince Note 4
  • 2-3 cloves garlic Note 5
  • ½ teaspoon salt Note 6
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper also Note 6
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning Note 7
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste Note 8
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce Note 9
  • 1 cup/250 ml beef stock (beef broth) Note 10
  • 700 grams/24.5 oz passata Note 11
  • 400 grams diced tomatoes Note 12

Pasta

  • 500 grams/ 16 oz macaroni
  • ½ cup/125 ml reserved pasta water
  • cheese

Garnish

  • black pepper
  • flat leaf parsley

Instructions

  • Vegetables: begin layering the vegetables into the slow cooker starting with the onions. Then add the carrots and celery.
  • Beef: next add the beef mince, garlic, salt, pepper and Italian herbs.
  • Liquids: next add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, passata, diced tomatoes and beef stock to the slow cooker.
  • Stir: when ready take a wooden spoon and gently stir to combine all of the ingredients and then place the 2 bay leaves on top in the centre of the bowl. Next pop the lid on and set the timer for 5 hours and 30 minutes on low or 3 hours and 30 minutes on high.
  • Pasta: in the final 15 minutes of the cook time read and follow the package directions to cook the pasta in a medium sauce pan of boiling water. Moments before it is al dente use a heatproof jug to scoop out 1-2 cups of the pasta water and then set this aside. Then use a colander to drain the pasta, discarding the rest of the water.
  • Combine: remove the lid from the slow cooker and add in the hot drained pasta. Then measure ½ cup (125 ml) of the pasta water and add this to the slow cooker also. Use the spoon again to gentle toss, stir and combine till the pasta and sauce is consistently mixed. Then use the back of the spoon to smooth the surface into one flat layer.
  • Cheese: next grate some fresh cheese over the top of the pasta, sprinkle over some black pepper and add some basil leaves.
  • To serve: provide bowls, forks and spoons. Portion and serve.

Notes

  • Note 1 - Onion: we want to peel a brown onion and then dice ½ of it into small pieces.
  • Note 2 - Carrot: peeled and chopped into pieces.
  • Note 3 - Celery: we simply trim the leaves and end then finely slice the celery into small pieces.
  • Note 4 - Beef mince: beef mince or ground beef is an expensive cut of meat that is always available, versatile and easy to cook. You can substitute it with the equivalent amount of ground pork, ground chicken or turkey. Or use 50% beef and 50% pork. 
  • Note 5 - 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.
  • Note 6 - 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 😉👌.
  • Note 7 -  Italian herbs: we only use a small amount of this, yet the dried herb goes a long way! Substitute with 1 teaspoon of either dried oregano, parsley or basil.
  • Note  8 - Tomato paste: thick and rich in tomato flavor. This is a handy pizza sauce too if you ever need a quick solution!
  • Note 9 - Worcestershire sauce: a great versatile thin sauce with a whole lot of flavor! This works for adding oomph to many recipes including this one!
  • Note 10 - 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). 
  • Note 11 - Passata: also known as tomato puree. This is thick and the perfect way to start a tomato based pasta sauce.
  • Note 12 - Diced tomatoes: we want to get a plain tin of tomatoes, without additional herbs or 'Italian style' flavors. Crushed tomatoes can be used in place of diced tomatoes.
  • Note 13 - Bay leaves: used to bring a depth of flavor to the pasta bay. These get removed before adding the pasta.

Nutrition

Calories: 613kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 526mg | Potassium: 1393mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 4282IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 6mg