Looking for the easiest family dinner EVER? My Slow Cooker Pasta Bake is for you!
We’ve been giving our slow cooker a good work out over the past few months (and have been loving this Slow Cooker Curried Beef and Vegetables!) as I’ve been loving how easy it is to put together a yummy family dinner. I hadn’t tried cooking pasta in my slow cooker before and wasn’t sure how it would go, but after looking at a couple of recipes to check out the cooking times and then of course making this at home a few times now, I’ve got the cooking time down pat.
This recipe feeds A LOT! It makes enough to easily feed our family of five for 3 – 4 meals. Thankfully it’s also super freezer friendly, which makes it a great no fuss mid week meal to pull out of the freezer. It’s also a great way to pack some extra vegetables into your whole family and you can easily substitute or omit any of the vegetables listed to suit your taste – and also what you have left in your fridge!
Tips for How to Make Slow Cooker Pasta Bake
- You can use any type of short pasta for this recipe
- When adding all of the ingredients to your slow cooker, make sure that the liquid is just at the surface and ‘poke down’ any pieces of dried pasta that are above it.
- If you can, give your pasta bake a good stir approximately half way through the cooking time.
- You can also use any type of vegetables you like for this recipe.
- Any leftovers can be frozen for up to two months.
Looking for more easy family dinner recipes? You will receive free postage (Australian orders only) on my Family Dinners Made Easy Book– also available in a Thermomix edition.
Slow Cooker Pasta Bake
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 500 grams mince beef
- 500 grams dried penne pasta You can also use any other type of short pasta
- 2 brown onions chopped
- 2 carrots grated
- 1 zucchini grated
- 200 grams pumpkin grated
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 tbsp dried mixed herbs
- 1200 grams crushed tomatoes 4 x 400 gram tins
- 70 grams tomato paste
- 1 litre vegetable stock you can also use water
- 50 grams baby spinach leaves
- 1 cup tasty cheese grated
Instructions
- Grate all of your vegetables and crush the garlic. Set aside until needed.
- Place the mince into your slow cooker and use a wooden spoon to break it apart.
- Add the remaining ingredients (apart from the baby spinach and tasty cheese) into your slow cooker.
- Give it a good stir, you want to make sure that all of your ingredients are well combined and the pasta is evenly spread out throughout the slow cooker. If there are any pieces of pasta 'above' the surface of the liquid, push them down.
- Turn your slow cooker onto low and set it to cook for 4 hours.
- Approximately half way through the cooking time, add your baby spinach leaves and give the mixture a gentle stir. Please note you can also add these right at the beginning of the cooking time if you prefer.
- Once cooked, sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of your pasta bake and replace the lid for 5 minutes to allow it to melt before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Julie
Looks like an awesome recipe!
What brand of pasta do you recommend to avoid the glugginess mentioned above?
Thanks
Lauren Matheson
Hi Julie, I usually use either Leggos or the woolworths brand pasta 🙂
Aysha Dunmore
Please can I ask what size your slow cooker is please? xxxxx
Lauren Matheson
Hi Aysha, my slow cooker is an 8 litre
Wer ruft an
It looks so tasty. Too bad I don’t have slow cooker:( Do you think, that if I put it to the oven the taste will be the same? Those photos really make me apetite to eat that.
Lauren Matheson
Hi, thank you 🙂 To be honest I’m not sure how it would go in the oven I’m sorry.
Liesl
Mine was also gluggy. I was really hoping it wouldn’t be but it did. Still tasted good though. It was really good after 4.5 hours. I think next time I make it I’m going to cook it for a shorter time. Thanks for sharing Lauren
Lauren Matheson
Ahh I’m sorry to hear that Liesl. I hope it works better for you next time x
Anna
I was so looking forward to this but it’s turned out to be one big doughy mess. Think I’ll try again, half the recipe and put pasta in half way through.
Lauren Matheson
Hi Anna, I’m so sorry to hear this. This has never happened to me before. I’m guessing it may be the brand of pasta that you use? I would suggest adding some extra water/stock to your mixture. I hope it works out for you next time xx
Lauren Matheson
Sorry just another thought, did you use 4 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes? Just looking at the formatting of the recipe card I thought maybe you may have thought it was just one 400g tin. I’ve just added a ‘x’ to make is super clear xx