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Slow Cooker Ziti
I love using my slow cooker! It is so easy to throw food in, setting the timer, and walking away. A good sauce helps make cooking this dish easier!
With just a few ingredients and my slow cooker, I can have a great tasting supper ready with minimal hands-on work. In this case, I was running late to get this started; however, it was ready in just over three hours while cooking on high. Of course, if you set it on low, it would take longer.
I put the brick of cream cheese in a large bowl and warmed it up a little in the microwave, so it would be easier to stir. I then added the ricotta cheese and mixed both the cream cheese and ricotta together until smooth. Next, I added the entire jar of Ragu sauce and throughly mixed it into the cheese. Before throwing the jar away, I poured the water in, swirled to get the remaining sauce, and poured the water into the bowl.
Next, I added the shredded Mozzarella cheese and mixed throughly. I’m glad I started with a huge bowl!
At this point, I poured the entire sauce and cheese mixture into the slow cooker. Then, added the entire box of Ziti. By doing it this way, I didn’t trap dry noodles at the bottom of the crockpot. I put the slow cooker on high because I was going to be home until it was done. I mixed the ziti a couple of times during the time it took to cook, which was just over 3 hours.
The ziti goes great with some corn on the cob and garlic rolls or garlic bread! Slow cooker ziti is an easy delicious dish to make!
Before I post the full recipe, have you heard the story of Ragu? It starts with Assunta Cantisano. She was a woman with a dream who made the voyage here from Italy. She brought her family’s recipe for tomato sauce with her. This special sauce used vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, fennel, garlic, and ground pepper. She settled in Iowa, and when the people there started grabbing her sauce off the shelves, her dream was up and running! Ragu pasta sauce was born!
My slow cooker ziti recipe is below. You can find more Ragu recipes on Ragu’s page!
- 16 oz Ziti Noodles, Uncooked
- 8 oz 1/3 Fat Cream Cheese
- 1 cup Water
- 66 oz Ragu Traditional Pasta Sauce
- 4 cups Shredded Mozzarella
- 24 oz Part Skim Ricotta
- Place unwrapped brick of cream cheese in a bowl and microwave until softened.
- Mix ricotta cheese into the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add Ragu pasta sauce to the cheese mixture.
- Pour water into Ragu jar and swirl to mix remaining sauce into the water. Pour water and sauce mixture into bowl.
- Mix sauce into the cheese mixture.
- Add shredded mozzarella into the sauce mixture and stir well.
- Pour contents of bowl into slow cooker.
- Add uncooked ziti to slow cooker and mix well.
- Start slow cooker. I used high for just over 3 hours. If you cook on high, make sure to mix a few times throughout the cooking time.
Looks great!!!
I had to save this – I’m getting ready to get a slow cooker finally, and this is the kind of recipe I’ve been missing. I make pasta and with cheese, but to be able to make it in the slow cooker and not have to precook the pasta – wow! It looks scrumptious!
This is awesome, I would never think to make this in a slow cooker.
I would most definitely love to try the Slow Cooker Ziti. I think it is an outstanding plate, of which I am trying later in the week.