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Looking for an easy and delicious dinner recipe that the whole family will love? This crock pot spaghetti recipe is not only kid-friendly, but it’s also a time-saving solution for busy parents who want to serve a hearty and nutritious meal without spending hours in the kitchen!
When I was growing up you knew exactly what it meant when Mom said “we’re having spaghetti for dinner” or as I pronounced it “Pa-sketti”. It wasn’t anything fancy, but that didn’t matter to us! It was a classic rich red sauce coating every bite of a spaghetti noodle. My mom would take a simple jarred sauce and jazz it up with a myriad of ingredients like cooked ground turkey or beef and some extra garlic. It was simple, but it was perfect.
With winter upon us, I’m moving back to using my slow cooker more and more. Slow cookers save you time, energy and are just overall super convenient. Everything cooks on its own while you go about your busy day. Crock Pot Spaghetti is the total jam if you’re crunched for time and wanting an easy dish that you can put together in minutes!
Ingredients for Crock Pot Spaghetti
- ground beef, turkey, or chicken
- onion
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- jarred pasta sauce
- water
- spaghetti noodles
- grated parmesan cheese
How to Make Spaghetti in the Slow Cooker
- Brown the meat: In a skillet over medium heat, cook the oil, meat, onion, garlic powder and salt for about 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. Drain excess fat.
- Add Ingredients to Slow Cooker: Pour one jar of pasta sauce and a cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them on top of the sauce. Add the cooked meat to the crock pot, sprinkle with the cheese, and cover with the second jar of pasta sauce.
- Cook: Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or low for 6 hours. Remove the lid, stir to combine and mix everything together.
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Keep in mind that each slow cooker operates at various temperatures and cooking times. To avoid overcooked spaghetti, test it regularly to ensure it’s cooked to your liking. Overcooked pasta can become sticky and mushy, which nobody likes!
FAQs
- What is the texture of this spaghetti like? Keep in mind that crock pot spaghetti produces a bit softer noodle texture than traditional spaghetti that is boiled to al dente. But it shouldn’t be mushy! Be careful to not overcook the noodles.
- Can I used jarred pasta sauce for this recipe? Absolutely! The recipe calls for jarred sauce in fact, but feel free to make your own! I’ve used my Roast Vegetable Pasta Sauce for this recipe before and it was fantastic and got in some extra veggies too!
- Can this recipe be made vegetarian? Sure! Just leave out the meat and you’ll be just fine.
More Crock Pot Pasta Recipes
- Crock Pot Vegetable Ziti
- Slow Cooker 12 Layer Lasagna
- Crock Pot Meaty Pasta Sauce
- Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna
If you liked this recipe let me know in the comments and tag me on social media if you make it!
Crock Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 26 ounce jarred pasta sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound spaghetti noodles
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the oil, meat, onion, garlic powder and salt for about 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. Drain excess fat.
- Pour one jar of pasta sauce and 1 cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them on top of the sauce.
- Add the cooked meat on top of the noodles, sprinkle with the cheese, and cover with the second jar of pasta sauce.
- Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or low for 6 hours. (See notes)
- Remove the lid, stir to combine and mix everything together.
Video
Notes
- Keep in mind that each slow cooker operates at various temperatures and cooking times. To avoid overcooked spaghetti, test it regularly to ensure it’s cooked to your liking. Overcooked pasta can become sticky and mushy, which nobody likes!
Noodles turned to gross muss!! 🙁
Try using whole wheat pasta like rotini. The whole wheat pasta doesn’t break down as easy and rotini is a sturdier shape.
So glad you liked it!
This recipe worked beautiful only had 24 ounce cans of sauce so ended up putting a extra quarter cup of water. Slight clumps of noodles but broke apart well
Sounds great
So totally tried this right now followed the directions even added beef broth and water and turns out I just wasted a meals worth of food and meat …
Stories like this are a classic part of food blogs. It’s all good. Let her be. You read what you want to. Geez.
I hope you all like it!
Trying crock pot spaghetti now……will let you know how my family likes it!
Yes! I loved the story and that’s what got me to try it!!!! I’m all about making memories for my children!!!
Thanks for all the great tips!
I added a tablespoon of olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking. Note, not all crock pots are the same you can set it and mostly forget it but the first time watch your pot a little bit. It only took 45 min for my noodles to cook through. Then I just kept it on “warm”. Fed 8 adults and two childRen and was a total hit! One pot cleanup was awesome. Don’t be afraid to stir at the 45 minute mark then rust your instincts to avoid mush, the key I think was in her layers spot on to cook everything together. Loved this recipe will definately do it again. Oh and veggie peeps yes you can do it with meat substitutes but I would say season that in a pan before adding to the crock pot jist as you would meat so the flavour isn’t one dimensional. If you have anyone that doesn’t like the acidity of spaghetti sauce add a cup of cream of mushroom soup and 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter to mellow out the sauce and add some creasy richness. This is a good one folks, enjoy!
Nice!
Made this but put spaghetti in at the last hour and it turned out perfectly!!
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I have this in the crockpot now and it smells amazing. Hoping it turns out awesome 🙂