Crock Pot Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole is full of pasta, ground beef, tomato sauce, sour cream, and 4 types of cheese. It’s pure comfort food and always a family favorite.
Your family will love this slow cooker pasta dinner. Except for browning the ground beef, the whole meal is made in the slow cooker. No need to precook the pasta. It cooks right in the crock pot. It is one of my favorite Easy Slow Cooker Recipes.
This recipe is basically the crock pot version of this Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole which is one of the top 5 recipes on Spicy Southern Kitchen.
Rich and Creamy
This pasta casserole is exceptionally rich. A combination of 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1 cup of cottage cheese, and 1/2 cup of sour cream adds so much creaminess and really gives the dish the taste of a casserole.
Type of Pasta for Crock Pot Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole
I use cavatappi pasta for this recipe. You need a substantial noodle shape to hold up in this recipe and one that takes a little longer to cook. You can use another pasta shape, but choose something like penne. Spaghetti might cook too fast.
Pasta cooked in the crock pot tends to get soft. If you like your pasta al dente, you probably will not care for this recipe.
In addition to the cream cheese and cottage cheese, there’s a thick layer of mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese added on top. You could add some Parmesan cheese as well.
Note: Ricotta cheese could be used instead of cottage cheese.
More Crock Pot Recipes
- Slow Cooker Lasagna
- Crock Pot Chicken and Gravy
- Crock Pot Ribs
- Slow Cooker Crack Chicken Pasta
- Slow Cooker Meatball and Tortellini Soup
- Slow Cooker 3-Packet Roast
Crock Pot Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained
- 1 (10-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 (24-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup water
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 12 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in a large nonstick skillet, breaking it apart as it cooks. When it is about halfway cooked, add the onion.Drain off excess grease.
- Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes and Italian seasoning to ground beef. Season with salt and pepper.
- Combine spaghetti sauce and water.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream until smooth. Stir in green onions and garlic powder.
- Pour half of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 6-quart crock pot.
- Add half the pasta to the crock pot.
- Top with half the meat sauce.
- Spread all of the cream cheese mixture over the meat sauce.
- Add remaining pasta and top it with remaining meat sauce and then the remaining spaghetti sauce.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.
- Stir well. Sprinkle cheese on top and cover for another 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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Can gluten-free pasta be substituted in the recipe?
I’ve never cooked gluten-free pasta in a slow cooker, but if you have and it turned out well, you can do it for this recipe.
My family loved it.
Hey i was wondering if i could leave out the tomato paste and diced tomatoes it seems a little to much. also could i use macaroni noodles ?
my kitchen is all torn up from remodeling and i was hungry for a casserole that you can just dump and go. i’ve browned my hamburger up in the crockpot yesterday and now ready to make this for dinner tonight. it sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it. thank you!
Do I cook noodles first
“Your family will love this slow cooker pasta dinner. Except for browning the ground beef, the whole meal is made in the slow cooker. No need to precook the pasta. It cooks right in the crock pot.”
Could I use salad pasta noodles verse cavatappi noodles uncooked just like the recipe says? O can’t find cavatappi noodles anywhere in my town probably due to covid19. I just wondered if it would be okay and cook the same (uncooked) like the cavatappi noodles. Please respond if possible. Thank you
I was wondering how to reduce this for my smaller slow cooker when I noticed that I can click on the portion number. The sliding bar shows up and it will change the amounts for me. That is so cool. Thanks! I just thought I might not be the only one who didn’t know.
This is such a wonderful recipe for my meat and cheese loving family . Cooking it as we speak. Cannot wait to dive in!
Thank you for helping those who love food and love to cook take care of our loved ones!!
Great Dish!! And yes you can cook raw beef in the crockpot first but it’s so greasy.. So browning first, drain, and then put it the crockpot so much better!!!
This looks delish- do you think you could add any veges to it? Maybe some kale, since it doesn’t give off much water when cooked? Trying to hide veges in as much as possible, not for kids, for me. LOL.
Yes, you could definitely add some Kale or even a box of frozen chopped spinach. Defrost it and squeeze it well in a kitchen towel or paper towels to get the water out.
Wow, you must have a thick skin to put up with some of the snarky comments you get. I always cook ground beef and brown all my roasts before putting them in the crockpot. In addition to getting rid of the excess grease, it just tastes better! Love your recipes!
Can this be completely made in a casserole pan in the oven and not using a crock pot?
Crock Pot Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole So Nice Dish Thanks
Crock Pot Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole It is so Crunchy and Tasty Recipe Thanks