Crock Pot Spaghetti
Spaghetti night just got a whole lot easier! With this Crock Pot Spaghetti recipe, the noodles cook right in the sauce, soaking up all that flavor while your slow cooker does the work.
This slow cooker pasta is a simple, hands-off dinner the whole family will actually want to eat!
Why We Love This Crock Pot Spaghetti Recipe
Growing up, my family browned hamburger and cooked pasta on the stovetop, then set everything out separately so we could build our own plates. My husband grew up eating baked spaghetti.
Since spaghetti is requested so often in our house, we wanted a simple crock pot version that our whole family would love. When my son took one bite and said it was YUMMY we knew this recipe was a winner!
The biggest appeal of making spaghetti in the crock pot is how easily it stays moist and saucy. It holds much better than in the oven, so if you get distracted and dinner waits a bit, the quality doesn’t suffer.
Our kids gobble up pasta faster than I can cook it. A few of our other favorite meals with pasta are Spaghetti Pizza Casserole and Alfredo and Marinara Pasta, another is our Crockpot Rigatoni.
What You’ll Love:
- Easy prep: Just brown the ground beef, add everything to the crock pot, and let it do the work.
- Pasta cooks right in the sauce: No boiling water needed, and the noodles soak up all that flavor.
- Restaurant-quality at home: Get a meal that tastes like it came from your favorite Italian spot, without the effort or the bill.
- Family-friendly: A simple, hearty dinner that kids and grown-ups both enjoy.
Ingredients Needed:
- Dry Spaghetti – start with uncooked Fideo Cut Spaghetti (comes in a box broken into bite size pieces) or use regular spaghetti, it’s just a bit trickier to measure accurately.
- Tomato Juice – the liquid the pasta absorbs to become tender as it cooks.
- Pasta Sauce – any brand or our Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
- Ground Beef – Italian homemade sausage recipe or your favorite pound of ground meat also work well.
- Spices – granulated onion, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
How To Make Spaghetti in the Slow Cooker
Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain. This is a great step to do ahead of time or during meal prep to make the week easier.
Add meat, spices, spaghetti sauce and tomato juice to a lightly greased crock pot.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 to 7 hours.
Carefully measure 1 1/2 cups of dry spaghetti pieces and add to the slow cooker.
Turn up to high, stir well, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
Can you Freeze Crock Pot Spaghetti?
Yes! Once crock pot spaghetti has been cooked and cooled, scoop it into self sealing bags or freezer containers. Leave 1/2 inch of head room or space in the top of the container or bag. Eliminate as much air as possible to help prevent freezer burn.
I like to freeze in individual portions so that defrosting and reheating can be done more quickly. We grab a lot of frozen meals like this for a quick lunch on the farm.
Jennifer’s Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Don’t add extra pasta: It may not look like much at first, but the pasta swells as it cooks and absorbs the liquid. (My husband learned this the hard way when he dumped in the whole box!)
- Keep extra tomato juice on hand: If the pasta seems dry once it’s finished cooking, stir in ½ cup at a time until it’s as saucy as you like.
- Add some cheese: Sprinkle Parmesan on top or stir in your favorite shredded cheese for even more flavor.
If you enjoy this recipe but need to feed a crowd of 50 or more, our Spaghetti for a Crowd is a very popular meal!
More Easy Crock Pot Meals We Enjoy:
- Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs with Gravy
- Creamy Garlic Chicken and Potatoes in the Crockpot
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Crockpot recipe
- Slow Cooker Brats
Crock Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon dry minced onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 cup pasta sauce
- 3 1/2 cups tomato juice
- 1 1/2 cups Fideo cut spaghetti or regular spaghetti broken into 3 – 4″ pieces
Instructions
- Brown 1 pound ground beef in skillet, drain well and place in a greased crock pot.
- Add all remaining ingredients (except dry spaghetti) 1 tablespoon dry minced onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 cup pasta sauce, 3 1/2 cups tomato juice and stir well.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours or on high for 3 hours
- Turn to high, stir in dry 1 1/2 cups Fideo cut spaghetti. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Stir well and serve.
Notes
- Keep extra tomato juice or pasta sauce available: If the pasta seems dry once it’s finished cooking, stir in ½ cup at a time until it’s as saucy as you like.
Did you make this recipe?
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Rate This Recipe Pin This RecipeRecipe shared on March 16, 2019 with pictures updated on October 13, 2026.
Approximately how much is 1 1/2 c of spaghetti?
Not sure how to measure that?
Is that 1/2 of a 1lb box?
Thanhs for your help!
It’s about 6 ounces. My box of cut spaghetti was about 4 cups and 16 ounces, so I think 1 1/2 cups is about 6 ounces.
Can you translate the 1 1/2 cups of pasta into ounces? Trying to determine how much of a box of pasta to use.
It’s about 6 ounces. My box of cut spaghetti was about 4 cups and 16 ounces, so I think 1 1/2 cups is about 6 ounces.
How many servings will this make?
We got about ten servings from this recipe. We had a nice dinner and then leftovers for a couple meals.
AMAZING!!! I’m family loved this!
Great to hear! Thanks for sharing!
LOVE this! I’m making it for the second time but I added mushrooms and green pepper for this pot.
Thanks so much for letting me know! So glad you love the recipe! We love mushrooms too, so we’ll have to give that a try!
Making this right now! Hoping it’s a hit with my kiddos
I hope so too! Thanks so much for trying this recipe out! Hope you all enjoy 🙂
What about pasta sauce instead of tomato sauce? Same amount? I’m thinking more flavor??
Sounds and looks awesome though!
Hey There! I’ve used both and love lots of variations of this recipe. We make it often 🙂 Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
What can be substituted for the tomato juice?? Thanks
Hey There! You can use more spaghetti sauce, it will just change the texture a bit. Hope you enjoy 🙂
I’m going to make it for 10 adults and two kids. I’m going to make it in a roaster for Christmas Eve dinner. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing.
Oh MAN was this good! Not sure what that type of spaghetti is, couldn’t find it in store, but I used Angel Hair spaghetti and added the last 30 minutes. Grandkids loved it! So did Grandma! My son thought I was crazy making the spaghetti all in the crockpot as I’ve never made it this way. The world needs to know about this recipe!
Delicious and Easy! Will try with other sauces!
Thank You!
Quick, easy and delicious. Keep in mind the pasta does absorb the sauce so don’t place too much pasta in sauce.
Once I added pasta to sauce it only took my crockpot 30 minutes but I have noticed most of my crockpot meals finish ahead of recipe time.