Slow Cooker Baked Ziti

adena mangis's Note:

This is a hearty slow cooker meal. If you don't like ricotta cheese you can use cottage cheese instead.

• Total Time: 7 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 7 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 (25 ounce) jars pasta sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese , divided
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 (16 ounce) box ziti pasta

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Stir in seasonings to evenly coat meat,stir in pasta sauce set aside.
2. Mix 1 cup mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan in a bowl. Spoon 2 cups of meat sauce into the slow cooker and top with 2 cup ziti. Drop 1/2 of cheese mixture over ziti and spread over ziti. Layer with 2 cups of meat sauce, the remaining ziti and remaining cheese. Add meat sauce and place lid on slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
4. Sprinkle food with remaining cup of mozzerella and let stand for 10 minutes until melted.

Reviews

[LillyZackMom]

Very good & easy recipe! I followed the directions just as written, but doubled the recipe...which filled my ENTIRE crockpot! I used organic garden veggie sauce & organic beef which I find much more flavorful than their non-organic counterparts. I also used whole grain pasta which tends to take longer to cook and holds up better in the crock from my experience.

[AmyCW]

This recipe needs more seasoning, other than the generic "italian seasoning". It has very little flavor except for the pasta sauce. Boring! My family wouldn't eat it.

[Chef #1563891]

I made this 4 hours ago, and cooked on low. I just came in to find it dried out and burned to the side of the crock pot. There is obviously not enough sauce and far too much cheese. I even added 2 eggs to the ricotta! A big waste of money, time and effort.