Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti {Million Dollar Spaghetti}

Mar 04, 2025Updated Jun 12, 2025

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti features a rich, slow-simmered beef sauce layered with tender pasta, a creamy cheese mixture, and a melty mozzarella topping. Often called Million Dollar Spaghetti, no matter the name, it’s pure comfort food and absolutely delicious!

What is the difference between normal spaghetti and baked spaghetti?

Regular spaghetti has just noodles, meat, and sauce, and made on the stove top.
Baked Spaghetti is spaghetti and sauce topped with a creamy cream cheese and ricotta mixture and topped with cheese, and baked to meld all the flavors together. In this case we are using our slow cooker to “bake” this casserole. Baked spaghetti tastes like an ultra decadent lasagna (but of course with different noodles). – We also love to make Crockpot Lasagna and Ravioli Lasagna.

Ingredients for Million Dollar Spaghetti

Here is what you need, find the full recipe with ingredient amounts in the recipe card below the images.

ingredients for baked spaghetti on a table with text labels

Pasta sauce – You can use Ragu, Newman’s Own, Rao’s or even make your own homemade crockpot marinara sauce. Just use two 24-oz. jars.
Ground beef – Cook ground beef on the stove top with salt, pepper, basil, garlic and onion.
Spaghetti noodles – One pound of cooked spaghetti noodles will be added to this after the sauce has simmered all day.
Cream cheese mixture – Cream cheese, ricotta and salt make up the creamy layer in this million dollar spaghetti.
(The full recipe is in the recipe card below the images)

How to make Crockpot Baked Spaghetti:

Step One – Add both jars of pasta sauce to the slow cooker.

2 jars of marinara sauce in the slow cooker

Step Two – Cook the ground beef in a skillet on the stovetop, cook with the seasonings and onion, add the garlic the last few minutes of cooking. Drain the grease and add to the crockpot with the sauce.

Step Three – Stir the mixture and cook on LOW for 6 hours. WAIT TO ADD THE NOODLES AND CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE.

cooked meat sauce in slow cooker with spaghetti noodles added.

noodles stirred into spaghetti sauce in slow cooker.

Step Four – Near the end of the cooking time cook the spaghetti noodles on the stovetop. I cook mine for 8 minutes exactly, slightly undercooking them for they will cook a little more when we assemble the casserole. Drain the noodles and add them to the cooked sauce.

Step Five – Stir the noodles into the sauce and slightly press the noodles into an even layer (like you would for a casserole).

Step Six – In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, ricotta, and salt. Add this mixture on top of the noodles and sauce in dollops.

cream cheese and ricotta mixture spread over the baked spaghetti.

mozzarella cheese over the baked spaghetti in slow cooker.

Step Seven – Spread the dollops out evenly over the pasta.

Step Eight – Sprinkle over the mozzarella cheese. Place the lid back on the slow cooker and cook for an additional 20 minutes on LOW.

Step Nine – Turn the slow cooker off so the dish doesn’t overcook. Serve and enjoy!

Variations

This recipe is PERFECT as-is. But you can make changes to suit your tastes:

Spaghetti or linguine noodles are best for this recipe. You can use penne or rigatoni if desired. I do not recommend angel hair noodles or egg noodles for they are not the right texture for this dish.
Some do not like ricotta. You can use more cream cheese instead or use cottage cheese and you’ll still have a wonderful meal.
For a healthier baked spaghetti, use ground turkey and add extra seasonings for flavor. For a more Italian taste, swap in sweet or spicy crumbled Italian sausage.
For a vegetarian option, use bagged soy crumbles instead of beef.
Swirl in a few tablespoons of pesto for added basil flavor.

baked spaghetti on tongs coming from slow cooker.

My Serving Ideas

This meal is FILLING, so no need to go overboard with sides.

Garlic bread, focaccia, or breadsticks.
Roasted Broccoli or Brussels sprouts.
Fresh green salad and dressing.
Top with Parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes.

white plate of spaghetti with garlic bread on side, with slow cooker in background

Featured Comment

“This recipe, exactly as written, is AMAZING!! The only thing I did was add green and red bell peppers to the ground beef mixture. Tastes like it came out of the actual oven. I paired with a glass of red wine and Rhodes parker house rolls. Perfect for a Wednesday night with minimal effort.”
– Author Name

163 More Reviews