Mamma Mia . . . this is good spaghetti. Super cheesy and flavorful, it rivals the baked spaghetti we’ve had in restaurants.
Crock-Pot Spaghetti Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 (1 lb) bag pre-cooked frozen Italian-style meatballs (about 32 meatballs)
- 1 (24 oz) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
- 1 (8 oz) box spaghetti, uncooked
- 3 cups Kraft Three Cheese shredded cheese
- 1 (15 oz) jar light Alfredo sauce
Instructions
- Spray crock-pot with non-stick cooking spray.
- Pour ½ of spaghetti sauce in bottom of crock-pot, and arrange ½ of the meatballs evenly on top of the sauce.
- Break spaghetti into smaller pieces and arrange on top of meatballs in a random pattern. Don’t clump it together. Your pasta needs “breathing” room when cooking.
- Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded cheese on top of spaghetti, and cover with light Alfredo sauce.
- Add remaining spaghetti sauce, making sure spaghetti is completely covered.
- Arrange remaining meatballs on the sauce.
- Top with remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese.
- Cook on LOW heat for 4 hours
Notes
Since nothing ever sticks to my crock-pot, I don’t spray it before cooking. If food sticks to yours, by all means, spray.
The recipe calls for approximately 32 frozen meatballs at ½ oz each. If you have larger (1 oz) meatballs, use just 16. You can use any type of meatballs you want; they don’t have to be Italian-style.
It is important to completely cover the pasta with sauce. You may need to add more sauce or some water to make sure your pasta is completely covered. As the crock-pot warms, the sauce will get bubbly hot and cook the pasta. Four hours should be plenty of time.
Be sure to use light Alfredo sauce. Otherwise, the dish will be too rich.
You can use any combination of shredded cheese you want to make up the 3 cups.
Serving size: 1½ cups ♥ Calories: 585
This is an ooey, gooey, cheesy, rich, delicious dish.
NUTRITION
Calories: 585kcal | Carbohydrates: 26.8g | Protein: 26.8g | Fat: 39.4g | Saturated Fat: 19.8g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 1013mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 3.8g | Calcium: 605mg | Iron: 2mg
Recipe Disclosure
Can you double this recipe? If so, any modifications you would make? Can it cook longer than 4 hours (as in potentially 5-6 hours)?
I’ve never tried to double the recipe, and don’t know how you would layer the ingredients or what would happen if you cooked the dish longer. You can give it a try. Sometimes when you experiment with recipes, you find new ways that work better for you. Let me know if you do try and how it turns out.
I doubled this recently. Added two 1 pound jars of sauce, 2 jars of alfredo, 16 oz of bow tie noodles, stuck in as much cheese and meatballs as my crock pot would fit. I did add water until I saw some on top to make sure the noodles cooked all the way. I don’t mind overly saturated noodles. It came out great for us. It’s creamy and cheesy. The noodles didn’t keep their shape, but they never do and that never bothered us anyways with spaghetti. We enjoyed it and will make it again.
Followed directions to a tee…noodles still hard at dinner time. Disappointed with a ruined family dinner. 🙁
The recipe came to me from a co-worker, and I’ve made the dish dozens of times without any issues. Key is breaking the spaghetti into smaller pieces, adding it to the crock-pot by “fanning” it out to keep the spaghetti somewhat separated, and covering it completely with sauce. Add more sauce or water if needed. That’s it.
Hi – thank you for sharing your recipe. I just tried it – I had the same issue as another poster. My spaghetti did not cook – is there something I could do differently – add water maybe? What would you recommend? I would like to try it again. Thank you.
I’ve never had any issues with this recipe. Are you breaking the spaghetti up into smaller pieces and “fanning” it out when putting it into the crock-pot? There should be more than enough liquid in the sauce, but definitely add water if needed. It’s important to make sure the sauce is covering the spaghetti.
Also, the layering is important. Sauce, meatballs, spaghetti, cheese, sauce, meatballs, cheese.
I made this a couple weeks ago and everyone loved it! Making again tonight, but short on cheese so only using 2 cups.
Two cups should be fine. A little less cheesy won’t hurt it at all. Enjoy.
Thank you for saving the night. Our 26 year old son and friends are coming in, and since this was all in the house, dinner was an easy treat. I just cut the cheese amount in half, and it was a feast. Thanks for the share!
You’re welcome, Kristy, my pleasure. I cut the cheese amount in half, too, the last time I made it. It was just as good.
This recipe looks amazing! I’m going to make it later this week for a sorority potluck. I will let y’all know how it goes! 🙂
Catalina // heartenest
Trying this for the first time today but have to cook for 3 hours on high to make dinner time. Hope it works!!
I was looking for a low cost, simple recipe and this was it. It came out perfect and tasty. Thanks for posting 🙂
I made this for the third time tonight. The first time it was absolutely incredible tasting! The second time, no one liked it because it was too cheesy and stuck to the roof of your mouth. I went back and thought about it, and I somehow missed all the cheese the first time! I made it again tonight without the cheese and the Alfredo sauce gives it exactly what my family likes!
It is super cheesy. The next time I make it, I’m going to eliminate the cheese and try it your way with just the Alfredo sauce. Sounds good!
Made this for a luncheon. It actually cooked 5 1/4 hours. The noodles are still nowhere near done. It does have a good flavor, though.