This slow cooker spaghetti is warm, hearty, and made with just five main ingredients. Brown the beef, let the sauce cook low and slow, then add the spaghetti right into the crock—no separate pasta pot or colander needed. You’re going to love how easy it is to get a comforting spaghetti-and-meat-sauce dinner on the table.
Why You’ll Love It
- One-pot pasta dinner — the spaghetti cooks right in the slow cooker with the sauce.
- Just five main ingredients — simple pantry and refrigerator staples do the work.
- Rich meat sauce flavor — the beef and sauce have time to cook together before the pasta goes in.
- Feeds six with leftovers — a hearty dinner that stretches well.
- No separate pasta pot — less cleanup and no draining required.
Ingredient Notes
Ground beef is what gives this sauce that familiar, hearty spaghetti-night flavor. Lean beef in the 85–90% range has enough flavor without an alarming puddle of grease to drain off. If your beef is fattier, just drain it well after browning. Nobody wants a shiny orange slick floating on dinner. Well, maybe somebody does, but not here. Try our Slow Cooker 4-Ingredient Poor Man Goulash next.
Use a 24-ounce jar of marinara or spaghetti sauce you genuinely like. This is not the moment to buy the cheapest jar on the shelf and hope dried Italian seasoning will perform a miracle. It won’t. A basic tomato-basil marinara works well, but any favorite sauce is the right one.
Low-sodium beef broth gives the spaghetti more flavor than plain water, though water works if that’s what you’ve got. Since the sauce can be salty already, low-sodium broth keeps things from getting too aggressive. Regular broth works too, just saltier. If you like this, you'll love our Slow Cooker 4-Ingredient Mulligan Stew.
Regular dry spaghetti is all you need. Break it in half so it fits in the slow cooker. This may feel a little unconventional, but it makes twelve ounces of noodles fit easily in an oval crock.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef, preferably lean, around 85–90%
- 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara or spaghetti sauce, use one you’d happily eat with a spoon—not that I do that
- 3 cups low-sodium beef broth, or water if that’s what you have
- 12 ounces dry spaghetti, broken in half so it will fit
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, or a dried oregano-and-basil blend if your spice cabinet is a jumble like mine
Instructions
Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, until there is no pink left. Drain off the excess fat. You can crumble raw beef directly into the slow cooker if life is truly coming at you sideways, but browning it first gives the sauce better flavor and a nicer texture. Browning is better. The other way is just… less good.
Transfer the browned beef to the slow cooker, then pour in the marinara sauce and the 3 cups of beef broth. Sprinkle in the Italian seasoning and stir it all together. At this point it will look quite loose, maybe even suspiciously soupy, but don’t panic. The pasta needs that liquid later.
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Cover the slow cooker and cook the meat sauce on LOW for 3 to 4 hours or on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This is a nice time to go about your day, answer emails, or stare into the refrigerator wondering why there are three open jars of pickles. The sauce gets richer while it cooks, and the beef turns tender.
About 45 to 60 minutes before dinner, give the sauce a good stir and add the dry spaghetti, broken in half. Press the noodles down into the sauce and liquid as much as you can so they cook evenly. If it looks dry or a lot of pasta is sticking up like little fence posts, add up to an extra 1/2 cup broth or water. Slow cookers vary wildly, so cooking times may vary. For another easy option, see our TACO CASSEROLE.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time, until the spaghetti is tender but not mushy. Use tongs or a fork to gently separate the strands if they cling together when you stir. Do check it a little early the first time you make it. Overcooked spaghetti goes from tender to mop-like in a hurry, and nobody needs that kind of disappointment at 6 p.m.
Stir the finished spaghetti and sauce together well. If it seems thicker than you like, add a small splash of broth or water. If it seems too loose, leave the lid off for 5 to 10 minutes so some liquid can cook off. Taste before adding any salt, because the sauce and broth may have handled that for you. Serve hot with grated Parmesan or red pepper flakes if you have them around.
Variations
Stir shredded mozzarella or an Italian cheese blend into the spaghetti during the last 5 to 10 minutes, usually 1 to 2 cups, until it gets melty and a little ridiculous. Parmesan on top works well too, especially if you like seeing the sauce instead of burying it under cheese.
You can add finely chopped carrot, bell pepper, or a handful of spinach along with the sauce and broth if you want some vegetables tucked in there. The carrot softens into the sauce especially well. Too much zucchini can make the whole thing watery.
Ground turkey or chicken can stand in for the beef, and half Italian sausage with half ground beef makes a richer, more old-school sauce. Brown whichever meat you use before it goes in the slow cooker. The sausage version is delicious, though it does make for a richer sauce.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for a few days in a covered container. The spaghetti will soak up more sauce as it sits, so it looks thicker the next day—almost like a baked spaghetti situation, though not really. Add a splash of water or beef broth before reheating, either in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. You might also like our ONE POT MEXICAN RICE CASSEROLE.
For the microwave, cover the bowl loosely and heat it in short bursts, stirring between them. If you just blast it for three minutes and walk away, the edges dry out while the center remains cold enough to preserve a mammoth.
I don’t love freezing this once the spaghetti is cooked because the noodles get softer when thawed and reheated. It’s still edible, certainly, but not at its best. If you want a head start, brown the ground beef the night before and refrigerate it. In the morning, add it with the sauce, broth, and seasoning, then let the slow cooker handle the rest.
Final Notes
There’s something soothing about coming home to spaghetti sauce already bubbling away in the slow cooker. The house smells warm, even if the mail is stacked on the counter and you still haven’t figured out what that strange noise in the dryer is. It makes an ordinary weeknight feel a little less sharp around the edges. Try our PHILLY CHEESE STEAK CASSEROLE next.
This one has earned a spot in the regular rotation because it doesn’t ask much. A skillet, a slow cooker, five ingredients, and a little attention near the end. That’s manageable. Some days manageable is plenty. If you like this, you'll love our PHILLY CHEESE STEAK SLOPPY JOES.
5-Ingredient Slow Cooker One Pot Spaghetti
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Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef Preferably lean, around 85–90%.
- 1 24-ounce jar marinara or spaghetti sauce Use a favorite sauce.
- 3 cups low-sodium beef broth Use water if desired.
- 12 ounces dry spaghetti Break in half so it will fit in the slow cooker.
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning Or use a dried oregano-and-basil blend.
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, until there is no pink left, then drain off the excess fat.
- Transfer the browned beef to the slow cooker, then pour in the marinara sauce and beef broth, sprinkle in the Italian seasoning, and stir everything together.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook the meat sauce on LOW for 3 to 4 hours or on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- About 45 to 60 minutes before dinner, stir the sauce, add the dry spaghetti broken in half, and press the noodles down into the sauce and liquid as much as possible; add up to 1/2 cup extra broth or water if it looks dry.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the spaghetti is tender but not mushy.
- Stir the finished spaghetti and sauce together well, thinning with a splash of broth or water if needed, or leaving the lid off for 5 to 10 minutes if it is too loose; taste before adding salt and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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Nutrition values are estimates based on the listed ingredients and serving count. Actual values vary with brands, cuts and portion sizes.
