This Slow Cooker Tortellini is an easy and delicious pasta bake recipe made right in the crock pot! It’s got cheese tortellini pasta, your favorite marinara, spicy ground sausage, and it’s loaded with cheese.
You will love this recipe because it has all of the flavors of an incredible lasagna without all of the work. All you need to do is throw the ingredients in, stir it up and just smell it cook.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Effortless! Dump, layer, and let your slow cooker do the work!
- Family Friendly. Hearty flavors, melty cheese, and pillowy pasta make it a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, even with the pickiest eaters.
- Customizable. Swap in your favorite meats, veggies, or sauces for endless variations.
Slow Cooker Tortellini
If your family loves cheesy and easy, this is the recipe for you. This is a great dinner to throw-in during the summer when you don’t want to heat up the house. You can dump and leave it to cook for several hours and wah-lah—dinner is ready.
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Slow Cooker Tortellini Pasta Bake Video Tutorial
Recipe Variations
- Meaty- Layer in browned Italian sausage, ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken, or turkey for extra protein.
- Vegetarian– Add spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, or artichokes for a veggie loaded version.
- Different Sauces– Try Alfredo, pesto, or a sun dried tomato sauce in place of marinara for a fun twist.
- Cheese Options– Mix in provolone, fontina, or gouda for extra flacor.
- Spicy- Sprinkle in red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Key Ingredients
- Tortellini Pasta- Fresh or frozen tortellini works best for this recipe. We prefer cheese tortellini but you can use any kind your family loves.
- Sausage- Hot Italian Sausage gives it some spice but you can always sub it for milk sausage or even ground beef. A combination of the sausage and beef is really delicious. Here’s a guide to preparing a sausage/beef combo. It saves a ton of time and is so handy for recipes like this one.
- Marinara Sauce- Use your favorite. My kids are pretty basic and don’t like diced tomatoes in their marinara, hardly any texture. Just use your favorite jarred or canned marinara sauce.
- Mozzarella Cheese- Any Mozzarella or pizza blend cheese will do.
- Parmesan Cheese-Fresh Parmesan is best but just use whatever you have on hand.
- Water- This is needed so the tortellini can soak up some extra water. If you’re using frozen pasta, keep an eye on your pasta, you may need to add some extra water. Some kinds of pasta are denser than others.
What to Serve with Slow Cooker Pasta Dinner
- Pull apart garlic bread is a fun variation and twist on homemade garlic bread.
- Cheesy breadsticks are alwasy a hit and our Olive Garden Copycat Breadsticks are a favorite. too.
- Caesar Salad, a garden salad, or even a fresh cucumber salad is quick and simple to make
Tips for Sucess
- You’ll need to add some extra water while it cooks. The pasta needs to soak up some liquid while cooking. I added a 1/2 cup of water to my recipe and it was about perfect. You may need to check it a couple times and add more water if it is looking dry as it cooks.
- The mild sausage will work for this recipe but I like the Spicy Italian Sausage from Johnsonville.
- It’s easy to prepare the meat for this ahead of time. I put together a tutorial on how to make ahead Spaghetti meat here if you want to check it out. It makes spaghetti dinners and pasta bakes so easy to prepare.
- I just used some Hunts Traditional pasta sauce (it’s inexpensive and my kids love it because there aren’t any “chunks”
- I used pre-shredded Parmesan cheese and pre-shredded mozzarella cheese. Why not make life a little easier!
- Some slow cookers have hot spots and some cook faster than others. ( I have 2 slow cookers and one cooks food 20% faster than the other one. You can always turn it to warm if it bakes faster than you’re anticipating.)
Storing and Reheating
- Make Ahead- You can assemble your tortelli bake ahead of time. Just assemble and then cover with the lid and store it in the fridge until needed.
- Store after Baking- Remove the pasta from the slow cooker and store in a coverd container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat- You can pop the leftovers into the microwave for about 1 minute, stir and then heat again for 30-second increments until the noodles and sauce are evenly heated.
More Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes You’ll Love
Slow Cooker Tortellini Pasta Bake
This Slow Cooker Tortellini Pasta Bake recipe is an easy and delicious pasta bake made right in the crockpot! It's cheese tortellini pasta, your favorite marinara, spicy ground sausage, and loaded with cheese. It's an easy dump-and-go slow cooker meal the entire family loves.
Yields people
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 20 ounces cheese tortellini pasta, fresh or frozen
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1½ cup mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium high heat, add the Italian Sausage along with about 1 tablespoon of water. Season with the salt and pepper and cook until the sausage is no longer pink, then remove from the heat. Drain any liquid from the meat and pour it into the crock pot.
- Spray the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, then add the cooked sausage. Stir in the tortellini, marinara sauce, water, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, and the Parmesan cheese. Stir the ingredients together, then top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Cover and cook on high heat for 3-4 hours, or until the pasta is cooked and the cheese is melted.
- Let the pasta cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- *In addition to the 1 cup of water that you add at the beginning, you will likely need to add about 1/2 cup more water while it cooks because the pasta needs to soak up some liquid while cooking. Just check about halfway through the cooking time and add more water if it is looking dry.
- Either mild sausage or Spicy Italian Sausage will work great.
- It’s easy to prepare the meat for this ahead of time. I put together a tutorial on how to make ahead Spaghetti meat here if you want to check it out. It makes spaghetti dinners and pasta bakes so easy to prepare.
- Some crockpots have hot spots and some cook faster than others. I have 2 slow cookers and one cooks food 20% faster than the other one. You can always turn it to warm if it bakes faster than you’re anticipating.
- This recipe for Pull Apart Garlic Bread is a great side to serve with this pasta bake!
Nutrition
Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 1043mg | Potassium: 441mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 535IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 164mg | Iron: 2mg
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This Homemade Slow Cooker Tortellini Pasta Bake recipe is an easy and delicious pasta bake made right in the Slow Cooker! It’s cheese tortellini pasta, your favorite marinara, spicy ground sausage, and loaded with cheese. It’s an easy dump-and-go slow cooker meal. Comfort food the entire family loves.
This was a huge hit at the work potluck! I prepped it the night before and started cooking it when I got to work, and it was ready 3 hours later for lunch. Just gave everything a good stir and then added the cheese on top and let it cook another 15 minutes or so to melt. I did have to add a bit more water in the morning, as the noodles soaked up the water overnight. So if I did it again I would add the water in the morning only. My grocery store was out of Italian sausage so I used Italian style turkey sausage, and it still turned out great! I added extra Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Can you use anything besides sausage?
Cooked ground beef would be great!
Can I add frozen ravioli ?
You bet! It works great with frozen ravioli.
Good recipe. I cooked on high for 4 hours, and tripled the ingredients. Added jalapeños for that extra heat. Magnificent!!! Thank you
Does your slow cooker tortellini pasta bake cook 3 – 4 hours on high or low?
I cooked mine on high. It was a little closer to 3 hours. I got a new slow cooker a couple months ago. This one is much hotter than my last. With my last slow cooker I could have kept it in there for at least 4 hours. Hope that helps!
Your directions say you cooked it on low 3-4 hours and now you said high for 3-4 hours. Which one is it?
Mmmm mmm good! Now I know whats for dinner.
Let me know how it turns out! I hope you love it!