This Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake is a new family favourite, firmly grabbing a spot in our regular meal rotation! It has a tomato and beef mince sauce, which once cooked, has cream cheese stirred through, taking the edge off the tomato tang and making the sauce a little creamy.
You’ll also stir through your cooked pasta and then top with a generous layer of grated cheddar, recover and leave for 5-10 minutes until gorgeously melted. Delicious!
One reason I personally love to make this meal is because it takes just 5 minutes to prep, a quick 5 minutes to brown the beef and soften the onion before you leave it to cook all day in the slow cooker (crockpot). It’s also budget friendly, coming in around £1.85 per person*.
If you have a toddler, weaning baby or fussy eater and are wondering how to adapt this recipe for your family, see here >
*when ingredients bought from Sainsbury’s
The Stars of my Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake
The Beef Mince
Go for a 5% fat lean beef mince. We will brown this for about 5 minutes, along with the onion before slow cooking.
The Cream Cheese
I use full fat, but it will be fine with a low fat cream cheese too if you prefer.
The Pasta
You can use any pasta shape you like, but I prefer to use pasta shells, either large conchilglioni as pictured here or conchiglie that you can pick up from most supermarkets. Conchiglie is the best choice for younger children as the Garofalo shells will be too large for them to fit in their mouths without having to cut them up. If you are eating with a weaning baby see my pasta recommendations here >
The Cheddar Cheese
Once the sauce is cooked, and you have stirred through the cream cheese and pasta you’ll add your cheddar layer, recover and cook on high until the cheese has melted.
I always use medium cheddar, but you can use mature if you prefer a stronger flavour. I have made this slow cooker pasta bake with shop bought grated cheddar and with cheddar I have grated myself, and although a little time consuming, the latter wins for me. This is because when you grate cheddar yourself you end up with thinner shreds of cheese, whereas store bought cheddar shreds are a lot thicker which means they will take longer to melt. If you are using store bought grated cheddar, allow 15-20 minutes for it to melt. Whereas, the home grated cheddar will take around just 5-10 minutes to melt.
FAQ’s For My Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake
Can I prepare this meal in advance?
There isn’t much to prepare in advance to be honest, but yes you can dice the onion and measure out your pasta and mixed herbs and grate your cheddar. Just be sure to refrigerate everything but the herbs.
Can I cook this Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake on the stove instead?
Yes! Just brown the mince and onions as per the recipe but in a large saucepan then add in the rest of sauce ingredients, bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Then stir through the cream cheese until melted, followed by the cooked pasta. Add the layer of cheese, recover and let it melt with the heat on low.
Can I feed more people with this recipe?
That will depend on the size of your slow cooker (crockpot). If you are able to double the recipe, just remember the layer of cheddar on the top will be doubled which will take longer to melt.
How can younger children help make it?
They can help add the sauce ingredients to the pot once the beef is browned. They can also stir through the cream cheese and pasta and help sprinkle over all the grated cheese.
Can I Store Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake leftovers?
You can store any Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake leftovers in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). Leftovers can also be frozen, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and reheat in the microwave, stirring halfway, until steaming hot all the way through. Add a just a little water before microwaving.
For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >
What diets is this recipe suitable for?
My Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake is egg-free (so long as you use dried pasta, not fresh) as well as nut-free.
Adapting My Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake For Your Family
Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, which will help make it easier to eat together as a family.
Keeping Picky Eaters Happy
My son has always been a fussy eater and like many, he’s never liked tomato pieces he can see and taste, but as this is made with passata - no problem! He also always seems to be much better with tomato sauces if they are with beef mince for some reason. And even though he’s not a fan of tomatoes this is a new FAVOURITE meal of his, which I totally wasn’t expecting at all! He literally scoffs it down in 5 minutes flat. So, if you have a tomato hater, definitely still give this one a go, you might be pleasantly surprised!
See more from me on fussy eaters here >
Making My Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake Suitable for Baby
Baby-Led Weaning
If you are sharing with a baby, use a pasta shape that little one can palm like the large Garofalo Conchilglioni shells pictured here, penne, fusilli, rotini, rigatoni or casarecce. Be sure to omit salt from the cook. For smaller babies, once you have stirred through the cream cheese and the pasta, remove their serving before you add the cheese as melted cheese could cause gagging and choking.
Spoon-Fed Weaning
6 months
Add some pasta and sauce to your stick blender pot or food chopper (if you have that one that purées) and whizz into a purée. Add a little warm boiled water to loosen as needed.
7-9 months
Add their pasta and sauce to your food chopper. Use short sharp pulses to finely chop.
10-12 months
Add some pasta and sauce to your food chopper pot. Gradually pulse, just a few times then check the consistency. It should lumpy with small pieces of pasta.
I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. For more info on how I keep my family meals suitable for baby weaning, read here >
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Slow Cooker Mince Pasta Bake
Equipment
- Slow cooker / crockpot
- Cheese grater and chopping board or plate
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 500 g beef mince
- 1 onion diced
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs
- 500 g passata (tomato purée US)
- 200 ml beef stock (broth)
- 300 g pasta I use conchiglie or conchilglioni
- 80 g cream cheese
- 200 g grated cheddar see notes
See notes for baby & toddler
Instructions
- In your removeable slow cooker pot (or a frying pan), fry the mince and onion in the olive oil over a medium-high heat until the meat has browned, for about 5 minutes. Drain any liquid fat left.
- Transfer the slow cooker pot back into its base. Add the passata, stock and seasonings and stir well. Level out, cover and cook on low for 7-8hrs. Once done, if there is any burnt sauce around the edge of the pot, run a silicone spatula round it, any burnt food will stick to it.
- When it’s nearly done, cook your pasta as per packet instructions and drain.
- When the slow cooker has finished, turn it to high and add the cream cheese. Stir until fully melted. Then stir through your cooked pasta. Level out and top with the grated cheddar. Recover and leave until the cheese is melted, about 5-10 minutes (see notes).
Notes
Baby & Toddler
Baby-Led Weaning
Use a pasta shape that little one can palm, like the large Conchilglioni shells pictured here, penne, fusilli, rotini, rigatoni or casarecce. Omit salt from the cook. For smaller babies, remove their serving before you add the layer of cheddar as melted cheese could cause gagging and choking.Spoon-Fed Weaning
6 months Add some pasta and sauce to your stick blender pot or food chopper (if you have that one that purées) and whizz into a purée. Add a little warm boiled water to loosen as needed. 7-9 months Add their pasta and sauce to your food chopper. Use short sharp pulses to finely chop. 10-12 months Add some pasta and sauce to your food chopper pot. Gradually pulse, just a few times then check the consistency. It should lumpy with small pieces of pasta.STORAGE
Nutrition
Catherine Jones says
Came across this when searching for weaning recipes. I knew everyone in the house would like this but my gosh, everyone loves it. For my 7 month old I made the food without salt and blended a portion, leaving plenty of texture. She wolfed it down so I've frozen the rest in portions. Thank you so much, I have fussy eater so this helped massively and have bookmarked your page to try other recipes Xx
togethertoeat says
Oh I’m so pleased to hear that! 🥰 And great to hear you were able to whizz it up for spoon feeding, I will be sure to add into the recipe post about doing that. Thanks so much for your lovely comment, I truly appreciate it! ❤️ You can also subscribe to my weekly email to never miss a new recipe if you like 😊 x