This cream cheese Italian pasta casserole is made with your favorite sauce, and revamped with cream cheese to make it the creamiest pasta dish ever.
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This dish is simple to make, tastes great, and has lots of great flavor. It's a great recipe to come home after work, throw together and have ready in no time.
The mix in possibilities are endless!
bell peppers - onion - garlic - mushrooms - zucchini - tomatoes
Pasta choices?
Literally any pasta. I like pasta with lines or spirals, to help hold the sauce a little better, but you can use any pasta you have on hand. However, all I had on hand was shells, and they worked great!
What all goes into this Cream Cheese Italian Pasta Casserole?
pasta - ground beef - cream cheese - mozzarella - Parmesan cheese - your favorite red sauce - seasonings
Slow cooker/crock pot?
Grease your slower cooker insert, or use one of these handy liners. Cook your ground beef, and season with the seasonings in the ingredients list.
In the slow cooker pour in the pasta, red sauce, one cup of water, cooked ground beef, diced cream cheese block, and ½ cup of the shredded mozzarella. Give it a good stir.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
Give it a good stir, and top with the remaining cheese. Cover for 30 minutes more, and serve.
Serving suggestions?
Garlic sticks - cheese sticks - green salad
Here are some great sides:
- Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apple, Bacon, Cranberries & a Citrus Dressing
- Skinny Broccoli Salad with a Poppy Seed Dressing
Looking for more comfort food?
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice
- Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole
- One Pan Chicken & Potatoes in a Garlic Cream Sauce
Cream Cheese Italian Pasta Casserole
This cream cheese Italian pasta casserole is made with your favorite sauce, and revamped with cream cheese to make it the creamiest pasta dish ever.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound pasta cooked according to directions we used spirals, but any will do
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 jar your favorite red sauce we use Simply Balanced from Target
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a large oven safe skillet, if you have one, brown your meat and season with garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Bump the heat up to medium high if it isn't already and add your sauce.
- Cook until your sauce just starts to bubble from the heat, but not boil. If it starts to boil, turn your heat down.
- Add your cream cheese, stir until thoroughly combined.
- Add your pasta to your skillet and stir to coat the pasta.
- If your not using an oven safe skillet, place the meat/pasta mix into a baking dish.
- Top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until your cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
Notes
Mix it up, add your favorite bell peppers, onion, fresh garlic, etc.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 547Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 673mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 34g
Jessica @ Together As Family says
This is going on my menu for next week! My kids love pasta and I love that this has cream cheese added in it. You're right about the tomato allergy..... so many things once I started thinking about it! That's exciting that she can now tolerate a little bit of tomato.
Joanna says
Y'all will love it! 🙂 Yea, at first it was like, ahh, she doesn't even eat raw tomato, then when I thought about it, it was crazy! I am very thankful that we can incorporate it here and there now.
Aspen Jay says
Hi Joanna!
Wow that would be hard to cook without tomatoes! Geeze there are so many delicious recipes that call for them! Glad she can eat them now, sparingly at least, and funny she keeps you in check! I love cream cheese, too so this casserole title sang to me! 🙂
Hope you are having a lovely week!
Aspen Jay
Joanna says
Yea, it has been a hard one. She is on top of everything she eats, always asking "what's in this?" and "are you sure i can have it?".
Nicole says
That recipe looks wonderful! I'm pinning!
Joanna says
Thank you for the pinterest love!
Jennifer says
Oh, yum! Thanks for linking up at the Weekend Blog Hop at My Flagstaff Home!
Jennifer
Joanna says
Thank you for coming by!
Brian says
Hmm. I remember when the woman I marred first told me she did not eat tomatoes... I paniced but make a lovely stew for her... now she eats tomatoes no problems but only cooked.. this would go down a treat in our household right now!
Joanna says
I hope you and your wife enjoy it!
Joy @ Joy Love Food says
Yum, I love baked pasta casseroles like this, it sounds so good with the cream cheese. Tomato is certainly a tough one when it come to allergies, I'm glad to hear she can tolerate it cooked now. Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend?!
Joanna says
The cream cheese definitely adds a creamy element! Yea, tomato is a tough one that doesn't sound that bad until you start thinking about it. I'm glad we can have some tomato dishes here and there now. 🙂
Jess says
We've made something very similar to this! I love pasta dishes and this would be no exception! 🙂
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Joanna says
We love pasta dishes too! They are just so versatile. 🙂
Kim~madeinaday says
Looks yummy! Thank you so much for linking up to Merry Monday this week! I am sharing your post today on my Twitter! We hope to see you next week for another great party! Have a great week!
Best,
Kim
Joanna says
Thanks for the social share! 🙂 I will be there.
Lisa Ehrman says
Yummy! So cheesy 🙂 Thanks for sharing your amazing recipe at What Are You Doing? Blog Hop!!!
Joanna says
Thanks for hosting the blog hop!
Jess says
Wow talk about love at first sight, I am literally drooling! Great post 🙂 xo
Joanna says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Quirky Chrissy says
Oooh! Good idea with the cream cheese! I usually use ricotta or a couple others that we have in the house.
Joanna says
We sometimes use ricotta in our calzones! 🙂
Dennis says
Absolutely delicious!! Never thought about adding cream cheese to our pasta bake. What a difference it made, great stuff!!
Joanna says
So glad to hear that Dennis!
Maria says
Awesome post! I loved how you brought cream cheese into a pasta casserole. All my friends loved the creamy, cheesiness within the dish. I added in some chilli flakes to make it spicy.
stefanie says
What is red sauce????? And how many cups is 1lb of pasta????? Thank You......
Stefanie
Joanna says
Red sauce is your favorite spaghetti sauce. Pasta, 16oz is one pound, which is usually one box. I'm sorry, but I've never measured it by cups before.