Easy Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

"From Company's Coming Slow Cooker Recipes. I love to make this when my kids have skating lessons. I can throw it into the crockpot after school and when lessons are over, dinner is waiting. If you are lucky enough to have two crock pots, you can have a glazed ham going in the other one and your dinner is ready to go!"
 
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photo by Nourished Homestead photo by Nourished Homestead
photo by Nourished Homestead
photo by  Pamela photo by  Pamela
photo by melaninmamma photo by melaninmamma
photo by blessmann5 photo by blessmann5
photo by Virginia Cherry Blo photo by Virginia Cherry Blo
Ready In:
2hrs 10mins
Ingredients:
8
Yields:
4 cups
Serves:
3
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ingredients

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directions

  • Spray crockpot with non-stick spray for easy cleaning.
  • In a saucepan, combine first 5 ingredients.
  • Pour in milk and stir with a whisk until no lumps remain.
  • Heat and continue stirring until mixture boils and is thickened.
  • Add cheese and then macaroni.
  • Stir until well mixed.
  • Pour into 3 1/2 quart (3. 5L) slow cooker.
  • Cover and cook on low for 2-2 1/2 hours or on high for 1 hour.

Questions & Replies

  1. Should the macaroni still be dry when you mix it in, or is there an unwritten cooking step?
     
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Reviews

  1. I have made this twice and both times turned out very good. For me though, the original recipe has a little too much onion and not enough cheese. So on attempt 2, I doubled the cheese, cut the onions in half, and added a little dried mustard. PERFECT (for me)! Thanks for a great basic recipe as a starting point... I would never have thought to use my crock pot for Mac n' Cheese!
     
  2. I don't like doing dishes, so I mixed the sauce ingredients right in my teflon-coated crockpot, stirred in the milk, added the cheese (1.5 cups) and the noodles, gave it another good stir, and turned it on high for an hour, stirring it at random intervals. I also threw in some chopped ham and used dried minced onions. It turned out like a hearty casserole (creamy, cheesy, yummy), but had more of a soft texture than the boil and bake variety.
     
  3. I doubled the recipe, used 1/2 cup flour, omitted salt, black pepper, Emeril's essence, minced garlic, small onion minced, worcestershire sauce, dry mustard powder, 6 cups whole milk, 6 cups mild cheddar, 4 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni. Started on high, when sides of the slow cooker were hot turned it down to low, done in 2 1/4 hours. Tastes just like my baked m&c without heating up the kitchen!
     
  4. Loved the ease of this recipe. I've used it several times when I wanted some good, homemade mac n cheese but didn't want to turn the oven on., in fact making it again tonight! This happens a LOT in the summer! I read the other comments about it being "floury" so I used corn starch instead....worked like a charm. I also used 1.5 the amount of cheese and added dijon mustard for flavor. It was a hit. Nothing takes the place of good 'ol baked mac and cheese but this is an excellent substitute. Oh, and i LOVE that you don't have to cook the noodles first....HUGE bonus for me!!!
     
  5. My mac and cheese stuck together. I am not sure what I did wrong. Is there a way to make this creamier?
     
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Tweaks

  1. I’m adding a tad of dry mustard!
     
  2. This is my new go-to recipe for macaroni and cheese! I replaced the paprika with mustard powder, doubled the recipe, and used half sharp cheddar, half mild. It was wonderful!
     
  3. i too doubled the amount of cheese, and made sure that i cooked well the milk-flour mixture, and instead of macaroni noodles i used rigatoni, my whole family asked for seconds
     
  4. This was a very good recipe but I did make quite a few additions. I used white pepper instead of black and added a dash of mustard powder. I also doubled the amount of cheese and added chopped pickled jalapenos for some kick. About 20 min before serving I melted some butter, mixed it with bread crumbs, and put the mixture on top of the mac and cheese in the crock pot. I also did find that I had to add more soy milk (I used soy milk instead of regular) throughout the cooking time as it was getting a bit dry. This was simple and came out great! Thanks!
     
  5. I've never made mac'n'cheese by this method before, but thought it would be something nice to break in my new crockpot with...and it WAS nice...Now for caveats and general commentary...My new crockpot (Farberware FSSC500) is a 5 qt. model so I doubled the recipe (filled up the crock just right)...I added cubed ham, so I left out the salt...I used white pepper instead of black pepper (didn't want black specks)...I skipped the onions (onions in mac'n'cheese?!? weird!)...I skipped the paprika, added dry mustard...I doubled the cheese (that would be 2 c. as the recipe stands, but by doubling the entire recipe that knocked the cheese up to 4 c.)...It gave me a lovely cheese sauce but watch your sauce carefully, I nearly scorched mine!...My Farberware FSSC500 crockpot doesn't cook as hot as the more common Rival, for example, so my pasta came out more al dente than I expected...Next time, I'll try 2 hours on HIGH instead of the 1 hour the recipes gives...I didn't get the floury taste some reviewers have mentioned, nor did the recipe dry out during cooking...Perhaps these complaints were due to too much flour (don't scoop that flour directly from the canister as you'll use too much, spoon it into the measuring cup and then gently level it off instead) OR an inadvertant overcooking in a crockpot that runs too hot (cooking in less time than the recipe calls for and checking it sooner might help)...Since I consider my changes significant, I won't leave any stars for this recipe, but instead just leave my comments ;-)
     

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