Macaroni and Cheese in a Crockpot Recipe

macaroni and cheese

This macaroni and cheese recipe tastes very rich, one of the best mac ‘n cheese dishes I’ve ever had, although I must admit that 95% of my mac and cheese experience is from those familiar blue boxes. The kids have always loved the boxed stuff, it’s always on sale, and it’s always easy, so the boxed mac and cheese has been a staple for years. I made an oven-baked ’scratch’ version once a few years ago, but the appreciation from other members of the household did not match the effort, so I returned to the blue box. Still, in the back of my mind I knew there had to be a better way.

The crockpot changes everything. This recipe was easier to prepare than the boxed stuff because all of the ingredients are added at once. Total prep time is about 10 minutes (I used pre-shredded cheese). Toss it in and walk away for 3 hours.

I am not sure how smooth oven-baked cheese sauce usually is, but the crockpot sauce was not silky smooth. It was fine with me and everyone else who ate this and loved it. The taste and convenience are amazing and more than make up for the less than perfectly smooth sauce. I will definitely make this frequently, now that I know how easy it is.

I recommend keeping an eye on this after 3 hours of cooking on low, as that is when mine began to form a light brown crust on the sides. I really like the brown crust, but I was curious to see how the rest of the dish was cooked, and so I mixed it all up at this point and let it cook for another hour. It tasted so good, I had to have a bowl right then — really delicious. I let it cook some more, but the noodles started getting mushy, so I recommend not cooking it too much past the point when it begins to brown. Mix it up if you don’t like the crust, or be more patient than me and let the crust form if you like it that way.

• Pasta - 8 oz., dried (2 cups) - elbow or other strurdy noodles such as shells or rotini
• Cheddar Cheese - 4 cups, shredded
• Eggs - 2, beaten
• Milk - 3 cups
• Butter - 4 Tblsp.
• Salt - 1/2 tsp.
• pepper - 1/2 tsp.
• Onion Powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Garlic Powder - 1/2 tsp.

1. Spray the crockpot with oil for easier clean-up. (I used a round 4 quart pot)
2. Add all ingredients and blend well.
3. Cook on low for 3-5 hours.

This recipe was cobbled together from various online sources. The most detailed recipe is at A Year of Slow Cooking, although my recipe varies fairly significantly (includes butter and excludes mustard, for example) but if you want to read a lot of interesting comments about this dish, check it out.

Tags: cheese, crockpot, pasta, Vegetarian