How to Make Crock-Pot Macaroni and Cheese
Make Crock-Pot macaroni and cheese for your next family reunion, church dinner or office potluck. Add 1/4 cup diced onions, a dash of hot sauce or crispy bacon crumbles for a more flavorful mac and cheese dish. Serve your slow cooker macaroni and cheese as a side dish with baked ham, or as the main attraction for a meat-less dinner.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Pot
- Water
- 1 lb. elbow macaroni
- Colander
- Slow cooker
- 1/2 cup butter
- Knife
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
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-
1
Prepare the macaroni according to the package directions for al dente pasta. Drain the water but don't rinse the macaroni. Set the pasta aside.
-
2
Preheat your slow cooker. Cut the butter into cubes before adding it to the slow cooker. Stir in the half and half, cheddar cheese soup and ground mustard.
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3
Add the macaroni and shredded cheese. Mix well. Put the lid on the slow cooker.
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4
Cook the macaroni and cheese on low for about 2 hours. Serve the macaroni and cheese after the shredded cheddar melts and the dish becomes bubbly.
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1
Tips & Warnings
It is best to under cook the macaroni just a bit since it will continue cooking in the crock pot. Cook until al dente. To save money shred the cheese yourself instead of buying pre-shredded. For variation use different cheeses such as a combination of cheddar, colby and monterey jack. It also goes without saying that you will probably have to use orange cheese to get the kids to eat it. This is also great if you cut up some kielbasa and add to the crock pot while cooking, although picky eaters don't seem to enjoy this since it does change the taste of the cheese sauce a bit.
Stir the macaroni mixture occasionally during the cooking process, but don't remove the lid too often -- this lowers the slow cooker's temperature.
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References
- Photo Credit Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
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Comments
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MotherDove
Apr 04, 2009
Well, I've learned two things from your article - one, slow-cooking pasta and, two, using cheese soup in your macaroni and cheese! Using cheese soup probably makes for extra creamy, extra cheesy macaroni. Thanks for this recipe and for the money-saving tips.
