Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
on Oct 02, 2020, Updated Oct 20, 2020
Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese gets extra creamy and cheesy in the popular kitchen gadget. Top this side dish with a delicious crunchy topping!
Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
Whether you want to call this “Crock Pot Mac and Cheese” or “Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese,” all I know is that this recipe is one of my favorites! Whenever I can get plenty of flavor into my food with as little effort as possible, I’m a big fan. Thankfully, Crock Pots and slow cookers get this job done with ease- taking most of the stress and difficulty out of cooking. It feels great knowing I can get this Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese going a few hours before dinner and that it’ll taste great!
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We made this Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese with Velveeta, sharp cheddar, and some pepperjack. We felt this, plus a generous amount of milk, was the best way to get our Mac and Cheese creamy. Everyone loved the final product- made for a great side dish to pair with the night’s dinner!
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If you have an instant pot sitting around, you’ll find that it can make some delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese! This macaroni recipe is lightning fast- only needing a quick 4 minutes in the instant pot to get cooked perfectly. Mix in your evaporated milk and cheeses right after cooking for an easy and delicious dinner side!
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Our Creamy Mac and Cheese is one of the best baked mac and cheese recipes on the web! Using a mixture of sharp cheddar and gruyere cheese, we got this delicious macaroni recipe extra creamy. An extra comforting mac and cheese that you can whip up in about an hour!
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We have a couple of stovetop macaroni recipes to pick from. Our Easy Stovetop Mac & Cheese is simple to make with just 5 ingredients. Panera Mac and Cheese, meanwhile, takes a bit more effort but has plenty of flavor- a bit of hot sauce and some Vermont sharp white cheddar. Both are way better than whatever’s in that blue box!
Give all of these recipes a peek when you’re done here. Keep reading to learn how to make Macaroni and Cheese in a Crock Pot or slow cooker. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Mac n Cheese
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Macaroni Pasta – Elbows, shells, or whatever other shapes you enjoy using for mac and cheese. Whatever shape you use, make sure to cook it al dente!
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Sharp Cheddar Cheese
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Pepperjack Cheese
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Velvetta
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Milk
- Butter
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Macaroni Topping – Macaroni tastes great when given a crispy topping. We used a crispy Panko topping, but consider whipping up something similar like a Ritz cracker topping!
How to make Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese
We’ve gotta get our ingredients prepped before starting this recipe. Instead of shredding our cheese, we’re going to cube it instead. Cut the cheese down into about 1 inch cubes.
With our cheese prepped, we have to get our pasta cooked. Whatever pasta shape you went with, just make sure you cook it al dente.
Give your slow cooker or crock pot a quick spray with some non-stick spray. Once you’ve got a coating of spray, you can start assembling your macaroni ingredients. Pour in your cooked pasta first and then top it with your cheese cubes.
Top all that with a generous amount of milk. We’re then going to let this go in our slow cooker on low for around 3 hours. Feel free to stir that every hour or hour-and-a-half.
Once we reach the last half-hour of cooking, we’re going to add a crunchy buttery topping. To make that, melt some butter in the microwave and add something like panko bread crumbs to it until well-combined. Spread that out on a baking sheet and allow to bake in a 250 degree oven until crispy.
Once it’s time to add the topping, sprinkle it generously over your macaroni. Before closing the slow cooker back up, cover your macaroni with a layer of paper towel- this’ll keep your topping from getting soggy.
Once that last half-hour finishes out, your macaroni is ready! Feel free to scoop out a generous portion and enjoy.
Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 oz Macaroni cooked al dente
- 8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 8 oz Pepper Jack Cheese
- 8 oz Velvetta
- 1 1/2 cup Milk
- 3 tbsp Butter melted
- 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
Instructions
- Cut all the cheese into cubes.
- Spray Slow cooker with non-stick spray.
- Pour macaroni in bottom of slow cooker.
- Spread the cheese cubes around on top of the macaroni.
- Pour milk over contents.
- Cook on low for about 2 1/2 hours (optionally stirring halfway through).
- In a bowl combine melted butter and bread crumbs. Toss to coat.
- Place on baking sheet and toast in 250 oven until golden (about 10 minutes)
- Sprinkle toasted bread crumbs over top of macaroni.
- Place a paper towel over lid to absorb excess moisture and recover for another 30 minutes of cooking.
Nutrition
This was originally posted on February 21, 2014, and has been updated with new images and tips.
Hi Jen, I am trying your recipe right now, but a question came up as I was prepping. About how much does your recipe serve (how many people)? I might want to increase the ingredients if I have more mouths to feed :) Thank you!