So we have a problem in our house...my daughter eats about 4 foods and won't try anything else. One of those foods is the macaroni & cheese "in the blue box" and I have been on a quest to find a homemade version. Last month I came up with my easy macaroni and cheese recipe and, while my husband and boys loved it, she wouldn't even try it.
Sigh...the quest continues.
We were doing a lot of running around that day and I wanted to give crock pot mac and cheese a try. I had tried it in the past, but had a problem with the cheese curdling or it drying out, but I know that so many people are able to make it. Thanks to Paula Deen, I now have the best recipe for crock pot mac and cheese to add to my lineup!
But my daughter still wouldn't try it. I think I need to find the pasta that comes in the blue box...and maybe add some orange food coloring for her to try it. Then again, maybe I can just wait for her to outgrow her picky-eater phase....
Serve this as a side dish or as a meal all by itself (although the next time I make it as a meal, I think I might double the recipe. My 10-year old was practically licking the inside of the crockpot!). I paired it with a cup of tomato soup and it was delicious!
One last thing - I am not usually a fan of using slow cooker liners (it's really not that hard to clean my crockpot), but I did use them this time because I was concerned about it sticking too much to the pot. I'm glad I did because it made clean-up a breeze!
Scroll down for the complete directions!
You might want to try these other crockpot recipes:
- Homemade Applesauce in the Crockpot
- Crockpot Pulled Pork Recipes
- Freezer to Crockpot Meals - Beef
- Crockpot Pepper Steak Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 10 3/4 ounce can condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Boil the macaroni in water until just slightly undercooked. Drain
- In a medium saucepan, combine butter and cheese. Cook & stir until the cheese melts.
- Spray the inside of your slow cooker with non-stick spray (or use a crock pot liner
- Add the cheese/butter mixture, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper to your crockpot and stir well.
- Add the drained macaroni and stir again.
- Cook on low for about 2.5 - 3 hours, stirring occasionally
Mindi has been blogging since 2008 sharing her best frugal living tips, recipes and more. When she isn't writing, she spends time as an unpaid cook, maid and chauffeur to her 3 children!
Instead of the whole milk, I use a can of evaporated milk. I also use cream cheese instead of the canned soup.
Thanks for the heads-up! I am going to make this again this weekend and I will try cream cheese!
Thanks Carrie for the cream cheese instead of the canned soup. I have also used eggs and they dong curdle, just wanted to offer that out there.