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Home » Crock Pot Mac & Cheese

Crock Pot Mac & Cheese

December 4, 2015 by Debi 22 Comments

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Crock Pot Mac & Cheese is so good, creamy, delicious, and easy to make. Grab your slow cooker, and let’s get started!

This Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese was a big hit with everyone young and old at Thanksgiving.

I don’t think a single person at Thanksgiving passed by the mac & cheese without taking some.

a bowl of mac & cheese garnished with fresh green herbs, a fork next to it.

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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.

mac & cheese in a bowl

Easy to make

Ok, this Crock Pot Mac & Cheese isn’t the healthiest meal I’ve ever made, but it turned out really good. The cheese sauce was easy to make (just follow my tips below), it didn’t break or clump, and it was super delicious!

And, I had lots of requests for the recipe, which I found on Pinterest from Repeat Crafter Me.

Recipes like this will make your family super happy, and if you’re looking for more vegetarian dinner ideas, be sure to check out my Veggie turnovers and Pappardelle Pasta with Veggie Ribbons.

A really tasty mac & cheese that can be made ahead of time and cooks in the crock pot or slow cooker so there’s no last minute work. Perfect for any holiday or potluck!

I know, I know, it has canned soup in it.

But I think the canned soup helps it keep its creamy texture and not separate. And, well, it’s been years since I’ve eaten canned soup, so once every 5 years or so won’t kill me.

All things in moderation, including moderation, right?

A really tasty mac & cheese that can be made ahead of time and cooks in the crock pot or slow cooker so there’s no last minute work. Perfect for any holiday or potluck!

Make this ahead

I love that it was in a crock pot or slow cooker.

You can make everything the day before Thanksgiving. Place the cheese sauce in the ceramic bowl of the crock pot, and place the cooked pasta in a separate container.

Refrigerate them separately, like this, overnight.

Once we got to Thanksgiving dinner we simply stirred the pasta into the cheese sauce in the crock pot, and turned the crock pot on low for three hours, giving it about 4 stirs.

I made mine in my {affiliate link} 4-Quart Slow Cooker and it fit perfectly! It would probably work in a larger crock pot, but I wouldn’t go too much larger.

A really tasty mac & cheese that can be made ahead of time and cooks in the crock pot or slow cooker so there’s no last minute work. Perfect for any holiday or potluck!

Some tips on making the cheese sauce…

  • Gradually add the cheese, and do it on low heat. Gradually! If you add it all at once, it will clump. I know, I’m usually the lazy cook who throws it all in at once. In this case, don’t do it! Low and slow, that is the tempo (bonus points if you can name the band that this is from!) for making good cheese sauce.
  • Let the cheese come to room temperature before adding it to the melted butter, also, use a fine shred rather than a large coarse one, both of these will help the cheese melt faster.

That’s about it!

A tasty mac & cheese that can be made ahead of time and cooks in the crock pot so there’s no last-minute work. Perfect for any holiday or potluck!

Leftovers

Oh, and we had leftovers, which were delicious! Dan stirred some Italian seasoning into some of his leftovers, and that was a fun twist on the traditional mac & cheese.

Since Thanksgiving we’ve made the cheese sauce again. It was delicious on chili cheese fries!

It would be awesome with a little salsa stirred in and poured over nachos!

And, it keeps really well in the fridge. Now, go, cook and eat!

mac and cheese in the crock pot
Please forgive the picture, I wanted to make sure I got a pic for you, so I snapped this with my phone at Thanksgiving dinner, but, you can see how creamy and cheesy this is!

thanksgiving meal on my plate.
My plate at Thanksgiving with lots of mac & cheese! Some vegetarian stuffing that my awesome cousin made, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with cheese sauce which was amazing! Potato salad, and Asian salad (that I made). Wow that’s a lot of carbs!

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A really tasty mac & cheese that can be made ahead of time and cooks in the crock pot or slow cooker so there’s no last minute work. Perfect for any holiday or potluck!

Crock Pot Mac & Cheese Recipe

Crock Pot Mac & Cheese

Debi
A tasty mac & cheese that can be made ahead of time and cooks in the crock pot so there’s no last minute work. Perfect for any holiday or potluck!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
Total Time 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 8 servings
Calories 735 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups large elbow macaroni uncooked
  • 8 tablespoons butter cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 5 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 2 cans condensed cheddar cheese soup (10 & 3/4 ounce each)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper

Instructions
 

  • Boil the macaroni in water for five minutes. Drain.
  • In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is almost all melted, slowly and gradually add the shredded cheese, stirring as you add. Continue to stir until the cheese melts.
  • In ceramic bowl of a 4-quart crock pot, combine melted cheese mixture, soup, sour cream, milk salt, and pepper. Stir in the macaroni.
  • Place the lid on the crock pot, and cook on low for 2 ½ -3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Notes

Crock Pot Mac & Cheese can be made ahead, simply refrigerate the cooked pasta separately from the cheese sauce, and stir together when you’re ready to turn on the crock pot.

Nutrition

Calories: 735kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 28gFat: 46gSaturated Fat: 28gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 128mgSodium: 1280mgPotassium: 654mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 1642IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 649mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

Keyword crock pot, mac & cheese, slow cooker
Tried this recipe?Mention @LifeCurrents or tag #LifeCurrents!
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Filed Under: Christmas, Easter, Main Dish, Pasta, Side Dishes, Slow Cooker/ Crock Pot, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian, Weeknight meals Tagged With: cheddar, cheese, Cooking, crock pot, Food, main dish, Meatless Monday, pasta, slow cooker, vegetarian

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ABOUT DEBI

Hello! I’m Debi, the girl behind Life Currents where I write about mainly healthy vegetarian dishes. My husband eats meat, so occasionally I share some of his dishes as well. And, I’ll share tasty treats and projects that we do. Read more...

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Comments

  1. Whoneedsacape (@Whoneedsacape)

    December 7, 2015 at 10:13 am

    Oh my word, my oldest daughter would love this! Going to make this while she’s home from college! YUM!

  2. Lillian Migliorini

    November 13, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    It looks so good that I just had to print it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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Hello! I’m Debi, the girl behind Life Currents where I write about mainly healthy vegetarian dishes. My husband eats meat, so occasionally I share some of his dishes as well. And, I’ll share tasty treats and projects that we do. Read More >>>

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