Great taste, wonderful creamy texture in the easiest slow cooker mac and cheese you will ever see using uncooked pasta. No boiling for you. You can make this tonight.
Introduction
Just put that uncooked macaroni in the crock pot. Yep, uncooked. Add some milk and spices. Cook. Then add cheese, and in a few minutes, you're done. No can of soup needed. Serve FRESH today.
My previous slow cooker mac and cheese has been well received. It is consistently in the top 10 on a Google search, and it made my top 10 recipes for last year. But still, something bothered me, and I keep experimenting to the point I feel like American Test Kitchen here. I have lost count, but I'm in the high teens here.
So what bothered me so much? The precooking of the pasta, the effect of heat on the cheese, which makes it separate some, and last (and the real thorn in my paw) was that can of soup.
I HATE recipes that call for that can of soup. You shouldn't need a can of soup or a package of mix to make something. And crock pot cooking seems to be the epicenter for it. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY...
They were OK but just not worthy... But the stove-top mac I did last month convinced me that I did not need to pre-cook the macaroni. I just had to do it.
I went through a lot of trials and errors here. A lot of mac and cheese was eaten, and a lot went down the sink as not worthy of a reheat.
My Rating
I never thought I would rate a mac and cheese a five, but this is it.
♨️The Crock Pot
This fits well in most crock pots 2 quarts or above. Even a double recipe will fit in a 3.5 qt crock pot. You can use bigger as long as the milk completely covers the pasta in the first part of the recipe.
This should usually be done on low. This is NOT a recipe you should cook on high and cut the time in half and ignore. The endpoint is the pasta becoming al dente, not an amount of time.
🍝The Pasta
Cooking uncooked pasta in a crock pot is always an exercise in variability. You have thousands of different versions of pasta, and every crock pot is different. Guess what, your pasta in your crock pot will cook differently than mine—just a fact.
My instructions are to use standard dry pasta. If you want to use whole wheat or gluten-free pasta, you MUST pay attention to the pasta's endpoint is just al dente. More than that will make mush. The time of cooking WILL be different.
🍝The Cheese
Many kinds of cheese should not cook for long periods. Put it in near the end and let it melt and deliver its creamy goodness.
American made shredded cheese that we all buy does not like long or high heat. It is waxier than block cheese, and it just won't take it and will separate some.
I'm sure a better cheese like a block of Cabot would do better, but are you going for a $10 cheese for this?
Feel free to vary the cheese type.
The Liquid
We are using seasoned milk for cooking the pasta. The amount of liquid I suggest will be correct for most people.
A little fat is needed. I have only fat free milk, usually. So since I was using that, I added a tablespoon of butter. That is enough fat to equal just over 2% milk.
So if you use whole or 2% milk, you may not need the butter, but I would keep it for taste. Or even leave it out with 0% for health reasons, but the texture will suffer a little.
💭Trouble Shooting
I have too much liquid.
No, you don't, really. Once your pasta is al dente, you are done with the free liquid. So you MUST drain it. Don't worry about getting every drop of the liquid out. Just use a cup and remove the liquid you can easily remove before adding the cheese.
Should I cook longer to get rid of the liquid? No, drain per the instructions.
My pasta is mush. Your pasta is cooking too fast. You need to look for al dente.
My cheese looks bad. Some cheap cheese will separate quickly. Get better cheese.
📖Mac and Cheese Recipes
Creamiest Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese
🖼️Step-by-Step Instructions
Things you already have. Oops... I left the salt out of the picture.
Dump 2 cups milk, 1 cup standard (not whole wheat or other non-standard) macaroni, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon each of pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, and l tablespoon butter into a smallish slow cooker.
Cook on low. Stir well at 1 hour into the cooking and check the texture. Cook until pasta is al dente, another hour or so for me. Slow cookers vary some; your time may vary some. DO NOT COOK BY TIME ONLY HERE.
When the pasta is al dente, drain any free fluid, add 1 cup of shredded cheese. I used sharp cheddar this time. Mix very well.
Continue on low until cooked to your taste. About 5-15 minutes.
This is the crock pot after the meal. My wife scooped it all out into bowls within 30 seconds of her first bite. I think she liked it.
📖 Recipe
Uncooked Macaroni Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup Standard Macaroni
- 2 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup cheese of your choice - I used sharp cheddar
Instructions
- Dump 2 cups milk, 1 cup standard (not whole wheat or other non-standard) macaroni, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon each of pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, and l tablespoon butter into a slow cooker.
- Cook on low. Stir well at 1 hour into the cooking and check the texture. Cook until pasta is al dente, another hour or so for me. Slow cookers vary some your time may vary some. DO NOT COOK BY TIME ONLY HERE.
- When the pasta is al dente, drain any free fluid, add 1 cup of shredded cheese. I used sharp cheddar this time. Mix very well.
- Continue on low until cooked to your taste. About 5-15 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This is not a dump it in and go shopping recipe.
- I suggest a standard dry pasta. If you use whole wheat, gluten-free, or other standard pasta, you must be aware of the endpoint being the pasta cooked to al dente and not longer.
- Use the cheese of your choice. I always like some sharp cheddar here.
- I like adding the cheese at the end, so you don't adversely affect the texture of the cheese.
- You may have some free liquid when the pasta reaches the al dente stage. Drain the extra fluid. Do not try to cook the extra fluid off.
- This will fit in a 2 qt. crock pot as written. A double batch will fit in a 3.5 qt or bigger.
- You can use bigger crock pots, but the pasta needs to be covered by the fluid.
- The bigger batch you have, the more extra liquid you will have. That is fine since we are cooking to the pasta al dente point. Just drain the extra fluid.
- I have closed the comment so this recipe. There were so many comments and I felt everything was covered. I have modified the recipe some with that input over the years.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition
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Originally published January 13, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
DrDan
I had closed comments on this recipe last year but Ana has emailed me her experience and since comments are to expand the discussion, I wanted to post that and will leave the comments closed after this.
Dan
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On Oct 20, 2017, at 1:07 AM, Ana C
Hello,
I'm writing you via email as you closed the comments under the recipe.
I wanted to share how it turned out for me.
I doubled the recipe. Used smallest size shells, which were thinner than regular small elbows but about the same size.
I cooked it on high and added cheese once they were fully cooked. There was just enough liquid to make Mac and cheese nice creamy.
And this is where I made the mistake. Instead of transferring it to another bowl (which I'm doing next time), I left it in crock pot which kept it cooking, even though I turned it off. It dried my Mac and cheese although the taste was still good. But visually it kind of looked bit sticky and grainy.
Reason I'm writing is I noticed people who had liquid problems doubled the recipe. I think if the recipe is doubled, it should be cooked on high. Took me about the same amount of cook time. And cheese should be added at the end. No need to keep cooking it after the cheese is added. Just stir and transfer to a cold bowl.
As for shredded cheese, manufactures add some powder to keep each little piece separate. Otherwise eventually they'd all stick back together and we'd have this unsightly weirdly shaped ball of cheese.
Also my son asked me not to add cheese. He said the taste was phenomenal without it. I had him try the pasta to see if it was cooked and he was hooked lol.
Thank you for an awesome recipe that doesn't use condensed milk or can of processed chemicals aka the condensed soup.
Ana
John
Great recipe fantastic flavor. I doubled it and followed your advice and really kept an eye on the dish at the end. I drained out about 1/3 cup of milk at the end and that left just a little bit to mingle with the cheese. I used A bag of Sargento half sharp and half mild cheddar, really good. When I make this next I will go ahead and probably use 3 and 3/4 cups of milk so I don't have to scoop out pasta and boiling hot milk and pour it through a sieve to get rid of the excess. A winner for me, I'm glad I found your site. Tomorrow I'm going to try your BBQ sauce on some crock pot BBQ chicken I like to make.
DrDan
Hi John,
Thanks so much for the note and rating. Once you get to know your crock pot and pasta, it is easier.
You will love the BBQ sauce.
DrDan
Sean
I just made this recipe, using triple portions and Barilla's Gluten-free elbows (plus 1 cup each of havarti, sharp cheddar, and jalapeño-sharp cheddar).
I followed the recipe up through the first hour, and then I let the pasta cook 20 minutes longer before mixing in the cheese (and tbh - I would probably cut it at 15 the next time, using this pasta).
P.S. That extra milk at the end is for the cheese -- it should go away once you've mixed everything up together (at which point it's more a cheese sauce than simply milk - and totally welcome to the party!)
Sean
To be clear, 20 minutes longer means 20 minutes AFTER the first hour - not 20 extra minutes on top of the total time listed in the original recipe.
karlagso
best Mac n cheese ever!
Susan
Great recipe. I made this today and it took exactly 90 minutes. Thanks for the heads up on the need to monitor pasta. I've tried other crockpot mac and cheese and all were terrible. I used 2% cheese and it worked just fine.
DrDan
Thanks for the note. Glad it worked well for you. When you precook the pasta then cook it again, the results are somewhat predictable.
DrDan
Jill Stearns
Success! Made an 8 quart and a 6 quart batch for the annual smoked BBQ. Decided not to do a small test batch, as the dynamics of the huge crockpots would probably change things. It was a huge hit. I want to thank you for your recipie and the interactive feedback, and while some changes were made, the confidence to go for it came from you. Changes I made were minimal, but I would like to add one possible insight. On a different cooking site (sorry) one suggestion stuck with me: grate your own cheese. Whatever goes on the pre-grated to keep it from clumping in the package also keeps it from melting together perfectly. I use it all the time, but checked and there are added ingredients. To be honest, I'm not sure if it made any difference, but shredded 6 lbs of Tillmook cheese by hand. The Mac and cheese got as many positive raves as the briskest and ribs.
DrDan
Great news that it worked so well. Your comment about the cheese has some truth in it. Pre-shredded is more "waxy" to keep it from clumping in the package. Overall in a dish like this I don't think there is much difference but I'm sure a little. So for a special occasion I would use a nice block cheese shredded but for daily use, I'm lazy and use the shredded.
Dan
Jill
Comparing comments, the uncooked pasta method seems to rely on more variables than the partly cooked in your experience with crock pot Mac and cheese. Your recipes and quality control, as well as some of the reader feedback, is truly helpful. We have a large event each year between Christmas and New Year, and with 5 smokers going, ovens monopolized, and stovetop space at a premium, I needed something that could transition to the crockpot besides beans! Keep your fingers crossed for me, folks. Thanks!
DrDan
Hi Jill,
That's lots of comments to read but important. I try to read all or most comments of I'm using a recipe.
Might I suggest a small test cooking first. As you have noted, several variables are involved here.
You mentioned the precooked pasta mac and cheese recipes. I have one on this site and I still like it but I like the texture and taste of this one better when correctly done. I feel if you take precooked pasta and then cook it again for several more hours you will have bound to have some texture problems. Having said that, that is the texture lots of people are use to. Now I sound like a snob...
Good luck and watch closely for the al denta end point.
DrDan
Ravenmama
I tripled the recipe and ended up with very mushy pasta and lots of liquid left. I sort of saved it by cooking some pasta on the stove and adding it in with the cheese, but that sort of defeats the purpose. I think an edit to the instructions to check pasta at the 1 hour mark when you stir would have helped me, as I suspect it was done at that point. If I try it again I will do that and also cut back on the milk. I like the one-pot idea, but I also like to "set it and forget it", which you can't do with this. Great flavor though!
DrDan
I put some edits in but there is so much variation with crockpots, I put some stronger warning in about overcooking and problems with double and triple recipes.
Thanks for the note
DrDan
Jen
I followed this recipe exactly as written. My macaroni (Kroger brand, if I can say that) went flat and gummy after 45 minutes. I had to drain off at least 75% of the milk. I don't know why I still tried to add cheese and resuscitate this recipe, but it didn't work. By the time the cheese melted, the noodles broke apart as I stirred it and I was left with a pot of cheesy mush. Very disappointed.
DrDan
Hi Jen,
Sorry it didn't work for you... I guess we know Kroger macaroni many not be a good choice here.
DrDan
Liz
I tried this yesterday and it was the very best crock pot macaroni cheese I have ever tasted. The instructions are perfect. I didn't need as much milk as I put in to begin with, but following your advice, I drained it off before I added the cheese. Living in the UK, Cheddar is a staple hard cheese and melted into the remaining milk perfectly. I might try a mixture of cheeses next time, but it would be hard to improve on the perfection I achieved yesterday! The only thing I can think of that will improve it is doubling or trebling the quantities so there is more :-)
What I like about this recipe is not having to pre-cook the pasta. So many recipes instruct you to part cook the macaroni first - it just makes more washing up! This is a prince among crock pot recipes.
DrDan
Thanks of the note Liz.
Dan
Susan
Question: I am doubling this and bringing it for Thanksgiving (after I do a trial run this weekend). If I leave it in the crock-pot on "warm" for several hours after cooking it as directed, would it possibly get "mushy" or should "warm" generally keep it from overcooking? Trying to figure out the best way to cook it at home, transport it for an hour and half, them keep it hot for a couple of hours while we have appetizers and drinks.
DrDan
I think this would be mush if you try it. I would look for an oven based recipe and transport cold and cook there.
DrDan
Shanna
I've just made it, I tripled the mixture in a big crockpot. I watched it, stirred it, kept checking, and your times were PERFECT! After 1.50 it was still a bit wet, 10 minutes later pasta was al dente and hardly any liquid. Put mature cheddar and parmesan in, 7 minutes later - done! It's absoloutely beautiful and the whole family loves it. Nice work a great recipe!
Beth W.
I tried this recipe today (a double recipe). I let the peanut gallery (my husband) weigh in on whether he thought the noodles were "al dente." At that point (total cook time of 1 hour, 40 minutes) there was just a little bit of liquid remaining and I wanted to add the cheese. Instead, I let him convince me they were "gummy/undercooked" and NOT yet al dente, and I should've ignored him. 5 more minutes in the crock pot before adding the cheese, and a few minutes waiting for the cheese to melt turned the noodles pretty soft (I will not say mushy, that would be unfair).
It still had a good flavor, and we still enjoyed it. I read the article and recipe, along with a handful of comments before beginning, so I realized it wasn't a "crock and forget about it" recipe. I would say the second time around I'll watch the last few minutes very carefully. By the time we scooped it into our bowls, waited for it to cool a bit and dug in, it had soaked up the liquid even more and was approaching dry.
Overall, I'm giving it 5 stars. I can tell it will be fantastic next time when I know what I'm looking for. Much better than the other crock pot mac n cheese recipes I have tried. Well done Dr. Dan!
DrDan
Thanks for the write up.
As you have noted, some are having trouble with this but many are not. This is why I have left the comments open. Over cook and you have mush... just like if you over cooked pasta on the stovetop. When I was testing with precooked pasta (like lots of recipes), it was always too soft.
I like that you pointed out that for you, it was drying. Many others get way too much liquid left. But here you have the variables of different crockpots and different pastas. So it is not a simple thing to do. But there does need to be some liquid to combine with the cheese.
Thanks again for the notes and hopeful it will help somebody.
DrDan
Val Logan
OMG. This did not turn out well at all. Currently I'm trying to salvage the milky cheese pasta soup I made on the stove.
I used regular pasta not whole wheat.
The milk for this needs to halved to start perhaps with hot milk added as needed.
DrDan
Did you drain any free fluid before adding the cheese? I have done this may times and the various pastas seems to absorb various amount of fluid. Some pastas need that amount of fluid. By draining, it corrects for what your pasta did not absorb. If you "know" your pasta well then cutting down the fluid at the beginning may work well for you.
Hope that helps and sorry it didn't work for you.
DrDan
Trisha
Wow, this did not come out well at all. I had to scoop out 99% of the milk I put into it, and the cheese just clumped up instead of spreading around the noodles. I followed the recipe to the letter and it's a soupy, bland mess. I'm so disappointed. Back to the canned cheese soup. Sigh.
Jake
I'm not really sure what is wrong with this recipe I fallowed it exactly as it said and it came out absolutely gross I would prefer Kraft Mac and cheese over this recipe anyday. It was like eating mush covered in cheese. Will not be making it ever again.
DrDan
Sounds like it got over cooked... it should never be mush...
Sorry you had a bad experience.
DrDan
Jena
I made this tonight + I doubled the recipe. Lol I made 2 mistakes. First I didn't quite read putting it together. I did mix in 1/4 c four. First mistake I mixed everything together including the cheese. Second error some how after the first hour on low my slowcooker some how got unplugged. I think hubby did it accidentally. So I put the Mac and cheese in the Microwave power level 7 for 5 minutes stirred put in for 4 minutes. Turned out better then I thought. I don't think hubby liked the paprika.
DrDan
I have those days too.
Thanks for the note, the laugh and the rating
DrDan