Yes, uncooked pasta. Great taste, wonderful creamy texture in the easiest slow cooker mac and cheese you will ever see. You can make this tonight. No blue box for you.
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 making it separate some and last (and the real thorn in my paw) was that can of soup. I HATE recipes that call for highly processed this and that. I do them occasionally, but home cooking shouldn’t be that way. 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 this, cream of _____ soup is everywhere or the mandatory onion soup mix. Some recipes use 3-4 pre-made things. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY…
My Rating
I never thought I would rate a mac and cheese a five, but this is it.
Notes on Uncooked Pasta Mac and Cheese:
I went through a lot of trial and errors here. A lot of mac and cheese was eaten, and a lot went down the sink as not worth of a reheat. 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 right.
First the heat. This must be done on low. This is NOT a recipe you should cook on high and cut the time in half. The cheese will be more likely to separate some, and the macaroni will either be over or under cooked.
Second. 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. I’m sure a better cheese like a block of Cabot would do better but are you going for a $10 cheese for this? So the cheese should not cook for long periods. Put it in near the end and let it melt and deliver its creamy goodness.
Third, 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.
Feel free to vary the cheese type and spices to your taste. This is a “Crock Pot for Two” recipe. A double recipe would still be fine in my 3.5 qt. cooker or use a large crock pot for larger batches.
Update Feb. 9, 2013: Many are having issues ( and many are not) with liquid being left at the point of the pasta being al denta. My initial cookings had almost no liquid at this point. The variations could be due to the cooker or the pasta. While cookers vary a lot, I have corrected for that by picking the al denta point, not a specific time. The pasta is the remaining issue and I believe is the trouble maker here. I have adjusted the recipe to eliminate this extra liquid at the al dente point. Don’t drain it in a strainer, just remove any free standing liquid, the liquid on the pasta should be enough.
Update August 26, 2013: It has been suggested to have a specific warning about the type of pasta. Since the comments are getting a bit long, it is a good idea. Many failures seem to be related to whole wheat or other non-standard pasta. I don’t believe these non-standard pasta are a good idea in this recipe. If you have made this with a non-standard pasta and did well, please post the brand and any specific modifications you did.
Whole Wheat report: See comment by Katie January 18, 2014, for whole wheat pasta technique.
Things you already have. Opps… I left the salt out of the picture.
Dump 2 cups milk, 1 cup standard (not whole wheat or other non-standard) macaroni, 1/2 t dry mustard, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t each of pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, and l T butter into a smallish slow cooker. I used a 3.5 qt one. Mix well.
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.
Do you want more recipes from 101 Cooking for Two? Sign up for the newsletter and get all posts delivered straight to your inbox!
Uncooked Macaroni Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup Standard Macaroni
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 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, 1/2 t dry mustard, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t each of pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, and l T butter into a smallish slow cooker. I used a 3.5 qt one. Mix well.
- 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
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Related Posts:
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
Bev
This is a great recipe. What I found was using whole milk really made the macaroni really rich. If you like your Mac and cheese super rich, using the whole milk was good.
I think I’m going to try to use half milk half water. Maybe start the cooking process with water and then the rest with milk. Did anyone else try it?
Also, instead of draining the fluid before adding the cheese, I found that turning it up a notch and taking the cover off, helped a lot of excess liquid just evaporate.
Marie
Just made this and it partly worked. Here’s what I did: I doubled the recipe in a 7 Qt crock pot. I used uncooked regular macaroni. I’m lactose intolerent so I used lactose free 2% milk and lactose free cheese (NOT the light kind, like most are), just a normal white cheese. Problem is, it kind of melts like mozzarella so I knew that might be a problem but I tried anyway. I also left out the garlic powder because I can’t digest it proprely either and I substituted the mustard powder for bottled mustard. I stirred after an hour and 25 minutes later, the pasta was almost overdone. There was so much liquid. I tried to remove most of it and added my cheese, roughly 2 cups and a half. After 5 minutes, it was all melted but it still looked like a soup. I added about 3 pinches of flour and let it cook for another 5 minutes. The sauce thickened but there’s just way too much.
I did enjoy the experiment though and LOVE that I could find a recipe that doesn’t require canned cheese soup, which I cannot have.
In the end, it’s super delicious but next time, I would either add more pasta or reduce the amount of milk.
Marti
My son is home sick today and I’m headed there as well, so I wanted to make something easy that did not require touching a lot of stuff. This was amazing. Came out perfect. I will make this again. Cheers!
Dani
I tried this with a 7 quart crock pot. I stirred after an hour and a half hour later the noodles were done and I did not have to drain any liquid. I also decided to add a cup and a half of extra sharp cheese instead of 1 and I added a title bit of bacon. It turned out pretty good, but I thought it was missing something.
Emily
SUCCESS! Each type (bacon/green chile, buffalo chicken, and plain) had too much liquid, so I drained and all was well. Next time I’d probably put an extra cup rather than an extra 2 cups of milk when doubling. My team of seven all raved about it. I brought everything into the office in ziploc bags, dry separate from wet, and threw it all into different crockpots at 10am; it was done by 12:30. Thanks for a great recipe!
Emily
I’m so excited to try this! Tomorrow at work my team is having a mac n cheese party that came about from a random Facebook conversation some of us were having. It started as a joke, but then it became a real thing, and I’m making all the mac n cheese. :) I have one of those 3 pot crockpots that you can use for parties, so my idea is this: do this recipe as written, just plain for those purists in the group. In one of the others, I’m going to add bacon and green chiles, and in the other, some buffalo sauce and cut up cooked chicken and serve with blue cheese crumbles on the side. I know, right?? The best part about this is that I can just take all the ingredients to the office and throw it all together in the mid morning so it can be done by lunchtime. I’ll give it a test run today in my own kitchen so I know the quirks of my crockpot, though. As a side note, I do have one vegan on my team, so I found another version somewhere that will accommodate her and I’ll do that in my stand alone crockpot. Wish me luck–I’m no expert on vegan cuisine that uses non-dairy cheese….
DrDan
A trial run is a wonderful idea… It does look like a good “take to work and cook” idea. Now non-dairy cheese I’m not to sure about. Hopeful it melts correctly for you.
DrDan
Emily
Yes, the vegan version is completely different. It involves nutritional yeast and a few other ingredients that aren’t called for in your recipe. We’ll see how it goes! It’s not my thing, that’s for sure. But I do want to make sure that the person with dietary restrictions has an option. Teambuilding!
DrDan
All good points. The cheese goes in at the end here to avoid some of those issues. On a Mac and Cheese obviously the handling of the cheese in extremely important for the final outcome.
Thanks for the observations, comment and rating.
DrDan
Grace H
I am going to try this recipe but just wanted to mention that the reason some results had more milk left than others could be the shredded cheese. If cheese is pre-shredded at the factory, corn starch is added to keep the shreds from sticking together in the bag. This corn starch could have the effect of thickening up the sauce for the readers who used pre-shredded cheese. Also, just heat the cheese gently at the end and let it melt. If you bring it to a boil, it will curdle. Mac’n Cheese… yum!
Angela
I made this tonight. I doubled the recipe in my 3.5 quart Crock Pot. I used half Half&Half and half Whole Milk. I added onion powder, white and cayenne pepper. A bit of Worcestershire sauce. I also used 1/3 Sharp White Cheddar, 1/3 Baby Swiss and 1/3 Extra Sharp Cheddar cheeses. I did not need to drain the pasta after 2 hours. I added the cheeses and it was creamy and luscious. Plenty of leftovers for me. Makes me happy! Thanks so much for this recipe!
DrDan
Thanks so much for the notes and modifications.
DrDan
T Hartwig
I love it! Turned out perfectly; thank you very much, and Happy New Year to you.
DrDan
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Tiff
I made this today for our late Thanksgiving Dinner. My family loved it! My husband said and I quote ‘This is the best mac & cheese I’ve ever put in my mouth!’ And that’s a pretty big deal considering that he’s pretty picky.
I changed it up just a little. I doubled the recipe. However instead of doubling the milk, as I saw excess liquid was an issue, I only used about 2 3/4 cups of milk with double the pasta. Along with the garlic, salt, pepper, and dry mustard I also added onion powder. At about the one hour mark my pasta was already cooked. I still had some liquid left, but not as much. I drained off most of it and left a little to make it creamy. I added about 2 cups of Kraft Triple Cheddar Cheese and mixed it in well. Then I added a layer of cheese on top that I did not mix in. After about 15 minutes it was done. The top layer of cheese was perfectly melted and made it taste awesome! I would have taken a picture of it, but my family attacked it before I had a chance haha
Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely be making this again :)
DrDan
I always say a recipe is like guidelines and not rules. Great modifications.
Thanks for sharing and the rating.
DrDan
Caroline
I made this last night and it was AMAZING. I ended up using 2 cups milk, 2 cups pasta, and kept everything else the same. After an hour, just a tiny bit of milk was left, but as I stirred in the cheese and let it sit about a half an hour longer, it turned out to be the perfect texture and consistency. Thank you!
DrDan
Great to hear. I so glad it worked well for you.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Chrissy
Awesome! I made a variation of this tonight. I used a whole 16oz package of macaroni, which measured out to 3.5 cups of pasta. I multiplied everything the recipe by 3.5. After 1 hour when I stirred the pasta, milk, and spices, I added some frozen broccoli florets and cubes of ham (refrigerated, not frozen). After 30 minutes more, I thought the pasta tasted done, and I poured out tons of extra liquid (from both too much milk and the frozen broccoli, I would guess). I left just a little liquid in. I shredded a 8oz block of sharp cheddar,and stirred that in along with the remainder of a package of shredded italian cheese we had in the fridge. After 20-30 minutes, it was warm, creamy, cheesy, and delicious! With leftovers for tomorrow. Thank you! And I love that it was all stuff we already had, no canned soups or heavy cream, etc.
DrDan
The key is the liquid. Especially when increasing the recipe, it seems to be critical to get rid of most of it. Outside of that it seem that a lot of variations have been done.
That can of soup in the last version (and it seems mandatory in crock pot recipes of any type) just had to go.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
brandy
I loved this recipe and it worked great! My son has a milk protein allergy. I used soy milk and DAIYA (dairy, lactose,casein, gluten and soy free cheese) I added half of the cheese with the pasta then added the rest at the end. I quadrupled the recipe and used have whole wheat macaroni and half whit rotini( cause that’s what I had) . I had no extra liquid and everyone loved it.
Agos
I made this last week to try out my new crockpot. Made 1.5 of the recipe in a 2-quart crockpot, and it fit perfectly. The times were as specified, but I did have quite a bit of leftover liquid. Anyway, it was so good! My only complains is that the servings (3) were a little small; I’m sure calorie-wise they’re full meals, but they don’t pack a lot of volume. We may or may not have had to order ice cream afterwards :P