How To Make crockpot mac and cheese recipe

There’s something almost magical about opening a crockpot lid to find a bubbling, golden pool of cheesy pasta waiting for you. No stirring, no babysitting, and no boiling water all over the stovetop. Just rich, creamy comfort food that practically made itself.

What I love most about this recipe is that it’s pretty much a dump-and-go. Sliding a crockpot onto the counter and letting it handle the mac and cheese is a genuine lifesaver when you’re juggling multiple dishes at once.

This recipe is perfect for:

– Busy weeknights when dinner needs to handle itself
– Potlucks and cookouts where you need to feed a crowd and keep it warm for hours
– Holiday meals when your oven and stovetop are already maxed out
– Kids’ parties where you need something universally loved and endlessly refillable

Whether you’re making this for four or for forty, you’ll want to save this recipe. Let’s get into it.

How To Make crockpot mac and cheese

• 1 pound uncooked elbow macaroni
• 16 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 3 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4½ teaspoons kosher salt
• cooking spray

1. Fill a large pot with water and heat it over medium. Add a generous amount of salt. You want it tasting like the ocean.

2. Once the water boils, add the elbow pasta and cook according to the package instructions, or until it’s nearly al dente. I cooked mine for 7 minutes. The pasta will finish cooking in the crockpot.

3. While the pasta cooks, grate your cheese. Avoid pre-shredded cheese because it has a coating that can affect the final texture of your dish.

4. After 7 minutes, your pasta should be done. Remove it from the heat and rinse it to stop the cooking.

5. Crack an egg and one egg yolk, then whisk them together. This will make the mac and cheese extra creamy. Don’t worry about curdling; the ingredients we use for the recipe work well together to prevent that.

6. Cut the butter and cut cream cheese into cubes for easier cooking.

8. Now that we have all our ingredients ready, it’s time to add them to the crockpot. Spray the inside with non-stick cooking spray or wipe it down with a thin layer of softened butter.

9. Add the cooked macaroni directly into the greased slow cooker.

10. Pour in the whole milk.

11. Then add the evaporated milk. We use evaporated milk along with whole milk because it cooks well without curdling, unlike whole milk alone. Do not replace it with just whole milk.

12. Add the cubed butter.

13. Next, add the cream cheese cubes.

14. Mix in the whisked egg and egg yolk.

15. Stir to combine everything.

15. Now top with cheese, but don’t use all of it; save some for later.

16. Stir to combine and ensure everything is mixed well.

17. Season with salt, black pepper, and any other spices you like. Give it one final stir to distribute the seasonings evenly.

18. Cover with a lid and cook on low for about 2 hours. Cooking low and slow is essential since we’re using dairy products that can separate if the heat is too high at the beginning.

19. After 1 hour, uncover and stir well to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom or sides. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Cover and let it continue cooking.

20. After 45 minutes, check the pasta for doneness. Sprinkle more cheese on top and increase the heat to high for 10 more minutes or until it’s melty and gooey.

21. After 2 hours, the crockpot mac and cheese is ready.

22. Switch to warm and enjoy your cheesy, creamy, and delicious crockpot mac and cheese.

Important recipe notes.

1. Always cook on LOW, never HIGH. High heat makes the proteins in cheese tighten and release their fat, which can turn the sauce into a greasy, grainy mess. Once that happens, there’s no way to fix it. LOW heat allows the cheese to melt slowly and smoothly into the sauce; that’s the texture you want.

2. Buy a block and shred your own cheese. Store-bought pre-shredded cheese from a bag is filled with anti-caking agents to keep the shreds from sticking together. However, those coatings also affect how the cheese melts, resulting in a sauce that’s gritty and slightly grainy, no matter how carefully you cook it.

3. Use evaporated milk, not just regular milk. Regular milk is mostly water, and when heated, it can make the sauce separate or become watery. Evaporated milk, on the other hand, has about 60% of its water removed, making it much more stable under the long heat of a slow cooker. It’s also richer and creamier without being too heavy.

4. Use cream cheese for a silky, restaurant-quality sauce. Cream cheese melts into the sauce and helps bind everything together. It gives the final dish a smooth, luxurious consistency that stays nice even on the WARM setting. You won’t taste it directly, but it enhances everything, making it taste more like the mac and cheese you’ve always wanted.

5. Add a splash of warm milk if it thickens too much on WARM. Mac and cheese naturally thickens as it sits. If your dish becomes denser than you’d like, stir in two to three tablespoons of warm whole milk, and it will loosen back up to a creamy, scoopable consistency. Remember, a little milk goes a long way.

Check Out More Recipe Ideas!

How To Make crockpot potato soup

How To Make Chicken Alfredo

How To Make Butter Chicken

How To Make Chicken Enchiladas

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip