I had a cold over the weekend (story of my life – my kids get sniffles and I am on my death bed) so all of Saturday, I laid around and watched Food Network. I haven’t watched Food Network in ages but I got sucked into old Ina episodes and next thing I knew I was watching something called My Food Obsession.
Have you seen it? It’s quite weird but I couldn’t stop watching. I saw an episode about a girl who’s boyfriend broke up with her because she ate while she was sleeping. And then one about a guy who drinks 7 glasses of vinegar a day. Then there was a girl who was afraid of creamy foods. Yogurt, cheesy nachos, mac & cheese, stuff like that.
I mean, can you imagine?
Life without nachos and mac & cheese?
Coincidentally, I’d made this Slow Cooker Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese the day before. And it was awesome and I wondered how anybody could possibly be afraid of something so amazing.
I won’t lie, I was a little worried. I don’t really love gruyere to begin with and the one I used smelled like dirty socks. You guys know I love a stinky cheese but man, that gruyere was rough. Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to appreciate dirty socks gruyere.
It worked out really well though – the American cheese gave it that almost-Velveeta texture but not gummy like Velveeta. And the other two cheeses were delicious together.
And, of course, the best part is that it’s cooked in the slow cooker! It’s not something you can leave going all day while you’re at work but it’s great for parties or holidays when you already have 4 pots on the stove.
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adapted from Host the Toast
Ingredients
Instructions
- Spray the inside of the slow cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of the slow cooker, combine the macaroni, cheeses, evaporated milk and skim milk. Stir until combined and the macaroni is almost completely covered by liquid and cheese. Cover and cook on low for 1½ hours.
- After 1½ hours, the cheese should be melted and the macaroni should be cooked. Fold and stir in the dry mustard, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Make sure to stir well to make sure all the macaroni is coated with cheesy goodness.
This post linked to Made By You Mondays.
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If I was afraid of creamy foods I think I would weigh about ten pounds since pretty much everything I eat needs lots of creamy cheesy-ness. Like mac and cheese it’s one of my favorite meals ever! Love that this is done in the slow cooker! I’ve made mac and cheese once it the slow cooker and it was our favorite – definitely need to do it again soon!
Holy cow this looks so creamy and good.
Life without creamy food? Who could live like that! I really need to give slow cooker mac and cheese a try. It looks so dreamy.
I used to always watch Food Network (before motherhood and talking children). Now that I have to sell my soul to change the channel off from Disney, I haven’t caught up on any interesting shows. It’s a sad day. Anyhow, I’ve never had dirty sock cheese. I bet my darling husband would love it. He’s a lover of all mac and cheese. Definitely pinning!
Now that is some gorgeous mac and cheese! I bet the gruyere takes it over the top.
Old episodes of Ina comfort my soul, and I have a feeling this mac and cheese would do the exact same thing! (Also DRINKING vinegar? Someone get this person some real food STAT). I hope you are back to 100% ASAP!
We have all been sick for like a month over here. I’m so over it. I haven’t seen that show but now I’m intrigued…I like weird things like that, haha! This looks crazy delicious and bonus points for using the slow cooker! Pinning and making for sure! :)
Girl, I feel your pain about getting sick! When I drop off my daughter at preschool to a bunch of kids coughing all around her. . all I think of is the impending cold that I will certainly catch and keep me in bed for a day or two. . argh. If you don’t like the smell of gruyere, you want to steer clear of Limburger cheese. . just sayin’. . and damn, love this slow cooker mac and cheese!! :)
I can not imagine being afraid of creamy foods. That’s crazy-ness right there! That mac n cheese looks AMAZING! I would totally stuff my face with it more than I should. OH, and about gruyere, have you ever tried smoked gruyere? OMG. So good and it doesn’t have the stinky sock smell!
Hope you’re feeling better, Amanda!
Too funny, I just had this conversation with my friend that says brie smells like dirty socks. I love cheese, even stinky cheeses and I swear to you I could eat Mac and Cheese every day of my life! Great recipe – I’ve got to try M&C in the slowcooker! Pinned.
My slow cooker is getting a workout this fall already and I can’t wait to make this in it!
This mac and cheese looks majorly amazing. I love that you can make it in the slow cooker!!
Mac n cheese in the slow cooker is genius! I mean…I have to make this now, right! Pinned :)
I love how easy this is to make! Definitely gotta try this soon – thanks!!
I LOVE that this is cooked in the slow cooker, yum!
I’m all about a three cheese combo!
I love mac and cheese but have never made it in a slow cooker before. This recipe is such a perfect excuse for me to pull out my slow cooked! Looks delicious Amanda!
Life without any creamy cheesiness is not a life at all. It’s a lie.
This mac and cheese though… it’s the stuff truth is made from! I never made mac and cheese in the slow cooker, but I really need to try it. It sounds like a great way to get dinner started while I run off to the store to pick something up or fold that one last basket of laundry.
A life without nachos or yogurt or mac & cheese is not worth living ;)
This looks so creamy and cheesy! I love that it’s made in the slow cooker! Dreamy.
Drinking glasses of vinegar?! *gag*
I haven’t attempted mac and cheese in the slow cooker yet, but I want to try this version fo sho.
I am aaaall about the fun kinda cheeses in my mac ‘n’ cheese! This looks so gooey and comforting, and I’m LOVING that it’s slow-cooked! I’ll bet it makes your house smell incredible all day. :D Pinned!
Slow cooker Mac and Cheese!!! So cool. I want to try this. Perfect to get going on a sunday afternoon while watching football and it will be ready for dinner without all the work!!
And same thing happens to me when Autumn gets sick- she gets a cold and one of us gets knocked out. This time Price got a sinus infection and needed meds. At least she wasn’t that bad but still sucks for us!
Quick question: why the evaporated milk, say, as opposed to simply adding more regular milk?
The evaporated milk just makes the mac & cheese creamier. :)
can we avoid using the processed cheese with just real cheese slices. My son cannot have processed cheese. Any suggestions for subbing the American processed cheese?
I’m really not sure if I haven’t tried it. I assume it would work fine but since the texture of the processed cheese is pretty different from real cheese, I don’t want to say that it’ll 100% work. Sorry I can’t be more help! :(
I tried it and it worked out perfectly and tasted sooooooo yummy! I used Havarti slices and cannot wait to make again!!!! Thanks Carmen
Yay, so glad it turned out well! Thanks for coming back to let me know! :)
I used to have a Labrador that would growl when I unwrapped “dirty sock” cheese. I love it! Will have to give this a try.
Trying this today with asiago instead of the gruyere. I’ll let you know!
I made this for my office’s Turkey Day luncheon today. It was a hit! Excellent dish!
Yay! So glad to hear that! Thanks for coming back to let me know. :)
I am considering taking this to thanksgiving dinner but I would need to double the recipe. I am wondering how much longer I would need to cook the mac n cheese for?
I’m really not sure since I haven’t done it but I wanna say that you probably don’t need to cook it any longer as long as you have enough liquid and a big enough slow cooker.
I made this yesterday but I used medium shells instead of elbows, probably not a good idea. I have a large size oblong cooker instead of a round one. I had no way to measure 12 ounces of a 16 ounce box so I made the whole thing and dumped in more milk and cheese and seasonings. I used asiago instead of gruyere and didn’t put in as much American, but more sharp cheddar. The flavor is great! It was very creamy after the 90 minutes, but the macaroni wasn’t quite done so I let it go about another 1/2 hour and it got real thick and cloying, so it’s overcooked. Making it for a holiday party in a couple weeks and I’m using elbows next time.
Hi, I’m planning on making this for Thanksgiving. Silly question, the noodles go in the crock pot uncooked or do i need to boil them first? :)
Thanks!
Uncooked. :)
Just curious, is there a reason why you can’t add the spices at the beginning and let it all cook together?
Could you do this in a pot on the stove if you didn’t want to wait an hour and a half for creamy goodness?????
I haven’t done it so I can’t really be sure. Sorry! :(
I CANNOT IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT CHEESE! One of my besties won’t eat a single dairy product. I don’t exactly know how we’re still friends ;) haha! This mac and cheese looks BOMB!
I love this idea! I never imagined mac and cheese could be done in a slow-cooker. This looks so easy and will be so much fun to do for my grandkids; they’re going to love it.
My attempt at Slow Cooker Mac N’ Cheese using uncooked macaroni was an EPIC FAIL so I can’t wait to try this! I rescued it enough to feed the kids but it definitely wasn’t Blogworthy. I find Gruyere on Manager’s Special a lot at Kroger, big savings!
You think being afraid of creamy food is bad, try being around someone like that. I had a coworker who wasn’t so much as “afraid”, but had an extreme hatred for creamy foods. I watched her gag her way through a cup of yogurt in a failed attempt to lose weight for a wedding she was in. I on the other hand, am a normal human being and plan on making this tonight!
I really want to make this! BUT I’m in Australia and we don’t have American cheese here….it kills me! There are so many awesome recipes that use it! Do you know of a substitute? Should I just use more “smelly socks” gruyere?
The American cheese slices are known for their “meltability”. If you guys have a cheese that you always used for melting on sandwiches or something, I’d definitely go for that. It really helps the texture of the mac & cheese. :)
Can you recommend a brand name for the American cheese? Are they the Kraft cheese slices that don’t have the wrappers on each slice?
I used the Kraft slices that are in the individual wrappers. :)
I always say Bleu Cheese smells like stinky feet. If I have a problem with Bleu Cheese aromas then I’m liable to have to use a close pin on my nose to make this. But, I’m going to try it anyway. I’ve noticed in the picture you used that it has fresh parsley on it. You didn’t mention anything about that in the recipe. I’m just wondering, does the parsley actually add any flavor, or is it mainly for decoration?
Just for the pictures. ;) I actually don’t like parsley so I picked it out after I took the photos! I hope you enjoy the recipe! :)
Do you use white cheddar and white American or are they both yellow?
I used yellow but I’m sure white would be fine too! :)
Found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it for dinner tonight. I followed the recipe exactly. The flavor was good, but the texture of the noodles was terrible. It was a chewy, globby, mess. My husband and I ate it, but wanted some for my daughter later, and I ended up straining sauce off, boiling a small batch of new macaroni, and mixing that together. Much, much better. I think pasta just doesn’t cook well in the crock pot. Thanks for the cheese sauce! I will use it again