Ok so I gave it 5 stars as a basic recipe but I use all low fat ingredients and also I can't imagine how you cook the noodles first and they dont get mushy. I use the crock pot daily and know you don't need to so I don't make it this complicated. I like easy and low mess. I take butter (I use only about 1/4 of stick) rub it around the sides and leaf it in the middle. Dump the noodles (uncooked), milk (though I use the larger can of reduced fat condensed and the less than 2 cups of skim milk),cheddar soup and salt and pepper in the crockpot. I mix 1 egg in the cup I measured the milk in with that fork and add to crockpot. Then I stir it all up. And half the cheese and walk away. After an hour and half on low I add the other half of the cheese and its done around 2-2.5 hrs and the noodles are cooked fine and its plenty cheesy. Adding the cheese towards the end allows the noodles to cook and keeps the cheese from getting that weird curdled texture. If i wanted it creamier I'd add more butter or milk I guess but its great like this. 5 stars because I couldn't have concocted it without this to start with and this with some bacon in it is my family's favorite.
I made this on Easter 2014. I usually don't try a recipe the first time with company coming over, but it sounded like it would be good. I wasn't disappointed. It was perfect! It was creamy and cheesy and exactly what I was looking for. I followed the recipe exactly. I used a mixture of Sharp and Medium Cheddar Cheese. This will be the Macaroni and Cheese that I will be making for Christmas when everyone comes over. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Recipe turned out really good. I was skeptical since there was only a few reviews (I tend to rely on them alot) but I made it anyway for a cookout and I got several compliments and there wasn't a noodle left to take home. I used shell pasta and boiled it about 1/2 done. I used 3/4 stick of butter (since a whole stick seemed like a lot) and I used only about 3/4 of the cheese (again, it just seemed like a lot to me). I accidentally bought the large can of evaporated milk and noticed after adding it to the pasta. So I just used 1 cup of 2% milk instead of the 2 cups. I used Campbell's nacho cheese soup which gave it a little extra kick. I will probably try using 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 pepper jack next time to give it even more spice. Cooked on low about 2 hours and stirred a few times while cooking. I was really impressed with the outcome.
I have made this exact recipe given to me by a friend that swore it was to die for. I didn't like it, I prefer baked mac&c w/bread crumbs on top. I have used the cheddar cheese soup in a baked mac&c dish to try another version of it and it turned out ok, but I always go back to my standard recipe that I like.
The thing is w/crock pots if I have to do any pre-cooking, or browning etc. to me that defeats the purpose of crock pot cooking. I like recipes where I put everything at once in the crock pot and just turn it on, that is what makes it easy. If I have to saute, brown, boil, items I may as well just use the stove and pots and pans.
I would give this recipe a 10 if I could! I made this for a friends wedding, so I changed the servings to 96...yes 96! This was THE biggest batch of anything I've ever made in my life! I was forced to make some ingredient changes because the store I went to didn't have enough cheddar cheese soup, so I ended up using Sharp Velveeta instead and the texture and flavor were great! I don't think there was one person at the wedding that didn't ask who made it and what the recipe was! As you can tell I highly recommend this very forgiving, delicious recipe! Thanks Cathy P. for sharing!
I used this recipe as a starting point. It came out great! Didn't cook pasta, used whole wheat and regular mixed. I try to avoid canned stuff, so I replaced the condensed cheese soup with 10 ounces of water and an extra 1/2 cup cheese. I used 8 oz of cheddar and about 10 oz of a combination of Parmesan, mozzarella, Asiago, and feta (I had them in the fridge). Also added 1 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp each cayenne, mustard powder, nutmeg and paprika, and omitted the salt. Because I was home, I added the cheddar in the last hour of cooking as recommended by others. I'll probably make another batch next week! Thank you, Cathy P!
It's a very nice easy recipe. I deleted the butter with the exception of buttering the slow cooker before adding the ingredients. There is plenty fat in the cheese. I replaced the eggs with 2 Tablespoons of flour. My suggestion is to delay adding the top layer of cheese until half way through the cooking time. Give it a stir then add the top layer of cheese. Old cheddar may curdle so use mild or medium. Also I mixed it all in the slow cooker to reduce dish washing. I wish that the measures were in metric units.
The last time I cooked for a potluck at work my dish ended up being cold and therefore not as tasty as it should be. I was asked to make Mac and cheese for today, which I usually bake but I wanted to use a slow cooker so it would be hot. I was dubious about this but I gave it a try and everyone loved it! I followed the recipe exactly and it was easy enough to just throw together this morning and it was hot and ready by lunch. This one is definitely going into my cookbook. I think it would be even better with some spicer cheeses if you are into that kind of thing but for a group potluck this dish as it is was a hit!
