Four Cheese Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
My Four Cheese Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese is so cheesy and creamy when it has finished cooking! And it's a winner because it frees up your oven for other things you need to cook.
Servings 10
Calories 488kcal
Ingredients
- One pound of elbow noodles
- 5 tablespoons salted melted butter
- 2 and 1/2 cups shredded muenster cheese
- 2 cups shredded gruyere cheese
- 1 cup shredded monteray jack cheese
- 4 and 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 and 1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot.
- Once the water is boiling add the pasta to the pot.
- Cook the pasta for about 3 minutes.
- While the pasta cooks, add the butter to the slow cooker and let it melt using the low setting. Or you can melt the butter on the stove top and then add it to the slow cooker. Once the butter is melted, brush the melted butter all over the slow cooker pot.
- Drain and rinse pasta with cold water to prevent the pasta from overcooking.
- Mix together the eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, milk, buttermilk, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, mustard, and sour cream in a large bowl. Then, add the cheeses (except one cup of the sharp cheddar) to the mixture, and mix well
- Add the cooked pasta to the mixture and stir all the ingredients together.
- Place the macaroni mixture in the buttered slow cooker (there will be a small pool of butter in the bottom of the slow cooker and that's ok. It actually makes for a great crust.)
- Lightly season the top of the macaroni mixture with black pepper.
- Cover the slow cooker with it's designated lid and let it cook for 2 hours on low heat.
- At the 2 hour mark, add your last cup of shredded cheese to the top of the casserole and let it cook for another 30 minutes.
- If you can, let it sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes before serving so that it will settle.
Notes
- This is a casserole type macaroni and cheese dish.... That means it binds together and is the ingredients are not loose like a boxed macaroni and cheese. If you are looking for that creamy runny texture serve immediately or at least remove it from the slow cooker heat source so that the pasta can retain as much moisture as possible....
- Also the key to success with this dish is to not overcook the noodles before adding them to the slow cooker. This prevents "mushy" noodles when cooking the noodles for only a few minutes before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Freezer Tips: You don't want to cook this large portion? Take half of it and put it in the small foil bread baking pans. Cover the tops with foil and freeze. When ready to bake. Remove from freezer and cook the for about one hour and 30 minutes (or until the macaroni and cheese is heated through) in a 350 degree heated oven. Make sure to put a baking pan under the pans of macaroni and cheese to prevent leaking of oils in the oven while the macaroni and cheese bakes.
Nutrition
Calories: 488kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 275mg | Potassium: 225mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 925IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 432mg | Iron: 1mg