Today's recipe is perfectly fitting for our Potluck Sunday theme. You can guarantee that when you attend most any church or family potlucks that you will find a big dish of Homemade Macaroni and Cheese gracing the table.
Macaroni and Cheese is one of those dishes that will feed an army and please just about everyone. Today I want to share my girl, Trisha Yearwoods Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese recipe.
This macaroni and cheese dish is very good, very simple, and only requires a handful of ingredients. It does take about 3 hours to cook, so the hardest part of the whole thing is just having a little patience.
I kept finding myself peeking under the lid to check out what was going on LOL. I know not to do that with crock pot recipes, but it's so hard to resist the aroma.
I'm sure I will get slammed by the high calorie and butter police, but that's OK, everything in moderation right? You can pair this dish with a vegetable and salad on the side to help cut down on some of the fat.
Keep in mind that you can always substitute with whole wheat pasta, light cheese, 2% or fat free milk and less butter. I'm not sure what the results would be like by changing up the ingredients, so keep that in mind if you go with a lighter version.
As for me I will make it just as the recipe states and just eat less LOL. Believe me I am not eating homemade macaroni and cheese every week. This recipe is one of those recipes I save for a special occasion, potluck, or holiday get together because this dish is that evil.
I have added some step by step photos of just how easy this macaroni and cheese is to make. This is a toss everything in the slow cooker kind of recipe. Well, at least that is what I accidentally did. As you can see by the above photo I forgot to pre cook the macaroni before adding it.
For some reason I thought it said un cooked, but I didn't it said cooked. I am happy to say that in the end the macaroni and cheese turned out great even without cooking the macaroni first. If you're looking for a easy dish to take to a get together, I recommend Trisha's Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese.
Trisha's Crock pot Macaroni & Cheese
Ingredients:
8 - ounces elbow macaroni, cooked
1- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
1 1/2 - cups whole milk
2 - large eggs, beaten
1/4 - cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 - teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 - 10-ounce bricks sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 5 cups)
Dash of paprika
Directions:
In a larger 4 quart crock pot sprayed with cooking spray, mix the macaroni, milk, eggs, butter, salt, pepper, and all but 1/2 cup of the grated cheese.
Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top of the mixture and then sprinkle with paprika. Cook on low for 3 hours and 15 minutes. Turn off the crock pot, stir the mixture and serve.
Note: If you don't have a crock pot , grease a 9 x 13 inch pan with butter, add the mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
My crock pot gets pretty hot, so check your macaroni and cheese after about 2 hours. Mine took a little over 2 hours to cook.
Recipe yields: 12 servings
Recipe yields: 12 servings
38 comments
This is my first time on your blog. The food looks really delicious.
I linked a red cabbage and Carrot Coleslaw recipe to your Sunday Potluck which is low in fat and high in slimming vegetables. It's a great complement to eat with your macoroni and cheese dish..
Thanks for hosting!
Happy Sunday.
This looks so great.
Oh - I made the German Chocolate Cheesecake. It turned out great. That frosting was amazing!!
I don't cook my noodles before I put them in, another reason I love it! I use bag cheese...I cook it on low for 2 hours, stir it and put it on warm and it is at perfection at the 2.5 mark!
Thanks for sharing!
Lindsey
I noticed some confusion among readers regarding the amount of macaroni. Ounces are weight and cups, teaspoons, etc. are volume. I looked up the ratio of uncooked to cooked and it's 1:2.1...so basically the cooked macaroni doubles its weight.
I'm going with 8 ounces of uncooked and praying it'll turn out. I also cut back on the cheese after reading Sheri Bowman's experience with the oil.
Crossing my fingers!
It turned out really good. Here's what I changed as well as some helpful hints:
*8 oz. dry macaroni
*3 eggs
*1 c. fat-free milk (that's all we had)
*1/2 c. fat-free half and half
*no butter
*1 pound shredded cheese
I didn't put the last portion of cheese on top until it was done.
I noticed the pasta wanted to clump together. I ended up stirring the ingredients several times during the cooking process.
When it's done, IT'S DONE! The macaroni will continue to expand, turning the dish into a solid mass of cheese flavored goo (as discovered after letting it sit).
I tasted the true finished product and it was wonderful. Not grainy or overly greasy. Too bad no one else did...lol.
In closing, I plan on making this recipe again. Thank you for sharing!