This mac & cheese recipe only uses a few ingredients one of which is uncooked pasta. Make this easy comfort food in your slow cooker.
Updated 2019
This is probably the unhealthiest recipe you will find on this blog. It’s a combination of pasta, cheese, milk, and butter. If you give yourself cheat meals, this is a great cheat meal.
No Boil, Uncooked Pasta
Yes you read that correctly, this recipe uses uncooked macaroni. Mac & cheese just got super easy! This is a great side dish when you’re short on time. The original recipe that I posted for this mac & cheese used only 5 ingredients, one of which was poultry seasoning. Last week I called my Mother and asked her what she puts in her mac & cheese. After speaking with her, I updated this recipe by removing the poultry seasoning and adding in the paprika, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Thanks Mom!
Other pasta recipes you might enjoy:
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Gnocchi, Sausage & Kale
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
What Type Of Pasta To Use
Technically you can make mac & cheese out of any type of pasta but some are better suited than others. Stay away from thin pastas like linguine & spaghetti. Macaroni elbows are probably the most popular choice but you can also use cavatappi, rotini, or shells. I have not tried this using wheat pasta or gluten-free pasta. While they should work, unfortunately I cannot say for sure because I have not made this recipe using anything but regular pasta.
What Type Of Cheese To Use
I kept it simple and used all cheddar cheese. If you’re going to use something other than cheddar, use a cheese that’s not too strong but also melts well. If you have a preferred cheese blend that you like for your macaroni & cheese, feel free to swap it in here. Gruyère, fontina, or a combination of cheeses are all excellent choices. I used 16 ounces of cheese. If you like your mac & cheese extra cheesy, use more cheese. If you’re not sure, you can always stir in more cheese when the dish is done cooking. The slow cooker will be so hot that the extra cheese will melt in easily.
Milk
My Mother uses a combination of milk and evaporated milk. I use a milk (almond milk) and heavy whipping cream. You can use your preferred milk. “You don’t need a lot of salt, cheese has salt” that’s what my Mom said as a result, I only use 1/2 tsp of salt. But I’ve been told that I sometimes under-salt food so you can use more. I also only used 2 tbsp of butter. I say only because I know people tend to add a lot more butter to their mac & cheese. So again, if you want more butter, add more butter. I found 2 tbsp to be enough.
For most slow cooker recipes, you’re not supposed to lift the lid off the dish while it’s cooking. For this recipe, if you’re home I suggest giving it a good stir halfway through cooking. If you’re not going to be home, don’t worry this is still a set-it-and-forget-it recipe and dish and it will still cook properly. There is one downfall to this recipe. If you cook this too long, it will overcook and dry out. It’s easy to over-cook. I also suggest you don’t let it sit on the WARM setting once it’s done cooking. I turn off the slow cooker off so it doesn’t continue to cook. If you have slow cooker liners, this is the time to use it to help make clean up easy. If not, don’t forget to spray your slow cooker generously with cooking spray to help prevent sticking. If the edges of your mac & cheese starts to crisp up, don’t worry, that’s normal.
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Print{VIDEO} Slow Cooker NO BOIL Mac & Cheese (Uncooked Pasta)
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta, uncooked
- 16 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 cups milk of your choice
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 636
- Sugar: 0.4 g
- Fat: 30.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 15.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 60.9 g
- Fiber: 3.4 g
- Protein: 28.7 g
- Cholesterol: 80.1 mg
I made this mac & cheese in my 3.5-quart slow cooker.
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Jen
Wednesday 4th of October 2023
Can you make this in a 6 quart crock pot and if so should I adjust the time
Jamie L.
Sunday 6th of November 2022
This Mac and cheese recipe was SO easy and delicious! Once it was done in the crockpot, I put it in a casserole dish topped with butter cracker crumbs then under the broiler for a couple minutes and it was perfection! It doesn’t even need the last step because it’s pretty perfect as is, but I love a good topping on my Mac and cheese. I’ll be making this for the holidays this year!
Nikki
Monday 22nd of August 2022
Hi, I was wondering if I wanted to omit the heavy cream and use milk and evaporated milk only what would the total liquid amount be?
Nikki P
Monday 22nd of August 2022
If I want to use a combination of milk and evaporated milk how much in total?
Nikki P
Monday 22nd of August 2022
Oh and that includes leaving out the heavy whipping cream if I can
Michelle
Saturday 19th of March 2022
I was wondering if half & half would work instead of heavy whipping cream?
Shannon Epstein
Saturday 19th of March 2022
Absolutely!