Creamy Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese

This creamy slow cooker mac and cheese only takes 10 minutes to prep and is made with just a few simple ingredients! Pure comfort in a bowl and tastes absolutely amazing.

Easy Slow Cooker Recipe

This is one of our favorite side dish recipes for any holiday. Slow cooking just makes everything easier. Some of my other favorite slow cooker sides are crockpot creamed corn, crockpot mashed potatoes and slow cooker carrots.

If you’re looking for a recipe for slow cooker mac and cheese without evaporated milk, this is it! My two year old LOVES this recipe and asks for it pretty much every day. Luckily it makes a lot, so we always have leftovers for lunch the next day. It warms up great!

I love that this dish is made all in the slow cooker. No precooking the noodles or making a roux. It would make the perfect side dish alongside a roasted turkey for Thanksgiving! Also, makes a great dinner when you don’t have a lot of time to prep.

Recipe Ingredients

Just a few ingredients are needed to make the creamiest crockpot mac and cheese.

Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.

• Cavatappi pasta: I love using this shape, but you can opt for elbow macaroni or some other type just know that the cook time will be different.
• Salted butter: I use salted, but you can use unsalted if you prefer. You may just have to add a little extra salt.
• Cream cheese: This helps give the pasta an extra creamy texture.
• Whole milk: You want whole milk for the added creaminess.
• Heavy cream: This just ups the richness, but you can opt to use all whole milk, if you prefer.
• Cheese: I love using a combination of sharp cheddar cheese and pepper jack cheese.

Type of Cheese to Use

I typically use a sharp cheddar and Monterey jack cheese combo, but the pepper jack cheese tasted amazing. It has a tiny little kick, but not enough for my kids to notice the difference. It really just adds an awesome flavor and makes the sauce extra thick and creamy.

How to Make Creamy Crockpot Mac and Cheese

This dish is SO simple…just throw everything in the crockpot and let it do the work for you! Scroll down for the printable recipe and video tutorial below.

1. Combine. Add the uncooked noodles to the bottom of the crock pot. Put the sliced butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper on top. Then pour in the milk and heavy cream and give the mixture a stir.
2. Cook. Place lid on top and cook on low until the pasta is tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Make sure to stir at the halfway mark.
3. Melt cheese. Mix in the cheeses and then cover and let melt for another 5 to 10 minutes. Stir and enjoy!

Quick Tips

• Other types of noodles (like elbow or macaroni) will work too. Cooking time will vary, so keep an eye on the mac n cheese after about an hour.
• I used shredded sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheese, but you can also use Monterey jack or even gouda as well.
• To thin out the sauce, add more milk. To thicken, add more cheese.
• Add a dash of buffalo sauce if you like a little heat.
• To reheat, either place in the microwave or oven until warmed throughout. I like to add a small splash of milk before reheating, to make sure it doesn’t dry out when warming back up.

Keeping Warm

If you’re not serving the mac and cheese immediately, you can turn it to the warm setting once it’s done cooking. The longer that it sits, the cheese sauce will likely thicken up a bit. So give it a big stir and add more milk before serving to thin out the sauce as needed.

More Types of Macaroni and Cheese

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