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I have a love/hate relationship with macaroni and cheese. Love to eat it, hate to make it, most of the time.
I grew up eating the blue box, and the occasional Velveeta shells and cheese. Sometimes I ventured into the Stouffer’s oven-baked mac and cheese, and other times I devoured the mac and cheese at Old Country Buffet. Needless to say, I’ve had my fair share of different types of mac and cheese over the years.
I had my first custard-based mac and cheese several years ago (maybe in 2003 or 2004?), and I will admit, I wasn’t really a fan. I couldn’t grasp the concept of the egg in it. Sure, it was light and fluffy, but it lacked in the cheese department. If I could just find a recipe that combined cheesy goodness and light and fluffy, then I could be happy.
In the years that I’ve been with Mr. Fox, I am pretty sure I’ve made at least 4 or 5 different mac and cheese recipes. All were different, and some were better than others (panty droppin’ mac and cheese, to be specific…which I will eventually make again soon to feature on the blog). I am reasonably sure that Mr. Fox is not sick of my recipe experimentations, but I am also sure he wants me to find a good one and stick with it.
Insert Pinterest. Oh Pinterest, I love and hate you all at the same time. I spend hours on you, pinning recipes and things to my boards in the hopes of eventually making them myself. On my first day of Pinterest, I came across a yummy looking recipe for a crock pot mac and cheese. I have always been hesitant to make it in the crock pot, simply because the more the pasta sits in there, the softer and more gross it gets. However, the difference between those previous failed attempts and this winning attempt was time. And of course ingredients too! The evaporated milk helps the milk and eggs stay un-curdled. The sour cream (which is something I added) makes it creamy. And the shredded cheese makes it CHEESY.
So it’s safe to say that I found my perfect custard-based mac and cheese recipe. Mr. Fox agrees. This got the “husband approves thumbs up”.
A delicious custard-based macaroni and cheese recipe using up the cheese that's been hiding in your refrigerator! Not your typical uber-slow crock pot recipe, but still easy to do on a weekend!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups milk
- 12 oz can evaporated milk (I used 2%; keeps the egg and milk from curdling)
- 5 tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 oz italian blend shredded cheese
- 8 oz cheddar blend shredded cheese
- 16 oz penne pasta or macaroni, or other shaped pasta, par cooked*
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
- chili powder to taste
- oregano to taste
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- *par-cooked means partially cooked. cook for about 5-6 minutes until just tender, but not completely cooked
Directions
- Spray the inside of your slow-cooker with cooking spray or grease it with olive oil. You can also use a slow cooker liner.
- Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, sour cream and salt in slow-cooker and whisk until smooth (or you can use an immersion blender to do the whisking for you).
- Add the shredded cheese (not the parmesan) and macaroni, and sprinkle with black pepper, cayenne pepper and oregano. Stir gently with a spatula to coat.
- Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and chili powder on top, and cover and cook ON HIGH for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, reduce temperature to LOW and cook for 2-2.5 hours, until custard is set in the center and the pasta is tender.
- The macaroni may sit in the cooker on the KEEP WARM setting for 30 minutes before serving.
- Before serving, melt a 1tbsp butter in a small pan and sauté some bread crumbs to sprinkle on top.
Notes
This recipe has been adapted slightly from the original recipe, which I found on A Whisk and a Prayer via Pinterest.
crock pot mac cheese slow cooker extra cheesy
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