Crock Pot Mac and Cheese {Farmhouse Style}
Creamy macaroni and cheese is super easy to make in a crock pot. Cooked pasta, Velveeta and cheddar cheese along with evaporated milk make a rich and delicious side dish for any occasion!
Our Crock Pot Mac and Cheese is a family favorite and is also know as liquid gold for good reason!
We serve this mac and cheese with several easy dinners including Oven Baked Pork Chops, Turkey & Bacon Sliders and Farmhouse Ham Loaf.
Crock Pot Mac and Cheese with Velveeta
This is the easiest mac and cheese that I’ve made for our family and everyone loves it! I love making this crock pot mac and cheese with Velveeta recipe because it is fuss-free! Simple ingredients that we always have on hand mix up quickly and easily.
Like our French Onion Soup Rice and Jiffy Broccoli Cornbread we have a few favorite side dishes that we make regularly. This mac and cheese is certainly on the list now!
Just cook the pasta and pour all of the ingredients in the crock pot. Stir a couple of times as you cook on low for about 2 hours.
Macaroni and cheese is a canvas that is to easy to customize to so many preferences.
We are fans of a plain version, but there are so many ways to amp up this recipe, whether it’s adding more pepper, seasoned salt, smoked paprika, or minced garlic. This dish tastes great with bacon bits sprinkled on top of small cubes of ham stirred in 30 minutes before serving.
Great for Holidays, Parties and Hosting Guests
My sister-in-law shared this recipe and I’ll admit that it was my first time making macaroni and cheese in the crock pot. There are so many benefits! The crock pot version holds so well and stays warm at a party, potluck or family gathering when you don’t know exactly what time the food will be served.
After an hour the cheese is all melted and there is a lot of liquid. Over the next 30 minutes to an hour the pasta absorbs extra liquid and a perfect, creamy consistency remains.
Turn to keep warm when the pasta hits the texture you prefer. Stir often for best results. Just remove the lid and enjoy at your convenience!
Can Mac & Cheese Be Made in a Slow Cooker?
Cooking macaroni and melting the cheeses in a slow cooker is the easiest hands off way to make Mac and cheese for a party or crowd.
I love being able to do the prep ahead of time and just stir the pasta, cheeses and milk together a couple times and almost like magic an easy warm side dish is ready for the potluck, barbecue, cookout or family dinner!
Can This Recipe Be Doubled?
Yes, a double batch of mac and cheese can be made in at least a 6 quart crock pot. Using a 7 or 8 quart will give you more room to stir.
I cook on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours and stir about every 30 minutes. Then turn to keep warm once cheese has melted and continue to stir often until all of the dish is served.
There is a lot of liquid that will seem soupy. After the Velveeta fully melts and the pasta has time to absorb more of the cheese it will all firm up. Turn the heat up one setting to help firm up more quickly, but continue to stir frequently.
I actually prefer to make a double or triple batch in a crock pot, but if you need to feed 50 to 100 people our Mac and Cheese in a Roaster is a great option.
Ingredients Needed
- Cooked pasta – we like elbow pasta, but shells, cavatappi and orecchiette also work well
- Velveeta cheese – makes the pasta super creamy, American cheese can be substituted
- Shredded cheddar cheese – mild or sharp work fine, choose your favorite flavor
- Milk – helps keep the pasta moist
- Evaporated milk – makes a richer sauce. Fat equals flavor and there isn’t very much fat or protein in milk. Milk is mostly water. So evaporated milk evaporates a lot of the water off and leaves the flavorful fat, protein and other nutrients.
- Vegetable oil – keeps noodles from sticking together
- Butter – creates diversity in rich flavor profiles
- Salt – flavor
- Pepper – optional, sometimes my kids act weird about pepper, other times they don’t even notice it
- Dried minced onion – optional, most adults love the flavor, but sometimes it throws kids
This crock pot mac and cheese recipe is made rich evaporated milk, so it can be without eggs and no flavor is sacrificed.
How to Make Mac and Cheese in the Crock Pot
- Cook pasta and toss with oil
- Pour pasta into lined or greased crock pot
- Measure milk and stir in salt, pepper and minced onion
- Pour regular milk and evaporated milk into the crock pot
- Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top
- Slice or cube Velveeta cheese and spread over the top
- Cover and cook on low for 2 – 3 hours, stir 2 – 3 times and again just before serving
- Can turn to keep warm for up to an hour while serving
Step By Step Instructions
Cook macaroni 1 – 2 minutes less than the time recommend on the box. Drain well in a large colander.
Add cooked macaroni to a large slow cooker with a liner. Pour vegetable oil into the crock and stir with a large spoon to ensure all of the noodles get a light coating.
Add regular milk and evaporated milk to the pasta.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and minced onion over the top.
Full flavor lovers will enjoy 2 tablespoons of minced onion and pepper, my picky eaters prefer a small amount of those ingredients.
Cut Velveeta process American cheese into cubes that will melt a little more quickly than a large chunk. Spread over the top of macaroni noodles.
Add melted butter. Then sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top.
Use a large, long handled serving spoon to stir all of the cheese, seasonings and spices well together.
Place lid on the crock and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours. Stir a couple times to help the mixture cook evenly.
Once all of the cheese is melted and mac and cheese reaches desired consistency serve warm and enjoy!
How To Keep Velveeta Mac and Cheese Warm
The key to keeping mac and cheese with Velveeta warm in a crock pot is to stir often, keep the crock covered with a lid to maintain heat and add a splash of milk as necessary.
Stirring helps distribute the heat evenly and keeps the cheese and other ingredients evenly covering the pasta.
Can This Recipe Be Made Ahead of Time?
I have cooked the pasta the day before and after draining poured into a crock pot liner in a large bowl. Then add pats of butter and vegetable oil and stir well.
Fasten with a twist tie and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the full recipe in the slow cooker.
Other Easy Meal Ideas for Picky Eaters
- Pierogies and Kielbasa
- Crock Pot Sloppy Joes
- Sausage Egg Casserole
- Stromboli
- Air Fryer Pizza Sliders
- Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Sausage
Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces macaroni cooked
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper optional
- 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes use up to 2 T. for maximum flavor
- 1 1/2 cups Velveeta cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- In a crock pot toss cooked macaroni with vegetable oil.8 ounces macaroni, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Stir in remaining ingredients.12 ounces evaporated milk, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes, 1 1/2 cups Velveeta cheese, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 4 tablespoons butter
- Cover and cook on low for 2 – 3 hours. Stir a couple times and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- This mac and cheese would taste great with bacon bits sprinkled on top or small cubes of ham stirred in about 30 minutes before serving.
- 1 1/2 cups of Velveeta = 12 ounces
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Rate This Recipe Pin This RecipeOriginally published May 29, 2020 with pictures updated on March 16, 2022 and updates made on October 2, 2023.
My Mac and cheese has been cooking for 2 hours, the second hour on the high setting and it still has way too much liquid! I’m sure hoping the 3rd hour on high will take care of this issue. Otherwise, we’ll be having Mac and cheese soup! Lol
Can you think of anything I may have done wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. Thanks!
Nope, the extra moisture absorbs quite a bit in the 3rd or 4th hour. Just keep stirring. Hope it works out well for you!
I’m picky about Mac and cheese, I followed the recipe exactly, I just use white pepper instead of black. I was worried about it being soupy…..I cooked it for 3 hrs. it came out sooo good!!! Really creamy and great flavor….it’s now my favorite!!!
Hello! if i have to be away all day and have this cook on low for closer to 7-8 hours, do you think i could put the noodles in uncooked so they don’t get mushy? would i need to add extra liquid to accommodate for absorption? TIA!
Hey There! We haven’t testing using uncooked pasta in this recipe. I do it in a crock pot spaghetti, but there’s a lot more liquid in the form of tomato juice and pasta sauce. I’m confident more liquid would be necessary and it would definitely change the finished consistency of the pasta. Hope you enjoy the recipe! ~Jennifer
We really dislike KD… no flavour. However this was excellent! We double it and took it to a potluck. Only cooked the pasta for 4 min. Ran under cold water to halt cooking and then added rest of the ingredients. Really creamy and tasty! Lots of positive feedback. Will definitely make this again. Note to self weigh the pasta and for sure add the onion flakes . Thank you!
Curious if anyone knows the process of doing this in an Instant Pot? This is my favorite Mac & Cheese recipe for potlucks & was thinking of trying it out in the Instant Pot for our upcoming potluck.
Once cooked, can it be frozen and reheated?
Hey There! Great question – I might freeze extras to avoid wasting food, but I would not recommend making an entire dish ahead to freeze and serve to a group because the consistency is a bit unpredictable and changes quite a bit based on how the appliance works, how much moisture is added, etc. Hope you give this dish a try and enjoy it as much as we do!
I made this for a family gathering so I doubled the recipe, it was a HUGE hit. I definitely will be making it again. Thank you so much.
Excellent recipe
Hello when doubling the recipe do I simply double each ingredient or cut back on liquid and cheese?
Hey There! I haven’t tested doubling the recipe, but I will say that as the pasta sits it slowly soaks up more liquid. So if you did adjust the amount of liquid and cheese it would change cooking time and the serving time window. If you do give it a try please let me know how it turns out. Thank you!
Hi I doubled the whole recipe so I hope it turns out good. Can’t wait till it’s done cooking up try it.
Question: recipe sounds amazing, will try it for the first time Christmas Eve 2021. I am surprised there is no roux to thicken the sauce. The crock pot doesn’t make it too runny does it?
Hey There! Great question! This recipe slowly and steadily thickens up as it cooks. So if it’s still too runny keep cooking until you hit the consistency you prefer 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
Can you make this without a liner?
Yes! Just use non-stick cooking spray. Hope you enjoy 🙂
This was really good! Made a double batch for a potluck and everyone was saying it was good. Thanks so much for sharing! I used 1 8oz block of cheddar Jack and doubled everything else exactly as written and added a small amount of smoked paprika:)
Crazy question, but do you drain the macaroni after cooking?
Hey There – great question! Yes, I always drain the macaroni after cooking. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do 🙂
Hey just wondering… I see that butter is listed in the ingredients but I’m not seeing when to use it in the instructions. Should I Add it to the top with the Velveeta cheese and let it melt down on its own? Thanks 🙂
Hey There – Great question! I just made this recipe this weekend and decided to clarify the instructions. It really doesn’t matter when you add it, maybe with the oil would be easiest, just be sure to stir well. Hope you enjoy 🙂
Great recipe and so easy! It is a regular request in our home by the kids and adults
Hi! This looks delicious! I was thinking of making a huge batch (6 times the original recipe) for my daughter’s graduation party as a side dish. Do you think this would work in an electric roaster pan, and could I potentially fit it in to 2 roaster pans (three times the recipe in each)? If not, what size crock pot do you normally use for a single batch?
Hey There! Thanks so much for looking at our recipe! We do have several recipes in a roaster and I know a big key to using them is stirring a LOT more often than with a crock pot as there tends more hot spots. While I haven’t tested mac & cheese I’ve heard from other readers that they have doubled this recipe in a crock pot. I would be tempted to double this and use three 6 quart or larger crock pots if possible. I hope you have a great graduation party!! Congrats on the big accomplishment of graduation a kiddo 🙂
I’m looking for a Mac and cheese I can cook in my casserole (9×13) crockpot and was wounding if I could make this recipe in that plus would you double it!
Hey There! I haven’t tested using a casserole crockpot, but I assume it would work fine….just make sure you have plenty of room to stir! I also haven’t tested doubling the recipe, but several other readers have in the comments and say it works great. Hope you enjoy 🙂
Liquid gold – this Mac n cheese is awesome. I usually double the recipe and turns out great every time. My kids love it and I’m a sucker for a good Mac n cheese. Highly recommend.
Will adding milk to the crockpot make it curdle?
Hey there! Great question, since it’s low heat and you stir often it works well and doesn’t curdle. Hope you enjoy!
Anyone have any helpful tips when doubling the batch? I’m planning on doing it this Saturday and I’m nervous. Do I need to add extra time for cooking? Do I double ever ingredient?
Thanks in advance!
I just made this for my husband’s office party tomorrow. I followed the recipe but I doubled it and added Colby jack and parmesan Romano cheese. Used a sprinkling of onion powder and paprika. It came out so good…creamy and delicious.
Wow! This is replacing my homemade Mac and cheese recipe. So so good and creamy. My whole family was blown away and very happy. Thanks for this great recipe!