Crock Pot "No Fail" Macaroni and Cheese

*originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 2-24-15*

With another super duper cold snap upon us, I was craving some comfort food! One recipe in the crock pot that has not been a success for me in the past is mac n cheese. I made a recipe back in season 2 of The Crock of the Week, and it was good, but it wasn’t quite the creamy consistency I was looking for. I tried again last fall and failed miserably. It always curdled on me! I came across the recipe below online a few weeks ago, and the author of the blog had the exact same problems and frustration as me, and THIS is the recipe that worked for her. So I decided to try one more time, but if it didn’t work, I was never going to make mac n cheese in the crock pot ever again! Haha! Well, since I am sharing it with you this week, you can probably guess the outcome. It was AWESOME! The key is NO EGGS! Don’t use a crock pot recipe that calls for eggs in the ingredient list! This recipe uses a can of condensed cheddar soup in the mix, and I think that is what made it work so wonderfully. YUM YUM YUM!!!

Crock Pot “No Fail” Macaroni & Cheese

3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

5 tablespoons butter

18 oz grated medium cheddar cheese (about 2.5-3 cups)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Boil elbow macaroni in a saucepan for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Then, melt butter in a saucepan, and slowly stir in the grated cheddar cheese over low-med heat until it is completely melted. It should only take a few minutes, and stir almost constantly to avoid burning.

Transfer melted cheddar to the crock pot, and add in sour cream, milk, soup, dry mustard, and salt & pepper. Stir in partially cooked elbow macaroni. Cook on low for about 2 hours, stirring a few times. Keep an eye on it, as all crock pots cook differently. It was done in about an hour and 45 minutes for me.

Crock Pot Beer Cheese Soup

Well, this is it, folks! The last recipe of Season 3! Thanks for another fun season, I so enjoy chatting with you all about crock pots and recipes :) This week's recipe is from the GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the Crock of the Week contest! Congratulations to Bernadine Mezera from Boscobel! You all need to make her recipe, it's delicious! Crock Pot Beer Cheese Soup! When this recipe was randomly chosen as the winner, I admit that I was a bit afraid because I wasn't confident that a great beer cheese soup could be made by me, but I was so wrong! This is restaurant quality beer cheese soup! Now, neither my husband or I are beer drinkers, but he does like the occasional Blue Moon, which is a wheat beer. So I went with that, since I knew there would be extra to drink up. It worked well, but you can use any beer of your choice, but I suggest not getting a cheap one or using a light beer.  Also, get a block of cheddar and shred it up instead of buying the already shredded stuff, which is more dry and has a chemical on it to keep it from sticking together. Go for the block cheese here. 

CROCK POT BEER CHEESE SOUP

(FROM BERNADINE MEZERA)

32 OUNCES CHICKEN BROTH

16 OUNCES BEER

1/2 CUP CORNSTARCH

1/4 cup BUTTER, MELTED

1 CUP CARROT, DICED VERY THIN

1 CUP WHITE ONION DICED VERY FINE

4 OUNCES CREAM CHEESE

8 OUNCES SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE, GRATED

SEA SALT, ABOUT 1 TEASPOON

BLACK PEPPER TO TASTE

ADD CHICKEN BROTH AND BEER TO SLOW COOKER, AND WHISK IN CORNSTARCH AND BUTTER UNTIL SMOOTH.

ADD CARROTS AND ONIONS TO SLOW COOKER.

COOK ON LOW FOR 8 HOURS.

ADD CREAM CHEESE AND SHREDDED CHEDDAR, AND SEASON WITH SALT, ABOUT A TEASPOON IS WHAT I USED, ADD GRADUALLY TO YOUR TASTE.  ADD PEPPER TO TASTE.

LADLE INTO BOWLS, AND SERVE IMMEDIATELY.