With two kinds of creamy cheese, bacon, and crockpot convenience, Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese is an absolute favorite at our house. Give it a try, and I bet it will become a favorite at your house, too!
In our family, we're total suckers for mac & cheese. Whether it's my Mom's classic baked macaroni and cheese, creamy 5-cheese stove top macaroni and cheese, or a less traditional version like , we go nuts over it all.
But you know the saying, "Bacon makes everything better?" Well, turns out even with a great thing, that saying's true. Because bacon makes even our very favorite macaroni and cheese just that much better!
The smoky flavor of bacon combines with smoked cheddar to bring fabulous flavor to this slow cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese. Join that great smoky-bacon flavor with crock pot convenience -- and you've got one super easy, super tasty side dish, for sure.
The smoky flavor of bacon combines with smoked cheddar to bring fabulous flavor to this slow cooker Bacon Macaroni & Cheese.
I've been asked before, what is the texture of slow cooker macaroni and cheese? Is it looser and creamy like stove top mac and cheese? Or more firm, like a baked mac and cheese?
This particular bacon slow cooker macaroni and cheese is more firm in texture, much like a baked macaroni and cheese. Because it includes eggs in its mixture, the finished cooked mac and cheese holds together in hunks when scooped. Which I must say, is the way we like our mac and cheese best.
It's an absolute favorite at our house, and gets devoured in no time. Give it a try, and I'm willing to bet it'll become an absolute favorite at your house, too.
Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni & Cheese Ingredients
Two kinds of cheese go into the making of this super tasty dish. Shredded mozzarella brings great melty creaminess to this mac and cheese's firmer texture. And it's then combined withsmoked cheddar, which brings all kindsof great flavor.
When the smokiness of smoked cheddar is then paired with bacon? -- It's flavor heaven. And worthy of absolute-favorite status, for sure.
To whip up a crock pot of slow cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese you'll need:
- Noodles - Basic elbow macaroni will do, but I recommend using a bit sturdier, more substantial noodle like cavatappi (also known as corkscrew macaroni) or rotini (spirals) to stand up to and support all the bacon deliciousness. The batch in this post's photos is made with cavatappi.
- Evaporated & whole milk - These milks make up the cooking liquid for the noodles, no water involved. The milks are absorbed by the noodles as they cook, which creates a nice rich base for the mac and cheese.
- Eggs - Bind the mixture together, creating a firmer-textured mac and cheese.
Shredded mozzarella brings great melty creaminess to this mac and cheese's firmer texture.
- Smoked cheddar cheese - Brings fabulous smoky flavor.
- Mozzarella cheese - Lends melty creaminess to the finished cook dish.
- Bacon - The flavor star of mac and cheese! For ease and convenience, I use packaged real bacon bits. They can be found in the salad dressings section of the grocery store, and offer fabulous dump-and-go ease when making this mac and cheese -- no time spent frying up and crumbling the bacon. Be sure to get real bacon bits, not the crunchy-type artificial bacon bits sold right alongside them. That being said, you can certainly fry up and crumble regular strip of bacon for this recipe, as well.
How to Make Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni & Cheese
Making a pot of crock pot Bacon Macaroni and Cheese truly is really easy. You don't even need to cook the noodles first.
To whip some up, simply place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and give them a good stir to get them well combined.
Be sure to spray the crock pot well with non-stick cooking spray to minimize sticking. A little bit of sticking is inevitable, but a good dose of spray keeps most of the sticking at bay.
Cook on HIGH for 1 and 1/2 hours, stirring twice during that time to redistribute the ingredients.
Then turn the setting down to LOW and continue to let the slow cooker do it's thing for 30 minutes or so more until the pasta has absorbed all the liquid.
And then like magic, -- slow cooker magic, that is, -- you've got a delicious pot of Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese all ready to be served up and devoured.
And believe me, devoured this will be.With its two kinds of creamy cheese and fabulously smoky bacon flavor, Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese is pretty hard to resist.
Check out these other tasty slow cooker side dishes:
- Crock Pot Creamed Corn
- Crock Pot Green Bean Casserole
- Slow Cooker Stuffing
- Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Applesauce
- Moreside dishes
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bacon macaroni cheese recipe, slow cooker macaroni cheese recipe, crock pot macaroni cheese recipe, crock pot side dishes
Side Dishes
Yield: about 12-14 servings
Author:Tracey | The Kitchen is My Playground
Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
With two kinds of creamy cheese, bacon, and crockpot convenience, Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese is an absolute favorite at our house. Give it a try, and it will become a favorite at your house, too!
prep time: 15 Mcook time: 2 hourtotal time: 2 H & 15 M
ingredients:
- 3 c. uncooked cavatappi (corkscrew macaroni) or rotini pasta {about 8 oz.}
- 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 c. shredded smoked cheddar cheese
- 1 (3 oz.) package real bacon bits {or 10 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled}
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 c. whole milk
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
instructions:
How to cook Slow Cooker Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
- Spray the bowl of a 4-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place pasta, shredded cheeses, bacon, eggs, evaporated milk, milk, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in slow cooker; stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on High setting for 1 and 1/2 hours, stirring twice during cooking.
- Reduce heat to Low setting and cook 30 minutes longer until pasta is tender and all liquid is absorbed.
https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2015/05/slow-cooker-bacon-macaroni-and-cheese.html
Adapted from Taste of the South: Southern Classics
Created using The Recipes Generator
You might also like these other cheesy side dishes:
5-Cheese Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
Easy Cheesy Potatoes
Broccoli-Rice Casserole
Cheesy Fiesta Corn Casserole
This post is linked with Weekend Potluck, Meal Plan Monday.
