Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese is creamy and delicious.

Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Three Cheese Macaroni is this week’s recipe for my Martha Stewart Cooking Challenge.

That is quite the title isn’t it? Martha Stewart calls it three cheese macaroni, but since it is made in the slow cooker, I had to put that in the title as well.

For short we will just call it Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Mac and cheese.

Mac and Cheese or Macaroni and Cheese?

Do you say macaroni and cheese or mac and cheese? I have always said mac and cheese.

Most people I know also call it that, but maybe that is a regional thing. Do you say the full name or do you shorten it to mac and cheese?

Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe for Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese is the mac and cheese I made for my birthday back in December.

I don’t make mac and cheese often because my daughter loves mac and cheese, but she eats dairy-free. I don’t like to tempt her so I only make it a few times a year.

Mac and cheese though is one of my comfort foods so I choose it for my birthday dinner. I could probably eat mac and cheese once a week for dinner. Yes, dinner. I consider mac and cheese a main dish, not a side dish.

When I saw a recipe for mac and cheese in Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker cookbook I knew that I wanted to make it for my birthday. It did not disappoint. My son declared this recipe one of the best macaroni and cheese recipes that he has ever had.

I will say that I changed up Martha’s Recipe slightly. So this is my version of Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese.

Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Cookbook

Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Cookbook is one of my newer Martha Stewart Cookbooks. It was published in 2017. I bought it last year when I was trying to add some variety to our slow cooker meals.

I love my slow cooker and use it often, but I tend to make the same slow cooker meals all the time. I needed some new ideas and inspiration and decided to buy a couple of new slow cooker cookbooks.

The mac and cheese in the Martha Stewart slow cooker cookbook was delicious, but this isn’t my favorite Martha Stewart Cookbook. There are a few great recipes, but most of the recipes are not ones that I would make.

First of all there is a seafood and fish section in the cookbook. I grew up in Oregon one hour from the Oregon coast. I love seafood. I love salmon and other fish, but the slow cooker is not the best way to cook fish or seafood.

A slow cooker cooks things low and slow. Fish and seafood don’t take long to cook. A slow cooker will often overcook seafood and fish.

There is also recipes like Duck Confit and Spanish-Style Octopus. Those recipe might be very good, but they are not your everyday dinner type of recipes.

If you buy Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker cookbook keep that in mind. There are a few great basic recipes like this mac and cheese, but many of them are probably recipes that you will never use.

Ingredients

• butter
• onion
• Colby jack cheese
• white cheddar cheese
• Gruyere cheese
• macaroni, uncooked
• milk
• evaporated milk
• Dijon mustard
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Melt butter in a small skillet or pan. Add onion and cook until onion is softened.
• Place onion in a large bowl. Add cheese, macaroni, both milks, mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir until macaroni is well coated.
• Pour mixture into a 5 or 6 quart crockpot.
• Cook on low for 2 – 3 hours or on high for 1 – 1 /2 hours. Or until pasta is cooked.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Best Cheese for Macaroni and Cheese

One of the things that makes Martha Stewart’s mac and cheese recipe a little different is the cheese. This is the case in most of her mac and cheese recipes. Yes, she has quite a few different mac and cheese recipes.

This recipe call for sharp cheddar and Gruyere cheese. I like both of those cheeses in mac and cheese, but I also love Monterrey Jack or Colby jack cheese.

Monterrey jack and/or Colby jack cheese give mac and cheese a creaminess that I love. If I have it I always add it to the recipe.

For this recipe I didn’t follow the exact recipe. I made added in some Colby jack cheese.

Why do you put breadcrumbs on mac and cheese?

My guess is that people put breadcrumbs on mac and cheese to make it more casserole-like. A lot of people also like the crunchy topping it gives the mac and cheese.

Martha’s recipe had the breadcrumb topping adding during the last 15 minutes of cooking. I don’t like breadcrumbs on my mac and cheese so I skipped it.

I also thought that they bread crumbs would not get crisp in the slow cooker so I am not sure they are worth doing. If you like them you can add them to my recipe.

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