Macaroni Cheese | A Wiener Dog in the Kitchen

Is there anything that screams “comfort food” more than Macaroni & Cheese? I’m not much of a Velveeta fan, so this Macaroni & Cheese is loaded with REAL cheese. One thing you will love about this Macaroni & Cheese recipe is how easy it is to have it ready at the same time as the rest of your meal. It takes about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, give or take a couple of minutes and comes out perfect every time. I honestly do not know where the original recipe came from as I’ve had it for quite some time, but I’ve adapted it to make it somewhat healthier… I mean, really? How healthy can Macaroni and Cheese be, loaded with all that cheese? This recipe had 3 3/4 cups of cheese and 3/4 cup of sour cream and I’m using 3 cups of cheese and 3/4 cup of non-fat greek yogurt instead. The original recipe also included whole milk and 3 eggs and I’m using 2% milk and have completely omitted the eggs from this version.

I’ll never go back to making Macaroni & Cheese the traditional way. This recipe has a very creamy texture and is loaded with honest to goodness cheese flavor… I could eat this stuff all day!

OK, people, bear with me on these photos… I waited a little too late in the day to start all this, and then add cloudy, dark, rainy skies to the mix and there was very little natural light for my photos coming in thru the windows, so I did the best I could with the photo editor.

First Step: Melt the butter and cheese together in a small to medium saucepan until it looks like this:

Step 2: Spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray and combine all ingredients, except for your cooked pasta. OK, I know this looks a little freaky and scary, but it will all turn out wonderfully creamy in the end. There will be some lumps and it won’t be smooth at all at this point. This is what you can expect:

Step 3: Add in your cooked, drained macaroni and stir. The hot macaroni will somewhat melt some of those lumps and it will begin to look a little less scary at this point. This photo has all ingredients combined and is ready to be put on the slow cooker base and set to low for 2 hours.

Ultra Creamy Macaroni & Cheese (slow cooker)

Servings: 12-15 Prep time: 30 minutes or less Cook time: 2 hours

3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 cup non-fat greek yogurt (I like Fage brand)

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

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 cups 2% milk

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Boil the macaroni for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside. While your macaroni is cooking, in a small to medium saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter and add in the cheese slowly, until it is all combined, melted and ooey gooey.

Spray a 3-6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray, and combine the cheese/butter mixture, non-fat greek yogurt, cheddar cheese soup, salt, milk, mustard, and pepper and stir well. It will be very lumpy and have a weird texture at this point. Don’t worry, it won’t stay this way. It will be creamy when done.

Add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker to the low setting and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove from slow cooker and serve. It has a wonderfully creamy texture and takes about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. It re-heats very well in the microwave with a little milk added before re-heating.