Serious Mac & Cheese in the Slow Cooker

Seriously. This is it. About seven years ago, I had some fantastic Mac at a potluck; I have been trying to find a recipe to match that memory ever since. That’s usually a hopeless quest, but I have found the one! Visit the original post for a discussion on sodium citrate, how this recipe works, etc. Thank you, Serious Eats, and perhaps also Modernist Cuisine.

I’ve adapted this recipe for making in a slow cooker instead of a casserole. One recipe is about 3 quarts. A double-batch fills a 7 quart slow cooker nicely, with some room to stir. I also added Benefiber and switched from Panko to Ritz crackers for the topping. The nice thing is, the crackers shower down deeper in the pot as you serve, so everybody gets some. So far I haven't gotten a photo before we ate it all; I'll have to try again!

Variations to try sometime (I haven’t gotten over the original yet though):
Replace water with flavorful liquids like beer and/or chicken stock.

Try other cheeses, like cheddar, gouda, and some smoked cheese.
Add meat, like hot dogs, Polish sausage, or ham.
Add 1 Tbsp home-made Worcestershire to the cheese sauce.

Serious Mac & Cheese in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbp Salt, for the pasta water
• 450 g (1 lb) elbow macaroni
• 75 g (5 Tbsp) butter, divided
• 708 g (3 cups) water
• 86 g (1 cup) Benefiber* (optional)
• 4 tsp sodium citrate (mail order; required ingredient)
• 680 g (1 1/2 lb) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot)
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 227g (1/2 lb) grated Gruyere cheese**
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers***

Directions

1. Cook the pasta in salted water for two minutes less than the package directions. Drain, and stir into the slow cooker pot with 2 Tbsp butter to coat.
2. Bring 3 cups water and the sodium citrate to a boil.
3. Reserve the Gruyere for later. Begin adding the cheddar a handful at a time, blending in completely with an immersion blender before adding more. If using the Benefiber, add it with the cheese. Towards the end, turn off the heat. Continue until all 1 ½ lbs of cheddar is blended into a smooth sauce. It will seem too thin, but not to worry.
4. Add the hot sauce, mustard powder and garlic powder. Once blended, pour the whole pot over the macaroni and stir until well combined. Start the slow cooker if serving the same day.
5. Crush the crackers in a ziplock, add 3 Tbsp melted butter, and mix well. Toast the cracker crumbs in a skillet until browned, toasty, and fragrant, then remove from heat to halt toasting.
6. If preparing ahead of time:
1. Put the crock of macaroni and bag of grated Gruyere into the fridge. Let the cracker crumbs cool, then put back into the bag used for crushing.
2. To reheat, start in the slow-cooker set to “high”. After an hour, stir every 30 min or so, until it’s all melted and stirs fairly easily. It will be thicker than it was before refrigerating. This may take 2-3 hours, depending on if it’s a single or double batch, and how your cooker performs.
7. Once the crock of mac is nice and hot, and will be served soon, stir/fold in the grated Gruyere until well-distributed, with the goal of leaving it a bit stringy. Spread all the cracker crumbs evenly over the top. Serve when ready!

* Benefiber makes it more filling, probably lowers the glycemic index, and compensates somewhat for the lack of vegetables.

** Don’t fear the stink, Gruyere adds a nice flavor when blended with the cheddar. Roth "Grand Cru" is a Wisconsin gruyere; can substitute jarlsberg, or a gouda/romano blend.

*** Can substitute 1 cup Panko crumbs and 3 pinches of salt; toast with butter per directions.