This recipe was a huge hit at our oldest daughter’s 5th birthday party! When you have to feed 15 young kids nothing does the trick better than macaroni and cheese! When the party was over there wasn’t even a bites worth left in the slow cooker. This recipe is perfect for any type of family or friend gathering. I can see this dish at Thanksgiving, Easter, a pot luck meal or even Christmas.
This is a simple recipe that doesn’t take long to prepare and will be a huge crowd pleaser. And no one can tell it is Gluten Free!
What You Need:
Notice the cooking time on the noodles is only 6 minutes, this is to avoid them turning to mush. Also don’t over stir this dish, once is enough. Extra stirring will break up the noodles.
For the party I had 8 different topping options. The kids loved getting to pick what went on top of their mac n cheese. The hot dogs and bacon were the top 2 favorites! The toppings included: salsa, avocados, tomatoes, hot dogs, bacon, extra cheese, sour cream, and pepperoni.
I hope this simple Gluten Free recipe will become one of your family’s favorites!
Enjoy!
Hi Pam,
I am going to try out your recipe this weekend. What a clever idea to add toppings for all the kids. I think my kids will also go bananas over the hot dogs and bacon. Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Ranae
Does it get mushy on warm in the crock pot?
What brand of noodles do you use? I usually use tinkyada, those cook to full in 13 minutes, and I am not sure how long to cook them for this.
I would not use Tinkyada past for this, rice pasta will fall apart. use a multi-grain pasta with rice and corn flours.
If dairy intolerance try almond milk
Is it 10oz EACH of Colby and Monterey jack, or 10oz total?
Great Question – 10 oz of each cheese
Can i leave out the velveeta?
Sure! You may just want to add some more of the cheeses so it doesn’t get dried out.
I also was wondering if there is a sub for the Velveeta cheese
I was wondering the same. Not a fan of velveeta. Can I use a substitute, maybe cream cheese so its creamier then just using more cheese?
Not sure what you mean but how much is one stick of butter?
1 stick of butter is 1/4 lb or 1/2 cup. As to Velveeta – yuck! Waiting to hear if cream cheese could be substituted for part of the Velveeta.
When/how do you add the butter? A stick? Really? That’s an awful lot of butter!!!!!!
does it have to be made wih cubed cheese or is shredded fine?!
I’m sure it will work fine, I just always use the cubed cheese.
Pam
How many would you say this recipe serves?
It can be a side dish for at least 10 people. For a main dish, I would say around 6.
Have you ever made this faster than 3 hours? I would love to make but won’t have 3 hours to let it cook in a crockpot
I would just bake it for 45 minutes in the oven instead of using the slow cooker. Same great taste in faster time!
What size of dish do we use for the oven?
I would use at least a 9×12 casserole dish
I have a 6 qt crock pot. Are all the ingredients OK to still use in a bigger size vs the 3qt you used?
Yes, you can use a large crock pot or you can double the recipe 🙂
To bake this do you fully cook your noodles and melt you cheese ,butter, and milk before baking?
I would look the noodles for about 6 minutes.
Ok guys I live alone and want to make this. Has anyone tried storing these leftovers? Freezer or fridge?
So happy I found this! My husband suffers from celiac disease and he misses mac and cheese so bad..well food in general lol. Happy we found the site!
This is a great idea. I’m the only one with food allergies so I let people forget that my dishes are gluten free so they can enjoy without knowing they are partaking in a GF dish. I tell them after, and they are shocked that gluten free can be delicious. This seems like the perfect pot lock dish
I still don’t know what to do with the butter. Do I just cube it and add to the cheeses?
Yup! Cube the butter goodness in with the cheese!
Hi Pam! Just found your site and this recipe is happening tonight! Just curious, I have a gf penne pasta that I want to use. It is made with rice and I read that it could get mushy in this dish, so would you suggest not preboiling it at all or maybe just for 3 min instead of 6? This is going to be a perfect recipe for me, I can already tell. I am allergic to egg which is found in a lot of homemade macaroni recipes. I’m also allergic to cheddar (Oh the sadness!), so using Velveeta and monterey jack is perfection. Would you suggest any other seasonings to give it a little kick? We are having slaw and chili dogs (no bun) with it, so maybe we don’t need extra spice. Thanks in advance for your help!
Welcome Jill!
With just rice pasta I would cook it for a shorter time. If you want to give it a kick try chili powder or paprika
Pam,
Thank you so much for this! I have 2 boys that a gluten free and we haven’t had the traditional mac n cheese in so long – and I know they will appreciate this! I can’t wait to explore your other wonderful recipes! Again thank you again! Trying this tonight when I get home!
Welcome Kelly! So glad you found us! I hope your boys this mac n cheese as much as our kids!
I made this for my niece for when she came to my son’s birthday party. She loved it! She said it was the best gluten free mac & cheese she’s had yet! Thank you so much for posting! =)
Yeah!!! So glad she loved it!
I am going to be traveling an hour and a half after it is done cooking from my home to a party. Do you think that the pasta will stay firm while traveling and then heating back up again in the croc pot when I turn it back on? Also what kind of gf pasta should I use? I heard that chickpea stay solid really well, but I’m not even sure where to find it…
I would suggest a quinoa/ rice mixture pasta. It will hold up better. For the traveling, just cut the cook time by an hour and when you get to your destination let it heat back up and finish cooking.
Can you leave out the evaporated milk? It the only thing I don’t have and I want to try this 🙂
You could leave it out, just add some additional milk to keep the dish moist.
If doubling recipe – do I still cook same amount of time?
Yes, if you cook it longer it will just turn into mush.
I made this for my husband’s family Xmas get together. My son and my sister-in-law both have celiac so I made the entire meal gluten free. Everyone commented on how good the mac and cheese was. There was very little left, but what was left was good reheated the next day. Thank you for the recipe!
Woohoo! So glad you all loved it!
Is velvetta truely gluten free? I’ve read mixed reviews on the subject.
Velveeta is not gluten free!
Check the Kraft website for the full ingredient list.
Hello,
I bought a rice/corn flour gf pasta, but it says that it only cooks for three minutes. How long should I cook it for before throwing it in the crockpot?
Cook it half the time listed on the box.
Is Velveeta gluten free? I have been researching it but I get mixed answers!
Everything I have found says it is.
What temp if I want to cook it in the oven?
I set the slow cooker to low. Not sure what temp to use for baking this recipe, haven’t tried it that way before.
I followed the directions EXACTLY and the noodles fell apart. 😰
I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you 🙁
Made this today. Added some ground mustard and paprika. I made it with half and half instead of milk. Yummy!!
great idea! glad you liked it