A healthy take on a restaurant staple is chicken zoodle pho made in the slow cooker with minimal effort and topped with spiralized zucchini noodles. With a warm cup of delicious low-calorie, gluten-free soup, ordering takeout is simple at home!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups elbow macaroni
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups milk
- 1 pound shredded Cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1 sleeve buttery round crackers, crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain well.
- Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and salt; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in Cheddar cheese until cheese is melted. Add macaroni and stir to coat; pour into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup of melted butter and crushed crackers together in a bowl; scatter evenly over macaroni mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 810 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 57 g |
| Cholesterol | 133 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Saturated Fat | 29 g |
| Sodium | 1012 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 50 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made this tonight for supper and it was amazing! I did follow the suggestion of using less milk, to make mine more thick. So I used 3 cups of milk instead of 4. The only cheese I had was Colby Jack and a white cheddar. So I did a mix of both. My husband is very picky when it comes to baked Mac n cheese (he loves Kraft boxed Mac n cheese), and he LOVED this recipe. He is lactose intolerant, so I used lactose free 1% milk and lactose free real cheese. And it was great. The crumb topping was a very nice touch. Already added to my recipe box!
I love this and I’ve made it 6 times. Cause ppl love it. I did add two boxes of Mac and not two cups. And I did however add 1/4 tspn of garlic powder to the flour and butter mix before I added the milk. And I added more cheese while mixing the Mac in the cheese sauce. Butter it’s still awesome
I like the simple recipe but didn’t like the flour to milk ratio, couldn’t get the sauce to thicken until I added in another 1/4 cup of flour to finally get it thickened, next time I use less milk! Good but I added in more spices to it! Thank you I will probably use this recipe always! Came out perfect in my mini oven!
Real good not much of a fan of the crackers but liven the easy and quick recipe and. I added a crumble of Crispy bacon bits Yum!
This turned out great. Pretty basic and great to put your own twist on it. I made it as-is: 5 stars. I made it a second time my way, simply using a whole 16 oz box and half teaspoon mustard powder. In spite of using 1.5c MORE shell macaroni, it came out great. Note to self: Piper liked this one a lot and asked me to save it =)
me and the wife love it i make for it for all the holidays and i never have leftovers
Smoked it
Very tasty. Nice consistency. Too much topping…next time I’ll use 1/2c bread crumbs.
Family LOVED it!! The only thing I did different was I used bread crumbs and a different cheese blend. We will make it again.
It was ok. I had wayyyyy too much cheese sauce. Thankfully I added it to the pasta a little at a time and only used half of it. The milk and roux never thickened when it simmered, but the cheese did make it thicker. I knew it would set more while it baked, so the consistency ended up being ok. It would have been soup if I’d used all the sauce. The cheese sauce also had a somewhat grainy texture even though my roux was smooth and I used a block of cheddar that I shredded myself. I used sharp cheddar and then added some Parmesan and Monterey Jack that I had on hand because it tasted bland when I sampled it. I would make this again but use half the milk, add different cheeses for a stronger flavor, and add some mustard powder and pepper.
I’ve made this several times family always wants it. So meetings I use not pe paper cheese or jalopeno h M
I used Rotini instead of Elbows, used Pepper Jack cheese, grated some Parmesan in with the crumbs, steamed some broccoli and mixed in there also. Used almond milk , fantastic taste …..
I made this more than once and it’s always a huge hit! I really like that the crackers make the mac and cheese taste buttery. I do add extra cheese in to make sure it’s a cheesy delicious dinner that my family and especially I will always enjoy!
Plain unless you jazz it up. Dijon mustard, salt,pepper, cayenne and paprika, garlic and onion powder added along with seasoned bread crumbs ritz crackers and parmigiana cheese to the topping
Very good base, I added a pinch each of cayenne, pepper flakes, cinnamon, & cumin- delicious flavor that paired well with the creaminess of the sharp cheddar. I cut the recipe in half, but used a little more than half of real butter in the rye. Baked to a bubbly golden doneness in 30 mintues.
Meh… no flavor
I loved it! It’s definitely a favorite in my family. The only thing I did with this recipe was to add less milk. Instead of 4 cups, I put about 3 1/2 cups. I started out with that amount first but I could use a little less next time. It’s was delicious!
Easy to make, very taste. I used oat milk as a replacement to cow milk
Omg, this was sooo good. I added garlic powder, onion powder & paprika per other reviews, but otherwise, it was perfect!
Had all of the ingredients on hand so I thought I would give it a try. It was easy to make and turned out good, but lacks seasoning. It seems very bland even with all of the cheese. I added some paprika and mustard before baking. If I try it again I would be sure to add some fresh minced onion and garlic. I added some sriracha after I tried it as it needed something.
I added some twice cooked pork belly to go full-on decadent… ‘Twas Good