Monday, September 1, 2008

RICE COOKER MAC & CHEESE


~ Sonlight forums in 2008, but don't recall the specific person

2 c. noodles
1 c. stock or water
1 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c. grated, mixed cheese
2 T. butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
pinch cayenne

Place pasta and all liquids in rice cooker and start cooking. When the cooker switches to “warm” add the remaining ingredients and stir.

Notes: I never use the butter, often use regular cream instead of heavy, and skip the cayenne when we use pepperjack. We’ve used various combos of cheddar, mozzarella, jack, swiss, and pepperjack. Our favorite noodle to use is wagon wheels and we double the recipe in our 14 cup rice cooker.

Linked up at: Eat at Home

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10 comments:

Amber said...

Oh my goodness, this was absolutely delicious and so incredibly easy! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, Bethany!

I substituted Fat-Free Half & Half for the cream & used crushed red peppers instead of cayenne. Mmm... I'll be making this again soon!

Abby said...

What if your cooker doesn't switch to warm? Should I do it on high or low and for how long? Thanks!

BETHANY said...

Abby - Hmmmm ... I'm not sure. I'd guess high and our double batch is done in about 30 minutes, though I've never actually timed it. Our cooker just cooks things until the liquid is absorbed, then switches to warm. So I pull the pan out of the base and add the cheese after it clicks to warm. I suppose you'll just have to experiment and pull it off the heat when the liquid is absorbed.

Tiffany @ Eat at Home said...

This makes me want a rice cooker. It's the only thing standing between me and making this mac & cheese I've heard so much about.

java said...

YUMMY and easy! Thanks to Tiffany for linking this one. My whole family of 6 loved it and that's not an easy thing.
We polished of a double batch.

Jenny said...

THANK YOU for posting this!

I have never made non boxed mac and cheese before...though I have wanted to for a while now. THIS was too easy not to try!

I loved it!

I went conservative on the cheese the first time, using jack cheese, but my next batch is going to be jalapeƱo Havarti!

Is there a reason you don't put the cheese in with the rest of the ingredients?

BETHANY said...

Jenny - I don't add the cheese at the start because I'm a complete rule follower and it said to add it after the noodles cookes. :) I suppose you could try it, but it seems a bit like adding cheese to a pot of boiling noodles on the stove. Seems like it would make a mess. If you try it, though, then come back and tell us how it turned out!

Jenny said...

Worked GREAT!

I tweaked the recipe a little, but the cheese just sits on top....like a casserole or something. You still have to stir.

http://losingcreekfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/rice-cooker-mac-cheese-gf.html

BETHANY said...

Jenny - Thanks for updating! I read your post and think the mustard sounds like a good addition. :)

sarah p. said...

This is one of our favorite easy recipes - we tweaked a bit also, and do regular milk (we usually have 1% on hand), or part regular milk and part half and half if we have it. We also add a tablespoon or so dijon mustard instead of the cayenne pepper. And we usually use the Costco bag of mixed "Mexican" cheese. All of the above make it our ultimate pantry meal.