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These Slow Cooker Amish Pepper Jack Noodles are creamy, cheesy, and made with uncooked noodles right in the Slow Cooker. Pepper jack adds just enough warmth, while red and green bell peppers bring color and a fresh bite. You’re going to love how easily this comforting dinner comes together.
Why You’ll Love It
- No-boil noodles — the egg noodles cook right in the Slow Cooker, so there’s no separate pot or colander to wash.
- Creamy with a little kick — pepper jack melts into the silky sauce for warm, slightly spicy flavor.
- Simple ingredients — condensed cream of chicken soup, whole milk, cheese, peppers, and noodles make this easy to pull together.
- Great for a crowd — this cozy noodle bake makes about eight servings.
- Easy finishing step — add the last cup of cheese at the end for a bubbly, extra-cheesy top.
Ingredient Notes
The wide egg noodles are important here. They’re sturdy enough to hold up in the slow cooker without turning to paste, as long as you don’t cook them too long. I know the temptation is to keep checking, but lifting that lid every twenty minutes only lets the heat out and slows the whole business down.
Use whole milk. I’m not trying to be bossy, but the richness matters in a five-ingredient recipe like this. Skim milk will work in the technical sense, I suppose, but so does eating cereal for dinner and nobody wants that kind of compromise.
For the cheese, buy a block of pepper jack and shred it yourself if you have the patience. It melts a little nicer than the bagged kind. That said, bagged shredded cheese works well too. Three cups total, divided—two cups go in before cooking, and the last cup gets sprinkled over at the end for that nice bubbly top.
The green and red bell peppers are not there to make this fancy. They just add a little color and a fresh bite against all that creamy goodness. Dice them fairly small. Big chunks aren’t wrong exactly, but they have a way of wandering onto a fork by themselves, and then somebody says, “What is this?” as though you slipped a sea creature into dinner.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles, uncooked
- 3 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, divided — I usually measure this loosely, because I am not a machine
- 2 cans (10.5 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup finely diced mixed green and red bell peppers
- Butter or nonstick cooking spray, for greasing the slow cooker
Instructions
Lightly grease the inside of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with butter or nonstick spray. Get the bottom and lower sides well, because those egg noodles can cling on for dear life if they get the chance.
In a large bowl, whisk together both cans of condensed cream of chicken soup and the 2 cups whole milk until smooth. It may look a little odd at first—thick and pale and not particularly glamorous—but give it a minute. This is your creamy base, and it does its job beautifully.
Stir the finely diced green and red bell peppers into the soup-and-milk mixture until they’re spread through evenly. I like the peppers diced small enough that every scoop gets some color without turning the meal into a pepper situation.
Add the uncooked wide egg noodles to the prepared slow cooker and spread them out as evenly as you can across the bottom. They won’t lie perfectly flat, and that is fine. Noodles have never listened to me.
Pour the creamy pepper mixture over the noodles, then use a spoon to gently press the noodles down so they are mostly submerged in the liquid. A few may poke up here and there; don’t fuss with them too much.
Sprinkle 2 cups of the shredded pepper jack cheese evenly over the noodles and sauce, reserving the remaining 1 cup for later. It feels like a lot of cheese when you’re standing there looking at it, but this is not the moment for restraint.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, until the noodles are tender but not mushy. Try not to lift the lid while it cooks. I know, I know—everybody wants to peek. But each peek lets out heat, and then supper takes longer while you stand around hungry and annoyed.
When the noodles are tender and the sauce is thick and creamy, sprinkle the remaining 1 cup pepper jack cheese over the top. Cover again and cook on LOW for 15 to 20 minutes, until that top layer is melted, bubbly around the edges, and just beginning to take on a light golden color.
Gently stir from the edges toward the center, pulling a little of the extra-cheesy top down into the noodles while leaving plenty of that melted cheese blanket on top. Don’t stir it to death—you want it creamy, not completely uniform.
Turn the slow cooker to WARM and let the noodle bake sit for 5 to 10 minutes so it can set up slightly. Scoop it out hot, making sure each serving gets plenty of sauce, cheese, and those little pepper flecks.
Variations
If you like more heat, use an extra-spicy pepper jack or add a small pinch of red pepper flakes with the bell peppers. Small pinch. Slow cookers seem to magnify spice somehow.
For a milder version, swap half the pepper jack for Monterey Jack or mild cheddar, but keep at least some pepper jack in there or you lose the little kick that makes this recipe special.
You can also add 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken or diced ham right after the noodles go into the slow cooker. Just make sure the meat is fully cooked before it goes in. And if cream of chicken soup isn’t what you’ve got, cream of mushroom or cream of celery works too—keep it to the same two-can amount so the sauce stays right.
I tried throwing in frozen broccoli once. It wasn’t terrible, but it released enough water that the whole thing got a little looser than I liked, and the broccoli turned the color of an old raincoat. So. There’s that.
Storage & Reheating
Put leftovers into shallow containers and refrigerate them promptly—definitely don’t leave the finished noodle bake sitting out longer than 2 hours. I know it’s tempting when everyone is wandering in and out of the kitchen, picking at things, but creamy Casseroles are not built for countertop lingering.
They’ll keep well in the refrigerator for a few days. When you reheat a serving, add a small splash of milk if it seems thick, then warm it until it’s steaming hot all the way through. The microwave works fine for lunch, though I usually cover the bowl loosely so the cheese doesn’t splatter all over the inside.
If the noodles seem a little dry the next day, don’t panic. Stir in that splash of warm milk and give it a good mix. It comes back around.
Final Notes
There’s something comforting about a recipe that doesn’t require much from you. Five main ingredients, one slow cooker, no elaborate plan. Some nights that’s enough. More than enough, really.
Keep an eye on the noodles, don’t lift the lid a hundred times, and use the whole milk. The rest will take care of itself—mostly.
Slow Cooker Amish Pepper Jack Noodle Bake
Ingredients
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles uncooked
- 3 cups shredded pepper jack cheese divided; 2 cups for cooking and 1 cup for topping
- 2 cans (10.5 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup mixed green and red bell peppers finely diced
- butter or nonstick cooking spray for greasing the slow cooker
Instructions
- Lightly grease the inside of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with butter or nonstick spray, coating the bottom and lower sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk together both cans of condensed cream of chicken soup and the whole milk until smooth.
- Stir the finely diced green and red bell peppers into the soup-and-milk mixture until evenly distributed.
- Add the uncooked wide egg noodles to the prepared slow cooker and spread them evenly across the bottom.
- Pour the creamy pepper mixture over the noodles and gently press the noodles down so they are mostly submerged in the liquid.
- Sprinkle 2 cups of the shredded pepper jack cheese evenly over the noodles and sauce, reserving the remaining 1 cup.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, until the noodles are tender but not mushy, without lifting the lid during cooking.
- When the noodles are tender and the sauce is thick and creamy, sprinkle the remaining 1 cup pepper jack cheese over the top, cover, and cook on LOW for 15 to 20 minutes until melted and bubbly.
- Gently stir from the edges toward the center, pulling some of the extra-cheesy top down into the noodles while leaving plenty of melted cheese on top.
- Turn the slow cooker to WARM and let the noodle bake sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then scoop it out hot.