Instant Pot Mac and Cheese - This macaroni and cheese is every family's favorite comfort food pasta recipe made easy in the Instant Pot! You can have creamy, mouthwatering, homemade mac and cheese for dinner in about 10 minutes!
Have I mentioned lately that I'm kind of in love with my Instant Pot? If you have been following me on Instagram you'll know that I've documented my daily trials and errors using the thing. I was so skeptical of even getting one in the first place, and now, it's pretty much all I want to use for cooking at all! It takes a lot of the in-between steps out of making simple recipes. Like this mac and cheese, the pasta cooks in just enough liquid, with no need to drain! If you're looking for more amazing Instant Pot dinners definitely try out this Instant Pot Jambalaya it's out of this world!!
My family absolutely LOVED this macaroni and cheese. Well, I did too. The flavor was absolutely perfect and it was super creamy, just like a good mac should be.
I made this recipe in my 8 quart Instant Pot, and it will definitely work just fine if you have a 6 quart as well. It makes a whole lot by the way. Yay for leftovers!
There was enough for my family of four to eat this as a main dish with a side salad for supper. Then, my kids took some for lunch in their thermos to school the next day. Even after that we had enough left to use up as a side dish later in the week!
How to Make Instant Pot Mac and Cheese:
- For the best flavor, I recommend using chicken broth as your cooking liquid. I used low sodium chicken broth. If you don't have low sodium, leave out the extra addition of salt, then salt as needed when serving.
- Use seasoning! I add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and hot sauce to this before cooking. Don't worry, the hot sauce does not make this spicy at all. It just adds an additional layer of flavor that's amazing.
- Use a combination of cheeses for the best taste. I use a mixture of sharp cheddar, mozzarella. When you add the cheese, make sure to stir continuously so that it all melts in really well and you aren't left with clumps.
- Don't use canned milk. I used regular 2% milk, and I recommend that or whole milk for best results. Most of the recipes I saw for Instant Pot mac and cheese used evaporated milk which I am not a fan of at all.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 Ounces Uncooked Elbow Macaroni
- 4 Cups Chicken Broth
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Hot Pepper Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- ½ Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- ½ -1 Cup Milk
Instructions
- Add the uncooked macaroni, chicken broth, butter, hot sauce, garlic powder, pepper, and salt to the Instant Pot.
- Place the lid on the pot and set to sealing. Cook on manual function, high pressure for 5 minutes. Then, do a quick release.
- Add the milk, then the cheese to the pot in 3-4 handfuls, stirring in between each addition until smooth and creamy. Season as necessary to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for other great Instant Pot recipes? Try these:
Could I use cream cheese instead of mozzarella?
Definitely
Perfect party food. Made a couple of changes that kicked it up a notch:
- swapped Gruyere for the mozzarella
- topped with 1 cup of panko bread crumbs, tossed with Italian herbs, salt, pepper and melted butter
- sprinkled minced chives on top
Everyone loved it! Next time I might experiment with buttermilk and maybe a bit of minced jalapeño.
I just made this today and me and my husband loved it!! He's been making mac and cheese for years using a roux and different blends of cheeses and he says this Instant Pot recipe makes it way better. The hot sauce and garlic add great dimension and the chicken stock really adds flavour. PS: he’s always raved about his own Mac & cheese, so the fact that he says this is the best he’s ever had is truly amazing! Wow!!
This recipe is amazing!!!! I changed out the mozz for Gouda. Other then that I went by the recipe. My new go-to Mac recipe.
Super cheese and delicious!
I’ve made this with chicken broth I’ve prepared from deli chicken carcass and aromatics (carrots, celery, onion, whole cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves (with parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage growing in the yard if available). I added some cut up ham.
Tonight I’m making it with broth from boiling a couple pork hocks (with aromatic veggies). I added some of the cut up cooked pork. I expect it will be good as well, just a different twist.
This recipe was great. I left the salt out, added an equal amount of onion powder along with the garlic powder, some smoked paprika and a can of Rotel tomatoes and green chiles.
Had some left overs the next day heated with a spoon of sour cream to add a little moisture and stirred in some sauteed spinach and mushrooms that were cooked with garlic. I will definitely be stirring the extra veg into the mac the day of when I make this in the future. This recipe is Delicious on its own but the sauteed veggies/can of tomatoes take it to another level.
This was my second attempt w/ the insta-pot; my first was some delicious Mexican Style Beans! They both were delicious! Thank you so much for making the instructions so fool proof for us beginners! I look forward to more of your insta-pot recipes!
Has anyone tried this with chickpea or rice pasta?
Yes I use it and it works great!
This is so much better than the basic version with evaporated milk... the stock and garlic powder was so clutch!! Thank you!
By far the easiest, best, crowd pleasing instant pot recipe...
My pot is a smaller 3 qt version, so I cut the recipe in half. So had LOTS of room in the pot, so next time I'm going to make a bigger batch. This was delicious and I'm looking forward to the leftovers!
I don't like hot spicy so was a bit nervous about the hot sauce, but it was actually a described and only added another level of flavor.
Highly recommend!
Tried this recipe last night and it's absolutely amazing! I added some steamed broccoli at the end and it was perfect! Will definitely be keeping this in my household!
I halved the recipe and it turned out perfect and still had leftovers, I didn't have fresh parmesan cheese so I added extra cheddar cheese, halving all the ingredients was really easy and this will a recipe I will make again and again!