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? Although, I do love our classic Baked Mac and Cheese too! 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
- 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 -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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looking for other great Instant Pot recipes? Try these:
Delish!!
Also makes a Fantastic Green Chile Mac and Cheese.
Fantastic recipe, love the cheese mix, chicken stock and garlic, makes it a bit different, just better. …all that and IP pot easy and quick! This is without a doubt my go to IP Mac and Cheese.
I did a variation with adding 4 oz. of green chilies instead of the hot sauce. Really nice variation. Great twist for anyone that likes Green Chilies.
I almost never bother to comment on recipes but can’t resist because this was really amazing and blew my expectations away. I went in really skeptical because the well-tested conventional wisdom is that you need to make a cheese sauce via a bechamel or similar to avoid the cheese breaking when you add it. I remember the first time as a kid I tried to make mac n’ cheese from scratch and just tossed cheese in hot cooked pasta and sure enough, oil soup. I’ve made successful mac and cheese many times since, using multiple pots and many steps but is a lot of work for a simple dish. I found it hard to believe that such a simple recipe could work… but it just does. The liquid left behind by the pressure cooking just perfectly incorporates the cheese. I don’t know if that’s because it is hot and starchy (that is my working theory) but for any other skeptics reading this, it really worked . I think it was the best mac and cheese I’ve ever made and makes me grateful for the instant pot (and want back the hours of careful sauce preparation).
I did make a few small mods based on the comments and my own preferences. Based on the saltiness and soupiness concerns I used 2 C broth (actually Better than Bullion in water) and a slightly little less than 2 C water (prob 3 3/4 C total liquid). I subbed a few dashes of mustard powder for the onion powder (for mustard skeptics, you can’t taste the mustard, it just makes the cheese flavors better). I will use fresh grated next time but used bagged grated for time reasons today and it turned out perfectly anyway.
This looks delicious! I’m going to make this for a crowd. I read your response about not knowing if it can be doubled in a 6oz ip. I’m wondering if anyone has made 1 1/2 in a 6oz?
If i wanted to double this recipe, would it need to be cooked longer?
This was amazing! I used a mix of shredded lowfat Mexican pre-shredded cheese, grated romano, and crumbled gouda. I had to hold myself back from licking the Instant pot – ha! I’m vegetarian so I used water and one tablespoon of Better than Bullion no-chicken flavor. So good! Thanks so much.
Surprised at how good this turned out! I used whole wheat pasta and threw in some riced cauliflower to sneak in veggies, so next time I’ll cook it for 6 minutes instead of 5. I didn’t have broth so I used water but just added a little extra salt.
This was so good! Even my picky eater had second helpings lol. Followed the recipe almost to a T including the chicken broth (not low sodium).. it was not too salty but I also didn’t find it necessary to add any afterward. It was perfect right out of the pot! Will make again for sure. Creamy and delicious.
This was my second recipe in the Instant Pot and it was so delicious and so easy. I made 1 1/2 of the recipe and kept the time the same and it turned out perfectly. I was worried about over-salting since i was not using low sodium chicken broth so for the extra 1/2 recipe, I used water. I had read the comments about pre-shredded vs. fresh shredding so for the cheddar, I did get a block and shred it but the other cheeses were bagged and pre-shredded. It was a total hit at my BBQ!
Did you use a 6 quart or 8 quart Instant Pot?
Amazing! We added bacon, spinach, and tomato and replaced the milk with non-fat greek yogurt. Also used bow tie/spaghetti combo since that’s all we had in the cupboard (no adjustment to cooking time). New favorite!