Instant Pot Mac and Cheese is the easiest and cheesiest mac and cheese that you will ever try! Plus, it cooks up in under 20 minutes making a delicious dinner side dish!
RECIPE FEATURES
Budget Friendly – This recipe requires only basic staples helping to keep it low cost. No need to go about and buy fancy ingredients.
Kid Friendly – I get repeated requests from the little ones in my family to bring this to our family gatherings. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t forgive me, if I didn’t bring it one day.
One Pot Recipe – This cooks up directly in your Instant Pot making less dishes for you!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Pasta – Elbow Macaroni Noodles
Butter – Unsalted or Salted
Milk – Any kind, I used whole milk
Cheese – Cheddar and Mozzarella
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1. Place the elbow noodles, water and salt into your Instant Pot.
Step 2. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and close by twisting the lid into place. Close the pressure valve.
Step 3. Set the Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure for four minutes.
Step 4. Once the timer goes off, open the pressure valve and quickly release the Instant Pot pressure.
Step 5. Turn Instant Pot off.
Step 6. After the Instant Pot has released all its pressure, untwist the lid, and pull the lid off and away from you.
Step 7. Stir in the milk, and butter and allow the butter to completely melt.
Step 8. Once the butter has melted, and the milk has been mixed completely, add in the shredded cheddar cheese , and the shredded mozzarella by one handful at a time. Stir in the cheese until it is thoroughly mixed in and completely melted.
Step 9. Serve immediately, or you can set the Instant Pot to the “warm” setting.
TIPS AND FAQS
I used mild cheddar for this recipe. But, you can use any type of cheddar that you like. You could even get fancy and add in some quesadilla cheese, or colby jack.
I find that pre shredded cheese does not melt as well as a block of cheese that you shred yourself. It will work, you will just not have as smooth mac and cheese.
If you want to add a little additional flavor to this Instant Pot Mac and Cheese add one teaspoon of ground mustard to your elbow numbers when you add in the milk and butter. It gives the mac and cheese a great flavor. Make sure that you use ground mustard not regular yellow mustard.
Reheat this mac and cheese on the stove top in a sauce pan on medium heat until you hot. Add a small amount of milk if the mac and cheese is dry when reheating.
RELATED RECIPES
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 lb elbow noodles
- 4 cups water
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 12 oz cheddar cheese shredded
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- In the Instant Pot, combine dried macaroni,water, and salt.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, and close bytwisting in place. Close the valve.
- Set the Instant Pot to High Pressure at 4 minutes (The Instant Pot will take about 12 minutes to come pressure.).
- Once the Instant Pot finishes cooking after the 4 minutes, open the valve using something to protect your hands as the steam will be hot.
- Turn Instant Pot off.
- After the Instant Pot has released all its pressure, untwist the lid, and pull the lid off away from you.
- Stir in the milk, and butter.
- Once the butter has melted, and the milk has been mixed completely, add in the cheddar, and the mozzarella by one handful a ta time. Once you have added one handful, mixed until the cheese has been completely melted. Then add another handful of cheese. Continue until all cheese has been added, and all cheese is melted in the macaroni.
- Serve immediately, or you can set the Instant Pot to the “warm” setting.