Instant Pot Chick-fil-A Mac and Cheese–a copy cat version of Chick-fil-A mac and cheese. It’s a classic macaroni and cheese recipe with 3 types of cheeses made easy with your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Chick-fil-A Mac and Cheese
Creamy and cheesy and ultra comfort food. Mac and cheese is something that only takes a few ingredients and a few minutes but every time I make it the kids go crazy. They think they have hit the jackpot. This version is a copy cat version of the Chick-fil-A’s mac and cheese. It’s got American (or cheddar) and parmesan cheeses stirred in with the cooked macaroni and then Colby jack crusted on top with the help of your air fryer lid (or oven).
The hardest part of making mac and cheese is grating the cheese. I like to grate the cheese straight off the block because it melts better and there are no powdery additives like you get with the pre-shredded cheeses. I do have a cool gadget* that helps me grate my cheese really fast but even if you don’t it’s worth it! Just pop the water, macaroni and salt into your Instant Pot and while that is cooking grate your cheese.
This recipe does use heavy cream (mmmm) for ultimate creaminess. However you could easily substitute with half and half or whole milk (or skim milk if you really want to).
American cheese is the recommended cheese to make with this recipe because it melts so well, doesn’t get stringy and the oils don’t separate out of the cheese. You can ask at the deli counter for them to cut you off a large chunk of it. If you don’t want to use American cheese you can also use shredded sharp or medium cheddar.
This recipe makes about 4 large dinner portion servings or 8 smaller side dish servings. You can easily double this recipe in the 6 or 8 quart pots. Just double all the ingredients but keep the cooking time the same.
More Mac and Cheese Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot 3-Cheese Macaroni And Cheese with Bread Crumb Topping
Instant Pot Broccoli Chicken Mac and Cheese
Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Mac and Cheese
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni and Cheese
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Instant Pot Chick-fil-A Mac and Cheese
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings (as side) 1x
Description
A copy cat version of Chick-fil-A mac and cheese. It’s a classic macaroni and cheese recipe with 3 types of cheeses made easy with your Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water or broth
- 8 oz elbow macaroni
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6–8 oz American cheese (cubes) or shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 2 oz shredded colby jack cheese
Instructions
- Add water, macaroni and salt to Instant Pot.
- Cover and lock lid into place. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the cream. Stir in the American and Parmesan cheeses until melted.
- Add colby jack on top of the pasta. Place air fryer lid on top and cook for 3 minutes at 400° F, or until cheese begins to brown. If you don’t have an air fryer lid you can do this step under your oven’s broiler.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
You can make this in your 3, 6 or 8 quart pot with no changes. Doubles easily in the 6 or 8 quart pot.
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Has anyone tried this with gluten free pasta? At
I’ve never made this recipe and thought I would make it for our ladies Red Hat group on Wednesday can I keep it in the instant pot and heated at the luncheon
Yep I would keep it on the keep warm setting until ready to serve.
Do you think it will maintain a good consistency if I keep it on warm after making it??
It’s best fresh but it’ll keep okay on warm for about an hour.
Could you use sliced American cheese from the deli instead of cubes? That’s what I have on hand.
yes that will be just fine!
Please tell me: what is American cheese. Is it Velveeta? We have no such product and would like to know what I could use. Love your recipes.
American cheese is sort of like velveeta. Velveeta could definitely be used in its place
Can you make this chick- fil- Mac and cheese in a slow cooker ? Thanks
Can you freeze the leftovers
Yes!
I tried this tonight. The pot went to “Burn” with 2 cups water and the noodles. I added 2 more cups of water and it still went to “Burn”. The whole time it was trying to come to pressure the steam was coming out. What did I do wrong?
Sounds like you didn’t put the valve to “sealing”.
Finally a homemade Mac and cheese my son likes! I always had trouble with it being grainy with the flour recipes.
I have a question. What’s the most I can multiply this recipe by? Could I triple it? Quadruple it? I have a big Christmas family gathering with a lot of people to feed. Do all the ingredients get multiplied the same? Water? Cream? Cheese?
Thank you in advance for your reply. Your recipes are my instant pot go-to! (I just saw the Louisiana chicken pasta from CF that I can’t wait to try. My family loves that, but the traditional method is a ton of work.)
★★★★★
So happy he likes it! I bet you could triple the recipe in a 6 or 8 quart pot. Triple all ingredients. But I would actually reduce the pressure cooking time to 3 minutes because the pot will take a while to come to pressure. Good luck!
Thank you!
I’m out of cream. Do you think I can use greek yogurt instead?
Sure!
Made this yesterday and doubled the ingredients. Was very good except next time I would not double the cream. It was very runny and I had to drain it, thus losing a lot of the cheese. Fed a group of 12 as an extra dish and there were no leftovers. Will make again
★★★★
So glad you liked it!