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June 13, 2017

Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese (5 Ways)

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Calling all busy moms! Are you going to make it through spring sports season? At our house we are in the midst of baseball season where the games start at 5 pm or 6:30 pm…smack dab in the middle of dinner time. If you’re committed to feeding your family at home like I am, this can pose a challenge. Do you make dinner before the game and keep it warm in a slow cooker, oven or pressure cooker? Or do you make dinner after the game when everyone’s exhausted and starving? I’ll take the first choice. I like to prepare dinner either in the slow cooker or pressure cooker around 4 pm and then keep the food on the warm setting until we can get home and eat after our activities.

Today I’ll be sharing 5(!) ways to prepare macaroni and cheese in your Instant Pot which can easily be made ahead of time and served warm when you get home. Mac and cheese is a kid favorite and the recipe twists I’ll share with you today will keep adults interested as well.

Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese (5 Ways)

The 5 ways that I’ll be sharing to make mac and cheese are…

1. basic mac

2. buffalo mac

3. bacon mac

4. pizza mac

5. cheeseburger mac

The cool thing is that they all start out with the same basic recipe. The basic recipe just calls for the pasta, evaporated milk, salt, butter, ground mustard and cheese. Then after you make the basic recipe you can spin it depending on what mood you’re in.

Here’s how to make the basic mac and cheese recipe:

Step 1—measure out 8 ounces of dry macaroni noodles. I used these twisty macaroni noodles to make it more fun. Place the noodles in your Instant Pot.

Step 2—Add in 2 cups of water, 1 tsp of kosher salt and 1 tsp of ground mustard and 1 tablespoon of butter. Then pressure cook for 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes are up let the pot sit for 5 more minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.

Step 3—Turn the Instant Pot to the sauté function. Stir in the milk, and the cheese until creamy and smooth. If you want to make a variation of this recipe see below for instructions.

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Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese


★★★★★

4.8 from 8 reviews

  • Author: Karen Petersen
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
  • Total Time: 13 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
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Description

Creamy mac and cheese made quickly and easily in your Instant Pot!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 oz uncooked elbow macaroni or cellentani noodles
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cups water
  • 6 oz evaporated milk (you can also use cream or half and half)
  • 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Add noodles, butter, ground mustard, salt and water to Instant Pot. Cover and make sure valve is on “sealing.” Set the manual button for 3 minutes. Once the timer goes off let the pot sit for 5 minutes, then release the rest of the pressure by moving valve to “venting.”
  2. Turn the Instant Pot to the sauté function. Stir in the evaporated milk and slowly add in the cheese while stirring constantly. In time, the sauce will thicken up and the macaroni will become coated with a creamy, cheesy sauce. Turn off the pressure cooker. Scoop macaroni into bowls and serve.
  • Category: Pasta
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: American

Did you make this recipe?

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Instant Pot Bacon Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Instant Pot Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Instant Pot Pizza Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

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32 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Instant Pot, Pasta Tagged With: 5 stars, 0-2 hours, sponsored posts, instant pot

Recommendations

Comments

  1. Vee says

    November 13, 2021 at 12:54 pm

    Just made this today, it was good but I think I’d prefer to use heavy cream instead of the condensed milk. Way too sweet for Mac & Cheese. I’ll def try again but with the change.

    ★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      November 13, 2021 at 9:30 pm

      It is supposed to be evaporated milk 🙂

      Reply
  2. cindy says

    October 6, 2019 at 3:10 pm

    Karen, I am brand new to the instant pot and I am eager to try this recipe and your others as well! Thank you! My son is VERY particular about just what kind of Mac/cheese he will eat (Velveeta shells and cheese) and my daughter too (Panera) LOL so we shall see if both can be satisfied and turned away from their prior faves.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 7, 2019 at 1:38 pm

      Oh man! I hope they like it. Haha!

      Reply
  3. Sherry says

    July 26, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    Forgot to say, I’m referring to the BASIC MAC & CHEESE recipe — for freezing. Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Sherry says

    July 26, 2019 at 2:35 pm

    Does this freeze well? Any special details for freezing?
    Thank you so much for this recipe, it looks great.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      July 29, 2019 at 11:31 am

      I haven’t tried freezing this myself but I believe that it would work. They have frozen mac and cheese tv dinners.

      Reply
  5. Helen says

    April 1, 2019 at 5:58 pm

    Can I x’s 4 for a crowd? If so, do the water and times stay the same? Thanks! LOVE your site!!!!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 8, 2019 at 3:35 pm

      Yes you can. I would reduce cooking time by 2 minutes because the pot will take a long time to come to pressure. So only do 1 minute of cooking time. Let me know how it turns out!

      Reply
  6. Sandy says

    March 31, 2019 at 4:08 pm

    If I double the recipe, do I double the amount of water as well? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 8, 2019 at 3:44 pm

      Yes.

      Reply
  7. B says

    March 30, 2019 at 9:07 am

    Do you have a little less fat and sodium recipe? Love mac and cheese but need to watch that stuff.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 8, 2019 at 3:51 pm

      No I’m sorry. I bet you could leave out the salt and get a low fat cheese. Not as tasty though of course.

      Reply
  8. Joanne Francis says

    March 27, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    Excellent recipe and so easy! My 3 grandchildren LOVED it! Karen, all your recipes are awesome. Thanks

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 27, 2019 at 9:36 pm

      Can’t beat homemade mac and cheese!

      Reply
  9. Sharon says

    February 11, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    My family likes xrusty bread crumbs on top of our mac n cheese. Is this possible to do to the mca n cheese recipe in the ninja foodi? If so how! Thanks😁

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 11, 2019 at 12:15 pm

      Hi Sharon, I’m not familiar with the ninja foodi! Sorry I’m not more help.

      Reply
  10. Lucille says

    January 23, 2019 at 11:57 am

    If you double the recipe does the cook time change?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 24, 2019 at 12:46 pm

      No, keep the cooking time the same.

      Reply
  11. Amanda says

    October 4, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    New to pressure cooking… this was the first recipe I tried. Everyone in my family LOVED it. I wasn’t sure, so I only made it per the directions… Next time I know to double the recipe! Thank you so much for this super easy & tasty recipe! ((My kids are waiting for more!))

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 4, 2018 at 3:16 pm

      Nice! Welcome to the pressure cooking world 🙂

      Reply
  12. Brad says

    September 10, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    Made it made two great meals served with ceaser salade

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  13. Brad says

    September 7, 2018 at 6:42 pm

    Made this tonight Very good

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  14. Johanna says

    August 19, 2018 at 6:53 pm

    This is amazing! I doubled it, and since I’m at high altitude (over 6000ft) and noodles always take longer, I added one minute to the cook time. They were perfect! This is the first home made mac’n’cheese my 9 year old actually likes. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      August 20, 2018 at 1:09 pm

      WINNNNNNNING!!!

      Reply
  15. Michelle Miller says

    July 20, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    I hope this can be doubled. 4 servings…not enough for two teen boys. 🙂

    Reply
    • Karen says

      July 24, 2018 at 8:33 pm

      Yes it can totally be doubled!!

      Reply
  16. Desiree says

    January 31, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    This recipe is easy and delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 31, 2018 at 7:53 pm

      Glad you liked it!

      Reply
  17. Lisa says

    January 30, 2018 at 12:46 am

    Just curious. Why evaporated milk? Can I just use regular milk? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 30, 2018 at 9:51 am

      It’s a bit more creamy. You could definitely just use regular milk or half and half.

      Reply
  18. Lady Hattie says

    June 20, 2017 at 11:50 am

    Fast and Easy~~ Light and Breezy ~~ Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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