Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Easy Recipes for Busy Parents

You are here: Home / Instant Pot / Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

by 56 Comments

Sharing is caring!

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese – the easiest way to make creamy and cheesy macaroni your whole family will love! It’s so easy to make with 5 ingredients right in your pressure cooker.

I cook pasta in my Instant Pot every week. Our favorites include the Spaghetti (fail-proof) and Pasta Carbonara.

1564270682635 Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Forget the box mac and make this mac and cheese with real ingredients, real cheese in just 12 minutes. This is the fastest and fail-proof way to make this classic dish that the whole family will love. The Instant Pot pressure cooker wins again! This macaroni and cheese could not be easier to make. Even my 11-year-old can make it!

This recipe is perfect for busy weeknights or simply when you are craving comfort food. You can jazz up this mac by adding steamed vegetables or cooked meat.

Instructions

  • Place water, macaroni, nutmeg and butter in your Instant Pot insert.
  • Close lid, set valve to sealing and set timer to 5 minutes. The IP will take about 7 minutes to come to pressure.
  • Once done, stir the macaroni. Add evaporated milk and cheese, 1/2 cup at a time until it’s your desired texture.
  • Serve right away or place in a baking dish, top with breadcrumb topping if desired and place under broiler to toast it up.

Instant Pot mac and cheese C Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

  • elbow macaroni
  • water and chicken or vegetable stock
  • nutmeg, salt and pepper
  • butter
  • evaporated milk (or half and half)
  • cheese (mozzarella and cheddar)

Can I double this recipe?

Yes, you can double the ingredients to make more mac and cheese. The cooking time stays the same.

Reheating Instructions

If you store cooked mac and cheese, the pasta will soak up the sauce. You can reheat this mac and cheese right in your Instant Pot, on the saute setting, or on stove-top but you may need a little bit of milk to get the desired consistency.

Variations

  • add broccoli, peas and carrots, corn, etc
  • add cooked chicken, turkey or ham
  • serve with pulled pork on your next barbecue

Instant Pot mac and cheese A Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

More Instant Pot pasta recipes:

For more recipes using the digital pressure cooker, feel free to browse our Instant Pot Category.

Also, check out my Instant Pot Guide for Beginners, filled with all the info you need to get started with your new appliance! Seeing BURN message on your IP? Read my Instant Pot Burn Message post to learn why and how to save your dish.

pin it button Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀

4.93 from 26 votes
1564270682635 150x150 Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Print
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
coming to pressure
7 mins
Total Time
17 mins
 

The easiest way to make creamy Mac and Cheese, right in your Instant Pot. It requires 5 real ingredients and cooks in 12 minutes (including coming to pressure).

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Instant Pot mac and cheese
Servings: 5 people
Calories: 548 kcal
Author: Anna
Ingredients
  • 2 cups elbow macaroni uncooked
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chicken stock low-sodium
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
  • 1.75 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
  • 1.25 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
US Customary - Metric
Instructions

  1. Place macaroni, butter, nutmeg, salt, stock and water in Instant Pot insert. Close the lid and set the valve to "sealing" position.

  2. Press the "manual" or "pressure cook" button and set timer to 5 minutes. Make sure your Instant Pot is set to high pressure. The pressure cooker will take about 7 minutes to come to pressure and start cooking.

  3. When the IP beeps, press "cancel/off" button and wait one minute. Then switch the valve to quickly release the pressure. Open lid carefully, away from your face.

  4. Stir macaroni.
  5. Add milk to macaroni and stir well.
  6. Add cheese, half of a cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency. See notes.
  7. You can serve mac immediately or bake in a dish with breadcrumb topping, if desired.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

You can use Gruyere cheese in place of mozzarella cheese. 

I prefer the mild cheddar in mac and cheese because I find the sharp cheddar too chalky for my taste. Feel free to use what you like. 

Add 1/2 cup of cheese at a time until you reach desired consistency. I used 1 cup of cheddar and 1/2 cup of mozzarella. 

To jazz it up, you can add steamed vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, corn, carrots and peas or shredded cooked chicken or ground cooked turkey. 

Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Amount Per Serving
Calories 548 Calories from Fat 225
% Daily Value*
Fat 25g38%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 82mg27%
Sodium 620mg27%
Potassium 448mg13%
Carbohydrates 51g17%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 26g52%
Vitamin A 735IU15%
Vitamin C 1.4mg2%
Calcium 562mg56%
Iron 1.3mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lori says

    Nice recipe for 2 adults. I used extremely sharp cheddar and Parmesan as cheeses of choice. Since my husband likes his mac and cheese baked with topping, I just added some and shoved it in the oven for a spell. Perfect and so little time even with baking. Thank you.

    Reply

    • Anna says

      Hi April! To double the recipe use: 4 cups macaroni, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups chicken stock, 2 cups of water, 2 cans of evaporated milk, 3.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 2.5 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. The cook time stays the same. I hope this helps!

      Reply

  3. Monique says

    How do you cook wheat pasta in the instapot I did it for the 5 minutes like it said and then release the pressure and it wasn’t cooked all the way

    Reply

    • Anna says

      Hi Carolyn! You can use whole milk but the texture won’t be as creamy. You can add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to milk and stir in with the macaroni. That should help. You can also use half and half in place of evaporated milk. I hope this helps!

      Reply

  6. Diane Cohen says

    This was very good-even my daughter that doesn’t normally care for mac and cheese enjoyed it!

    Reply

  27. Amy says

    I literally cook in my instant pot 4-5 times per week. This is hands down one of the best recipes I have ever made. It was fantastic. Thank you!

    Reply

  28. Sunnysewsit says

    I just received my 3-qt Instant Pot today. We have used the 6-qt a number of times, but I wanted a smaller one, too, since there’s just the two of us. I will definitely make this recipe tonight, adding broccoli, mushrooms, bits of green pepper and after the noodles are cooked and the cheese added, diced leftover ham from Thanksgiving. Sounds great. Glad I found your site.

    Reply

  29. Jaimie Tavenner says

    This was perfect. First, I’m a rookie. Like, took my 8qt Instant Pot out of the box last night. Last night I tried to make spaghetti and that was a huge fail. Kept getting the “burn” error. Today, I decided to try another pasta recipe to see if I could actually do it without a burn message. I DID IT! I did make some slight changes and everything turned out fine. I added the evaporated milk in the beginning and I did not have nutmeg and I didn’t have mozzarella so I only used cheddar but I did put a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and dry mustard. This was seriously cooked perfectly and it was delicious. Instant Pot redeemed itself today. Lol. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says

      Hi Jaimie! YAY! It’s always so exciting to hear from first time users of the Instant Pot, especially if they love the recipe. I love how you adapted the recipe to what you had on hand. Awesome! Spaghetti can be a little tricky to make. I had my share of fails with it too. I am working on it! 😀 I hope you will try more of my IP recipes and will come to really enjoy this appliance as much as I do. Thank you!!

      Reply

  30. Lesley Mays says

    DELICIOUS!! I used Gruyere cheese, cheddar and a combination of Parmesan cheese with provolone!! PERFECTION!

    Reply

  31. Diane says

    I found that I only needed half of the milk called for. I did use shells instead of elbows, so maybe there was less volume.

    Reply

  35. Chris says

    Just received an IP for Christmas, day 2 cooking in it! All I can say is wow! I added the milk (by mistake) to the initial cook, an it turned out just fine. Used cheddar and Gruyere, wow!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

as seen on