Instant Pot Mac and Cheese – straightforward!

At a glance

What stands out: Instant Pot mac and cheese is creamy and cheesy, basically everything you want from macaroni and cheese. The dry macaroni and the cheese sauce cook right in your Instant Pot so this is a one pan meal!

How long it takes: less than a half hour
Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot
Servings: 8

Mac & Cheese Love

Macaroni and cheese probably falls directly behind freshly popped buttered popcorn on our list of weaknesses. There’s just something about creamy, cheesy pasta that we cannot get enough of.

Truth be told, we're not all that discerning when it comes to macaroni and cheese. Boxed macaroni and cheese, frozen mac and cheese, restaurant mac and cheese, whatever, if it has pasta and cheese, we're a happy gal.

With that being said, this Instant Pot recipe is good mac and cheese! Do you believe us after our “we'll eat any and all mac and cheese” speech? Maybe we should rethink that intro, but we're all about honesty.

We'll eat any kind but given the choice between this from-scratch mac and cheese, and the blue box? We bet you know which one we'd choose.

This isn’t the first macaroni and cheese recipe on Bomumo (check out the other recipes below) but it’s the first recipe for Instant Pot Mac and Cheese. We love our Instant Pot recipes, but we bet you already know that, especially if this isn’t your first visit to our little corner of the internet.

Straightforward Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

One pan! We love, love, love how straightforward this recipe is. Everything is made in your pressure cooker and there’s no need to cook and drain the pasta separately. It’s speedy, straightforward, and almost completely hands-off. There’s less cleanup, too, with no colander to wash.

straightforward to mix. This Instant Pot macaroni and cheese starts with water and pasta, just like any macaroni and cheese recipe. It cooks under pressure for 4 minutes before you release the pressure. After that, all that’s left to do is stir in the seasonings, evaporated milk, and two types of cheese. Stir, stir, stir until it is melted, and then EAT!

Cathy Said:

“Thank you for making our Thanksgiving cooking a breeze. The kids and grandkids loved it … we are now the grandma that makes a standby mac and cheese!”

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What goes in

• Elbow Macaroni: The recipe makes a pretty large batch, with a 16 ounce box of macaroni, which is about 4 cups of dry pasta. You can use whole wheat macaroni if you prefer. We've made it with either type, and it always turns out well.
• Evaporated Milk: Look for canned evaporated milk in the baking aisle. Evaporated milk is regular milk that has had some of the water removed. It’s shelf-stable which means you can keep a can or two in your pantry all ready for recipes like this one.
• Seasonings: We add ground mustard (which won’t make your macaroni and cheese taste like mustard, we promise!), a hint of garlic powder (it’s optional), and salt.
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Buy a block of cheese and shred your own for a standby results. Pre-shredded cheese has additives which prevent the cheese from clumping in the package but which also prevents it from melting smoothly.
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese: With two types of cheese, there’s plenty of cheesy goodness in this recipe.

Should we Shred Our Own Cheese?

We've made this recipe both ways: with packaged shredded cheese and with cheese we shredded myself. We're happy to say both ways work. Our preference is to grate the cheese yourself. It yields a slightly creamier end result with a better overall consistency BUT the difference is pretty minimal. We're all about a shortcut here and there so if all you have time for is store-bought shredded cheese, go for it!

Ways to change it

Bake the mac and cheese. We often get asked if you can bake this mac and cheese. The answer is yes! We have baked this mac and cheese after it’s cooked, and it’s rich. This is usually how we reheat the leftovers. Be sure to grease your baking dish with nonstick spray, and sprinkle the top with extra cheese, crushed crackers, or buttered bread crumbs for good measure. If you have quite a lot left over (6 cups), you’ll definitely want to try our macaroni and cheese pizza recipe.

Use different varieties of cheese. Yes, go wild, sister. Or brother. We love the flavor of sharp cheddar in macaroni and cheese, but you could also use Colby Jack for a more mild mac, or you could get fancy with Gruyère, or spice it up a little with pepper Jack cheese.

What To Serve with Mac and Cheese

As a main dish. If you’re serving mac and cheese as a meatless main dish, a simple green salad or a citrus salad rounds the meal out nicely.

As a side. Macaroni and cheese goes well with grilled chicken or grilled salmon. We like it with air fryer chicken tenders or air fryer chicken nuggets. One of our favorite combos is mac & cheese with tender melt-in-your-mouth ribs and tangy from-scratch coleslaw!

• Yield: 8
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 6 minutes
• Total: 26 minutes

Ingredients

• 16 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni (whole wheat macaroni works well, too)
• 4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk (shake well before opening)
• ½ teaspoon ground dry mustard
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, optional
• 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (see note)
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Add macaroni, water, and salt to the Instant Pot and stir, making sure that all macaroni is submerged in the water.
2. Secure lid of Instant Pot, making sure valve is turned to seal. Set on Pressure Cook (or Manual high pressure, depending on your model) for 4 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure.
3. When cooking has finished, quick release pressure. The valve tends to sputter when you release the pressure. We place a towel over the valve to prevent spatters; be careful when removing towel because it may be hot. When the pressure is completely released (valve is lowered), carefully remove cover.
4. Keeping the Instant Pot on the Warm setting, stir in evaporated milk, mustard powder, and optional garlic powder. One cup at a time, stir in shredded cheddar and Parmesan cheese. Continue stirring until cheese is melted.
5. Taste and season with ground black pepper, as desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

Shredded cheese: we prefer to shred our own cheddar cheese. We find it yields a smoother, velvety result. We have used pre-shredded, though, and it also works. It doesn’t stay quite as smooth as it cools, though.

Baking instructions: Place cooked mac & cheese in greased baking dish. If desired, top with additional cheese, cracker crumbs, or buttered bread crumbs. Bake at 350ºF for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and a little crispy on the top.

Storage & reheating: Refrigerate leftover mac and cheese in a covered container for up to 5 days. To reheat, microwave individual portions until just warmed through, or heat gently in a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in additional milk if the mac and cheese seems too dry.