Best Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Instant pot mac and cheese, made in the instant pot mini. Fun recipe for a small batch of pressure cooker macaroni and cheese!

Why you’ll Love Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese

• it’s all made in one pot
• it takes just 20 minutes to cook, start to finish!
• the macaroni noodles cook in broth, so if you’re out of milk, you can still make this mac and cheese!

This instant pot mac and cheese recipe makes about 2-3 big bowls of macaroni and cheese. For my family of 3, we use it as a side dish two nights in a row. (My toddler hardly eats more than 5 of 6 bites of anything). We occasionally enjoy it alone with a salad and a glass of white wine! Or, sometimes we pick up barbecue from our favorite place and use this as a side dish.

When I first bought my instant pot mini, I thought I would only use it in the winter for comforting soups and stews. I thought of it as a replacement for my slow cooker. But I was so wrong about that!

Since summer hit, I’m using my instant pot mini all the time! I love being able to make dinner without heating up the house.

This instant pot mac and cheese is probably my daughter’s favorite thing to come out of my instant pot (besides the instant pot chicken stock that I make weekly).

Here’s my collection of instant pot mini recipes. I also have to mention that this is the perfect portion of mac and cheese for a Thanksgiving for two side dish.

Macaroni and Cheese Instant Pot Ingredients

• Macaroni Noodles. Use your favorite noodles for mac and cheese, but be sure they’re not too big since we’re cooking in the instant pot. If the box says 8-9 minutes, they will cook in 5 minutes in the instant pot for this recipe.
• Broth. One unique thing about this recipe is that it relies on broth instead of milk for the melting the cheese. You can use vegetable broth, chicken broth or even beef broth! I like to use chicken bone broth to increase the protein for serving to the kids.
• Butter. One tablespoon of butter to help keep the noodles from sticking together while cooking.
• Garlic Powder. This is optional, but I really think garlic powder elevates the flavor of this dish. I also put garlic powder on my grilled cheese for the same reason.
• Cheddar Cheese. Four ounces of freshly grated medium cheddar cheese.
• Parmesan Cheese. A small amount of Parmesan cheese to balance the flavor.
• Sour Cream. To help the cheese melt, stir in 2 tablespoons of sour cream.

How to Make Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese

I adapted the recipe from Epicurious, and it has a slightly strange method to it: the noodles are cooked in broth and butter at high pressure for 5 minutes, and then the rest is stirred in and allowed to melt slowly.

I happen to love this method, because as the pot comes to pressure, it gives me plenty of time to grate cheese and measure everything out. When the timer goes off, I do a forced pressure release, and dump everything in and walk away.

It’s basically a hands-off side dish that is so welcome this time of year.

What to serve with the Best Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

• For Kids: When I serve this to my kids, I put broccoli florets on the side or steamed carrot sticks.
• For Adults: As mentioned above, I make this for a girls night in all the time with a side salad and a glass of Chardonnay.
• As a Side Dish: This Mac and cheese is welcome at any holiday dinner as a side dish. Double it to serve more. I have also quadrupled the recipe (making it in two separate batches) and then added it to the mini instant pot to transport to a party.

Mac and Cheese Instant Pot Storage

This instant pot mac and cheese keeps as long as regular leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container: about 3 days. Reheat in the microwave with a splash of broth until melty and creamy again.

For those wondering, I haven’t tried to scale up this recipe for anything larger than my 3-quart Instant Pot Mini. Small-batch recipes are what I do on this site, but if you double the recipe succesfully, please let us all know; I’d love to hear about it in the comments section below! (You can also check the full-size recipe on Epicurious, from which I scaled this one down for help).

This is the instant pot mini that I use and love!