Let’s take a break from all the veggie-heavy meals we’ve been making lately (and all the CSA talk — I’ve been quite enthusiastic about that topic lately, see my beet smoothie, cauliflower tacos, and winter slaw recipes if you’ve missed my musings on CSAs). Every so often you just need mac and cheese. Not a hidden-veggie macaroni and cheese, just a good ol’, rich and creamy, comfort-food mac and cheese.
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One of the reasons I love our real food lifestyle is the comforting meals I grew up enjoying — like macaroni and cheese — are completely acceptable. Real food isn’t about restrictions, dieting, fancy ingredients, or subsisting off salads and kale. Real food is simply about embracing real ingredients, and learning to prepare these ingredients to create tasty meals.
Here’s how food advocate Micheal Pollan sums up real food, “Real food doesn’t have a long ingredient list, isn’t advertised on TV, and it doesn’t contain stuff like maltodextrin or sodium tripolyphosphate. Real food is things that your great-grandmother (or someone’s great-grandmother) would recognize.”
Isn’t that a freeing thought?
Instead of reaching for the box of instant mashed potatoes, visit the produce aisle and fill your grocery basket with the potatoes. Then head over to the dairy department and look for the cleanest butter option (hint: the ingredient list should only include one word, cream, and possibly salt). Grab some olive oil on your way out, and then head home to make a nourishing bowl of homemade mashed potatoes.
The same goes for oatmeal. Instead of grabbing a flavored package of instant oats, pick up rolled oats, maple syrup, milk, and cinnamon. It doesn’t take long to make your own oatmeal, and the homemade version tastes so much better than the artificially-flavored packages.
And instead of reaching for the mac and cheese box, make your own. And this is where today’s recipe enters our chat…
I’ve shared recipes for homemade mac and cheese in the past. Maybe you remember the butternut squash mac and cheese, or the classic mac and cheese? Today, let’s make another version of a classic mac and cheese, this time using the Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot (or any electric pressure cooker you choose to use) simplifies the task of making homemade macaroni and cheese. With just one pot and about 20ish minutes (when you factor in the time it takes for the pot to come to pressure), the Instant Pot cooks the pasta noodles, melts the cheese, and warms the cream sauce. No babysitting or continuous whisking and stirring required. Just prep the pasta in the Instant Pot, shred the cheese, whisk the ingredients, and walk away. That’s it!
Making homemade macaroni and cheese in the Instant Pot almost feels too easy or too good to be true (at least that’s what I thought the first time I made this recipe). But the end result speaks for itself: A family-size serving of homemade mac and cheese that rivals any packaged variety. A meal that every family member is sure to love.
Take that, processed food!
Super Easy Instant Pot Mac and Cheese (Pressure Cooker Recipe)
Ingredients
- 16 ounce einkorn fusilli pasta *
- 4 cups water
- 2 TB unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream **
- 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ***
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese about 2 cups of shredded cheese
- 4 ounces monterey jack cheese (or gouda cheese) about 1-1 1/4 cup of shredded cheese
Special Equipment
- Instant Pot
- small bowl for mixing the cream sauce ingredients
Instructions
- Add the dry pasta to the Instant Pot. Pour in the water and top with the butter. Lock the lid and set to Sealing.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual, High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Whisk the seasonings (dry mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder) into the cream and set aside. Shred the cheeses and set aside.
- Once the time is up, perform a careful quick release. The butter helps to keep the foam down a bit, but you’ll likely have to start and stop the pressure release to keep it from spurting.
- Stir the seasoned cream into the noodles.
- Add the cheese and stir to melt. You shouldn’t need to turn on the saute function as the pasta should be hot enough to melt everything.
- Let the macaroni and cheese rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Serving Ideas
Serve this recipe alone or alongside one of these easy recipes for a complete meal.
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I made this with gluten free penne pasta. Even though it was a 12 oz. pkg. I used your recipe amount of water for 1st try. It turned out really good! I prefer baked mac ’n cheese but this is so fast it works great in a pinch. Thank you!
Yay, Julie! So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing.
This was amazing! I haven’t made many things in my IP yet, but this one is definitely one I’ll be making again and again!
Yay, Laura! I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for coming back to review and share. That means so much!
YAY! Happy to hear that, Laura!
LS Team.
No, it wasn’t, so I did dump some of it out, but not enough. By the time we finished eating, the sauce had thickened up. It was very tasty! I will probably just adjust the water down next time if I don’t have extra pasta. Thanks for responding. It’s good to know that the water should be absorbed, as I wasn’t quite sure.
Ah, good thinking! Yea, water should be fully absorbed by the noodles. Good plan.
Mine turned out soupy… I purchased a box of the einkorn pasta you linked but I see it was 12 ounces and not 16. Did you add in part of another box? Perhaps that was the reason? Still tasty!
Hey Jamie, Yes, for Jovial you’ll need a bit more since the boxes are 12 ounce. I’m sorry about that. That’s a good thing to note! Was all the water absorbed by the pasta before adding the cheese and sauce?
I made this for family movie night, and it was a huge success! Using different kinds of cheese such as Gouda, Sharp, Monterey Jack, etc takes the taste over the top! I love not making the roux sauce. Don’t use pre-shredded cheese. It melts so beautifully when you grate it yourself!
Yay, Lynn! That’s awesome. Love your cheese combo.
Kristin- What brand of cheese do you use in this recipe? I know you get some at Costco? Thanks!
Hey Stephanie, I’ve used various cheese in this. Last night, I used Fords Farm Seaside Cheddar Cheese (Whole Foods) and Kerrygold Gouda (it comes in a red package–I can’t remember the name). I like sharp cheddar since it has a stronger flavor. I can’t remember the monterey jack I use–it’s usually from Whole Foods. Costco has some great cheese, too, including Kerrygold (yellow package) that would work well as the cheddar in this recipe.
This looks awesome! Will definitely try it when I get my hands on some heavy cream.
Awesome, Terry! Enjoy!!