Pressure Cooer Mac and Cheese is my go-to Macaroni and Cheese technique. I make it in my Instant pot for weeknight dinners, and as a side dish for potlucks. 4 minutes at high pressure cooks the noodles, then it's time to stir in the cheese. That's right, homemade mac and cheese that didn't come from a packet in a blue box, ready in about a half an hour.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Jump to:
For years I made the mac and cheese from Pam Anderson's The Perfect Recipe. Then I read Ideas in Food; their recipe was similar to Pam's, stripped down to the basics.
Both recipes use evaporated milk as their secret weapon. Evaporated milk replaces the flour and milk béchamel sauce, and all the whisking that entails. I mashed the two recipes together, and that's what I've been using ever since.
Now, even with the evaporated milk shortcut, this was a stretch to make on a weeknight. Especially if I want a toasted bread crumb topping. And if I'm making macaroni and cheese, it must have a bread crumb topping.
That's why I jumped when I saw the pressure cooker macaroni and cheese in Pressure Cooker Perfection. They pressure cook the pasta and spices in a small amount of water, treating it like a risotto. This trick really speeds up the recipe - no waiting for a pot of water to boil, no draining, and one (pressure cooker) pot to clean. Weeknight macaroni and cheese is now within my reach. 1
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried elbow macaroni
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 2 teaspoons table salt
- 4 cups water
- 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
- 16 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 6 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
Bread Crumb Topping (optional)
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
How to Make Pressure Cooker Mac and Cheese
Pressure cook the pasta for 4 minutes with a quick release
Stir the macaroni, butter, mustard, hot pepper sauce, salt, and 4 cups water in the pressure cooker pot. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes in an electric PC or stovetop PC. (For an Instant Pot, use Manual or Pressure Cook mode, and set the time to 4 minutes.) When the cooking time is done, quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
Stir in the evaporated milk and cheese
Turn the heat under the pot down to low (or turn the electric pressure cooker to sauté-low or keep warm mode), and stir in the evaporated milk. Test a piece of pasta by taking a bite - it should be al dente, but cooked through. If the pasta is still tough in the middle, simmer it for a few minutes, until it is tender. Stir in the cheese one handful at a time, stirring constantly and waiting for the current handful to melt before adding the next handful.
Top with breadcrumbs and broil
Optional step, if you like a toasted bread crumb topping: Pour the macaroni into a 3 quart broiler-safe dish, patting it down to level out the surface. Sprinkle the panko over the macaroni and cheese in an even layer. Broil the macaroni and cheese on high until the bread crumbs are toasted, about 5 minutes. Check the bread crumbs often - they go from pale brown to burnt in a flash.
Quick Tips
Ratio of 1 cup of water to 4 ounces of pasta
4 cups of water is just enough to cook 1 pound (16 ounces) of pasta. No draining is necessary; the water will be absorbed by the pasta. If you have a smaller box of pasta - 12 ounces and 13.25 ounces are common sizes of whole wheat pasta - cut the water back to 3 cups. (Everything else can stay the same.)
Serve with a bottle of hot sauce at the table.
I like Frank's Red Hot, or the smoky flavor of chipotle hot sauce.
Watch the bread crumbs under the broiler
I have burned a lot of bread crumbs in my day. I set a timer for 1 minute intervals while I'm broiling, in case I get distracted. (By a homework meltdown…just to pick a hypothetical example). I have the timer to remind me - "Oh no! The breadcrumbs!"
Storage & Reheating
I save leftover mac and cheese in 2-cup containers. It will last in the refrigerator for a few days, or in the freezer for months. (Mac and cheese freezes well). I reheat 2-cup containers of mac and cheese in the microwave - it takes about 2 minutes to reheat from the refrigerator, or 6 minutes from frozen. (Your microwaving time may be different, depending on how powerful your microwave is.)
Print
Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker mac and cheese - quick, easy, and better than the dreaded blue box.
Adapted from: America's Test Kitchen Pressure Cooker Perfection
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried elbow macaroni
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 2 teaspoons table salt
- 4 cups water
- 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
- 16 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 6 ounces shredded Parmigiano cheese
Bread Crumb Topping (optional)
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Pressure cook the pasta for 4 minutes with a quick release: Stir the macaroni, butter, mustard, hot pepper sauce, salt, and 4 cups water in the pressure cooker pot. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes in an electric PC or stovetop PC. (For an Instant Pot, use Manual or Pressure Cook mode, and set the time to 4 minutes.) When the cooking time is done, quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
- Stir in the evaporated milk and cheese: Turn the heat under the pot down to low (or turn the electric pressure cooker to sauté-low or keep warm mode), and stir in the evaporated milk. Test a piece of pasta by taking a bite - it should be al dente, but cooked through. If the pasta is still tough in the middle, simmer it for a few minutes, until it is tender. Stir in the cheese one handful at a time, stirring constantly and waiting for the current handful to melt before adding the next handful.
- Top with breadcrumbs and broil: Optional step, if you like a toasted bread crumb topping: Pour the macaroni into a 3 quart broiler-safe dish, patting it down to level out the surface. Sprinkle the panko over the macaroni and cheese in an even layer. Broil the macaroni and cheese on high until the bread crumbs are toasted, about 5 minutes. Check the bread crumbs often - they go from pale brown to burnt in a flash.
Equipment
Buy Now → - Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 Cups of Mac and Cheese
- Calories: 660
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 1499.1 mg
- Fat: 30.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 62.3 g
- Protein: 33.5 g
- Cholesterol: 79.2 mg
Video: How to make Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese (5:13)
Video: Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese [YouTube.com]
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Instant Pot Chili Mac
Instant Pot Fettuccine Alfredo
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Pressure Cooker Beef Shank Osso Bucco
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Instant Pot Collard Greens
Instant Pot Baked Ziti
Click here for my other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker recipes
Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via email and share this post with your friends. Want to contribute directly? Donate to my Tip Jar, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.
Jennifer says
Made this today. Oh my goodness it was amazing. Normally I do a recipe as posted first time. I had a cheese situation. I had no parm 😟 so I used a mix of marble and regular cream cheese cubes to get to total number of ounces correct. It was so darn good. I will definitely do with parm as it’s now on my grocery list.
I saw a few questions above about the mil and shredding. I shredded my own cheese and all I had on hand was skim evaporated milk. So creamy and delicious. It was faster than anything that comes out of a box or a microwave meal box.
I toasted it after cooking because I’m also on board with the bread crumb making it perfect train. Thanks so much for the recipe. It’s the only IP Mac and cheese I’ve made that actually worked and was so much better than expected given my forced cheese changes.
Carol says
How would you reheat this in the oven?
Mike Vrobel says
Cover with foil, reheat at 350°F until cheese is bubbling in the middle.
Jennifer Kaye says
Since I'm only cooking for two, I cut this recipe exactly in half and it turned out scrumptious in my Instant Pot! I did not change the cooking time.
Thanks so much for another wonderful recipe!
Aaron Friedman says
I've made versions of this quite a few times, great technique (although I like it better with the original 2 cans of milk). This time my wife picked up sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk. No, I did not use it. However, I did use a 2 to 1 ratio of milk to half and half and the results were very good. It came out slightly runnier, which my family actually enjoyed.
Amyb says
Great recipe. I also add ground beef and bacon. Yummy
Christine says
My sister just made this for our family’s Easter get-together yesterday and it was a huge hit! My husband has asked me to make it but I don’t have an IP. Are there any hacks so I can make this recipe without one?
Krista Gorman says
I noticed the recipe calls for parmigano cheese. I made it today with the parmigano cheese and it was good but a little too cheesy for my family's tastes. When I make it the next time, is Parmigano cheese good for the texture or can I just use parmesean and reduce the amount of cheddar cheese? Thanks so much
Mike Vrobel says
I don’t think that will work right - Parmesan doesn’t melt as well as Cheddar. Try substituting Colby Jack cheese instead of the cheddar.
Maria Kalapatiiiii says
I just want to say thank you for coming up with a homemade mac'n'cheese recipe that's not dry or grainy. My kids FINALLY liked a homemade version just as much if not more, than their favorite box recipe. What a win! BTW, I omitted the hot sauce and only used 8 oz. of mild cheddar. I think it tastes the closest to Luby's mac'n'cheese without using the dreaded Velveeta... which is a "cheese product" and not real cheese.
Karen says
I saw several questions about doubling, what about halving? Is that simple ingredient math and same cook time?
Thanks
Kathryn Biallas says
Have you used chicken broth to replace the water? Or does that make the flavor profile weird?
Lisa says
Huge success! It was recommended on a Facebook gluten free group. I used Tinkyada elbow pasta, cooked for 4 minutes, and GF bread crumbs. I also mixed in a bag of broccoli florets (steamed in bag in microwave). I’m gluten-free, my kids are not. We all enjoyed this!
Amy says
I made this earlier today. Very creamy and good, but a tad salty. I used Morton coarse kosher salt, not Diamond Crystal as specified, maybe that's why. Will make it again. Prep time was more than 5 minutes, but that's because I shredded the cheese by hand (while the macaroni was cooking). Next time I may add a can of chopped green chilies.
Kathryn Biallas says
Holy cow. This recipe was such a hit with my child that it makes the Instant Pot purchase worth it. Two thumbs up from the boy.
I was curious about which evaporated milk works best -- regular or 2%. Have you a preference?
Russ says
I think it would be a matter of personal taste. I'd prefer the regular, but if you're cutting fat, the 2% should work almost as well. I'd avoid the fat-free variety.
KAT WILTON says
Just FYI, I use cream cheese instead of the milk, and it works wonderfully!
Kathryn Biallas says
I was curious about which evaporated milk works best -- regular or 2%. Have you a preference?
Russ Gladden says
This is quite good! A couple of notes for readers... there are just two of us so I made half the recipe, successfully. I didn't have any evaporated milk and I didn't want to go to the store on New Year's Day. I had half and half though, and it worked beautifully. This will be my go-to quick Mac & Cheese recipe. Love your blog. I've found it to be one of the food blogs I can trust. Thanks Mike!