Instant Pot Mac and Cheese is the ultimate electric pressure cooker comfort food! It is done in a flash and is creamy, cheesy, and full of flavor! It is a family friendly recipe that your kids will love- it doesn’t include onions, garlic or green stuff.
This mac and cheese recipe is made with elbow mac, a little cream cheese, seasoning salt (Lawry’s), evaporated milk, and Velveeta cheese. All these ingredients make this the creamiest mac and cheese you have ever had!!
If you have kids then mac and cheese is probably on heavy rotation at your house. This is a great homemade mac and cheese recipe to add to your weekly meal plan.
Evaporated Milk
Evaporated milk is the perfect option for mac and cheese. It is basically cow’s milk that is shelf stable and has less water content than traditional milk.
You can usually find it in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Make sure you buy evaporated milk NOT condensed milk. Condensed milk is like sweet milk syrup, which would not be good in your mac and cheese! LOL
How to Make Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
This is a super easy Instant Pot recipe to make and makes an excellent beginners recipe!
Pour 1 lb of elbow macaroni into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add 4 cups of water, 1 ½ teaspoon seasoning salt (I use Lawry’s). Then add 4 oz of cubed cream cheese (or you can just pinch off pieces with your hands, like I do in the video).
Pop the lid on and set it to cook on the pressure setting, high, for 4 minutes.
Do a quick release.
Stir the macaroni until the cream cheese in completely melted throughout and coating the pasta.
Pour in the 1 cup evaporated milk and the Velveeta cubes. Stir until the cheese is completely melted.
Taste for additional seasoning (seasoning salt and/or pepper) and serve immediately!
Storing & Reheating
Mac and cheese is always best served right away. But if you have a lot of leftovers simply store them in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
To reheat add a little milk or evaporated milk and heat each portion for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Give it a stir and heat for another 20-30 seconds.
What to Serve with Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is obviously delicious on it’s own. If we are having a busy week then this will get served as an entree by itself. You can certainly add some raw veggies or fresh fruit on the side.
A side salad also goes great with mac and cheese. Serve it with an Italian or vinaigrette dressing for a great balance of creamy and tangy.
If you want to serve this Instant Pot Mac and Cheese as a side dish, here are some great entree recipes to serve:
Don’t have an Instant Pot?
If you don’t have an Instant Pot but you still want delicious and creamy mac and cheese you can check out this recipe on Mom’s Dinner for Skillet Mac & Cheese.
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese Recipe & Video
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese + Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb elbow macaroni pasta
- 4 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoon seasoning salt - Lawry's
- 4 oz cream cheese - cubed
- 1 cup evaporated milk -
- 8 oz Velveeta cheese - cubed
Instructions
- Add first 4 ingredients to the Instant Pot.Add the 1 lb. elbow macaroni, 4 cups water, 1 ½ teaspoon season salt (Lawry's), and 4 oz cubed cream cheese to the Instant Pot. Do not stir, but make sure all the pasta is either covered or touching the water.
- Set IP for 4 minutes, pressure cook.Set the Instant Pot for 4 minutes, pressure cook on high for 4 minutes.
- Quick Release.
- Stir the milk and cheese into the macaroni.Stir the cream cheese into the macaroni until it is completely melted. Add the 1 cup evaporated milk and 8 oz cubed Velveeta and stir until it is completely melted. Kitchen Tip: You can put your IP on "keep warm" or on LOW saute to help melt the cheese. Just make sure you stir constantly and turn the mode off once the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately!
Susie Weinrich says
This was a huge hit with my kids!
Melissa says
Very easy! I reduce the cook time to 2 minutes with the cavatappi because I prefer Al dente noodles. I added in some shredded pepper Jack cheese and it turned out really good!!
Gregory Beatty says
This was very good! I had been looking at several recipes and many said to use chicken broth instead of water to give it a good flavor. I liked it. I am going to make it with the water next time to see if I like it better.
Brianna says
I made this and was so good! Wondering if I could double the recipe and if anyone has tried it? Did you need to cook it longer?
Susie Weinrich says
You should be able to double it just fine. You will not need to double the time.
Emily Bruno says
Never would have thought to use evaporated milk. This was perfect!
Lauren Grant says
This mac ‘n cheese is seriously the best! So easy, so creamy! Love this recipe!
Tawnie Kroll says
Love that you used Lawry’s seasoning! Sooo good and creamy!
Lauren Smith says
So yummy! Great as a main dish and could work just as great as a side. Tastes like California Pizza Kitchen’s macaroni and cheese.
Susie says
Awwwww. Lauren!!!! Thank you so much for commenting and rating. So glad you loved it!
Lauren Nagel says
My husbands favorite!
Andrea Howe says
oh my mac n cheese loving kids are so happy you posted this recipe! Can’t wait to make it!
Tanny says
This has been my go-to recipe the past couple years. I do like to use cajun seasoning in place of the lawyers for a little ‘kick’.
Thanks for posting such a great recipe. Got it saved in my ’favorites’ file