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Instant Pot mac and cheese creates the creamiest, dreamiest pasta ever – right in your pressure cooker. This classic mac and cheese recipe will become a family favorite that you’ll make over and over again. Perfect for dinner or a side dish.

A spoon full of Instant Pot mac and cheese being lifted out of a white dish in a white kitchen — Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

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Mac and cheese is one of the most perfect foods I can imagine. Noodles. Cheese. It’s the ultimate in comfort food. What’s not to love? Plus, it’s one of the few foods my extremely picky daughter will eat. Sometimes. If the stars align and Mercury is in retrograde.

Kidding! This is one thing she will eat and it makes me feel like I am not failing as a mom because I am imparting on her an all important deep seated love of cheese and carbs. My job here is done.

The Best, Creamiest Macaroni and Cheese Ever!

A white bowl full of creamy macaroni and cheese that was made in the pressure cooker. — Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

I’ve updated this recipe based on my Instant Pot fettuccine Alfredo recipe. That pasta dish is so delicious that I never make it any other way. While this recipe was delicious when I first created it, it’s even better now.

So what’s changed? A few things:

Instead of broth this recipe now calls for water so you get a better cheesy taste.
Rather than adding half and half or milk after you pressure cook the macaroni, we are now cooking it right in a mixture of heavy cream and water. The result is a creamier, richer mac and cheese that is so indulgent and delicious.
The cheese! To make the dish less stringy but extra creamy, I took away the shredded Italian cheese blend and replaced it with easy to melt Gouda.

Mac and Cheese Ingredients

Ingredients for Instant Pot Mac and Cheese are macaroni, heavy cream, water, butter, spices, garlic, cheese and hot sauce. They are shown in glass bowls in a white kitchen. — Ingredients for Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

To make this Instant Pot mac and cheese recipe you need some pretty basic ingredients. To make this macaroni and cheese you need:

Elbow macaroni. You can use another small noodle like rotini or orichette but don’t use anything bigger than that.
Water. Could you use broth? Sure. But I felt like the broth made it to taste a bit like cup o noodle soup. And with my update recipe, I tested it with water, chicken broth and vegetable broth and found water tasted the best.
Butter. Butter provides the extra richness.
Spices. This recipe uses a blend of spices that includes smoked paprika, mustard powder, and garlic.
Hot sauce. Totally optional of course, but I highly recommend it. It doesn’t add heat but another level of flavor.
Shredded cheddar cheese. What is mac and cheese without cheddar cheese?
Shredded Gouda. Gouda melts so nicely and gives you that creamy mac without t.
Heavy cream. Heavy cream makes a delicious rich sauce and bonus you can put it in your pressure cooker.

That’s it!

How to Make

This Instant Pot macaroni and cheese is so easy to make! It’s the perfect recipe for Instant Pot beginners and one of the first recipes I mastered when I got my Instant Pot. This recipe is pretty much a dump and go recipe.

To make it:

Add everything but the cheese to the Instant Pot.

Add everything but the cheese to Instant Pot. Make sure to add the cream last.

Add the noodles, water, butter, spices, hot sauce and heavy cream to the inner liner of the Instant Pot. Do not stir.
Pressure cook.

It doesn’t look super yummy when it is done pressure cooking, but hang in there! It looks delish after a stir!

Put the lid on the pot and make sure the the valve is set to sealing. Set the pot to Manual for 6 minutes. When the pot beeps, do a quick release.
Stir in the cheese.

The pasta after you stir- starting to look good!

After the pot is done releasing, remove the lid. The pasta may look kind of runny at the moment but that’s ok! It will thicken as you add the cheese. Stir in the cheese. The pasta will thicken quickly. Serve and enjoy!

That’s more like it! After you stir in the cheese!

Pretty easy! Dinner is ready in under 30 minutes.

Storing Leftovers

This macaroni and cheese makes 4 good sized dinner servings. I always get two nights of dinner and sometimes a lunch out of one batch for my family of 4. I like to keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. They last about 3 days and reheat well in the microwave.

What to Serve with It

A white bowl and a white plate full of creamy macaroni and cheese that was made in the pressure cooker. — Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

This mac and cheese recipe is a meal on it’s own. I like it to serve it with a vegetable on the side like these Brussels Sprouts. It’s also fantastic with cornbread and a salad.

This Instant Pot macaroni and cheese would also be a fantastic vegetarian recipe to make during the holidays. Then you could serve it as one of your sides to a garlic herb turkey breast along with this twice baked potato casserole and classic stuffing.

Other Mac and Cheese Recipes

This Instant Pot mac and cheese is definitely one of my favorite ways to make a classic homemade macaroni and cheese. If you are looking for some variations on macaroni and cheese these are some of my favorites:

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese with Pancetta and Peas for a perfect fall pasta dish
Beer Mac and Cheese for a skillet macaroni and cheese with an absolutely luscious beer cheese sauce

Made this macaroni and cheese recipe or one of my other recipes? Leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram @seasonedsprinkles. I love seeing you make my recipes!