You guys I tried it. And it was as great as they said it would be!!!
You’ll have to go over to Pinch Of Yum to find the recipe because that’s the one I used almost to a T. The only differences were that I had regular pasta instead of whole wheat (I wanted whole wheat but T came home with regular, which was fine) and I used 2% milk instead of whole milk. Turned out great!
You simply put a pound of pasta plus some butter and 4 cups of water in the IP.
Pressure cook for 4 minutes. You can see that some of my pasta pieces were a little uncooked around the edges making them a little crunchy. But after stirring the starchy water around, adding cheese, and milk, I never noticed any crunch in the finish dish. I think they finished steaming while the mac was on warm until it was time to eat.
To your cooked buttery pasta you just add cheese and milk! SO SIMPLE.
Ta-da.
My mind was seriously blown at how easy this was. Never will I waste time draining water or squeezing out cheese sauce again! (OK I might in a pinch so don’t hold me to it…!) We had this as a side with dinner many times last week. I’d love to add some broccoli florets and/or frozen peas next time, but I have a child who doesn’t like his food mixed, so they might have to be cooked on the side.
Served with Thomas’s smoked pork butt and our prep day roasted veggies.
Want to know something else mind blowing? I discovered that our dishwasher silverware rack can either go in the door (where it’s been since I moved in) OR hooked onto the bottom rack!!! This new way you don’t have to push the bottom rack closed to put a spoon in. The things you learn by reading the manual….which I had to do because our heated dry stopped working and we had to pay $400 to fix the control panel that blew out. Ugh.
The end.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
The Instant Pot sounds like magic! Now I feel like some Mac n cheese too… too bad I don’t have an Instant Pot, haha.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Liz says
Ha! We have that same dishwasher and I’ve always kept the silverware on the door, but that does make sense to attach it to the rack like that. It can go inside the dishwasher too, but then it just takes up valuable space! Ugh, $400 to fix the heat element though, yikes!
Glad the IP mac and cheese turned out well for you!
Elizabeth says
What kind of dishwasher do you have? I have a 14 year old Bosch and I’ve had to replace the control board 3 times. I feel like it’s a chronic defect. Although I love how quiet the Bosch is, I think I’ll try another brand when I finally replace it.
KathEats says
We have a Whirlpool Gold. I think it retails for about $600 and love it otherwise. I think that one of my bottle lids fell onto the heating element and made it burn out, so I don’t know if it was 100% the dishwashers fault.
Piper says
Such a relief to get so much sleep! You’re so lucky to be able to sleep till 7, Charlottesville schools must start later. Elementary schools here start so early. My kids have to be at the bus stop at 7! Ugh!
KathEats says
When Mazen is here he has to be at the bus at 7:10! But he was with Matt last night.
Amnda says
omg….. you are a livesaver. I had no idea about that dishwasher thing. I have the same one and when I first realized that it was on the door I was super annoyed, really inconvenient when you are loading the dishwasher. So thank you so much!!! haha
KathEats says
Haha – we need to start reading the manuals : ) It’s the little things!!
Amy says
I think we have the same washer too and we keep the silverware on the left hand side of the bottom rack (like going front to back instead of side to side). Definitely nicer than having to constantly open and close the bottom rack.
Meghan says
The mac and cheese looks great. Is your dishwasher a GE? I’m pretty sure I have the same one and am not sure the dryer works. Glasses and plates are dry but the plastic IKEA kids cups are always so wet. Thoughts?
KathEats says
Do you use a rinse aid? Apparently the plastic will never get as dry as the glasses and plates, but with heated dry nothing should be soaking wet when it’s over.
Meghan says
Scratch that – just put dishes in it and it’s a Whirlpool Gold. It’s about 9 years old so I don’t know if it’s worth getting the heater fixed. And it’s so loud!
Emily says
Oh my gosh! This is a game changer in my dishwasher life! Your photo looks a lot like our dishwasher, and I just went to investigate because I hate when the bottom rack gets stuck on silverware! Who knew a post about mac and cheese would revolutionize my dishwasher life. Eureka!
KathEats says
Haha!
Jessica says
I always just leave the dishwasher door after it’s finished and let everything evaporate. Maybe everyone else puts their dishes away as soon as it’s finished so you prefer to use the heated dry? I can’t justify using the energy to do something that thermodynamics will take care of naturally.
I’m making a batch of IP mac and cheese for a friend as we speak! Or “speak…” 😉
Lindsey says
I have the same dishwasher and I knew the silverware rack could move thanks to our installers, however I feel like my mind was just blown seeing how you load yours with the lid closed. I feel so dumb now, but I always wondered why it had a lid when silverware is obviously too tall for that.
Dusty says
I made the mac and cheese last night. Delicious! I cut calories by using skim milk instead but then more than added them back by adding more cheese than what was called for. Also I had a couple of piece of stray organic American to be used so I added those too. To me it was a pretty good clone of Paneras Mac and Cheese. Yum.
Ttrockwood says
I guess i just don’t “get it” with the instapot… i mean by the time it heats up, cooks, and then you can release the pressure isn’t it actually the same amount of time as boiling pasta…? I understand how it’s useful for beans and meats (but as a vegetarian household of one I don’t need vast quantities of beans at a time)
Have you ever made the ohsheglows butternut mac and cheese? It’s crazy amazing, and mazen will never know there are veggies involved ;)) i have used both roasted squash and canned and it’s really great using canned butternut or pumpkin. Also you can obvs use regular dairy, but definitely keep the nutritional yeast (whole foods bulk bins has it). I get more like 5-6 servings from this recipe, and have made the sauce ahead the day before which works great
https://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/03/butternut-squash-mac-n-cheeze/
KathEats says
I think the biggest pro is that it’s hands off. So while the crockpot is hands off and the stove top is short on time, the Instant Pot is both hands off and short on time. That recipe looks great!
Bobbie says
I’d love to try the mac & cheese recipe in the instant pot. Do you have an actual recipe with exact measurements, settings, and times?
Sorry if I missed it here somehow.
Thank you!
Bobbie says
OMG, as soon as I hit Post Comment I went back and read where you lead us to Pinch of Yum! Thank you! ;/
KathEats says
🙂