by Cara | Do it yourself and save, Main Dish | 23 comments
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1 Instant Pot Gluten-Free Mac n Cheese Recipe Notes:
2 Quick Gluten-Free Mac n Cheese in the Instant Pot
2.1 Ingredients
2.2 Instructions
Watching the clock, I noticed … in just 18 minutes we went from walking in the door to scooping piping-hot Instant Pot gluten free mac n cheese into everyone’s bowls. A delicious home-cooked weeknight dinner that uses all real ingredients? Yes please. I especially love that it’s a one-dish meal, minimizing the amount of dishes made too.
A tradition over from my childhood, we use frozen peas to add a veggie and cool down our mac n cheese.
If you’re feeling fancy, addan additional 5 minutes under the broiler for a crispy breadcrumb top- still completely doable for a fast meal.
Looking for a lower carb version? You’ll love Keto Cauliflower ‘Mac’ and Cheese
I love this Instant Pot Mac n Cheese for a few reasons:
- It’s fast and contained. No more pasta water boiling over onto the stovetop.
- It’s truly a one-dish meal. You don’t even need to dirty a colander!
- Because you measure the liquid that cooks the pasta exactly, you can replace some of it with chicken stock and it’ll be absorbed into the pasta.
- You control the ingredients. Use the quality and type of cheese that you prefer, your own milk.
- It is inexpensive. As my children have grown, we do occasionally get Annie’s Gluten Free Mac n Cheese, but we end up using 2 full boxes and having no leftovers. This recipe makes enough for dinner tonight, and a couple thermoses full for lunch tomorrow.
Instant Pot Gluten-Free Mac n Cheese Recipe Notes:
Mac n Cheese is a favoritethat can be completelynourishing while still being fast, easy, and inexpensive. We set the Instant Pot to cook for 4 minutes, but it does take time to come to pressure and for the pressure to release, so allow about 15minutes to cook the pasta, even though I only listed 4 minutes of cook time.
Quick Gluten-Free Mac n Cheese in the Instant Pot
Course:Main dish
Cuisine:Gluten Free
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 minutes
Total Time: 19 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 449 kcal
Author: Cara Comini
The Instant Potmakes this an easy and delicious one-dish meal. Recipe has been tested with gluten-free elbow macaroni, different types may take more or less time in the pressure cooker. If you experiment with it, please leave a comment- I'd love to know how it turned out!
Ingredients
- 1pound4 cups gluten-free elbow macaroni (I have triedrice/quinoa pastaandbrown rice pasta)
- 1cupchicken stockif you don't have chicken stock, use an additional cup of water
You can purchase delicious organic chicken stock here - 2.5cupsfiltered water
- 1teaspoonfine sea salt or 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
- 1tablespoonyellow mustardprepared, not powdered
- 2tablespoonsbutter
- 1cupfull fat milk or cream
- 6-8ouncescheddar cheese
- Optional: 1/4 cup gluten-free panko crumbsfind here
Instructions
Mix macaroni, chicken stock, water, sea salt, mustard, and butter in the instant pot.
Set Instant Pot to manual, 4 minutes.
Quick release after timer goes off.
Set to sauté/low.
Stir in milk.
Stir in cheese 1/4 at a time.
Turn off heat and serve!
Optional breadcrumb topping: Transfer after adding all the cheese to a 1.5 to 2-quart broiler-safe dish. Top with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and broil on high for 5 minutes, or until crumbs start to brown.
Nutrition Facts
Quick Gluten-Free Mac n Cheese in the Instant Pot
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 449Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 9g45%
Cholesterol 45mg15%
Sodium 746mg31%
Potassium 123mg4%
Carbohydrates 58g19%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 16g32%
Vitamin A 465IU9%
Calcium 253mg25%
Iron 1.3mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Note: The top picture uses rice pasta,yellow cheddar cheese, and bread crumbs. The video shows quinoa pastaand white cheddar.
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Beckyon December 21, 2016 at 5:42 am
No butter on recipe. Does it come after mustard? How much?
Caraon December 24, 2016 at 11:43 am
Updated it – sorry about that! 2 tablespoons.
Sheilaon December 22, 2016 at 9:03 pm
You mention butter in the instructions but I’m not seeing how much to use.
Caraon December 24, 2016 at 11:42 am
Sorry about that- I just added it. It’s 2 tablespoons.
Raia Toddon January 3, 2017 at 11:46 am
I going to try this! I’ve been making mac ‘n cheese in my IP ever since I got it, but I love trying new versions. ;)
Paton January 3, 2017 at 7:36 pm
My daughter has trouble with dairy and gluten….I hope we can substitute veggie cheese in this recipe: will have to try it. We use veggie cheese in crock pot quiche….
Health Home and Happinesson January 4, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Yes report back and let us know how it goes!
Amyon January 21, 2017 at 2:10 pm
Your recipe looks delicious but the instructions were really bad! It only says to stir the butter into the pasta. No other directions about the water, chicken stock or mustard. :(
Caraon January 22, 2017 at 6:26 pm
Hi Amy, sorry I think you misunderstood :) It’s mix all the ingredients together in the ingredients list – pasta is first and butter is the last thing you’ll add before pressure cooking. So you’ll mix the pasta, chicken stock, water, salt, mustard, and butter together then cook in the Instant Pot :)
Zaneon February 2, 2017 at 4:10 pm
How many will it serve?
Caraon February 3, 2017 at 6:06 am
8 :)
Meenakshi Rayon February 4, 2017 at 1:23 am
invariably delicious!
lil cookon March 24, 2017 at 11:37 am
I tried this with the GoGoQuinoa macaroni and the pasta was mush after the quick release even though I only had it on manual for 3 min. I started with cold water/stock. I’ll try 0 minutes next time, but any thoughts?Caraon March 24, 2017 at 2:45 pm
Thanks for letting us know! I do like the brown rice pasta better but we had good luck with the quinoa as well. What Instant Pot size/version are you using?
Melissa F.on August 7, 2017 at 5:08 pm
Absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing this. I’m new to IP cooking and just Googled “instant pot gluten free mac and cheese” and this recipe was the first to appear. I used Aldi’s LiveGFree brand of elbow macaroni, vegetarian chicken broth (Imagine Foods), heavy whipping cream and an 8 oz. block of mild cheddar which I hand-grated while the IP was coming to pressure. It is very, very rare to find a recipe that everyone in our family — with our picky tastes and dietary needs — can eat. This one was perfect and will be appearing on our table very often.I did nearly make the same mistake as the other poster with the instructions. I started just mixing the butter into the macaroni (like coating it, almost) until I realized that it meant to add all the ingredients from macaroni THROUGH butter. Slightly confusing (especially after a long day!)
This was better than Stouffer’s in so many ways. Thanks so, so much for this new family favorite. So grateful.
Melon March 30, 2018 at 10:00 am
Hi, I’d like to make this, planning to use red lentil pasta… But, I don’t have instant pot. How to make this on the stove top? Thanks!!
Caraon March 31, 2018 at 6:38 am
Hi Mel, you would just boil the noodles and remove when just a little under done (drain) and do the rest over medium heat on the stovetop :)
Alyssaon July 26, 2018 at 3:52 pm
Do you have to use whole milk? Can you use low fat or a nut milk? Thanks
Caraon July 27, 2018 at 8:50 am
Hi Alyssa, you could try it and see how it works :)
Jessicaon May 2, 2019 at 3:51 pm
Love this recipe! I also love the new updated look ?…but I have a question… Is it 1 pound +4 cups of pasta or 1 pound/4 cups?Caraon May 5, 2019 at 7:57 pm
1 pound, which is about 4 cups – thank you!
Jessicaon May 2, 2019 at 4:04 pm
Also, I wanted to add a helpful comment for those with newer Insta pot models who might be confused: the “manual” button is now the “pressure cook“ button and functions the same ?Caraon May 12, 2019 at 12:39 pm
Thank you for adding that!
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