Yep, here I am again with my Instant Pot. Mind you I might have picked one of the worst days ever to fix this pot of delicious creamy goodness given that it was over 100 degrees today. But what the hell, turn the AC down a couple of notches and pretend it is early fall and enjoy this creamy dish that is so easy that you will never buy that blue box again!
As a note – since I am diabetic Mac & Cheese is really not my friend so I do add a lot of meat to mine as well as eating a huge salad before tucking into this total carb-fest of a meal. – Pass the insulin and let’s get started!
1 box Elbow Macaroni ( 1 pound if you buy it in bulk)
1 can Evaporated Milk ( NOT condensed milk – lordy that would be awful!)
16 oz of extra sharp cheddar – shredded
4 cups HOT water ( like hot from the tap, no need to boil)
1 tablespoon salt
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes ( drained)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pour pasta, salt and water into the Instant Pot. Set to manual and to 4 minutes. When done, do a rapid release and then open the pot. Turn on to saute feature and as it starts to heat up again put in the Evap-milk and the dry mustard and stir around. Handfuls at a time start adding the cheese and stir softly.. keep adding cheese as it melts until it is all incorporated. Throw in drained tomatoes and give another stir and check if it needs more salt. It should be getting thick, very quick at this point so I turn off the saute and add any variety of pre-cooked meat. ( hamburger or ham are my favorites)
Serve straight from the pot or get fancy and put it in a baking dish and top with breadcrumbs and a bit of butter and bake until crumbs are brown.
Why this works – the evaporated milk takes the place of making a homemade cream sauce and lets the cheese melt into a smooth sauce not icky and stringy like cheese alone and not day-glow orange ( fake) like the stuff in the box. TOTAL simplicity!
Still grooving on BadAss Quilter Recipes? If so please please leave a short comment and in the meantime I will be thinking of what to make next!
Sounds great!
This looks so good. It’ll come in handy during our move!
I LOVE this recipe… I could kiss you right on your mouth! (Maybe not, since that would just be really inappropriate coming from a stranger.) I received the Instant Pot for my birthday and I’ve been anxious to try this one out since you posted it. Everyone took one bite and started nodding their heads giving me the “This one’s a WINNER!” We were good and had a huge salad with it though, so we wouldn’t pig out on all that cheesy and ham goodness. Thanks for sharing!!
My 10yr old home-made mac-n-cheese fanatic and I made this recipe yesterday in a regular pot on the stove top. We just cooked the noodles in water the regular way and made the sauce in another pot. Milk – a little mustard – added the cheese bit by bit and stirred until he thought it was how he likes it. Drained the noodles and then tossed them into the cheese sauce. It’s a winner! He can do the whole thing on his own.
I have a different brand — not InstaPot. Is manual like high pressure cooking?
I can’t take it anymore! I’m going to have to order myself one of these miracle pots. Killin’ me!
Any possibility of a “stove top” version of this recipe for those of us without an instant pot?
I enjoy your emails so much! Thank you! And thanks for what is destined to be another (IP) cult classic. Ha ha. Sounds yummy.
What is this instant pot of which you speak? I need one of these little miracle workers! And more info. Seriously!
The InstaPot is on my wish list… Thrilled to see real life recipes being posted!
Sounds like heavenly yummy!
I love home made macaroni and cheese and make mine with a white sauce. The evaporated milk sounds like a good idea.
This sounds great! Definitely still grooving on BadAss recipes. Please keep ’em coming.
I just received my new Instapot and now to the market to shop. Keep those recipes coming. Yum yum
Awesome! I’ve asked for one of these pots for my birthday. Pinning your recipe! Keep them coming! ?