Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese recipe is the perfect combination of two classic comfort food recipes. This one-pot dinner idea is a simple 30-minute meal recipe, that the whole family is sure to enjoy. Loaded with flavor from the lean ground beef, elbow macaroni, tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chilies, and of course cheese.
If you enjoy chili or mac and cheese then you are sure to love this simple chili mac recipe. It's like goulash that is kicked up a couple of notches because of the kidney beans, green chilies, and cheese.
One of the things I love about this recipe is it's a one-pot Instant Pot meal. This means easy clean-up, and you all know I'm all about easy clean-up in the kitchen.
If you are a beginner at using a pressure cooker then this is an easy Instant Pot recipe to start with. You may also enjoy our article for Instant Pot Terms. We have a glossary of terms that can be useful when it comes to cooking with the Instant Pot.
This pressure cooker chili mac recipe is great makes an easy weeknight meal but it can also be frozen. Whip up a pot of chili mac on meal prep day, and divide into individual portions. Or store as one meal in a freezer-safe container.
Instant Pot Chili Mac Recipe
Because this is a one-pot meal and an easy recipe that is made in the Instant Pot, makes it a total winner in my book. How can you go wrong with a one-pot recipe plus a dinner that the family will love.
I love my IP's so much so that one of the two gets used at least 2 times a week, okay maybe more than 2 times a week. This recipe has been tested in my 6-quart Instant Pot as well as my 8-quart IP.
Because this is a one-pot recipe we'll start by sautéing the onions in butter. Press the sauté button on the front of your electric pressure cooker, when it says hot add the butter to the bottom of pot. When the butter is melted add in the diced onions. Sauté the onions until they are translucent, this won't take long.
With the IP still on sauté add the lean ground beef, I like to use 90-10. As the ground beef starts to cook this is the perfect time to season the meat with the seasonings. Continue to cook the ground beef until there is no pink left.
Depending on the ground beef you use there may be grease to drain from the inner pot. A quick tip I have for draining grease is to keep a can under the kitchen sink just to drain grease into.
After you drain the grease from the burger I recommend wiping the outside of the bottom of the inner pot before returning it back to the pressure cooker. I do this just in case any grease is on the bottom of the inner pot doesn't get onto the heating element.
I do recommend making sure there is no food stuck to the bottom of the pot. A quick deglaze will help remove any stuck on food. Moving on to the last few simple ingredients for this one-pot meal.
A Few Simple Ingredients
Into the inner pot with the ground beef add in the diced tomatoes, kidney beans that have been rinsed and drained, diced green chiles, tomato sauce, macaroni noodles, and in the water. Making sure everything is covered by the water, I like to take a wooden spoon and press the ingredients down under the water.
I like to take a spoon and push the ingredients down some. This allows the water to cover the noodles. Don't stir the ingredients together. This might cause that dreaded burn notice to come on.
Placing the lid on the IP, press the pressure cook button and adjust the cooking time to 5 minutes making sure the pressure cooker is set to high pressure. For my 6-quart I need to make sure to turn the sealing knob to sealing. Whereas my 8 quart is a self-sealing Instant Pot and seals on its own.
Depending on your IP you may or may not need to make sure the sealing knob is turned to sealing. It may take 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure and then start cooking time.
For whatever reason, my 8 quart seems to come to pressure faster than my 6 quart does. Maybe it's because the 6 is older than the 8 quart is.
When the cooking time is done, do a quick release to release of the steam. Because pasta is starchy and can send starchy water all over the kitchen with a quick release. I like to do little bursts of quick release at a time until all the steam is released. This means turning the release knob to let some steam out. Then close the release value, doing this over again until all steam is released.
Don't do a natural release because the noodles will become mushy. Now that everything is cooked it's time to add the cheese.
Pre-shredded cheese is coated with cellulose which helps the cheese from sticking together. Because of that, I like to shred my own block of cheese with a handheld shredder. Add the shredded cheddar cheese into the inner pot and stir all the ingredients together.
Substitutions
One of the things that I enjoy about cooking is being able to get creative by making changes or substitutions. For this recipe, a change that could be made would be with the meat. Ground beef could be changed for a healthier option like ground turkey or even chicken. More spices or a packet of taco seasoning may be needed if using these leaner meats.
Another change that could be made is with the green chilies. As I was working on mastering this recipe I wasn't using green chilies, the recipe works without them. I also used a can of mild green chilies, you could add more heat by using a can of hot green chilies. Or even add more chili powder or a dash of red pepper flakes for added heat.
The red kidney beans or even black beans could also be changed to chili beans for this hearty meal. Adding green bell pepper would add a splash of color and added flavor to this recipe.
Sometimes I like to replace the water with broth, depending on what type of meat I'm cooking with. Since this is a beef recipe I would replace the water with beef broth or even veggie broth.
As far as the cheese goes a block of Colby jack would work or even a pepper jack. I definitely do recommend using a block of cheese and shredding it yourself. Garnish the top of this easy dinner recipe with a dollop of sour cream. And a sprinkling of green onion and more cheese.
This Instant Pot Chili Mac recipe makes for easy weeknight dinners. That is the ultimate comfort food and is sure to be a family favorite.
If you are looking for more easy weeknight meals here are some of our family favorite.
Head over to My Creative Manner's Youtube channel to see videos on how to make our delicious recipes.
Instant Pot Chili Macaroni
This easy to make Instant Pot Chili Macaroni is two comfort food recipes combined. Make this simple 30 minutes dinner recipe for busy weeknights.
Ingredients
- ½ Large Onion diced
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Pound Ground Beef
- 2 Teaspoons Chili Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 (14.5 0z) cans Diced Tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 oz) Can Red kidney Beans drained and rinsed off
- 1 (4oz) Can Diced Green Chiles
- 1 (15 oz) Can Tomato Sauce
- 2 Cups Macaroni Noodles
- 2 Cups Water
- 2 Cups Mild Cheddar hand grated
Instructions
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Turn Instant Pot on to sauté, when hot add the butter. Once the butter is melted add the diced onions. Cook onions until soft and translucent.
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Once the onions are cooked add the ground beef, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Brown until the ground beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain any grease from the inner pot.
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Into the inner pot with the ground beef add the can of diced tomatoes with the juice, kidney beans that have been drained and rinsed, the green chilies, tomato sauce, elbow noodles, and the water. Do not stir the ingredients. I do like to push the ingredients down to make sure the water is covering everything.
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Place the Instant Pot lid on, turn the sealing knob to sealing.
Press the pressure cooker button making sure that it's on high pressure. Adjust the cooking time to 5 minutes.
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Once the cooking time is done do a quick release. See notes.
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Remove the lid from the Instant Pot, stir everything together. Working in smaller batches stir in the freshly grated cheese until all the cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy.
Recipe Notes
It will take about 10 minutes for the pressure to build in the Instant Pot.
For the quick release, I like to do it in little bursts until all the pressure is out. That way there is no starchy splatter all over my kitchen.
The nutritional value may vary depending on the ingredients used.
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