Instant Pot Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Making mac and cheese in the Instant Pot is definitely the way to go! It’s unbelievably easy, it’s made in one single pot (hello, easiest clean up ever), and the mac and cheese comes out amazingly creamy! You can’t beat that!
Guys.
We’re going on a cruise to Italy in two months.
Which means I should be getting “bikini-ready”.
But I don’t see that happening any time soon.
Because this broccoli mac and cheese is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
It’s the mac and cheese we all dream of.
The one that’s creamy but not too heavy.
The one that just melts in your mouth.
And basically the one that you can’t stop eating.
I mean, it’s such a shame you can make this in the Instant Pot so easily.
That just means you’ll be making it every day this week.
Hey, at least we have broccoli in it, right?
Instant Pot Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound fusilli pasta
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 cup half and half*
- 12 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Add pasta, butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to a 6-qt Instant Pot®. Stir in 4 1/2 cups water.
- Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 5 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Select high sauté setting. Stir in broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid has reduced, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in Dijon and garlic powder.
- Select warm setting. Stir in milk and half and half until warmed, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in cheese until melted, about 3 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I followed the directions exactly and mine came out perfect. My instapot did not splatter on the quick release.
My kids love it and think the broccoli is so delicious this way. I have to add extra broccoli which is a huge plus in book. Thank you!
This is a great recipe we really enjoyed!! Add butter when sautéing the broccoli no problems!
Very tasty and super easy to make. My 4.5 y.o enjoyed adding all the ingredients to the instant pot, and he gave it a “yum!” Rating.
The flavor was great, but way too cheesy. Will make again, but with less cheese!!
Love this recipe! Can you double it?
…aaaannnndddd this is how I got my son (age 5) to voluntarily eat broccoli! So delicious, creamy, and flavorful. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made it. Great recipe for play dates, too!
Followed the recipe exactly as it was written, and it came out delicious. Served it with chicken cutlets topped with arugula salad, red onion, tomato, lemon vinaigrette. All 5 kids gave it a thumbs up.
This is easy and delicious! I will not make Mac and Cheese any other way.
Fast, simple, and very tasty!
We loved this recipe. I substituted Greek yogurt for half and half, which I didn’t have. Used garden fresh broccoli.
Total hit and definite repeat!!!!
We love this recipe!!! Such a weeknight time saver!
If we don’t have fusilli in the house, how do you calculate the cooking time for a different shape of pasta?
Thanks!
Sarah
I also had the butter water geyser issue but hadn’t read the comments. Not sure how to avoid it. After cleanup, the dish was still good but could use some more seasoning. I’m planning to add more garlic, onion powder and salt to the leftovers. I will say this is the first time I’ve ever run into any issues with Damn Delicious recipes. They are generally excellent. Thanks for publishing them.
For everyone having trouble with the hot butter water spraying everywhere when quick releasing- just throw a dish towel over the vent. Problem solved! This was so good! Everything came together exactly as written and everyone loved it. This will definitely be in my instant pot rotation!
This recipe is good but you should make sure it’s clear what happens when you quick release. It spattered buttery water all over my wall & counter & made a terrible mess. Thankfully nothing was damaged but it was a real pain to clean up. I saw this noted in the comments but followed the recipe & assumed it would be ok. What would you recommend to avoid this happening? Add the butter with the broccoli? I think the pasta would over cook if you natural release? Thanks….have used your instant pot recipes often
I haven’t made it yet but I plan on it tonight can I use a boxed mix, or at least the noodles from it?
Can you use whole grain noodles for this?
I mean by that, have you tried it and know what the adjusted time would be? Thanks!
Delicious recipe. I would recommend NOT using quick release until after about 5 minutes of natural release. It’s a MESS.
Loved this recipe! So creamy and delicious and best of all, EASY! I added some chopped rotisserie chicken and it was delicious!
Great idea. What stage did you add the chicken?
This was exactly the texture of the cheese sauce that I was looking for! My friends loved it and leftovers tasted great the next day too. Will keep this recipe and try other variations with other mix-in and more veggies! I added thawed frozen corn and broccoli and stirred in after the pasta cooked, and it still tasted great. I also used 2% milk instead of heavy cream, and again there were no issues with that substitution.
I too had the issue of the butter spewing everywhere at the steam release. I used the smaller instant pot dua nova and so I may halve the recipe in the future to avoid the over flow, but I also think I will just add the butter after the pasta is cooked to avoid this problem! It was too messy to repeat that again.