This Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese is a delicious, cheesy one pot pasta recipe and the ultimate comfort food that's filled with hearty flavours!
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Ingredients in Instant Pot chili mac
Most of these ingredients are actually pantry staples so you shouldn't be running to the store for too many things. If you're like me and have a well-stocked fridge, you should already have celery on hand so from there it's just about making sure you have a well-stocked freezer with some ground beef.
If you've ever made chili before then you'll be familiar with most of the ingredients that go into this Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese:
- ground beef
- onions
- celery
- garlic
- chili powder
- cumin
- kidney beans
- diced tomatoes
- beef broth
- macaroni
- cheddar cheese
How to make Instant Pot chili mac
This Instant Pot Chili Mac is pretty much what you've been dreaming of your whole life when it comes to wholesome, hearty comfort food.
Come on, chili AND mac and cheese all in one? It really is like a dream come true!
Whether you're gonna make it as a last-minute weeknight dinner or you're meal prepping it for the work week, guaranteed you are going to love all the flavours and you'll definitely also appreciate how quick and easy it is to put together! And as if that's not enough, you should know that this is inspired by my mom's very own chili mac recipe – I miss it so much and she never makes it anymore!!! Here's how to make it step by step:
- Add olive oil to Instant Pot and select saute mode. Saute ground beef for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned.
- Turn off saute mode and add onion, celery, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, broth and pasta in that order.
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes then do a quick release of pressure.
- Remove lid and stir in green pepper and 1 cup of cheese.
- Serve in large bowls and top each serving with remaining cheese and garnish with fresh parsley if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Chili Mac: Stovetop Version
This Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese is super similar to this Homemade Hamburger Helper recipe actually, and you can totally use the method listed on the Hamburger Helper recipe if you want to try the one pot stovetop version of this chili mac.
Here's how to make this recipe on the stovetop:
- Sautee the ground beef first just as you'll do with the Instant Pot version, then add in all the other ingredients (except for green peppers and cheese)
- Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the pasta is cooked through.
- Stir in the green peppers and cheese last, cooking another minute or so.
- Serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions
You can easily switch up this recipe to suit your tastes! Use ground turkey or ground chicken to lighten things up.
Beef – Instead of ground beef, you can use ground turkey, pork or chicken. Any type of ground meat will work here!
Pasta – You will want to use pasta for this recipe – unfortunately you can't sub in any other type of grain or gluten free pasta. But you can change up the pasta shape if you'd like! Try rotini, shells or scoobi do instead of macaroni.
Cheese – Cheddar cheese is the best in this recipe, but you can use any type of cheese you have on hand to get the gooey texture.
Veggies – I've used onions, celery and green pepper in this recipe but you can add in more veggies if you'd like. Throwing in some carrots and peas at the beginning is a great way to get some extra veggies in. You can also stir spinach in at the end.
Can you double this recipe?
Unfortunately you can't double this recipe or it will go past the fill line for most Instant Pots. However, the great news is that this recipe already makes 8 servings so there should be more than enough to feed a crowd and have leftovers!
Can you make it in a slow cooker?
You can, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it as you would have to perform a lot more steps and wait for it to finish cooking. For instance, you would have to brown the ground beef in a separate pan, which wouldn't make this a one pot recipe anymore. However, you can try the slow cooker method. Here are the instructions:
- Brown the ground beef in a frying pan, then add to slow cooker.
- Add all other ingredients except for pasta and cheese, then cook on high for 4 hours.
- Add pasta in the last half hour of cook time.
- Stir in cheese, then serve and enjoy!
Storing and reheating
You can store the leftover chili mac up to 5 days in the fridge. Sprinkle some water overtop and reheat for 2-3 minutes in the microwave, stirring halfway through.
Freezing chili mac
You can also freeze this chili mac! Freeze in glass bowls with lids, then you can reheat from frozen! Just sprinkle some water overtop then reheat for 6-7 minutes, stirring halfway through. This makes the best freezer meal! You can also freeze in aluminum containers and reheat in a 375 F oven for 30-40 minutes.
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this Instant Pot Chili Mac in the freezer and defrosting in the microwave.
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months
- Or these aluminum foil containers are perfect for re-heating straight from the freezer to oven.
- And of course I get all my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box!
Meal prep challenge
If you'd like some more help with meal planning, then you'll love my free 5-day meal prep challenge! It's basically a free course that will teach you how to meal prep and cook healthy meals at home with some PDF bonus materials. Sign up for free below:
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Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (796mL) can Diced tomatoes
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 lb dried macaroni pasta
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
- Fresh chopped parsley (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Add olive oil to Instant Pot and select saute mode. Saute ground beef for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned. Turn off saute mode and add onion, celery, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, broth and pasta in that order.
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes then do a quick release of pressure. Remove lid and stir in green pepper and 1 cup of cheese.
- Serve in large bowls and top each serving with remaining cheese and garnish with fresh parsley if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Chuck says
The cheese tends to be a bit sticky, so I tried adding 8 oz cream cheese on top of the pasta before cooking. Once it was done I added 8 oz shredded cheese, and it came out amazing. The cream cheese causes the other cheese to remain silky smooth, and thickens the overall sauce.
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks for the tip Chuck! That sounds delicious 🙂
Jackie says
I made this for dinner tonight. It is soooooo good! I will definitely be making it again and again! Thanks for the recipe!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed Jackie! 🙂
Michele says
hi there! simple question, i hope! in the ingredients list, you list diced tomatoes, but in your video they look like crushed tomatoes. which do you recommend? thanks!.
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Michelle – they are diced tomatoes, they are just more finely diced than usual. Some brands come like this, but you can achieve a finer dice if you decide by pulsing the tomatoes gently with an immersion blender. I do recommend diced tomatoes in their juices here in any case.
Meghan says
Just made this and LOVED it. I used frozen vegetarian mince and didn’t even sautee – omitted the oil and just dumped it in the bottom of the instant pot. Also used extra peppers as I didn’t have celery, whole wheat penne instead of elbows as that’s what I had on hand, and vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian. So easy and really delicious!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed 🙂