This Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese is the ultimate comfort food! It’s a cheesy one-pot pasta recipe that’s filled with hearty flavours.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like canola or avocado oil.
- Extra-lean ground beef – you could also make this recipe with ground turkey.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots would also work here.
- Celery stalks – carrots would also add a bit of crunch to this dish.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Chili powder – make your own using a blend of cumin, cayenne and paprika.
- Cumin – coriander is the best substitute here.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Kidney beans – substitute for another bean like pinto beans or cannellini beans.
- Can diced tomatoes – a can of crushed tomatoes would also work.
- Beef broth – vegetable broth is the best substitute here.
- Macaroni pasta – try rotini, shells or scoobi do pasta instead.
- Green pepper – swap out for another colour bell pepper like red or yellow.
- Grated cheddar cheese – or any other cheese of your choice.
- Parsley – leave this off altogether if you don’t have any on hand.
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How to make mac and cheese in the Instant Pot
- Sauté the ground beef.
- Add everything to the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
How to make this recipe on the stovetop
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!
Frequently asked questions
Chili mac and cheese and goulash are very similar – they both contain ground beef, noodles, a tomato-based sauce and cheese. The main difference is that chili mac and cheese contains beans, while goulash does not.
Adding in some chili flavours is the best way to spice up your mac and cheese! You'll still get all that cheesy pasta goodness but with an added protein thanks to the ground beef and kidney beans. Plus, there'll be a bit more of a kick with the various spices.
I like using cheddar cheese for this recipe, but feel free to swap it out for another cheese of your choice. I'd suggest sticking to a melting cheese like gouda, gruyere, parmesan or even cream cheese.
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.
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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!
More mac and cheese recipes
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!
Stovetop instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute ground beef for 4-5 minutes until browned. Add onion and celery, sauteeing another 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, broth and pasta, then bring to a boil.
- Simmer for 20 minutes until liquid has absorbed and pasta is cooked through, adding green peppers in during the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Stir in 1 cup of cheese, then serve in bowls with parsley as a garnish (if desired). Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Cathy says
Can you double the recipe?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Cathy! It already makes a big portion and I worry about the ingredients going past the fill line so unfortunately I would not recommend doubling unless you have the 8-quart Instant Pot.
DenarieG says
This sounds quick, easy and delicious, I’m trying it for the first time tonight. Do you drain the fat from the hamburger after browning?
Taylor Stinson says
No you don’t have to at all, especially if you’re using extra-lean ground beef. 🙂 Even if you aren’t, you don’t need to drain the fat but you can if you’d like!
DenarieG says
Thanks for getting back to me. This was a big hit! I will definitely be making it again.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed it!!! 🙂
Sharon says
Can this be frozen after cooked? Sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you
Taylor Stinson says
Yes it can be! 🙂 Store in individual servings in glass containers then sprinkle a bit of water overtop before reheating in the microwave for 6-7 min from frozen (stir it once or twice halfway through reheating time). It will keep frozen up to 3 months!
Christine says
Hi. Do you stir before pressure cooking?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Christine! I don’t stir anything after sauteeing the beef – stirring can cause burning on the bottom.
Janet says
What a great recipe! It took less than 20 minutes from start to finish, including prep. I left out the green peppers and cumin, and added a good dash of Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning. Delicious! Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you liked it Janet!! 🙂
Kat says
How much does this make and what is a serving size for your nutritional info? If I missed that I am sorry but noticed most of your recipes I viewed don’t have that info at the nutritional info.
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Kat – it makes 8 servings (this is in the recipe card at the top!) so you would divide the recipe into 8 portions and then each portion is a serving. Due to time constraints I can’t give exact serving size measurements for my recipes, but if I had to guess a serving size for this particular recipe would be about 1.5 cups. Hope that helps!
Katrina says
Thank you so much. I didn’t go to that area but I scrolled up and down for it. Thank you for the quick response. It is going in the pot for dinner now.
Taylor Stinson says
YAY! Let me know how you like it 🙂
Riz | Chocolates & Chai says
Holy-4-minutes-in-an-instant-pot!!!! As you can guess, I don’t have an instant pot (yet), but I’ve been going back and forth on the idea for months. But if it only needs 4 minutes when compared to the stovetop instructions (20minutes-ish)…then, wow. I might be sold!
Sarah Franklin says
My first recipe I cooked in my new Instantpot! This has really changed how I. Meal prep. The ultimate comfort dish. This is on my favourite list.
Taylor Stinson says
Yay!!! So happy to hear that Sarah 🙂 Thank you!
Joy Dauble says
This sounds delish. I’m going to try it this week. 🙂
Angela says
I love simple one pot meals like this. As a mom of 4 with a full time career sometimes getting dinner on the table is really an art! I’m defiantly going to try this. Curious have you tried using water vs. Broth?
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much Angela, I hope you try it!! You can definitely use water instead of broth – I would maybe add a pinch of salt instead if you aren’t using broth but water should work just as well 🙂