• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Feisty Tapas logo

  • Home
  • Instant Pot
    • Instant Pot Recipes
    • Instant Pot Duo Crisp Recipes
    • Instant Pot Tips and Tricks
  • Thermomix Recipes
  • Recipes with both Thermomix & Instant Pot
  • Air Fryer
  • Gadget-Free Recipes
  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Instant Pot® UK Community Recipe Index
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Pressure Cooker
  • Air Fryer
  • Thermomix
  • About
    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Pressure Cooker
    • Air Fryer
    • Thermomix
    • About
    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Instant Pot

    Jayson's Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese (includes Instant Pot instructions)

    Published: Dec 8, 2015 · Modified: Jun 11, 2020 by Maria Bravo · This post may contain affiliate links · 9 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    An Instant Pot Classic! Jayson's Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese includes Instant Pot instructions and is perfect for beginners in fact!

    Jayson's Instant Pot Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese recipe with UK measurements and ingredients. An extremely popular recipe, this is THE Jayson's Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
    Jayson's Instant Pot Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese

    The eponymous Jayson of Jayson's Instant Pot Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese is a lovely member of the Feisty Tapas community.

    A member of both my Facebook groups (Pressure Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas and Thermo Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas), he is is known as the Master of all Gadgets.

    He is in fact one of the peeps who first introduced us to the Instant Pot by regularly mentioning it in the Thermo Cooking group.

    I make Jayson's Macaroni Cheese in the Instant Pot DUO 7 in 1 as that is the pressure cooker I have but you can adapt it to any pressure cooker really.

    This Mac and Cheese is really really good and so so easy to make, you won't believe just how easy in fact. He is American so he clearly knows his Mac and Cheese!

    I have made it twice and I have added my tips and UK measurements as his recipe was in cups.

    Jayson says: It works every time. You don't need to use stock, you can just use water as long as it's 3 cups! The paprika can be left out or replaced with wasabi! Which is also good!!

    If you think it makes too much: first wait until you taste it, then think that you can freeze it in portions and reheat on the stove if you add a little milk.

    By the way, you can find all my Instant Pot / pressure cooker recipes right here.

    I couldn't find macaroni but I have fusilli, pasta twists, penne, etc, can I still make Jayson's Mac and Cheese?

    Yes you can, I've seen people use all sorts of pasta shapes for this recipe.

    If the shape you use is not quite cooked at the end, rest the lid on the Instant Pot again and leave it be while you get things sorted (or a break).

    Pasta keeps cooking in the residual heat, just keep an eye so that it doesn't go too soft (unless you like it soft, of course!).

    Jayson's Mac and Cheese is perfect for Instant Pot beginners

    Because all you have to do is put all the ingredients in the Instant Pot, this recipe is perfect for beginners.

    What other recipes are good for Instant Pot Beginners?

    You have some other tried-and-tested recipes in the Beginners' Guide I wrote for Instant Pot UK, download it here.

    And here is a list of my own recipes that are perfect for Instant Pot beginners:

    • Risotto
    • Fish Stew
    • Sausage Pasta
    • Pulled Pork
    • Zero Minute Chicken

    Ready?

    Jayson’s Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese (includes Instant Pot instructions)

    Fancy schmanzy printable recipe card further down

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups / 390 g macaroni
    • 2 cups / 500 ml chicken stock 
    • 1 cup / 250 ml milk
    • 2 tablespoons / 35 g unsalted butter
    • 1 teaspoon mustard of choice (optional)
    • Half teaspoon smoked paprika
    • Half teaspoon garlic minced/crushed
    • One quarter teaspoon sea salt (optional, I personally don’t add it as it becomes too salty for the Tapas’ family taste)
    • 3 tablespoons / 30 g grated Parmesan cheese 
    • 2 cups / 195 g grated cheese (I used mature cheddar)
    • Half cup / 115 g cream cheese

    Instructions

    1.

    Place macaroni, chicken stock, milk, butter, mustard, paprika, garlic and salt (if using) in the inner pot and mix well.

    2.

    Cook in Instant Pot on Manual (your Instant Pot button might say Pressure Cook instead of Manual) for 5 minutes, high pressure, wait a few seconds for things to settle down inside and do a quick release (in conventional pressure cooker: 5 minutes on high pressure once it starts whistling followed by a quick release). 

    The wait is because pasta foams up and it can splatter when you quick release, believe it or not cheaper supermarket-own brands are better for pressure cooking so save your pennies.

    Some people place a tea towel over the lid just in case it splatters when quick releasing pasta just in case it splatters but this is NOT a recommended practice, I tend to let it settle down inside first, 30 seconds-one minute. 

    The other thing you can do is a gradual quick release, start letting the steam out after the resting time, if it splatters then close the vent again, then try again after a little while.

    Another trick is to cook it for 4 minutes and let it have about 3-4 minutes natural release, way less splatter that way too. This applies to any pasta dishes you cook in your Instant Pot.

    3.

    When finished: mix in grated cheese, grated Parmesan, and cream cheese until all combined! Let it sit for a couple of minutes. Serve immediately.

    Tip:

    if you use a different pasta shape just remember that the key is in halving the cooking time and not waiting too long to do a quick release, otherwise it may be overcooked, if it’s undercooked, pop the lid back on and let it rest for a little while

    Terminology

    – Quick release means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting. This video shows you how to do it.

    – Natural release means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. No need to cancel the automatic Keep Warm function. If it takes over 15 minutes, you’re ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid.

    📖 Recipe

    Jayson's Instant Pot Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese recipe with UK measurements and ingredients. An extremely popular recipe, this is THE Jayson's Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

    Jayson’s Pressure Cooked Mac and Cheese (includes Instant Pot instructions)

    Maria
    A super easy pressure cooked Mac and Cheese recipe
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 15 minutes mins
    Course Main Course, Side Dish
    Servings 4

    Equipment

    • Pressure Cooker
    • Instant Pot

    Ingredients
      

    • 3 cups macaroni 390 g
    • 2 cups chicken stock 500 ml
    • 1 cup milk 250 ml
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 35 g
    • 1 teaspoon mustard of choice optional
    • Half teaspoon smoked paprika
    • Half teaspoon garlic minced/crushed
    • One quarter teaspoon sea salt optional, I personally don’t add it as it becomes too salty for the Tapas’ family taste
    • 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 30 g
    • 2 cups grated cheese 195 g (I used mature cheddar)
    • Half cup cream cheese 115 g

    Instructions
     

    • Place macaroni, chicken stock, milk, butter, mustard, paprika, garlic and salt (if using) in the inner pot and mix well.
    • Cook in Instant Pot on Manual (your Instant Pot button might say Pressure Cook instead of Manual) for 5 minutes, high pressure, wait a few seconds for things to settle down inside and do a quick release (in conventional pressure cooker: 5 minutes on high pressure once it starts whistling followed by a quick release). The wait is because pasta foams up and it can splatter when you quick release, believe it or not cheaper supermarket-own brands are better for pressure cooking so save your pennies. Some people place a tea towel over the lid just in case it splatters when quick releasing pasta just in case it splatters but this is NOT a recommended practice, I tend to let it settle down inside first, 30 seconds-one minute. The other thing you can do is a gradual quick release, start letting the steam out after the resting time, if it splatters then close the vent again, then try again after a little while. Another trick is to cook it for 4 minutes and let it have about 3-4 minutes natural release, way less splatter that way too. This applies to any pasta dishes you cook in your Instant Pot.
    • When finished: mix in grated cheese, grated Parmesan, and cream cheese until all combined! Let it sit for a couple of minutes. Serve immediately.

    Notes

    Tip: if you use a different pasta shape just remember that the key is in halving the cooking time and not waiting too long to do a quick release, otherwise it may be overcooked, if it’s undercooked, pop the lid back on and let it rest for a little while
    Terminology
    – Quick release means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting. This video shows you how to do it.
    – Natural release means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. No need to cancel the automatic Keep Warm function. If it takes over 15 minutes, you’re ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid.
    Keyword Instant Pot, Pasta
    Tried this recipe?Mention @feistytapas or tag #feistytapas!
    Share on Facebook

    [kofi]

    Let me know if you try it, you can find me in my Pressure Cooking Facebook group or in my Facebook page of course.

    243

    More All of the Feisty Tapas Instant Pot recipes in one place

    • Photo of the homemade Clotted Cream being drained after chilling
      Easy Instant Pot Clotted Cream
    • Photo of pressure cooked haggis on a white plate with an Instant Pot Duo in the background
      How to pressure cook Haggis
    • Photo of a Christmas Pudding sitting on the greaseproof paper it was previously wrapped in
      How to reheat Christmas Pudding in a Pressure Cooker
    • Photo of an Instant Pot Duo with the Steam button lit up and the words HOW TO STEAM IN A PRESSURE COOKER OR INSTANT POT written over it
      How to steam in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker

    About Maria Bravo

    Kitchen Gadget Geek extraordinaire. Tester of all things kitchen appliance. Clumsy cook, if I can't break it and get the most of it, you know that's a good kitchen gadget! Architect of online communities for kitchen gadget lovers

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lucy Mars says

      January 20, 2020 at 7:23 pm

      5 stars
      This recipe is requested in our house at least once a fortnight. It’s so easy and tasty. I often use up odds and ends of cheese from the cheeseboard after a dinner party in this recipe.
      It’s also a good one to get ready we’ll ahead of time, then just add the pasta to everything else and cook it. So tasty!
      Quick and easy!

      Reply
    2. Jan Richards says

      May 14, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      5 stars
      This is so easy and so tasty!

      Reply
    3. Lesley Walton says

      May 29, 2020 at 8:59 am

      Deliciously naughty! First time making mac and cheese ever!! Will definitely make it again. Couldn’t find macaroni so used Agnesi Pasta instead ( I had never heard of that pasta but it was delicious ). Relative newby to Insta pot so this was a great confidence boost for me

      Reply
    4. Kirrin says

      June 03, 2020 at 6:59 am

      5 stars
      Can’t believe it has taken me so long to try this! I did a half batch PIP, it was in Pyrex so I cooked it a bit longer but it worked perfectly.

      Reply
    5. megan Maxwell says

      September 19, 2022 at 7:10 pm

      Tried and tested favourite. I do the 4 mins then leave for about 2 before releasing. I actually only use the cheddar, cream cheese and chicken stock with occasional garlic and paprika as it tastes great like that too - I used to use the milk but I don't feel it changes the taste much compared to stock only and milk tends to make the lid harder to clean in my opinion. Make this often and it's easy quick and pretty cheap

      Reply
    6. MS says

      October 18, 2023 at 1:30 pm

      Trying this later with confidence, your recipes are always spot on!! 🙏🏻
      Ps. Did you know that when you scale up ingredients your equivalent weights don’t adjust?! Thought they were off when looking at doubled recipe

      Reply
      • Maria Bravo says

        October 31, 2023 at 5:52 pm

        I didn't know MS, thank you for letting me know. It's a setting I enabled recently and I may have either done it wrong or it may be basing on who knows what as it's automatic. I'll take a look, Maria

        Reply
    7. Veronica says

      August 28, 2024 at 4:32 pm

      5 stars
      Done this a few times now, and it's fantastic! Any idea if I could add cauliflower, if so when/ how? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Maria Bravo says

        November 04, 2024 at 9:12 am

        Hi Veronica, you could probably add the cauliflower from the beginning, I know a lot of people do. It depends on how soft you like it as I know some people like on the crunchier side and cauliflower cooks quite fast

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Maria! A food blogger passionate about kitchen gadgets and their power to make life easier and tastier.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Photo of a white rectangular enamel dish full of cheesy loaded nachos
      Loaded Air Fryer Nachos - Quick, Cheesy and totally Moreish
    • Photo from above of the Quick Chilli for Nachos in the Thermomix seen after air frying over tortilla chips in the Ninja Speedi
      Ninja Speedi Nachos
    • Photo of the bean chilli seen inside the bowl of the Ninja Speedi
      Ninja Speedi Bean Chilli - Perfect for a quick and tasty dinner
    • Photo from above of Nachos air fried in the Ninja Speedi on a liner using a quick bean chilli made in the Thermomix
      Quick Bean Chilli for Nachos in the Thermomix

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    About Maria

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Copyright © 2011-2025

    Copyright © 2025 Feisty Tapas on the Cravings Pro Theme