Name: Cheesy Chili Mac (Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil; 1 medium onion, diced; 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced; 3 garlic cloves, minced (I press mine through a garlic press); 1 jalapeño, finely diced; 2 tablespoons chili powder; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional); 1 pound ground beef, 85 percent lean; 2 cups water; 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes; 8 ounces (2 cups) elbow macaroni; 1 cup frozen corn; 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro; salt and pepper, to taste; 4 ounces cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, or a blend; sour cream and avocado, for garnish (optional)

This Instant Pot chili mac hardly requires any effort. It’s ready in 45 minutes, mostly hands-off! Super-cheesy but also packed full of vegetables! It’s definitely a crowd-pleaser, and it’s perfect for a chilly night, but I serve it year-round! It’s a great dish to help you learn how to use your Instant Pot. Scroll down for video.

Click here to save the recipe on Pinterest!

Instant Pot Love

I have recently discovered the joys of the Instant Pot (<–affiliate link). It’s seriously like the best thing ever, you guys. I’ve talked about it before, but I honestly just can’t say enough about how cool this little gadget is. It’s a slow cooker, pressure cooker, steamer, sauté pot, rice cooker…it’s the best. I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot of use over the summer, because it allows me to cook pretty much anything without heating up my kitchen. Love.It.

Pressure Cooker Perfection

I picked up a book at McKay’s recently called Pressure Cooker Perfection (<–affiliate link) from none other than my favorites at America’s Test Kitchen. Um, I had no idea that you could cook pasta right in the sauce in your pressure cooker. Yesssssssss. This book is a tiny little pressure cooker bible, and I’m in love.

Pasta in the Instant Pot

One of the recipes in Pressure Cooker Perfection is a recipe for Tex-Mex Chili Mac. Honestly, chili mac isn’t something that my mom ever made, so it really never caught my attention until I saw an episode of Cook’s Country (what else??) recently where Christopher Kimball was talking about Tex-Mex and he casually mentioned chili mac. Suddenly I was obsessed and had to make it. I was pretty happy when I saw this recipe in the pressure cooker book.

Instant Pot Chili Mac

Instant Pot chili mac is based on the recipe from the book, but I took some liberties to make it little fresher and more colorful. The important thing is that it is: quick, easy, and delicious. It takes about 15 minutes of hands-on work, including chopping the vegetables, sautéing everything in the pot, and grating the cheese. The pasta in this cheesy chili mac comes out perfectly cooked without any boiling or draining water. Perfection, indeed.

Give my cheesy chili mac a try for an easy, low-effort weeknight dinner!

Shared on the Weekend Potluck on Served Up with Love and Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

Click here to save this recipe to your Instant Pot or pasta boards on Pinterest!

Mary

Yield: 6-8 servings

Cheesy Chili Mac (Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot)

This recipe was adapted from the book Pressure Cooker Perfection from America's Test Kitchen.

10 minPrep Time:

35 minCook Time:

45 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced (I press mine through a garlic press)
1 jalapeño, finely diced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 pound ground beef, 85 percent lean
2 cups water
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
8 ounces (2 cups) elbow macaroni
1 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
salt and pepper, to taste
4 ounces cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, or a blend
sour cream and avocado, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the pressure cooker over medium heat (or use the sauté setting on the Instant Pot). Heat the oil until shimmering. Sauté the onion and red pepper until softened, then add the garlic and jalapeño and sauté until fragrant.
Add the meat and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon while cooking. Stir in the chili powder and cayenne pepper (if using). Add the water, tomatoes, and pasta.
In a regular pressure cooker: bring to high pressure over medium-high heat then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for five minutes. Quick release the pressure.
In an Instant Pot, set to bean/chili and set time for five minutes. At the end of the cook time, turn the Instant Pot off and quick release the pressure.
Stir in the corn and the cilantro. The residual heat from the pot should thaw the corn. Salt and pepper to taste then stir in the cheese. Serve immediately, topped with sour cream and avocado if desired.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/cheesy-chili-mac-pressure-cookerinstant-pot/

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Comments

Heather says
August 1, 2016 at 9:13 pm

This looks delicious! When do you add the chili powder for the InstantPot?

- Mary // Chattavore says
  August 1, 2016 at 10:10 pm
  
  Thanks, Heather! Did I leave that step out? Where's my face palm emoji?!?!?! I'll fix that tomorrow. Just add the chili powder after you brown the ground beef and before you add the other ingredients. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!!
  
  - Heather says
    August 1, 2016 at 10:12 pm
    
    Oh good, that's when I ended up adding it :D This turned out soo good, and I'm actually going to have to double it the next time I make it because it was gone in minutes, and I was hoping for leftovers. Thank you!
    
    - Mary // Chattavore says
      August 1, 2016 at 10:50 pm
      
      I'm so glad! It's just me and my husband, so we always have leftovers.
      
nikkyreyes says
April 4, 2017 at 11:04 pm

Yum!! Can't wait to try this!!

Emily B. says
May 17, 2017 at 7:23 pm

Yum! Made this with veggie ground round, and subbed half a zucchini for half of the onion (because kids). Turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!

- Mary // Chattavore says
  May 17, 2017 at 7:24 pm
  
  Yum! That sounds great! I am so glad you enjoyed it, Emily.
  
Christine says
October 20, 2017 at 2:06 pm

Thank you for the recipe. Do you know if this is something you could freeze?

- Mary // Chattavore says
  October 20, 2017 at 2:26 pm
  
  You know, I was wondering that myself just today! I have not tried it yet. I am making it this week, though, so I will try it out and let you know!
  
Jill says
December 27, 2017 at 11:28 am

Will these directions work with any electric pressure cooker?

- Mary // Chattavore says
  December 27, 2017 at 2:52 pm
  
  There may need to be some slight adjustments on time/pressure but I am sure this recipe would work. I couldn’t tell you for sure since I haven’t tested it in any other pressure cookers, though.
  
Peter says
January 1, 2018 at 1:17 pm

I made a vegetarian version with fake meat, Trader Joe's veggie chili, Trader Joe's corn chili, and Penzy's Adobo mix (cumin and other spices), Penzy's Chili 9000 mix, some chipotle powder, and a dash of brown sugar. Added a cup more water due to the extra ingredients, and it was GREAT!

- Mary // Chattavore says
  January 1, 2018 at 3:41 pm
  
  It sounds great, Peter! What kind of meat substitute did you use? I wish we had a Trader Joe's around here...the closest one is about an hour and a half away!
  
Jenna says
January 2, 2018 at 12:33 pm

How would I do this if I had frozen burger?

- Mary // Chattavore says
  January 2, 2018 at 3:29 pm
  
  You’ll definitely have to thaw it first. I do this quickly (30-60 minutes) by placing the frozen meet in a ziplock bag and placing it in a sink full of cold water, then rotating it quickly and breaking it up in the bag as it thaws to help thaw the center.

Instant Pot Chili Mac + Video