the best stretchy mac and cheese, instant pot edition
In the etymology of macs, there are creamy macs, saucy macs, and stretchy macs. They all have value. But they are not the same.
Creamy macs feature thick mornay sauces that start with a flour and milk roux before emulsifying in the cheese, and are then covered in something crunchy and baked more often than not. Most southern mac is creamy mac, as are about 90% (unofficial total) of restaurant macs. Creamy mac is the heaviest mac.
Saucy macs are warm molten macs characterized by complete emulsification of the cheese. Saucy macs have consistent cling and puddle factor, so when you stir it the noodles all return to the center, kind of like a risotto. They are silky and on the less heavy side as mac is concerned, and tend to be made on the stovetop (putting it in the oven will dry it out). Velveeta is a saucy mac, as is my sodium citrate mac and evaporated milk mac.
But the most elusive form of mac, in my opinion, is stretchy mac. Stretchy mac is like saucy mac, only it leaves a fair amount of the cheese partially un-emulsified, allowing for insane cheese pulls and lots of texture. It never totally combines, nor does it need to. Noodles & Co.’s Wisconsin Mac and Cheese is this kind of mac, which I spent a lot of time trying to replicate in my early 20’s before realizing stirring bagged cheese into hot pasta is not really the right way to do this.
This, as it turns out, is peak stretchy mac. And if you are a stretchy mac fan, this is your recipe.
The secret to this is the use of starch water, not unlike what I do with my fettuccine alfredo. Only here, we use the Instant Pot to use a precise quantity of water—in a pressure cooker, no water evaporates, so we can control for the right water:pasta ratio easily—to cook a precise amount of pasta, and then leave the residual starch water in the pot (no draining!) to build the sauce. Cream gives us the cling factor essential to a great mac, and the cheese when stirred in will emulsify just enough with the starchy water and cream. You will still have stretchy, stringy cheese pockets, which is exactly what you want.
This mac recipe is written specifically for the 6 qt. Instant Pot, designed so that you can make this mac anywhere neatly in a single vessel—no draining, no pot transfer, built-in setting to keep everything hot. I have made it before at my office job, right there on the desk. If I can do this literally AT WORK, you can definitely do it at, say, a high-stakes Thanksgiving.
RECIPE
A 5-ingredient stretchy mac and cheese in a single pot for all your friends. The Instant Pot allows for precision cooking control, allowing us to transform pasta water and heavy cream into the base for a creamy, stretchy mac with lots of cheese pull action.
YOU NEED
1 lb. pasta, your choice of shape—like cavatappi, elbows, shells, fusilli—preferably with a minimum cook time of 6 minute or more
1 tsp. salt
4 cups water
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated melty mild cheese, like Monterey Jack
1 cup grated sharp cheese, like sharp cheddar
1/2 tsp. paprika
MAKE IT
Prep it. In the stainless Instant Pot insert, add the 1 lb. pasta, 1 tsp. salt, and 4 cups of water. Stir it once.
Cook it. Seal the lid and set the Instant Pot to high pressure for the cook time of your pasta (see note 1). It will take about 10-15 minutes to come up to pressure.
Release it. Allow for a 5 minute natural release (unless doubling the batch; in this case, natural release for 10) and then manually release the remaining pressure. You should have tender, just-cooked pasta and a small amount of starchy water in the pot.
Get stretchy. Stir in the cream and paprika. Then add handfuls of the cheese, a little at a time, stirring to combine until all the cheese is used.
Serve it up. Good stretchy mac is always served hot. If leaving on Keep Warm for a length of time, add a splash of water, milk, or cream to loosen periodically so it stays nice and molten.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Cooking times
How long to set the Instant Pot for depends on what pasta shape you’re using. To figure out your cooking time, use this equation:
( Lowest # of minutes on the package / 2 ) - 2 additional minutes
If it’s an odd number, round down. My cavatappi said 6-8 minutes, so I cooked it for 1 minute.
I don’t recommend using pasta in this recipe that has less than a 6 minute minimum cook time—the sturdier, the better, because it does continue to cook while it depressurizes. A nice chunky shape will hold up during this process.
Timing for serving
Mac tends not to get better as it sits around. Plan to budget 15 minutes from the time you seal the pot to the time it actually starts cooking, a few minutes to cook, and then 3-5 minutes to depressurize (unless you are doubling, see note below).
Scaling the mac
This is a pretty flexible recipe as far as quantities go. Here’s how to adjust it for foolproof results.
If you are just 1-2 people who aren’t trying to get deep down in mac (a lifestyle I do not live), you can cut all the quantities in half and follow the exact same instructions.
If you’re trying to do mac for a crowd or holiday, I can happily confirm you can double it in the same 6 qt. Instant Pot. Just choose a sturdy pasta with a longer cooking time if possible, as you will need to double the natural release time to avoid spraying starch all over yourself, which I have done. (Worst case scenario, your mac will just be a little soft.)
I haven’t tested this in an 8 qt. version of the Instant Pot, but based on the physics of it, you’d likely need a different recipe. Sorry!
Cheesing the mac
You can use any cheeses you’d like. I like the majority of my cheese blend to be a mild melty cheese (like jack or gruyere), accented with a sharper cheese (like sharp cheddar or parm, which tend to be drier and emulsify less readily). You really can’t go wrong as long as you use a combo of mild and sharp. The one exception: I recommend avoiding bagged mozzarella at all costs, as it’s almost always part skim, which will cause it to break into a greasy mess in this recipe.
Toppings
You can stir anything into this mac you want. Sautéd mushrooms, toasty breadcrumbs, a can of Hatch green chiles, bacon, whatever. Peas. Fine. Go nuts. Just add a splash more liquid if using something with a lot of additional volume, like broccoli, or your noodles will get dry trying to share the sauce with too many other kids.
What about using a slow cooker?
Unfortunately, this is designed to work only under pressure—it won’t work in a long slow bath. Sorry!
What about on the stove?
This is totally achievable! It’s just a little trickier and more difficult to predict. Put your pasta into a large pot or skillet so that it has room to spread out, then pour water in until it just covers the pasta (some noodles may stick out). Add salt and stir. Bring this to a boil and cook, stirring often, until all but a small amount of water is absorbed. Add water if the pasta is still crunchy by the time the water is absorbed. Not nearly as easy or as consistent as the IP but absolutely doable.