Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!
Macaroni and cheese. Ah classic comfort food at its finest and definitely one of my favorite meals growing up as a kid! It doesn’t get much better than cheesy, delicious, homemade macaroni and cheese and making this in the Instant Pot is a total GAME CHANGER.
You guys this recipe is spot on and couldn’t be any easier to make, that’s why I love cooking with my Instant Pot. Just dump all the ingredients in and you get perfectly cooked, delicious food every single time. No need to drain water or use multiple dishes either, just one pot with little clean-up! I don’t know about you, but these past few months have been pretty stressful during quarantine and with being home ALL the time, sometimes your family just needs a little comfort food. This mac and cheese definitely hits the spot and well I added in some fresh broccoli because, you know, BALANCE.
We really try to eat healthy 90% of the time and let me tell you that making mac and cheese at home with fresh, REAL ingredients is so much better than the boxed stuff! Not only is it better for you, but the taste is incredible! Moderation is key and I think everyone needs a bowl of this cheesy deliciousness every now and then.
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
- Whole wheat elbow pasta. Feel free to use any type of pasta you’d like for this, the possibilities are endless!
- Grass fed butter. Could you leave this out? Sure you probably could, but in my opinion, if you want good macaroni and cheese you NEED the butter, it’s just not the same without it. If you really don’t want to use butter you could always add a little olive oil!
- QUALITY cheddar cheese. Yes make sure to find a block of good sharp cheddar as the cheese is the star of this meal! I like to freshly grate the cheese myself over buying the pre-shredded stuff because it just melts so much better and has such a delicious rich flavor.
- Ground mustard. This adds a nice subtle flavor, but if you don’t have ground mustard on hand, regular mustard or even dijon would work just fine.
- Milk. I like to use 2% milk for this recipe, but you could use whole milk or even skim if you want the lower fat content!
- Broccoli. Fresh is always best in my opinion, but frozen broccoli would work too!
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT MAC AND CHEESE
- Place pasta, water, butter, salt and ground mustard (in that order) into your Instant Pot.
- Lock the lid, making sure the valve is set to “sealing” and cook on manual high pressure for 4 minutes.
- Quick-release when finished, being really careful not to let the steam hit your face, and stir in the milk, cheese and broccoli. Stir until the cheese is completely melted then place the lid back on for about 2 to 3 minutes, just so that the sauce can thicken and the broccoli can get nice and tender!
If you add the broccoli in with the noodles, the broccoli just becomes complete mush, but adding in fresh broccoli to a super hot Instant Pot makes it perfectly tender in just a few minutes. If you prefer the taste of roasted broccoli, you could of course mix in some of that, it’s totally up to you! Feel free to add in additional seasonings as well or even more veggies if you prefer!
This recipe makes a TON too which is great because the leftovers taste even better! And because this macaroni and cheese only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish, you really have no excuse to use the boxed stuff when this takes about the same amount of time!
Hope you all enjoy this creamy and delicious Instant Pot mac and cheese with broccoli and if you do decide to make this or any other Eat Yourself Skinny recipe, please make sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see all the yummy things you’re eating!
- 1 lb. uncooked whole wheat elbow pasta
- 4 cups water
- 2 Tbsp grass fed butter
- ½ tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli, cut into small florets
- 1 cup milk (I used 2% for this recipe)
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Place pasta, water, butter, salt, and ground mustard into the bowl of the Instant Pot and stir to combine. Secure the lid and make sure that the valve is set to "sealing."
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes using the manual function. Quick-release when finished, being really careful not to let the steam hit your face.
- Stir in the milk then add cheese and broccoli, stirring until the cheese is melted. Place the lid back on the Instant Pot and let the macaroni sit for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the broccoli is tender.
- Season with pepper and any additional seasonings as needed. Serve and enjoy!
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