Hellllooooo comfort food! I have a confession to make, I used to eat an entire box of mac and cheese after soccer practice every day when I was in high school. An entire box! It was the only food that I would allow babysitters to make when I was a kid. To say I was obsessed with it would be an understatement!
What is more comforting than warm pasta with a creamy cheese sauce. My heart skips a beat just thinking about it.
But, going gluten-free didn’t allow for these kinds of indulgences anymore. Then I decided to try making my own gluten-free mac and cheese, to let my kids have a taste of my childhood favorite. They were hooked! I am always the experimenter, and my favorite recipe experiments are geared towards making recipes healthier, and quicker to make.
This recipe takes the cake! It’s a much healthier version of my original recipe, and it takes 7 minutes to make! Winner winner, mac and cheese dinner.
Here is why this recipe is healthy:
- Bone Broth: gut healing, great for skin/hair/nails, great for growing bodies
- Heavy Cream (especially raw): full of healthy fats, great for growing brains. If you get grass-fed, then you also get omegas!
- Grass-fed Butter and Cheese: again, full of healthy fats for growing brains
Feel gooooood about making this recipe for your kiddos!
Easy Instant Pot Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese
This gluten-free mac & cheese is a much healthier version of my original recipe, and it takes 7 minutes to make! Winner winner, mac and cheese dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free elbow noodles
- 1 cup bone broth
- 1 cup heavy cream (we use raw cream)
- 2 cups shredded grass-fed cheddar cheese
- 1/2 stick grass-fed butter
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put noodles, bone broth, and cream into the Instant Pot.
- Set to manual and dial down to 7 minutes. Make sure the vent on top is closed.
- Allow to cook. Then open the vent valve on the top of the Instant Pot and allow steam to release. When it stops hissing, you can open the lid.
- Stir in cheese, butter, salt, and pepper.
- Serve immediately.
- If you have some leftovers, store them in the fridge. To rewarm your gluten-free mac and cheese the next day, just heat over low heat in a saucepan and add a little more cream or butter.
Notes
You can learn to make your own bone broth here.
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41 Replies to “Easy Instant Pot Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese”
I don’t have an instant pot…… can a crock pot be used??
Yes, it just takes longer to cook 🙂
How many grams of Kerrygold butter? Or do you mean half the block? … b/c I think Kerrygold is equal to two sticks. (i am obsessed with my scale as much as my IP)
Love your site… it’s real… not too fake and perfect! Meaning I x out feeling good about myself. Don’t change!!
Hi Angela! I mean one stick, which is half the block. I should totally get a kitchen scale, I just cook so much by taste and by eyeballing it that I feel like my scale would be left to collect dust. lol. Hope this helps 🙂
Since gf pasta is very tempermental works you change the coming time for different gluten free noodles? Mine say 7 to 9 minutes and they are gross when they aren’t cooked just right.
with gluten free noodles, they can definitely turn into mush quickly. Rice noodles seem to be the worst. We love the quinoa noodles the best because they perform better. lol. If using rice noodles, maybe try only 4-5 minutes in the IP.
Made this tonight. MIND BLOWN. Amazing. This pregnant gal who is trying to watch her carbs a lot was in heaven!!
You did it again, Kate! 😉 We made it last night – I did a batch & a half for my hungry boys. Loved it! Kids gobbled it up before karate – yum!!
We had a bit left over so I warmed it up for lunch today. There was a pool of what I can only describe as a melted ghee in my bowl – like the butter, cream & cheese all separated. It was pretty gross. 🙁 Maybe it was my extra sharp chedear but either way, won’t make extra for leftovers… very odd.
Certainly will make again – and maybe will try a different cheese (add in some gruyere) to see if it does it again.
Oh… and I used GF pasta from Aldi’s – quinoa & brown rice. 7 min was perfect!!!
Hi Anne! Glad the kids are still liking it. I re-heat it by putting it in a pan and adding more milk and cheese. Warming melts it all back together. Its not exactly like when you first make it, but it is still super tasty!
Thanks for the recipe, Kate! This was my first GF pasta cooked in the Instant Pot. I’d been hesitant to try pasta even though we’ve had great results with everything else. So I made your recipe as a side with pork chops last night; used Mueller’s elbows (rice/corn) and followed the recipe exactly except for the addition of 3T of grated parmesan with the cheddar. The pasta was slightly el dente and tasted great. Our non-celiac guests liked it too. Love that it’s done in one pot, no boiling the pasta, testing for doneness, then transferring to a baking dish and heating up the big oven. Guess I’ll have to retire Mom’s recipe 🙂
Yay, glad you liked it Mary Kay. I also love that its all in one pot and so easy to do! I made it for lunch for the kiddos yesterday and it’s always a big hit! Especially with TONS of raw cheese 🙂
Hi Kate, Is there a way to make this dairy free?
You could try using coconut cream in place of milk and maybe cashew cheese with nutritional yeast in place of cheese. But I don’t think it would taste as good.
Hi! If I doubled this recipe, what would I set the time to? I’m new to instant pot and trying to figure that out. Not sure if I doubled the time if it would make the noodles too mushy.
Thanks!
Doubling the time would make them too mushy. I would add on maybe 2 more minutes.
I made this tonight and it was a total hit at my house. I doubled the recipe and used smoked Gouda and sharp cheddar. I also used brown rice noodles (tinkyada). I should have done 8 minutes instead of 7, but there were only a few noodles that seemed underdone. No one noticed except me.
Ooh, gouda is always a great choice, it melts so well. Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
What can I use in place of the bone broth?
Water is fine, or milk
Easy, delicious and definitely and repeat recipe for kids night with brocolli and salad on the side! I followed the recipe using your recommended pasta with a few minor adjustments. I didn’t use as much butter (for 1.5 x the recipe I used 3/4 c.), and I added about a 1/2 cup of fresh parmesan rather than all cheddar. I wasn’t able to serve immediately so i kept it warm in the oven at 250 for 30 min and it was still v good. It would have been better if I served it immediately though.
Awesome!
If I’m using a crockpot roughly how long would I need to cook it for?
I would think maybe 30-45 minutes
Bone broth great, very healthy. However, heavy cream, a stick of butter, and cheese! That must be ones saturated fat allotment for a week. Yes saturated fats are considered healthy for growing brains. But with the obesity epidemic in this country I think it is desperately important to reduce saturated fats. My challenge to you Kate, make this recipe healthier!
This looks amazing! I don’t have an instant or crock pot. Can this be made on the stove top or in the oven? Thanks
Yeah you can make it stovetop, it will just take a little longer as you need to wait for the liquid to boil.
If I were using non gluten free noodles would it still be 7min? New to the instant pot world and not sure how you figure out time. Or is it the same amount of minutes my pasta should cook in boiling water? Thanks!
It’s faster than in boiling water, and probably should be the same time as for gluten free noodles. Let me know what you find to work 🙂
Looks amazing. The links just go to your about page ????
Can’t wait to try.
Hi Danae, which links are you referring to? I checked and they work for me, but if they are not working for you I want to fix them 🙂
What pasta do you use? The link doesn’t work.
Sorry about that, here’s the link https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/7789398/type/dlg/https://thrivemarket.com/p/thrive-market-organic-brown-rice-shells
Does the gf pasta not have to be rinsed? Im curious to how this works as gf pasta can be tricky.
This was super easy and tasty! I used regular chicken broth instead of bone broth and all I had was 2% milk, but I think it turned out fine. I added some bacon and then countered the bacon with some microwave broccoli and cauliflower. 🤣 Also I always add a little bit of garlic powder and ground mustard to my homemade mac and cheese for a little extra flavor 🙂
Awesome!