Pressure Cooker Creamy Mac and Cheese

By Sprig Originals ✓ · with credit

Adapted from thrivinghomeblog.com

Elbow pasta cooks right in the pot, then gets stirred into a glossy Colby Jack sauce — no draining, no separate cheese sauce, one pot from start to finish. It's on the table in under 15 minutes and creamy enough that nobody will guess how little work it was.

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat elbow pasta
• 3 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 cups water

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 3-4 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese

Instructions

1. Tip the pasta, butter, mustard, salt, pepper and water straight into the pressure cooker pot and give it a good stir so the pasta is submerged and nothing is clumped on the bottom.
2. Lock the lid and set the valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure for half the boiling time printed on the pasta box, minus 1 minute — if the box says 6 minutes, that's 2 minutes. Most elbows land at 2 to 4 minutes.
3. As soon as the time is up, drape a dish towel over the steam valve and do a quick release. Once the float valve drops, open the lid away from your face.
4. Stir the pasta well — it will look loose and a little soupy, which is exactly right. Pour in the milk and half and half and stir until smooth.
5. Add the shredded cheese a handful at a time, stirring after each one so it melts into a glossy sauce before the next handful goes in. Taste, add more salt and pepper if it needs it, and serve right away while it's at its creamiest.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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