Instant Pot Chili Mac will be your new go-to favorite comfort food! This amazing Chili Mac Recipe is loaded with beef, cheese, beans, tomatoes, and so much more. Kids and adults alike will be back for seconds. We love to top our pressure cooker chili mac with fritos, sour cream, and lots of cheese. There’s nothing like a bowl of easy Chili Mac and Cheese on a chilly night. 

instant pot chili mac in bowls topped with fritos

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Instant Pot Chili Mac

Chili Mac is a classic comfort food, and making it in an instant pot makes it so easy to make. This pressure cooker chili mac recipe will be your go-to winter comfort meal!

I’ve always loved chili mac in the winter time, because nothing warms you up like a big bowl of chili combined with macaroni and a million delicious toppings. Just that sentence alone makes me feel so FULL of happiness, and that’s what we all need in the dark days of winter.

This pressure cooker chili recipe is topped with lots of cheese, macaroni, frito’s corn chips, and plenty of other good stuff. By far my favorite (and easiest) chili mac recipe.

This Instant Pot Chili Mac checks all the boxes…EASY, quick, comforting, and delicious. It’s my kind of meal, so I hope that it’s yours as well!

chili mac in bowls topped with fritos and cheese
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overhead shot of chili mac topped with fritos

Pressure Cooker Chili Mac Recipe

We have been LOVING our Instant Pot and I hope you guys aren’t tired of the new recipes by now! This Instant Pot Chili mac recipe is just our latest favorite.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot (aka a pressure cooker), I do have an awesome Loaded Chili Macaroni and Cheese recipe that’s made on the stove top. It’s very similar, just made a little differently. Whichever way you go, you can’t go wrong. This meal never gets old to us at our house.

If you’re wanting to try out the Instant Pot and aren’t sure which one to get, I recommend the 6 qt for families of 4, or the 8 qt if you’re consistently serving a crowd.

Some of our other pressure cooker favorites include Classic Pot Roast, Honey Baked Ham, Chicken Tortilla Soup, and of course Zuppa Tuscana (I could eat that every dang day).

instant pot chili mac in bowls
overhead shot of chili mac - how to make instant pot chili mac

Loaded Chili Mac Recipe

Our Instant Pot Chili Mac is filled with so many good ingredients like cheese, beef, tomatoes, and more!

Chili Mac Ingredients:

  • Ground Beef
  • Yellow Onion
  • Garlic
  • Chili Powder
  • Cumin
  • Chicken Stick (low-sodium)
  • Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
  • Black Beans
  • Red or Kidney Beans
  • Elbow Pasta
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Butter
  • Oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Whole Milk
  • Parsley

Lots of delicious ingredients combined in one (instant) pot. How could you go wrong?

This combination of pressure cooker chili and mac and cheese is the most comforting food I can think of. I can’t wait to make it for easy weeknight dinners and eat it all winter long!

loaded chili mac made in an instant pot

Easy Instant Pot Recipes

Check out our other favorite Instant Pot Recipes including:

I know you’ll love these comfort food recipes too!

If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.

Recipe Card

Instant Pot Chili Mac Recipe

4.72 from 21 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 8
Author: Becky Hardin
Instant Pot Chili Mac will be your new go-to favorite comfort food! This Chili Mac Recipe is loaded with beef, cheese, beans, tomatoes, and more, kids and adults alike will be back for seconds. We love to top ours with fritos, sour cream, and more cheese. There's nothing like a bowl of Chili Mac and Cheese on a chilly night. 
Instant Pot Chili Mac will be your new go-to favorite comfort food! This amazing Chili Mac Recipe is loaded with beef, cheese, beans, tomatoes, and so much more. Kids and adults alike will be back for seconds. We love to top our pressure cooker chili mac with fritos, sour cream, and lots of cheese. There's nothing like a bowl of easy Chili Mac and Cheese on a chilly night. 
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Ingredients 

  • 2 pounds extra lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet yellow onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 16 ounce can black beans, drained
  • 1 16 ounce can red or kidney beans, drained
  • 16 ounces elbow pasta uncooked
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 4 cups shredded Mexican Cheese Blend cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions 

  • Set Instant Pot to “Sauté” and add the ground beef. Cook, stirring often, until beef is crumbled and no longer pink, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer beef to a paper towel-lined plate and carefully drain the fat.
  • Heat butter and oil and add the diced onion to the pot. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent (about 3 minutes). Add minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, black pepper and salt.
  • Add the chicken stock and water, while scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pot insert, to deglaze the pan. Turn Instant pot off.
  • Add the diced tomatoes with green chilies, diced tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, pasta and browned beef. Stir, being sure the liquid covers pasta.
  • Lock the lid in place and close the release valve.
  • Set Instant Pot to Manual/Pressure Cook on HIGH and set timer to 4 minutes.
  • When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker, and use a quick pressure release. (To reduce splattering, cover the release valve with a lightweight kitchen cloth.)
  • When the red valve drops, carefully remove the lid. Stir the mixture.
  • Set the pot to “Sauté” and add the milk and 1 cup of cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Repeat this process until all the cheese has been added. Stir until pasta is tender, approximately 2 more minutes. Add the parsley and stir.
  • Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.
  • Enjoy!

Video

Calories: 647kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 52gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 1319mgPotassium: 989mgFiber: 6gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 765IUVitamin C: 6.5mgCalcium: 733mgIron: 5.7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this? Leave a comment!

Meet Becky Hardin

Becky Hardin is a wife and mother living in Saint Louis Missouri. She founded The Cookie Rookie in 2012 as a creative way to share recipes. Now, she is a trusted resource for easy cooking around the world, being featured in Taste of Home, The Kitchn, ABC’s Home and Family, and more. Here at The Cookie Rookie she is the editor in chief of all recipes and continues to enjoy sharing her passion for cooking for busy families. She has since founded two additional food blogs, Easy Chicken Recipes and Easy Dessert Recipes.

4.72 from 21 votes (20 ratings without comment)
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4 Comments
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Jennefer
Jennefer
April 24, 2020 7:45 pm

We made this for dinner tonight. Everyone in the family loved it!5 stars

Becky Hardin
Becky Hardin
April 25, 2020 3:08 pm
Reply to  Jennefer

Thanks, Jennefer! I’m so glad you all loved it!!

JMartin
JMartin
April 12, 2018 8:15 pm

I’m trying this for dinner tonight ! thank you for sharing ! btw, I’m totally in luv with my Instant Pot. The more things I can make in it, the happier I am ;) God Bless

MaranDa
MaranDa
March 5, 2018 6:17 pm

What is high setting? Indont have instant pot brand so….yea how kich tome is that