Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

This Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese is made in just 25 minutes with simple ingredients! It's creamy, cheesy and packed with flavor! Spice up your week night dinner routines with this spin on mac and cheese!

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Keyword: instant pot buffalo chicken mac and cheese, buffalo chicken mac and cheese, instant pot buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 25

Servings: people

Calories: 595kcal

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lb elbow macaroni pasta
2 tbsp vegetable or corn oil
4 cups water
1 tbsp ranch seasoning
2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup buffalo sauce
3 tbsp butter
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs optional for topping
fresh parsley optional for topping

Instructions

First, start by chopping your chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes.
In a bowl, season the chicken breasts with salt, ranch seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes.
Next, set the Instant Pot to the saute function. Add corn or vegetable oil to the pot. Once the oil heats up, add in the cubed chicken breasts.
Saute the chicken until golden. This should take about 3-4 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts from the instant pot and transfer them to a plate. Cancel the saute function.
Add 1/2 cup of the water to the Instant Pot and use a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pot.
Add in the rest of the water, chicken, macaroni pasta, butter, buffalo sauce and more salt to taste. In that order! Do not stir.
Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
Once the buffalo chicken mac and cheese is finished cooking, do a quick release little by little until water stops spewing out. Then fully engage the quick release button to finish releasing all of the pressure.
Open the instant pot lid and add in the cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, sharp cheddar cheese and heavy cream. Stir everything together until all of the cheeses have melted and incorporated into the mac and cheese.
Top off with panko bread crumbs and parsley if desired and enjoy.

Notes

Use a good quality buffalo sauce for this recipe. The better the buffalo sauce, the more delicious your buffalo chicken mac and cheese will be!
Use freshly grated cheese for best results. Packaged cheese often contains preservatives that can result in a grainy texture once melted.
This step is completely optional but is super delicious. Transfer the buffalo chicken mac and cheese to a baking dish and top it off with the panko bread crumbs. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until the bread crumbs are toasted. This does take more work so I often skip it on week nights.
Always read your instant pot manual before using it. I used an 8 qt for this recipe. If you’re using a smaller one, you may need to adjust the liquid quantity. Never fill above the maximum fill line in your instant pot.

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