I was shocked to read that pasta could be cooked right, in the Instant Pot. HOW?? Otherwise it has to swim around freely in a lot of water. I tried this recipe and it worked amaaaazingly well. Have a look, this is a close-up photo. It took about 10 minutes. Talk about "fast food," geez!
I cut everything down to 1/4th (wanted to try a single serving just to see). That worked great in my 3-qt. Mini. You may need to use PIP (pot within pot) if you have a bigger one and want to make jut a single serving. But here's the recipe for four.
iNSTANT POT MAC & CHEESE
16 oz. Elbow macaroni (lg. size, not mini as used in boxed)
4 cups Water
3 Tbsp Butter.
2 teasp. salt
(my addition - cayenne, black pepper and/or other seasonings as desired)
Stir and poke pasta into water and set to Manual (Normal + High) for 4 minutes.
Quick Release the pressure. Remove lid and stir pasta to separate.
Hit Cancel, then hit Saute (Normal).
Then adding...
1 Cup Heavy whipping cream (or heavy cream, Half-and-Half, evap. milk (or even whole milk probably). (I used half and half).
2 Cups grated cheddar (I used store bought, finer cut).
...stir in liquid first, separating pasta, and add cheese gradually, as it melts. DONE!!!