Instant Pot Cottage Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

This Instant Pot cottage cheese macaroni and cheese is a delicious high-protein recipe that is ready in just 15 minutes! Give this a try when you’re craving comfort food!

I’ve been making this cottage cheese macaroni and cheese for years, and it got me wondering… could I make it in the Instant Pot? My pressure cooker works great for this 5 Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese, so I figured I’d give it a shot! It worked perfectly. And while the macaroni cooks, you can blend up the sauce, so this recipe is ready in just 15 minutes from start to finish!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Pasta: Whole wheat, chickpea, or regular pasta all work. Chickpea pasta will give you the highest protein content (and the lowest carbs), but use whatever you’ve got. Stick to short shapes like cavatappi, rotini, or elbows — long pasta doesn’t work well here.
• Cottage cheese: I used 2% milkfat but 4% will give you even creamier results. Don’t try using fat free cottage cheese, because it tends to get grainy.
• Milk: I used 2%, but whole milk works beautifully and makes things even richer. Lower-fat milks work in a pinch.
• Cornstarch: This helps to thicken the sauce. You could substitute arrowroot powder if needed.
• Sharp cheddar cheese: Buy a block and shred it yourself. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking agents that keep it from melting smoothly. Sharp cheddar gives the best flavor, but you can mix in a little gruyère or pepper jack if you want to get fancy.
• Seasonings: Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. It’s a simple combo, but they pull everything together.

Tips for the Best Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

A few things I’ve learned after making this approximately a million times:

Shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in cellulose and potato starch to prevent clumping, and those coatings make the cheese resist melting smoothly. Buying a block of sharp cheddar and shredding it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference. I really like the Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese for this.

Don’t skip the blending. You might be tempted to just whisk the cottage cheese into the sauce, but unblended cottage cheese will leave little curds in your finished mac. Blending takes 30 seconds and is non-negotiable for the texture you want.

Watch your pasta timing. Different pasta shapes and brands cook differently. Standard macaroni should cook in 4 minutes. Long pasta shapes (spaghetti, linguine) don’t really work here. Stick to short shapes. If your pasta comes out underdone, you can simmer on sauté for an extra minute or two.

Storage and Reheating

This stores well in the fridge for up to 4 days. The sauce will thicken considerably as it cools — that’s normal. To reheat, add a splash of milk and warm gently on the stovetop or microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each.

I don’t recommend freezing this one. Cottage cheese-based sauces tend to separate when frozen and thawed, and you’ll end up with a grainy texture.

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