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Instant Pot High Protein Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

Yum

February 7, 2019 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD

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Hello, my name is Sassy and I love Mac & Cheese and I also love my Instant Pot. So, naturally when given the chance to make mac & cheese in the Instant Pot, I was like DUH! WHY HAVEN’T I DONE THIS YET?!?! (Yes, that is me shouting at myself).

instant pot mac & cheese

Any-who, I decided to give this a whirl when a friend at the gym said she had had something similar before and it was good. I’m always ALWAYS looking at ways to up the protein content in my meals and the meals of others so I figured, why not give it a go and see what happens. The recipe is easy to make, thanks to the help of the handy, dandy Instant Pot and it’s super tasty, not to mention packed with 26g of protein per serving and theres not even meat in it! BAM!

Mac & Cheese

I LOVE mac & cheese. As a dietitian, that might seem like a weird thing to admit, but hey, I’m just being honest. It was one of my favorite meals post swim practice and I’d be so excited when my mom would make it. I especially like when it was made with shells because then the cheese got trapped in the shells and for whatever reason made the overall experience SO MUCH better.

instant pot mac & cheese

Mac & cheese was one of my staple meals growing up, and frankly I gave up on it many moons ago when I realized gluten and I were not friends. However, when I realized that companies were actually making products that were gluten-free AND actually resembled and held up like pasta, I was reunited with one of my true loves, mac & cheese this time, gluten-free style.

Pasta La Vista Banza

When I first tried Banza, I was skeptical. However, I was blown away by the taste, structure, AND content of the pasta. It was so filling AND didn’t disintegrate when you cooked it. Win-win-win. Not to mention the brand as a whole is pretty awesome (and fun) so what’s not to love?!

instant pot mac & cheese

They are now producing every kind of shape & size pasta you can imagine. I was just walking the aisles of Whole Foods today and I saw some spaghetti that I hadn’t tried yet, if I didn’t have 5 more boxes of Banza in my pantry, I would’ve scooped them up, but lord knows I don’t need one more piece of food in my pantry, Marie Kondo would be so NOT okay with it as-is.

Winner, Winner, Protein Dinner

Welp, the good news is this is easy to make, the bad news is you need an Instant Pot to do so. The good news to that is that you can grab yourself one on Amazon, the bad news, it won’t be here for 2 days…

instant pot mac & cheese

Ok, ok the other good news is that there are 26 grams of protein per serving which is about the amount I recommend clients get at every meal. Usually I tell clients to shoot for 20-30 grams depending on their sex, age, weight, goals, etc. If you added a bit of meat to this dish you could easily hit 30-40 grams AND be so full and satisfied you will be guaranteed leftovers….but you’re going to have to swat it away from anyone you live with…no promises there.

instant pot mac & cheese

Enjoy! And as always, if you make it, let me know, tag me on Instagram and use the tag #sassyapproved 😀

Pro Tip: Feel free to add any other protein of choice to this dish, I think a chicken sausage would be real nice if I do say so myself.

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instant pot mac & cheese

Instant Pot High Protein Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: American
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Ingredients

Scale
  • 2` tbsp butter
  • 2 small yellow onion (chopped)
  • 4 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
  • 16 oz. gluten free pasta shells (dry)
  • 4 cups broth
  • 10 oz. mushrooms (sliced)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • pinch cayenne, more to taste (optional)
  • 1–1/2 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
  • 1–1/2 cup cottage cheese

Instructions

  1. In Instant Pot or Pressure cooker, turn on to Saute function, add butter and onions and saute until onions start to caramelize
  2. Add garlic & bell pepper and saute for 2 minutes. Turn off saute function.
  3. Add pasta, broth, mushrooms, & spices, set pressure cooker on manual, close (make sure vent is closed), and cook on high for 5 minutes.
  4. Quick release the vent, open the top and mix in cheese & cottage cheese. Enjoy! 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thesassydietitian on Instagram

instant pot mac & cheese

xoxo,

Sassy

…

Pin Now, Mac Later

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I MAY BE COMPENSATED THROUGH AFFILIATE LINKS IN THIS POST AND ON THIS SITE. HOWEVER, ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. COMPENSATION HELPS WITH ANY EXPENSES NEEDED TO KEEP THIS BLOG GOING.

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Filed Under: Instant Pot / Slow Cooker, Main Course, Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maggy says

    February 8, 2019 at 10:34 am

    I am so flipping excited for this recipe. You have no idea!!! YUm YUm

    • Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD says

      February 8, 2019 at 2:46 pm

      YAY! Let me know how it turns out 😀

  2. Courtney says

    February 10, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    This looks AMAZING. If I don’t have an Instant Pot, would this work in a slow cooker or on the stove??

    • Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD says

      February 10, 2019 at 7:15 pm

      I would imagine it would work well on the stove or on low in a slow cooker! I’ll have to give it a try to see 🙂

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