Ok! You know how much I love my Instant Pot. I can’t believe I haven’t made this recipe before now. My kids LOVE mac and cheese. They pretty much live on it. The other day I was looking at the ingredients in “Easy Mac”  — “Easy” Mac Cheese Sauce Mix: Whey, Maltodextrin, Corn Syrup Solids, Palm Oil, Modified Food Starch, Milkfat, Salt, Milk Protein Concentrate, Medium Chain Triglyceride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Natural Flavor, Lactic Acid, Calcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Monosodium Glutamate, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Artificial Flavor, Cheese Culture, Enzymes.

There’s are a lot of ingredients in there that I don’t want my kids eating!

Hmmmm…….

When my kids got home from school the other day and got out their easy mac and I decided — why not try to making a healthier version of this in the Instant Pot!! After a few tries with different ingredients, temperatures and timing, I am SO excited to share this SUPER easy 5-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese.

I used bow tie pasta for ours but you can use any type of pasta! In 5 minutes you have the most wonderful, homemade Mac + Cheese – and the best part is you KNOW what your kids are eating! I made a big batch and we actually had this one for dinner. You can make a smaller batch for after school. Or just save the left overs and put them in small containers for lunches! All you have to do to warm them up is cook them in the microwave on 50% heat for 1 minute.

(this is an image from an Instant pot facebook I’m part of. She is using the end of a cooking utensil to switch the manual pressure release valve. Just a suggestion.)

Now – I’ve had a few people point out that there are a few extra minutes as your Instant Pot comes up to temperature and to release the pressure after the timer turns off. You can also manually release the pressure by turning the pressure valve to open. When I do this I put a clean cloth on top of the pressure valve and make sure my hands are not where the steam will be released. This will cut down on the amount of time. Just putting that out there so you know LOL!

Another fun fact about this recipe is that you can use ANY cheese you want! Use whatever you have on hand. We experimented with a few different cheese combinations. Some of our favorite are 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese and 1.5 cups shredded Italian cheese. But get fancy with it for dinner — add Gouda, Gruyere, Monterrey jack, pepper jack, whatever YOUR family loves!

Here’s the recipe for 5-Minute Mac  + Cheese in Your Instant Pot:

Your kids will LOVE this healthier version of Mac + Cheese and YOU will love knowing what they are eating!!

If you are looking into getting an Instant Pot, you can order it on Amazon and it will come right to your house.

They have great prices and sales too! 

And here is why we love our Instant Pot and a few other Instant Pot recipes we love to make: 

Tex Mex Pressure Cooker Soup 

Instant Pot Crustless Quiche 

Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip 

The Easiest Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

(I made these over the weekend – so good!!)

Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Bisque Soup 

Make it for YOUR kids and let me know what you think! 

Have a YUMMY day!!

xoxo

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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes in 15 minutes!

Make the creamiest, fluffiest mashed potatoes in minutes using your Instant Pot. It frees up oven space for more holiday goodness!

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes 15-Minutes

Mashed potatoes are OUR favorite side dish at Thanksgiving. But let’s be honest, mashed potatoes can be a main dish as far as we are concerned!! We always love to make more mashed potatoes so that we have PLENTY of leftovers. That can be a problem at Thanksgiving when there is limited stove space and time. Plus mashed potatoes take awhile to cook on the stove. My kids ask for mashed potatoes all the time for dinner and they take so long to make that we usually only had mashed potatoes on holidays or sundays when there was more time to prepare them.

That changed when I got my Instant Pot. Now we can make mashed potatoes all the time. My girls know how to make them themselves anytime they want! Here is the recipe for the most delicious, fluffiest, creamiest mashed potatoes in just 15 minutes in your Instant Pot. Give it a try!!

We are excited to make up a couple batches of these potatoes for Thanksgiving! You can cover them with tinfoil and keep them warm in the oven if you want to make a couple of batches to serve a large crowd!

And did you see I made a whole Thanksgiving Dinner in my Instant Pot last week? It was so good! Be sure to check out the Instant Pot Stuffing Recipe. My kids said it’s the best stuffing they have ever had. The sausage makes it super flavorful and cooking it in the Instant Pot keeps it fluffy and moist!

Instant Pot Sausage Stuffing

I even made a turkey breast in my Instant Pot! This is a great dinner anytime and a wonderful Thanksgiving option if you are pressed on time!

Instant Pot Turkey Breast and Gravy

I am so excited to spend time with family this Thanksgiving. It will be our first as a married couple too!! I am SO thankful for all of the blessings in my life. I am also SO thankful for my blog and meeting so many wonderful people from all over the world. Thank you for reading and saying hi from time to time!!

Instant Pot on Amazon

Have a Beautiful Day! 

xoxo

This post contains an affiliate link. An affiliate link adds no extra cost to you but gives TTJ a small percentage to help run our site. 

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Cook Potatoes in Your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

We went on a picnic for Father’s Day. And at the last second we decided we wanted Potato Salad. It’s a good thing I had my Instant Pot. I was able to whip up a yummy potato salad in no time. And I thought maybe it would be a good idea to share how to cook potatoes in case anyone else is wondering. The fact is you can have delicious, soft potatoes to eat in 10 minutes if you cook them in your pressure cooker. It’s simple. While you are cooking your potatoes you can get the potato salad fixings cut up and the sauce made so as soon as the potatoes are done you just add the chopped veggies and mix in the sauce.

Cook Potatoes Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

I also cooked my eggs at the same time so I cut those up and added them on top. Easy.

Here’s how to make delicious cooked potatoes in 10 minutes:

1. Cut your potatoes in quarters. We like skins on our potatoes, so that makes it even easier.

2. Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot.

3. Add the potatoes.

4. Close the lid and turn the handle to lock it in place. Set the pressure valve on top to “pressure”.

5. Click on the highest cook setting and set the time to “10” minutes.

6. Once the potatoes are cooked, let the pressure value release naturally or if you are in a hurry you can slide the pressure valve open and let the heat vent out. Be careful if you do this — it is HOT!

I rinsed the potatoes in a drainer until they were cool so I could make my potato salad super quickly. You can use your potatoes for ANY potato dish that you want – you don’t have to make potato salad with them LOL.

Here’s the 10 Minute Potato Salad recipe if you want to make some for YOUR family:

10-Minute Pressure Cooker Potato Salad Recipe

It’s PERFECT for a summer picnic!!

Here are a couple other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes we love to make:

Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Rice 

Instant Pot Baked Potato Soup

Instant Pot 6-Minute Mini Cheesecakes

Have a Delicious Day! 

xoxo

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Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup 

I have had a love affair with my slow cooker for decades so when I heard that pressure cookers were making a come back I knew I needed to check them out. My mom had a pressure cooker in the 70’s and I remember being terrified of her big hulking pot, especially when it exploded soup all over the ceiling one winter evening. I’m pleased to report that the new pressure cookers are far friendlier. I started experimenting with my new pressure cooker this fall and I have to say that I love it! It saves me so much time over our slow cooker.

So for 2017 I am going back to the way I used to blog with weekly themes and one of the new themes is a Pressure Cooker Recipe every week!

Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup 

The first recipe for my weekly theme is Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup.

We love potatoes at my house. They are so comforting and perfect for winter. So break out your pressure cooker Instant Pots and give this one a try! One of the things I love most about Baked Potato Soup is you can load it up with all kinds of toppings — bacon, sour cream, chives, ham, chicken, you name it! And it’s mainly vegetarian, unless you add meat as a topping, so it works for most families!

Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup 

Here’s how to make Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup:

Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup 

And if you’re looking for another yummy Loaded Potato Instant Pot Soup – be sure to check this out from Amy at Living Locurto!!

And another amazing Crock Pot Potato Soup from Today’s Creative Blog. 

Do you have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot?

What do YOU like to make?

Share YOUR recipes in the comments.

I asked on my Instagram page and got SO many Instant Pot dinner ideas!

I am excited about this new weekly recipe here at Tatertots & Jello!

Have a Yummy Day!

xoxo

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My kids are big fans of carrots so I add plenty of them to the stir fry but you could always use other vegetables that are popular among your family. Best of all with lots of mouths to feed this dish feeds all of us and can easily be adjusted to feed more or less.

Chicken Ramen Stir Fry Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (sliced)
• 2 carrots (thinly sliced)
• 1 cup yellow onion (sliced)
• 1 green onion (sliced)
• 3 packages of ramen noodles (discard 2 seasoning packets)

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the canola oil. Add the chicken and let marinate for 15 minutes or longer if desired.
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, remove from the heat and add the ramen noodles; let sit for 2 minutes, then drain all but 1/2 cup of water. Stir in one packet of chicken ramen to the reserved water and noodles.
• Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet or wok. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Stir-fry the chicken in the hot oil until cooked through, about 5 minutes; transfer to a plate and set aside.
• Add the onion and carrots to the skillet and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup water, scraping up any browned chicken bits from the bottom. Add the cooked ramen noodles, cooked chicken and reserved marinade to the skillet along with the green onion. Stir-fry until everything is heated through and uniformly combined, an additional minute.

I try to get the chicken sliced and marinating before we leave for soccer so when we get back home I can whip up dinner in around fifteen minutes. I send the boys to shower while I get dinner on the table. This meal has been a lifesaver and has earned itself a permanent spot on our dinner rotation for busy nights! (or nights when I only feel like putting in 15 minutes of effort into dinner!) I hope you enjoy this quick dinner recipe! Let me know if you try any other variations!

****

Thanks Kelsey! That looks so delicious and perfect for busy Moms! Kelsey has great ideas on her blog. Here are a few I know you’ll love:

I love this Faux Succulent Wreath! It’s perfect for Spring or Summer!

And, I love her recipe for Mini Brownie Fruit Pizzas! So cute and yummy!

Make sure you visit Poofy Cheeks and

xoxo

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When your kids come home with their bags of candy tonight — snag 12 FUN-sized Milky Way Bars and make up this super easy recipe! It is delicious and so good to dip your apples into!

My kids loved it so much that they ate it by the spoonful LOL!!

Here’s how to make the Milky Way Caramel Apple Dip: 

Ingredients: 

12 “fun” sized Milky Way Bars – 10 for the chopped dip and 2 to freeze and cut up to garnish the dip

1/2 cup of butter

2 cups of brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 (14 oz. can) condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 apples, cut up

Directions: 

• Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan; add brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil (10 to 12 minutes).
• Stir in sweetened condensed milk and cut up Milky Way Bars.
• Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until milky way bars are dissolved and mixture comes to a thick consistency.
• Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and transfer to a serving bowl.
• Serve with sliced apples.
• Freeze two of the fun sized Milky Way Bars and cut them up and sprinkle them over the dip.

Happy Halloween! 

Have a HAPPY and safe day!!

xox

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