Your Rice Cooker Is The Secret Weapon For Easy Mac And Cheese

It's no secret that rice cookers are capable of cooking much more than rice, including quinoa and oats to veggie frittatas and rich, creamy mac 'n cheese. Rice cookers use a combination of heat and steam to create perfectly fluffy rice. That same mechanism also produces the ideal conditions for producing al dente pasta coated in melty cheese. There's no need to boil pasta or hand whisk bechamel sauce — simply add your ingredients to the rice cooker to get homemade mac 'n cheese in 30 minutes.

Not only does the rice cooker make mac 'n cheese in a flash, but it does it with less mess and consistent results. Since everything comes together inside the rice cooker, the only thing you'll need to wash is the cooker's metal insert. Plus, the settings on the rice cooker help ensure your mac 'n cheese cooks the same way every time, so you have a recipe you can rely on in a pinch.

For best results, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind when making mac 'n cheese in a rice cooker. Adding the correct ratios of liquid, pasta, and cheese is key to preventing your mac from becoming soupy, overly dry, or burned, so stick to a trusted recipe. Additionally, smaller rice cookers may be less ideal for making mac 'n cheese for a group, since the amount you can make is limited by the size of your appliance.

If you need a delicious no-fail recipe for rice cooker mac 'n cheese, we recommend a modified version of our favorite slow cooker mac 'n cheese. When making mac 'n cheese in a rice cooker, you need about 1 cup of both liquid and cheese for each cup of dry macaroni elbows. Since our slow cooker recipe calls for 1 pound of pasta (approximately 4 cups), 4 cups of cheese, and 5 cups of liquid, you'll need to reduce the amount of liquid by 1 cup.

Additionally, if your rice cooker holds less than 4 quarts of food, you'll need to reduce the amount of pasta, liquid, and cheese accordingly. For instance, if your rice cooker holds 2 quarts of food, you'll need 2 cups of each ingredient. Gently stir everything together to ensure it cooks evenly, place the lid on the rice cooker, and turn on the "white rice" setting for 30 minutes. There's no need to stir — in fact, lifting the lid releases valuable steam your mac needs to cook properly.

Once the 30 minutes are up, you should have a rice cooker full of hearty, creamy mac 'n cheese. After you've mastered this base recipe, there's plenty of room to experiment with additions like bacon bits, hot sauce, or stone ground mustard. Just make sure to add a little at first to keep your ingredients in the right ratios.