Instant Pot Ground Beef and Pasta – Instant Pot Ground Beef & Pasta is a creamy, tomato-based pasta with ground beef that cooks in less than 30 minutes.
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Ground Beef Pasta
Ground Beef Pasta is easy to make and perfect for a weeknight meal. It’s a version of Homemade Hamburger Helper, but better! Kids and picky eaters love it and it’s quick to throw together.
This is the kind of meal your family will be asking for seconds. It’s great to make when you need a quick weeknight meal for your family.
Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe Ingredients
- onion
- lean ground beef
- salt
- ground black pepper
- onion powder
- paprika
- dried oregano
- dried basil
- garlic powder
- tomato bouillon
- mini pasta shells
- marinara sauce
- beef stock
- water
- heavy cream
How to Make Instant Pot Beef Pasta
Detailed instructions and measurements are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Turn on your Instant Pot to the saute setting.
- Once it is hot, add in your onion, ground beef, salt, black pepper, onion powder, paprika, dried oregano, dried basil, and garlic powder.
- Cook the mixture, breaking up the ground beef until it is no longer pink and the onions are softened.
- Add in the tomato bouillon cube and mix to combine.
- Spread the ground beef mixture evenly across the bottom.
- Add in the pasta shells layering them on top of the meat mixture. Do not stir.
- Pour the marinara sauce on top of the pasta. Do not stir.
- Pour in the beef stock and water making sure all the pasta is covered. Do not stir.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to SEALING.
- Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 5 minutes.
- Once the 5 minutes are complete, QUICK-RELEASE the pressure.
- Carefully remove the lid and stir.
- Add in the heavy cream and stir to combine.
- Serve with some shaved parmesan and basil.
Tips and FAQs for Homemade Hamburger Helper Beef Pasta
- Instant Pot Ground Beef and Pasta is also great with ground turkey and ground elk.
- You can use any pasta shape you like. I personally prefer the mini shells.
- Use your favorite pasta sauce, whether that’s jarred or homemade.
- You can use a tablespoon of tomato paste instead of the tomato bouillon if you prefer.
- Don’t let the pasta touch the bottom of the pan. You will get a burn notice.
Yes. You can use ground turkey, ground elk, ground pork, and even ground chicken if that’s what you prefer.
The best ground beef for pasta is one that has a moderate amount of fat like 85/15 or 90/10. If it’s too fatty, you’ll want to drain the extra grease. If it’s too lean it may be a bit dry and lacking in flavor. Either way, you’ll want to be sure to season it properly every time for the best results.
For this recipe, it only takes 5 minutes on high pressure.
You can cook raw pasta in the Instant Pot. You want to make sure it’s got an adequate amount of liquid and is completely covered on top.
If you’re browning ground beef in a pressure cooker over the saute function, it’ll only need about 5-10 minutes to cook completely.
If you have a fatty meat, you’ll want to drain the extra grease. If you use a leaner cut like 90/10, you won’t need to drain it.
I would not. It won’t save you much time and the texture of the pasta will change.
How to Reheat Instant Pot Ground Beef Pasta
To reheat Instant Pot Ground Beef Pasta, I recommend either placing it in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes, loosely covered, or reheating it in a pot on the stove. The stove is my favorite method.
alterations to lower calories and ww points
- You can substitute the lean ground beef for 99% fat free ground turkey or white meat ground chicken.
- You can substitute the heavy cream with nonfat plain Greek yogurt + cornstarch. You’ll need to temper them so the yogurt does not separate before adding in.
- Use a low calorie/low point pasta sauce.
- Use a calorie friendly/point friendly pasta. Purple plans on WW could utilize whole wheat pasta.
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Ground Beef Pasta (Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 cube tomato bouillion
- 16 ounces mini pasta shells uncooked
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- ½ cup beef stock
- 3½ cups water
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Turn on your Instant Pot to the saute setting.
- Once it is hot, add in your onion, ground beef, salt, black pepper, onion powder, paprika, dried oregano, dried basil, and garlic powder.
- Cook the mixture, breaking up the ground beef until it is no longer pink and the onions are softened.
- Add in the tomato bouillon cube and mix to combine.
- Spread the ground beef mixture evenly across the bottom.
- Add in the pasta shells layering them on top of the meat mixture. Do not stir.
- Pour the marinara sauce on top of the pasta. Do not stir.
- Pour in the beef stock and water making sure all the pasta is covered. Do not stir.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to SEALING.
- Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 5 minutes.
- Once the 5 minutes are complete, QUICK-RELEASE the pressure.
- Carefully remove the lid and stir.
- Add in the heavy cream and stir to combine.
- Serve with some shaved parmesan and basil.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a once a month in my house love it
Aww I love hearing that!
I will be making this for my grandsons this weekend! Looks delicious
Kara. Thank you for your blog. My family seriously loves your recipes! My question is I do not have a instant pot. Would this come out okay if I made it on the stove or crock pot? Thank you in advance:)
Hi Mari,
Thank you so much! That means so much to me. I don’t recommend cooking it in the crockpot because of the pasta, but it would do great on the stove.
This has become a staple at our house. It’s now my go-to on those many nights when I’m too tired to really cook, but want everyone to enjoy dinner.
I’ve even improvised it when one night, I realized I had run out of marinara. I used enchilada sauce instead of marinara, taco seasoning instead of Italian, and queso instead of cream.
Kara has literally brought my family back to the table. Once I started working full time, we found ourselves grabbing whatever we could find, or worse…nightly take out.
But watching Kara cook and seeing her easy, fun, and creative ways to please everyone, my love for cooking was re-ignited.
This is one of the best compliments I could ever receive! I need to try this recipe with the enchilada sauce and queso. It sounds so good!!