This Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac is loaded with ground beef and cheese making it a super family friendly meal, no kid can resist (young or old).
I come from the generation of Hamburger Helper lovers (wow, I'm getting old). It was fairly new when I was a kid and if your house didn't have it, you weren't the cool house to eat dinner at.
As an adult, while I'm not over the top healthy, I do try to pay attention to what goes into my kids bodies and that boxed wonder meal of the past, just isn't making the cut.
A while back, I made a "Healthier" Cheeseburger Mac, using ground turkey and I even snuck in a few veggies. It was good but I really wanted to set out to make an Instant Pot version.
If you are new to the Instant Pot, welcome! If you already know the magic of the Instant Pot, great, you'll love how easy this meal is.
To make this meal, start off by browning the ground beef and softening the onion and garlic.
Next, you dump everything else in and let the Instant Pot work it's magic.
When it's beeping to let you know it is done, quick release the steam and then stir in some cheese and that is all folks.
Total comfort food, right?
Given that it's been in the single digits for over a week, my family was ready to hunker down with some good comfort food.
Looking for another winning Instant Pot family recipe?
Be sure to check out my super popular IP Taco Pasta!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac / Copy Cat Hamburger Helper
Ingredients
- 1 T coconut oil, vegetable oil or corn oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- ½ C diced sweet onion
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- 1 T Worcestershire sauce
- 2 T tomato paste
- 4 C beef broth OR 3 C beef broth + 1 C water
- 2 C shredded cheddar cheese or cheddar blend
- 16 oz elbow macaroni dry
Instructions
- Set to IP to saute.
- Melt in coconut oil or add oil if using corn or vegetable.
- Add ground beef. Cook until browned, stirring to break up after a few minutes.
- Add in onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until soft.
- Season with salt, pepper, thyme and Worcestershire sauce.
- Stir in tomato paste.
- Pour in ¼ C of liquid to deglaze pot. Scrape up all the tasty bits from the bottom. Then add in the macaroni and remaining liquid.
- Press cancel to stop saute.
- Lock lid into place and seal valve. Using manual button set time to 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes are up, quick release the steam. Remove cover and stir in half the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and place cover, not locked, back on pot for 2 minutes to help the cheese melt.
- Remove cover and serve.
Additional recipe notes for Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac:
- garnish with chopped green onions, chives or parsley
- a Mexican blend cheese goes great as does a double cheddar blend
- pairs great with a garden salad
- macaroni can be subbed with any short pasta (small shells etc.)
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How mush macaroni??
16 oz! Sorry. You know, it's funny, before I hit publish on this recipe, I felt like it was missing something and looked it over so many times but just couldn't figure out what was missing. Thanks for the head's up. I've fixed the recipe to include the macaroni.
If I only have a can of diced tomatoes on hand, could that somehow replace the tom paste? Maybe 1/2 cup of tom and not use as much water? Thanks!
you will end up with a much wetter version. The paste really binds this all together. Personally, I think the taste would be fine but the end result will be a significantly different texture.
Is it not necessary to drain the grease from the hamburger before adding the other ingredients? Seems like there would be a lot of grease leftover.
I've made it my practice to use really lean beef. This way I can avoid having to drain the grease as there isn't an excess. If you aren't using lean beef, then yes, I would drain it. Enjoy!
Help! I have frozen ground beef! What can I do?
I have not made this recipe using frozen. I suppose, in a pinch, you could cook your ground beef first in the IP and then follow the rest of the recipe. The only problem is, then you're not really making a quick meal. You could cook your frozen ground beef by placing 1 C water in the IP, place the frozen ground beef on a trivet over the water and set to 25 min manual high pressure. Then you could drain the grease and go from there.
This has great flavor. It taste like hamburger helper. I used this as a pantry recipe since I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Well I only had half the macaroni and half the cheddar. I supplemented the cheese with other cheese I had on hand and since I had half the mac I reduced to half the liquid. I shouldn't have reduced so much. Still tasted good but my mac was under hydrated.
This was awesome!!! I used 3T of tomato paste, and 1/2 the cheese I used mango habanero cheddar(because I didn’t have sharp cheddar). Tasted phenomenal. Any kid will love this!
Awesome to hear! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review!
I made this tonight and it was a hit!!! Thank you!
Awesome!
This was the first recipe I chose to make in my new instant pot. I was a bit nervous about it but it was absolutely fabulous, thank you for helping with my instant pot fears :). It's the bests cheeseburger mac I've ever made, even better than the normal stove top versions. Great job!
Yay! Welcome to life w/ an Instant Pot! I'm so happy you had a good first recipe! If you enjoyed this one, you should, for sure, try out the taco pasta I have too! It's a favorite. Enjoy!
I've made this twice. Once exactly as the recipe stated and it was very tasty and fast but just a little dry. The second time I added a can of cream of mushroom soup and about 1/4 cup of water to the cooked meat right before adding the broth and cooked according to directions. The taste really didn't change that much but it made the texture a little more creamy and kept it from getting quite so dry. The family enjoyed both versions.
If i want to double this recipe to make twice as much, how does this affect my cooking time as well as the amount of cooking liquid i need?
I have not actually doubled this recipe so I can't say absolutely but I know in a similar recipe, my Instant Pot Taco Pasta, readers have reported doubling all ingredients but using the same cook time. That recipe is similar in that it's ground beef and pasta so I think it would work out the same for this.
Do you know how I could do this with gluten free pasta? Would the liquid amount or time change? Made this last night with ground turkey in place of beef and even my pickiest kiddo gobbled it up!
I'm sorry, I haven't experimented w/ gluten free pasta in the IP as of yet. If you make it work, I'd love to hear!
I haven't tried this recipe but I did try gluten free pasta (corn) in another recipe and it turned out fabulous. Better than stove top texture wise. I'm going to try brown rice pasta with this one.
It’s a totally successful recipe. Worked like a charm.
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this last night and everyone loved it!
Hubby and two boys all had three servings each. which never happens! Increased garlic to 4 cloves and decreased cheese by 1/4 cup. Mix of sharp cheddar and mex blend. Deliciousness! Will definitely make again.
Awesome to hear!
This meal was super quick and easy! My fiancé loved it, and he tends to be kind of picky. I will use less garlic next time, as I thought it was a bit overpowering for my preference. Otherwise it was delicious!
This was delicious! I cooked exactly as written and it was great as-is. Once done, I decided I wanted mine to be a little creamier so stirred in about a half cup of heavy cream. Fantastic and will replace my other hamburger helper recipe! Thank you!
Mmmm, I'll have to try the addition of heavy cream too! Sounds fab. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This is definitely a keeper! I made it as written, but used gluten free pasta and it was so flavorful!
Great! The gluten free pasta cooked the same time?
With the gluten free pasta, was the cook time still 5 minutes? Thanks!!
So this is my first instapot dish. You say press cancel on sauté, add everything, and then manual 5 min. Manual what? Pressure cook? Sauté? I don’t know what to push!
My Instant Pot has a button labeled "manual". It's just high pressure with the ability to manually adjust the cook time. Which model of Instant Pot are you using? Perhaps your model is different?
Ah, there is a pressure cooker button so that is it. 🙂 I made it and it worked out nicely! thanks!
Can I use zucchini noodles instead of pasta and what would the liquid be then
I have not used zucchini noodles in this recipe. My fear would be the noodles turning to mush being cooked under pressure. Please do let me know if you try this!
This was a lovely meal. Perfect for when there is little energy left at the end of the day to cook a meal.
Will make this again for sure!
Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
Delish! My family loved it. So quick and such an easy meal for those nights we have sports etc
So glad you enjoyed it! We have more of "those" nights than not these days!
Awesome dinner, thank you so much! Made exactly as directed and turned out great, kids loved it.
Glad you and the family enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to come back and rate it! 🙂
Love this recipe! It turned out great! I made 2 batches, next time I will try and dbl and hopefully it will all fit in the 6 quart pot. So easy and tasty!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Any chance you'd have tips to modify this to normal slow cooker recipe?
Hmmm, I've never attempted to do this. My best guess would be to brown the meat and place it in the slow cooker. I have always had better luck boiling pasta for 2-3 minutes prior to adding to slow cooker, so I would do that. Then add the pasta and all other ingredients (except the cheese) and cook about 4 hours and then stir in cheese. If you try it, I'd love to know the results.
I actually ended up attempting tonight! I basically did steps 1-5 in a pan on the stove. Then added dry pasta to the slow cooker. Drained the excess grease from the pan, poured beef broth, water and tomato paste on top of the pasta in the slow cooker and mixed. Cooked on high for maybe 2-ish hours. I tried to keep an eye on the pasta, which took some time and I accidentally let it get a little too done but definitely still edible. Added cheese in two batches as described in the original recipe and pulled it from the slow cooker so the pasta would stop cooking.
All in all, worked out pretty well. Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious. I had frozen leftover broth from a Mississippi roast that I used. Plus som water.
Wonderful quick meal! Kids and us parents loved it! Liquid disappeared once cheese was added etc. Doubled the recipe. Thanks!!!
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the feedback!
Really good. I added about a cup of marinara sauce. Will make it again & again & again
Glad you enjoyed it!
Found this recipe in a Facebook IP group and so happy I did. It’s delicious and super easy to make. I followed the recipe to a T, just added half gluten free pasta as I didn’t have enough elbow macaroni. Came out perfect! My husband went back for thirds. lol. Will definitely be putting this in my favorites. Love how little time it took to make. I’m off to check out your other recipes. Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed it!
I made this two days ago and it was, hands down, the most delicious thing yet to come out of my Instant Pot. So good it’s ridiculous! My whole family thanks you !!
So glad you liked it!!!
This was so delicious! I switched out the regular pasta for gluten free rice & corn elbow pasta, cooked it for the same amount of time, and it turned out perfect.
This was one of those recipes that seemed easier to just cook on the stovetop to me. It took about the same time and only used one pot. I used Dreamfields Rotini instead of elbows to save carbs. It was delicious!
This is a frequent go to meal for us. I swap oregano for the thyme, add smoked paprika, chipotle powder and a dash of chili powder. Thanks
Those are great ideas.. will do so next time.
This was awesome. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers if my husband doesn’t beat me to it!
Simple, rapide et délicieux!
Damn, lots of hamburger helper hacks on Pinterest suck. Not this one, I did add quarter cup of heavy cream, 1/4 cup freshly diced jalapeños with onions and some red pepper flakes but it’s perfect. I’ll make this til the day I die. Thank you so much.
So glad you enjoyed it! And I like the additions you made!
I’m just learning how to use the pressure cooker type thing. I own the Hamilton beach multi function one so it’s similar to a Instapot just doesn’t bake and a few different buttons.
Anyways onto my review, making this recipe was really easy and simple. The downside to the recipe is it’s a tad dry and also VERY BLAND. So if you make it be prepared to add extra spices onto your liking before you close the lid. Besides that it was good once I added flavouring to my bowl ,
I made the recipe but I found it without flavour. I don't understand why as there are very good spices in the recipe. I had to add hot sauce just to give it something. I may have to try what other people added.
I'm sorry to hear this. Can I ask, did you substitute any ingredients or did you follow it exact?
I’ve made this before but I do not have elbows can I substitute with a different pasta?
Yes, I've made it w/ several different short pastas. Depending on what pasta shapes you have, the cook time may need to be changed by a minute or two. A good rule of thumb w/ Instant Pot pasta is the cook time is usually half of what the cook time listed on the box is. I actually like my pasta al dente so I will do half the box time minus a minute. Let me know how it turns out and which pasta you use!
I absolutely love this dish!! I will never make hamburger helper again!!
I absolutely love this dish!! I will never make hamburger helper again!! My children even loved it in the instapot!
So glad! This is one of the few my kids will eat too! They also love the IP Taco Pasta, sort of similar idea.
So my husband hates ground turkey. I accidentally took out ground turkey instead of hamburger meat and thought, what in the world am I going to do with this?! Well I found this recipe. Husband didn’t even realize it was ground turkey
I didn’t have tomato paste so just left out.
I also added much more seasoning as I was working with ground turkey lol. Kids and hubby loved it. Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing your story w/ me! I'm so glad it worked out for you!
Can I substitute chicken broth for the beef broth? I have made this recipe several times and it is delicious.
Yes, have subbed in chicken broth and even vegetable broth in a pinch.
do i use uncooked macaroni? last time i did in another recipe the noodles ended up uncooked
Yes, the pasta goes in uncooked and will cook during the pressure cooking. Enjoy.
Is it possible to cut recipe in half? Would the cook time be the same?
Yes, you absolutely can halve this recipe. Yes, cook time will remain the same. I haven't done it w/ this recipe specifically but my IP taco pasta is the same concept (ground beef, pasta, broth) and that recipe is written for 8 oz pasta etc. so I imagine this would be the same.