Instant Pot Hamburger Helper – Ground Beef Mac and Cheese!

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This Instant Pot Hamburger Helper is a classic macaroni recipe that is cooked in a pressure cooker for only 4 minutes. It tastes better and healthier than the boxed Hamburger Helper. This creamy and cheesy ground beef macaroni pasta recipe will be perfect for any weeknight dinner.

Looking for more ground beef recipes? Well, you have to try this easy and quick Instant Pot Hamburger Helper. A mac and cheese dish with ground beef that’s cooked in a creamy cheese sauce. This one-pot pasta dish is so delicious and made with simple pantry ingredients. It’s made without all of those unnecessary ingredients and preservatives you may get from boxed pasta and meal starters.

This Pressure cooker Hamburger Helper reminds me of beef stroganoff. It has some similarities in taste but is much quicker to make and uses fewer ingredients. You can find my Instant Beef Stroganoff recipe here.

Instant Pot Hamburger Helper Ingredients:

• Ground Beef
• Elbow Macaroni Pasta
• Milk
• Yellow Onion
• Garlic
• Smoked Paprika
• Italian Seasoning
• Chili powder
• Worcestershire sauce
• Beef broth
• Sugar
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Cheddar Cheese and shred

How to Make Instant Pot Hamburger Helper:

• First, brown the beef in an Instant Pot with one tablespoon of oil. It should take about 3 minutes.
• Second, cook the seasoning ingredients until translucent and fragrant. This step only takes 1 minute.
• Third, put all of the ingredients in the pot, including seasoning, browned beef, pasta, and broth. Then cook for about 4 minutes with immediate release.
• Lastly, make the cheesy and creamy sauce.

How to Make Creamy and Cheesy Sauce for Hamburger Helper:

To make a creamy and cheesy sauce, I add milk, cornstarch, and cheddar cheese to the macaroni dish after pressure cooking.

As an alternative, you may use sour cream or water. Please keep in mind that you might not enjoy the results made with just water because the milk adds creaminess and flavor to the sauce.

What Types of Cheeses Best for Hamburger Helper:

For this recipe, I just used fresh cheddar cheese because I still have some leftover from previous recipes. However, you may replace the cheddar cheese with American cheese or processed cheese like Velveeta.

Pre-shredded cheese contain additive that prevent the cheese from clumping or sticking together while in the package. So I recommend using Fresh Cheddar cheese (Block) because it melts smoothly, doesn’t contain added preservatives, chemicals and it will have a fresher, creamier taste than pre-shredded cheese.  

Also, remember to put the cooked ground beef macaroni dish in the refrigerator promptly after cooking (within 2 hours; 1 hour if the temperature is above 90 °F). You can keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days, or up to 4 months in the freezer. You can find more info on the USDA website.

Also check out more Instant Pot recipes: INSTANT POT CARNITAS – MEXICAN PULLED PORK INSTANT POT BEEF STROGANOFF, INSTANT POT PULLED BEEF BRISKET FOR SLIDERS!, INSTANT POT ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP, INSTANT POT BONELESS BEEF SHORT RIBS, INSTANT POT POTATO SOUP WITH BACON!, INSTANT POT LAMB STEW, INSTANT POT ITALIAN SAUSAGE KALE SOUP, INSTANT POT GREAT NORTHERN BEAN SOUP

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