Name: Instant Pot Hamburger Helper
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 13 min
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 pound dried elbow macaroni pasta; 3 cups beef broth; 1 cup chopped yellow onion; 1 tbsp garlic minced ((around 3 garlic cloves)); 1 tbsp paprika; 2 tsp Italian seasoning ((or use oregano) ); 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce; ½ tsp chili powder ((use more according to your liking)); ½ tsp salt ((use more according to your liking)); ½ tsp ground mustard; ½ tsp sugar; ½ tsp black pepper; 2 cups milk; 2-3 cups freshly grated cheddar cheese; 1 tbsp corn starch

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This Instant Pot Hamburger Helper is a classic macaroni recipe that is cooked in a pressure cooker for only 5 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.

How to Make Hamburger Helper in an Instant pot

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.

Creamy and Cheesy Ground Beef and Macaroni

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.

Check out more Instant Pot recipes:

Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Macaroni Pasta

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
Ground mustard
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 5 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.

TRY THESE DELICIOUS INSTANT POT SOUP RECIPES:

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.

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