Remember eating Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni as a child? This homemade version is easy, tasty and made in under 15 minutes in your pressure cooker. Your family is going to love this Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni recipe.
On my quest to find easy Kid-Friendly Instant Pot meals for my family, I knew I wanted to find a recipe that reminded me of the Hamburger Helper™ Cheeseburger Macaroni that I enjoyed so much in my youth. Come to find out that it is so simple to make in your pressure cooker and it is a one pot meal so cleanup is a breeze!
Mom for the win!
Ground beef goes on sale in bulk at my grocery store often. I stock up at the beginning of the week and towards the end of the week, I scramble trying to find new recipes that I can use it for. Instant Pot ground beef recipes are perfect for busy nights when we need something on the table quick.
This recipe goes beyond the traditional homemade Mac and Cheese and adds a little more flavor with the addition of tomatoes and ground beef. The result is reminiscent of the childhood favorite without all the preservatives.
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
- 1 lbs ground beef
- 3 tsp minced garlic
- 2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- Pepper to taste
- 2 tbs Italian seasoning
- 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon basil
- Press saute on the instant pot and allow to heat about 3 minutes.
- Add ground beef and onion and using a chopper crumble meat as it cooks.
- Cook until no pink is left. I don’t drain my beef because I use lean ground beef. If you need to drain the fat, go ahead and do so.
- Add garlic, basil Italian seasoning, and seasoning salt and saute for 5 more minutes.
- Pour in broth, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes.
- Add dry macaroni and stir well.
- Place on the lid and turn to lock, cook manual high pressure for 4 minutes
- When finished cooking, quick release all pressure.
- Remove lid, stir in cheese. and serve.
*Note: After some feedback I have adjusted some of the seasonings to make this less of a “goulash” and more of a hamburger macaroni. I have also had some feedback that less broth was used. I find that the sauce thickens as it stands so I left the 3 cups in the recipe. If you find that doesn’t work for you, you can reduce the amout of broth to 2 cups.
- 1 lbs ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tbs minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbs seasoning salt
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 15- ounce cans tomato sauce
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups elbow macaroni uncooked
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Press saute on the instant pot and allow to heat about 3 minutes.
- Add ground beef and onion and using a chopper crumble meat as it cooks.
Cook until no pink is left. If you have a large amount of fat, go ahead and drain the beef. I usually use lean ground beef so I find that it isn't necessary.
Add garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, and seasoning salt and saute for 5 more minutes.
- Pour in broth, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes.
- Add dry macaroni and stir well.
- Place on the lid and turn to lock, cook manual high pressure for 4 minutes
- When finished cooking, quick release all pressure.
- Remove lid, stir in cheese. and serve.
*Please note, cook time does not include the time it takes for the pressure cooker to come to pressure.
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Carole says
atIf you double the meat will you need to increase the liquid for the pasta to cook properly?
Jennifer says
atI’ve have made this twice now, while the flavor is outstanding both times I’ve gotten the ‘burn’ indicator. I have never gotten the instant pot to full pressure. I follow the instructions exactly and even added extra beef broth. I even made sure no stuck meat bits were on the bottom before I set it to pressure cook the second time. I get it fully cooked by letting it come to ‘burn’ twice. Any advice?
Mom says
atThat pesky Burn notice. It will happen with pasta if the pasta isn’t the last thing in the pot or sometimes if you stir your pasta in with the other ingredients. . Try to carefully put the pasta on top of the ingredients and then light press into the liquid. I hope that helps.
Anne Valencia says
atWhat % ground beef are you using? Fearful if it isn’t real lean, it will be greasy.
Mom says
atI always use extra lean ground beef in all my recipes. I agree, if you are not using lean ground beef it could get greasy and you will need to drain it.
Karen Hess says
atLet me first say that we found this recipe to be delicious! Here’s the caveat…the recipe said to NOT drain the meat after browning. I imagine that is because you brown the meat and chopped onion at the same time. This created a gross amount of fat! I was ladling it off the top of the recipe after opening the IP. Even with the leftovers the next day it was nearly impossible to get rid of the congealed fat. I will make it again, but will brown and drain and then saute the onions.
Mom says
atI use very lean beef so I don’t need to drain the beef. I will update the recipe to be more clear. I would drain it if I didn’t use lean ground beef.
Malcom says
atYou sort of lay the dry elbows on top of the meat mixture correct? You don’t stir it in.
Mom says
atCorrect, I kinda press them down into the liquid a bit but I don’t stir.