Cheesy Instant Pot goulash is a creamy bowl of comfort food made with two different cheeses, ground sausage and noodles all cooked in the same pot. It’s one of our favorite Instant Pot casseroles my kids ask for all the time.
If your Grandma ever made goulash for you growing up you know how good it is. The Old fashioned way took at least an hour but with our easy Instant Pot recipes take just 5 minutes to cook. A game changer for us that allows our family to sit down and eat together more often.
I bet you will add this into your new meal rotation after trying it. You can make it in your Crockpot Express, Mealthy, or as an easy Ninja foodi recipe too. With the latter you will use the lid that is not attached. Doesn’t matter what type of pressure cooker you have on your counter, following our step by step directions below you will be successful.
I started the journey of making this one pot meal when I found Jimmy Dean hot ground sausage on sale for .99. It is my favorite way to “spice things up” so I bought a few rolls and made this!! Since then I have used ground beef too and I will tell you both have been a hit with my girls and husband.
How to Make Instant Pot Goulash
If you have made pasta, meat and sauce together then you are already familiar with how this is done. You saute the beef, add the noodles and ingredients for the creamy sauce and gently submerge (not stir). Then cook on high for just a few minutes to get everything tender, stir and enjoy!
I started my pressure cooker casserole journey with this Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole. It’s a winner when I don’t need to heat up my kitchen during the summer months.
Ingredient Notes
I used Jimmy Dean in the sausage roll but you could add ground beef instead. Spicy sausage brings a tremendous amount of flavor without the need for seasoning and seasoning salt I tell you. Yes you could use regular ground beef if you preferred.
For the main liquid this will cook in I just used a jar of spaghetti sauce, I buy whatever is on sale but garlic style is probably my favorite one. Or you can make homemade Instant Pot spaghetti sauce before beginning with a little beef broth or stock.
Dump in a can of diced tomatoes, I like the petite style or you could use Rotel if you wanted to add more heat to the dish as that has diced jalapenos in the mix.
Cheddar cheese should be shredded, we like medium or sharp to add a bunch of flavor. You could leave out and just make creamy with the heavy cream needed for the sauce but we like both.
When making any of our Instant Pot pasta recipes you want small/medium sized noodles. I like penne, shells or rotini that are twisted like you see here.
Variations and Substitutions
I am sure this will become one of our favorite meals and a family favorite for sure. If you need it to be dairy free (like my husband does), just ladle out your goulash when the cooking is done for that person. Then add the cream and cheese for everyone else who wants it cheesy. OR use lactose free options, Daiya has great ones. Easy fixes for that. 😉
You can saute about 1/2 cup of diced onions with the meat in the first step if you want to include that. If you want it spicy but using beef just add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or dry Sriracha.
Can you use frozen ground beef?
You can with a few tweaks beforehand. You need it broken into smaller pieces so it needs to at least be partially cooked in order to do that. This is how to cook Instant Pot frozen ground beef in case you forgot to thaw it out the night before. 😉
Tips for Success
I repeat, Do NOT pour in your dry macaroni and stir or you’ll get the burn notice. Instead just gently submerge pasta into the liquid below so it is covered but not pushed down towards the bottom.
You could make this gluten free with alternative noodles but I haven’t tested out the timing of this yet. If you do please share with us below so others can take advantage of the info. We hope this ends up on our weekly meal planning schedule!
Instant Pot Goulash Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground sausage, hot Jimmy Dean brand is best or ground beef
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 1 small bell pepper, diced, optional
- 2.5 cup beef broth
- 4 cup noodles, 4 measuring cups full of uncooked pasta, we used rotini
- 24 oz spaghetti sauce
- 14.5 oz petite diced tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Turn your pressure cooker to saute and add olive oil, sausage or ground beef, onions and diced bell peppers.
- Cook until meat is no longer pink, turn Pot off/cancel button.
- Pour in your beef broth, then spaghetti sauce, then diced tomatoes, then your uncooked noodles and DO NOT stir.
- Push noodles down so they are submerged in liquid and close lid and steam valve. (if cooking on the stovetop do stir this and boil on low until noodles are soft enough for you and serve)
- Set pressure cooker to high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release.
- Stir in heavy cream and cheese, stir until cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately or wait 5 minutes or so and allow goulash to thicken as it sits and then serve!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to save leftovers
I work from home so I like making meals that every one of us enjoys, but there is a bit left over so I have lunch for myself the next day, this was a great one (I would dare say even better the next day!). You do need to store in an airtight container once cooled and keep in the fridge. It will thicken a lot so when reheating I would add 1 tbsp of milk, stir and warm from there to add some moisture.
Other family friendly meals you’ll love
Here’s a great traditional goulash recipe if you don’t have a pressure cooker. Looking for something similar, but vegetarian? Give our slow cooker cheesy cauliflower a whirl.. Pressure cooker lasagna casserole is similar to this goodie but tastes like lasagna. Instant Pot dorito casserole is a family fave
It is definitely a favorite Instant Pot dinner recipe your kids will love. Here are a bunch of other Instant Pot sausage recipes to enjoy after you have fallen in love with this one.
So good and easy to make used Italian sausage and fire roasted diced tomatoes (what I had on hand)
Yes! I love using sausage in this.
This is great for my elderly mom who needs calories that taste good.
Four stars correction
Can this be made in a regular crock pot, and also, my husband cannot have tomatos, is there anything that could be used instead?
Made this and the kids and I loved it! Will definitely be making again!
Awesome!!
Oh my wow!!! This was soooo good! I’m single, so I have only the 3 quart size instant pot. I cut everything in half from your recipe & it turned out perfect! Thank you for this recipe!
OH good!!
Made this it was very good. Will be be our family dinner in the future.
I used Italian cheese instead of parmesan cheese. Used tomato & basil sauce too, helped to add some spices to it.
OH good!!
Hi there! The recipe looks delicious, but I have a question. You write, “Cook until meat is no longer cook, turn Instant Pot off/cancel button.” I’m not sure what that means. Do you mean to cook it until it’s all cooked?
Sorry I was typing too fast, fixed. I meant cook until meat is no longer pink.
@Deanna, it means cook on sauté until the meat is no longer. The veggies should be cooked with it. You have to turn it off the change the settings.l so add your noodles and broth to make the noodles are covered.then cooker insta pot and set to pressure cook for 5 minutes. If you don’t have an insta pot the seetings are pretty close. Hope this helps. I use my insta pot a lot. I’m alone , so I makes meals and then freeze the left overs right away. That way when I don’t feel like cooking I have something already cooked. Just to warm up.