This Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni recipe will take you back to your childhood! Just 10 minutes in your pressure cooker makes this cheesy goulash hamburger helper style pasta dinner. Your whole family will love it!
I created this Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni recipe the other night. Bringing this childhood favorite back into our house was great and got 10 thumbs up. One of our favorite comfort food Instant Pot recipes yet. (originally published 4/17, affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Casserole
Tell me this was a staple in your home growing up too.
Your mom may have used a box to make this sort of cheesy hamburger helper dish, but homemade is so much better.
FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! Now let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and a set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should still deglaze pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
Ninja Foodi Cheeseburger Macaroni
- We made a crockpot hamburger helper recipe before and that was good. But it took quite a while to finish so we could eat.
- This Instant Pot hamburger helper version has a VERY short cooking time and my kids’ favorite quick and easy meal.
You don’t even have to pre cook the pasta! Just throw it all in with your onion and garlic powder and set to high pressure with a quick release at the end. BAM!
It’s one of our favorite Instant Pot ground beef recipes, but you could use ground sausage too!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
Here are a few questions you might have in mind before getting started on this one:
This is it!! NO more using that box from the grocery store. Here you can skip that, use any shaped noodles you like and adjust the seasonings as you wish.
Well we are not suggesting that it is a low calorie food by any means. Typically for a 6 oz. serving you’re looking at 500ish calories.
This depends greatly on the type of meat used.
I do not when I am sauteeing the ground beef. We do use organic grass fed meat so it is low in fat already. You can drain if you like, either way it is a great family friendly meal.
It really is a complete meal, but you could serve it with air fryer garlic bread on the side too.
Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni The Typical Mom
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker – this is the one I have
- Elbow macaroni – this is what I use (if you use organic or gluten free it will take longer and you will need to add a few more minutes.
- Cheddar cheese soup – Campbell’s has this one in the soup aisle
- Hamburger meat
- do not use more than 1 lb. or it won’t turn out properly
- spicy ground sausage is great too if you like a little heat
- Onion – optional
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheese – we like sharp cheese
- Water – or better yet substitute for chicken or beef broth
You can of course add any other seasonings you like such as onion powder or pepper. This is what it looks like when it is just done. The longer you let it sit the thicker it gets and tastes amazing.
If you love traditional hamburger helper but with added cheese this pressure cooker pasta dish is for you.
Cheeseburger macaroni casserole
- As with all of my other Instant Pot recipes it is very easy and you only need a few ingredients.
You could also use another style of noodle other than elbow macaroni but I had that in the house so that is what I used. I like to use what I already have on hand if possible.
If you like a thicker consistency let it sit in the pot for about 5 minutes after you have turned it off. Like I said, t will thicken quite a bit as it sits!
If you like it a bit soupier like you see here above then serve and eat immediately.
Cheeseburger macaroni Instant Pot
Here’s a quick step by step but there is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post too.
Time needed: 10 minutes.
Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni
- Saute
Add olive oil, diced onions, ground beef or sausage into your pressure cooker on the saute function. Cook until meat is no longer pink on the outside.
- Add ingredients
In a bowl whisk together your water (or beef broth), salt, garlic powder, & cheddar cheese soup until smooth. Pour this into your pot. Sprinkle in uncooked noodles and gently submerge.
- Cook
Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 3 minutes. Do a slow release when done (meaning move valve slightly so steam comes out slowly).
- Add more ingredients
Lift lid, set pot to saute again and stir in sour cream and shredded cheese at this time. Allow to bubble, cheese to melt and contents to thicken. Then turn pot off.
- Allow to thicken
Turn pot off and allow to sit for 10 minutes at least to allow sauce to thicken before serving.
- If you want something quick here’s how to make boxed Kraft mac and cheese in a pressure cooker too
Looking for more Instant Pot pasta recipes your family will love?
- Instant Pot spaghetti
- Spaghetti squash pasta is a healthier version of “noodles” but was a hit in our house and takes no time at all in your IP
- Our Instant Pot potato corn chowder is wildly popular too so keep that in mind for another dinner this week!
- Cheesy Instant Pot goulash
Crockpot chili mac is a great recipe too. If you want lower carb, try our Instant Pot hamburger soup.
Cheeseburger macaroni recipe
You can pressure cook this cheeseburger helper in your Crockpot Expresss too as well as our homemade mac and cheese recipe on the stovetop.
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
Ingredients
- 1 c elbow macaroni uncooked
- 1 c water or can use chicken or beef broth for more flavor
- 1 lb ground beef or turkey
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 onion diced (optional)
- 1 tsp salt optional
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 can cheddar cheese soup
- 1/2 – 1 c sour cream (depending on your liking & how thick you want it)
- 1 c cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to saute and add your olive oil and ground beef.
- Start to brown your beef, then add your diced onions and cook together until ground beef is no longer pink. Turn instant pot off by pushing the cancel button (important step). Drain grease and return pot.
- In a separate bowl whisk together your water, salt, garlic powder, & cheddar cheese soup. Pour on top of your ground beef.
- Pour your uncooked noodles in and do not stir, just push noodles down gently so they are submerged in the liquid. Close your IP lid and set to manual, pressure, high for 3 minutes.
- When done do a slow release – meaning barely move your steam valve so the steam comes out slowly, and carefully lift your lid.
- Set IP to saute. Add your sour cream and shredded cheese.
- Stir slowly and allow it to come to a boil and bubble.
- Turn IP off. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes to thicken. The longer it sits the thicker it will become too. Serve! (top with more cheese if you're a real cheese lover.
Video
Amber
Monday 4th of July 2022
I made this with a vegan cheese sauce that has a potato and carrot base rather than the cheddar soup. Even with 3 cups of cheese sauce and the 1 cup water, it wound up with "food burn" and I had to sautee for about 5 minutes for the pasta to finish cooking. It also had almost as much meat as pasta. I think next time I'll double the pasta and make it separate. By the time I made the cheese sauce and sautéed the meat, I could have done the pasta on the stove.
Dianna H
Monday 16th of September 2019
It was definitely delicious however I did make just a few changes since I have a 3 qt Mini. I did 2/3 of a cup of elbow macaroni, 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 3/4 lbs buffalo ground meat, no salt, used two fresh garlic cloves crushed and one teaspoon of powder, instead of cheddar cheese soup I used half a cup of cheese dip I did not use sour cream I did use one cup of cheddar cheese and added a can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies. This is a keeper thanks so much!
Danielle Spears
Thursday 22nd of August 2019
So this kind of turned out. Apparently I did something wrong. I did the manual but could get it from normal to high. I put it on for 3 minutes. When it went off there was no steam to release. The noodles were cooked at all. I tried this again 2 more times. Finally most of the noodles we ere cooked. I had to add about a cup of broth with the cheese and sour cream to make sure it wasn't all sour cream. I did saute it like the recipe called for. Half of it burnt to the bottom. But my son did like the results I ended up with. Not sure I'll make it again. What did I do wrong?
The Typical Mom
Saturday 24th of August 2019
Hard to tell if yours didn't come to pressure then your seal might be bad or was out of place. To get pot to high pressure press pressure cook again to move from low to high. On Lux versions they are always on high pressure though.
K. Frampton
Friday 16th of August 2019
Hi! We love this recipe but we noticed that your recipe lists salt and garlic powder in the ingredient list, but it doesn’t tell you when to add it in the instructions - can you help out with that? Thank you so much!
The Typical Mom
Saturday 17th of August 2019
So sorry, will fix. So glad you love it!
Tracy Cardentey
Thursday 25th of July 2019
I need to feed 5 hungry boys so would need 2 lbs of meat and 2 BOXES of elbows. How much liquid and how much time?
Jennifer
Monday 4th of May 2020
Great flavor but my noodles were definitely not cooked...not sure what I did wrong.
The Typical Mom
Thursday 25th of July 2019
If you have an 8 qt. you should be able to double this with no issues. Do not alter the timing, just double ingredients.