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 hamburger helper 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. (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. It is surprisingly easy to do with boxed pasta elbow macaroni and ground beef or sausage.
You don’t have to use this brand either. We have a Crockpot Express and make lots of Ninja Foodi recipes using the pressure cooker function too. Any of these will do as the function is almost identical. A fun one pot meal kids love.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with 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.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model 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!
I do this sometimes with 1/2 pound of spicy Jimmy Dean sausage and 1/2 lean ground hamburger meat. Gives you some spicy kick but not enough where you need a glass of milk on the side. 😉
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
I have had comments from some that they have a harder time finding the canned Campbells cheese soup to buy. You can make it homemade like they did here if you need to do so. 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. I mean you don’t really need anything but if you have a larger crowd it is a great way to spread it out a bit more.
Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni The Typical Mom
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.
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker – the one I have is shown above
- Elbow macaroni – or another small pasta (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
Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole
If you love traditional hamburger helper but with added cheese this pressure cooker pasta dish is for you. 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- Turn pot off and allow to sit for 10 minutes at least to allow sauce to thicken before serving.
- Realize that the longer it sits and cools the thicker it will become.
When saving the leftovers you want to ensure that it has cooled to room temperature first. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you want to reheat it realize that it will be quite thick, you can thin it a bit with some broth or water, stir and get the consistency you want before heating.
You only need 1 minute or so in a microwave safe bowl to be warmed and enjoyed once again. If you want something quick here’s how to make boxed Kraft mac and cheese in a pressure cooker too
Cheeseburger macaroni recipe
Looking for more Instant Pot pasta recipes your family will love? We make thees all of the time. There are so many ways to change things up but basically if you have your favorite sauce and Barilla of your choice you can make a fantastic meal that is family friendly for very little money at all.
- Instant Pot spaghetti is a really inexpensive dish you can make with literally 3 ingredients.
- Our Instant Pot potato corn chowder is wildly popular too so keep that in mind for another dinner this week!
- Cheesy Instant Pot goulash is delicious. You can make with cheddar or without on this one which is a nice option.
Crockpot chili mac is a great recipe too. If you want lower carb, try our Instant Pot hamburger soup.
You can pressure cook this cheeseburger helper in your Crockpot Expresss too as well as tweaking this homemade mac and cheese recipe on the stovetop. You just use a deep pot to saute the meat as directed below. Then add all the other ingredients and stay close. Bubble until the noodles are as tender as you’d like!
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We absolutely loved this. I used the beef broth instead of water and I think it made it too salty. But we will be doing it again soon with just water instead. Thank you so much for a fast go to recipe!
I have made this recipe twice now and my family loves it! This time I did double the recipe since I have two teenage boys and a husband that eats like one LOL! Anyway, I added about another 1/2 cup of noodles and another 3/4 cup of beef broth with 2 cans of cheese soup then, cooked on manuel for 4 minutes since the noodles were al dente at 3 minutes the last time. Nothing wrong with that, just like my noodles a little more soft. Remember to not stir the noodles and layer the meat on the bottom. your noodles will burn if they are directly on the bottom. If your noodles are not covered after gingerly pushing them down, then add enough water or broth to cover, just don’t stir. Thank you for a keeper!
Hi. I don’t mean to be a pain but I was reading the comments and in one you said pour the noodles in a measuring cup up to the 1 cup mark but in a different comment you told someone to use 8 oz of noodles. I know 1 cup = 8 oz of liquid but not of noodles so I was just trying to clarify the amount of noodles to use. I plan on making this tomorrow. It looks delicious! Thank you in advance for your help.
I use a measuring cup to measure all things so yes 1 full c (measuring cup) of uncooked macaroni noodles you add.
Ok, so i just made this last night. Couple issues i had. When i mixed the cheddar cheese soup and water and poured it over the hamburger, it barely covered it. added the pasta and couldn’t even push it down because there wasn’t enough liquid so i had some exposed pasta. I think, perhaps i had over a lb of hamburger so that may have been the problem. As soon as the IP reached pressure, it read BURN across the unit. I immediately hi CANCEL and did a slow release of pressure. it looked fine though minus some burnt bits on the bottom. added my cheese and sour cream and gave it a good stir and let sit. when i ate it the noodles were definitely underdone and crunchy but the longer it sat they kept cooking and all the flavors melded together. having it now as a leftover for lunch and it is AMAZING! the flavors are all there and the pasta is well overcooked now. i also added some cooked bacon to give it more of a bacon cheeseburger taste. Anyway i will definitely make this again just make sure i tweak a few things.
Yes if you use more than 1 lb there won’t be enough liquid and this will happen to the noodles. You can use a bit less meat but not more than 1 lb or you’ll need to increase the liquid a bit.
My family absolutely loved this recipe. It tasted amazing! Now as far as cooking it, I doubled the recipe I’m not sure if this is where my problems stemmed from or what but I got the dreaded burn notice on my instant pot and I had to stop cooking it and finish it on the stove top. I ended up adding about 2 cups of milk and cooking it for 5-7 more minutes at a boil and it was perfect. I’m not giving up on this recipe because everyone loved it so much. I think next time I’ll try not mixing the water and soup together and just add the water in first. 🙂
I made it today and both my son and I enjoyed it. I didn’t make mine in the IP though but on the stovetop because my intention was to transfer the leftovers to the fridge in the same container that I cooked it in.
I will make it again one day. It is a very easy recipe.
OH good!! Glad to know it worked just as well on the stovetop. 😉
I was confused about the 1 cup pasta measurement for this to be able to feed 5. So, after reading the comments (and because this looks yummy and I know my grandkids would love it), I had to find out the answer for myself.
So, I got out my trusty kitchen scale and I must agree with another commentator that lo and behold, there is a big difference between how you actually measure the dry pasta.
1 “measuring cup” is 8 oz by volume…but only about 3oz. weight. When I measured half a 16 oz BOX of dry macaroni it weighed 8 oz but was a big difference in amount of pasta which I can see feeding 5 people.
Now I need to know is the recipe supposed to be truly a cup measure or a half a big? Thanks!! I look forward to making this!!!
Yes when I say a cup I mean I use a measuring cup and pour in the noodles to measure a cup.
This is the first recipe I’ve made in my bosses instant pot for their dinner and it was a big success! I used ground turkey, added skim milk instead of water with the cheese soup & increased the milk by about 1/2c & set it on manual for 4 minutes instead of 3 since a couple of other people commented that the noodles weren’t fully cooked. Thanks for the easy & tasty recipe! ☺
Can this recipe be doubled to use a pound of pasta? Still plan on using a pound of meat but would use two cans of soup. Would this be too much in a 6 quart ip? Need to have a meal for a potluck. Thanks.
Im a lil confused with instructions 3 & 6. Didnt you add the sour cream mix already?
I only have whole wheat macaroni. How will I change the cooking time. Recipe says 3 min on high for regular macaroni
#3 says water and cheddar cheese soup
#6 says cheese and sour cream 🙂