Instant Pot frozen ground beef can be thawed and cooked to make spaghetti in no time at all. If you’re forgetful like me, thawing and cooking frozen meat in a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker has never been easier!
If you’re like me and need to know how to cook or defrost ground beef in under 25 minutes, I’m going to show you how. Added to our list of 101+ easy Instant Pot recipes and tips I use on a semi weekly basis and now am sharing it with all of you. ๐
I love thawing frozen ground beef in pressure cooker because it’s keeps it’s juiciness and drains out all the fat as it sits on a trivet. Since I am forgetful I no longer have to worry if I’ve forgotten to take it out of the freezer the day before! It’s one of the best ways of how to cook frozen ground beef we share on the blog.
Whether I mix it with other ingredients to make taco meat or make meatballs to throw in spaghetti with it, there’s always something I can make with a package for dinner. But that is not all!! You can use these same basic steps for Instant Pot Frozen Ground Turkey too!
Ninja Foodi Frozen Ground Beef
If you need easy Ninja Foodi recipes, you can use that pot instead. All electric cooker brands will work the same, with the high pressure function. The only difference with this one is that you will use the lid that is not attached.
We cook a lot of frozen meat in the Instant Pot…because I tend to be forgetful. ๐ There is nothing worse than everyone getting home around dinnertime and realizing you have nothing thawed. You are all hangry and not prepared to go out to eat. What to do? We have help for you using your pressure cooker tonight.
After we purchased a quarter of a cow recently I started cooking with beef even more so I needed a way to figure out how to go cook frozen ground beef in no time. This works for frozen ground turkey too of course.
When it comes to Instant Pot frozen meatballs you can really just throw them right in with some sauce and they will be just fine. However with a larger piece of ground beef you really need to thaw it out first, and then cook it the rest of the way on saute as you would normally with a pound of fresh ground beef.
If you are TOTALLY new to the pressure cooking world, an Instant Pot will change your life. It took me a little while to get to know all the buttons and now I use this thing like all the time, I mean daily.
How Long to Cook Frozen Ground Beef in Instant Pot
The best way to do this is to use a trivet, I like the ones with handles (t makes it a bit easier to lift out when it’s done). Just set on top with some liquid beneath to steam on high pressure for 5 minutes. You will need to wait 10 minutes when done too though to continue to allow it to get tender in the center too.
How to Cook Frozen Ground Beef in Instant Pot Without Trivet
If you do not have one of these metal gizmos first off I suggest that you do because they are quite handy. BUT in the case that it is lost etc… you can still follow these steps with a small tweak. You do want to keep meat out of the water, or it will get soggy and not a pleasant texture. Just wad up one or two pieces of tinfoil to keep it up about 1.5 inches and you have yourself a good alternative.
You could use a ramekin upside down and place on the bottom with a small plate on top you can use that. The negative to that is the fat won’t drain away like it would with a trivet but it will work. Make sure the plate is oven safe and use a pot holder to lift it out because it will be really hot.
This method drains almost ALL of the grease and fat away from the meat. It ends up at the bottom of the pot so it can be thrown away (seen below). It’s a great tip to have in case you forget to thaw it out the night before.
Tips
Do NOT quick release. It is important to allow the meat to continue heating during that extra ten minutes at the end. This allow the thickest part of the center to defrost.
Be careful when lifting the lid as it will be very steamy and can burn you. Don’t be alarmed at the way it looks when done, break it up and cook. Used immediately you will get the best results.
Typically I buy 80/20 ground beef, but honestly since the fat drains away with this method any type will do.
Below are quick directions but I also have a printable recipe card at the very bottom for you as well. It is a lot quicker to defrost and then cook than Crockpot ground beef.
FAQ
Yes, you would need to follow the directions to cook frozen ground beef under high pressure first (below). Then drain the grease out of the pot, break up the meat and continue with the steps to make Instant Pot spaghetti (except skip saute step since meat will already be cooked).
You can make this, following these same steps first. Once your meat is cooked, drain the grease out of the pot. Set pot to saute (low, ideally). Add 1/2 cup broth or water with 1 packet of taco seasoning. Break up meat, coat with seasoning so it soaks in and enjoy!
Yes, I would follow the same directions as you would below to defrost and cook meat from frozen except decrease the timing from 5 minutes to 4 since it generally doesn’t take as long to thaw and cook.
That is not recommended. Instead once you cook it to tender allow it to cool and store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 3 days. Think of a meal you can make with it the day after so it isn’t wasted like making a casserole or egg rolls with it.
Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef Recipe
Equipment
- 1 trivet
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef, up to 2 lbs.
- 1 cup water, or broth
Instructions
- Pour 1 c. water into your Instant Pot and lower a trivet down.
- Place pound of frozen ground beef on your trivet.
- Close your lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a natural release for 10 minutes. Lift out ground beef and drain liquid in your pot.
- Cook your thawed ground beef as you wish. Note: the outside layer will be lightly cooked, inside will be thawed and raw which will need to be cooked further to complete your recipe
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipes to Make with your Cooked Ground Beef
Now you can make our Instant Pot taco meat in no time. Starting with a rock hard pound of frozen beef even, it’s still great! OR follow these directions for air fryer ground beef (thawed) and add seasoning packet at the end.
I am sure you have a handful of your favorite dishes with this type of protein, go with your fave. Here are a few of our favorite Instant Pot ground beef recipes to make once this is done!
- Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni is amazing like goulash in a sense
- Our 5 ingredient Instant Pot chili is probably the most popular since you just need 5 main ingredients
- Make our Instant Pot ground beef stroganoff with your meat tonight!
- Try this Slow Cooker Hamburger Casserole that is loaded with all the things as a one pot meal.
Worked great! Quick and easy! Thanks for saving my dinner when i realized i forgot to thaw the beef LOL!
Oh yay!!
I used 1-lb ground turkey – fresh that I had put In the freezer and today, decided to use your method in order to defrost it. The meat was not in a tube. It was flat.
With the exact instructions, the ground turkey was cooked more than the outside but that’s not really a bad thing. It wasn’t quite cooked all the way, so it was a matter of breaking it up, using sautรฉ mode, adding in onions, bell peppers, etc. and having the ground turkey cooked within three minutes and it came out just right.
Those who has the same results, don’t fret. Next time, back off on the 15 minutes release time or change the pressure time to 3 minutes. As long as the exterior isn’t crisp you are fine. It just means less time on the cooking side and your meat will still be tender.
I have been using the microwave to defrost, and I want to move away from that. I am not against microwaves nor do I think they are harmful. Ever since I got the Ninja Foodi with air crisp, I have been thinking of ways to migrate things like “defrosting” and though it was longer in the pressure cooker, I liked the texture when it was complete and as mentioned, appreciated that it did cook more than just the top so that the next step is only 3 minutes.
Also, if you all are starting with a flat slab of frozen meat, rather than a tube, it might also be the reason why it’s cooking all the way through. Just a thought.
I believe I am going to use this method moving forward. Longer time, but results are better than expected.
Glad it was a help