Easy Instant Pot taco casserole with ground beef is full of flavor and cheesy! Stir in sour cream for a creamy pressure cooker pasta made in just 10 minutes. Your whole family will surely love this flavorful dinner and it’s delicious the next day.
This has been made with ground sausage too and items I had in my pantry! I honestly couldn’t believe how tasty it came out, especially since I made it on the fly but even my kids gave it 2 thumbs up!! One of our favorite Instant Pot recipes for sure. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Taco Pasta Recipe
Before I added all the cheese and sour cream I scooped a portion out for my husband who needed a dairy free Instant Pot recipe. You can make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too or in your Crockpot Express.
He even said without cheese (the best parts if you ask me) it was still packed with flavor. You can use any shape of noodles you like, or whatever is cheap is what I do.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
- For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
If you love pasta recipes you are going to love this 3 minute pressure cooker version for sure. It’s one of our favorite Instant Pot casseroles. 😉 You can surely just jump to recipe below but I did do a pretty lengthy step by step video you can watch so you don’t miss a beat. If you want to take this over the top use spicy sausage.
If you’re concerned it might be too hot add 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 pound of spicy ground sausage. I am telling you that is the best combination that we have found. It adds just a bit of saturated fat but the flavors with just that added bit make it out of this world amazing to eat.
This is one of our cheap Instant Pot recipes because you can make this Instant Pot taco casserole for about $15 or less and feeds 5-6 people! It’s done in under 20 minutes too.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground beef – 80/20 hamburger is just fine or ground turkey could be used. I don’t drain it but you can if you choose to
- Small noodles, we used rotini or use any small/medium pasta shells
- Shredded cheese, I like Mexican blend cheese that is already shredded
- Diced tomatoes – I like petite tomatoes
- Tomato sauce to thicken sauce up
- Beef broth is better than water for liquid
- Onions diced are a nice add in
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- Can of diced green chiles is a good additional add in too
Substitutions
Let’s be honest, I buy what’s on sale y’all. 😉 If Rotel is cheaper than diced tomatoes I will use that and you get a little spicy with that change too which is kind of nice. If you do like heat you can use half Jimmy dean spicy ground sausage and half beef to make this too.
You can choose any type of small pasta. If you like elbow macaroni noodles then use those, we chose rotini which are this fun spirally shape that the kids like. At the end I put a dollop of sour cream and more cheddar cheese on top.
Sometimes I stir in the sour cream but it depends on whether everyone wants it included in their bowl. Totally up to you but I like it creamy taco pasta style personally. You can use your Ninja Foodi to make this too, either pot works. Directions are the same as below.
with Frozen Ground Beef
And in case you are starting with Instant Pot frozen ground beef, here’s how to thaw it out. You would need to follow these steps first, drain and continue with steps below.
If you don’t have a taco seasoning packet then just add (I didn’t have one and this is what I used)
- 1.5 tsp of:
- Lawry’s seasoning salt
- Garlic salt
- Chili powder
How to make Taco Casserole in a Pressure Cooker
- Turn your pot to saute and add your olive oil, hamburger and diced onions.
- Brown ground beef until it is no longer pink, stir in taco seasoning packet, then turn off.
- Pour in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and beef broth, do not stir.
- Sprinkle in uncooked pasta and gently submerge into the liquid, do not stir.
- Seal pressure cooking lid and set to high pressure for 3 minutes followed by a quick release. 2 minutes cooking time if you like your noodles al dente
- Remove the lid and stir contents.
- Then sprinkle cheese on top and put lid back on ajar so it can melt and dish can thicken for 5 minutes.
- Stir in sour cream if you want it in the whole dish, or serve with a dollop on top of each bowl with a side of tortilla chips or corn tortillas.
You could make a variation of chicken taco pasta by stirring in some precooked rotisserie / leftover chicken diced up at the end before you sprinkle on the cheese. This will give it time to warm up. I hate wasting any food so I do this if that is the protein I have on hand that needs to be used up. Know what I mean. 😉
Instant Pot Taco Casserole Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1.5 tsp seasoned salt, I use Lawry’s (if using 1 taco seasoning packet then skip these seasonings and just add that)
- 1.5 tsp garlic salt
- 1-2 tsp chili powder, depending on spice level
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, petite diced is best
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 3/4 cup beef broth
- 2 cup noodles, small, we used rotini
- 1.5-2 cup cheese, Mexican blend shredded is best
- 1/2 cup sour cream, optional
Instructions
- Put your Instant Pot on saute and add your olive oil, ground beef, spices (or taco seasoning packet) and diced onions. Brown meat until pink is gone. Turn pressure cooker off. Can drain if you desire, or not.
- Pour in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and beef broth, do not stir.
- Pour in uncooked noodles and gently press down so they are submerged into the liquid, do not stir.
- Put lid on Instant Pot and close steam valve.
- Set to pressure high for 3 minutes.
- Do a quick release.
- Sprinkle 1.5 c cheese on top and put lid back on to warm cheese and allow to melt for at least 5 minutes, 10 is better to allow sauce to thicken as well.
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top or put 1/2 c. sour cream into pot and stir for a creamy taco casserole style meal! Will thicken more upon standing.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Other Quick Pasta Recipes You’ll Love
After you make this be sure to try some of our other Instant Pot pasta recipes our kids love:
- Instant Pot sloppy joe casserole is something new to try, creamy like this one too if you add sour cream
- Add hot cheesy pressure cooker chicken parmesan casserole to the list for next week, it’s always a winner for dinner
- I’d try this Instant Pot enchilada casserole next if you love Mexican style recipes
There’s a video in this post showing you how I make it: Feel free to print the recipe below and keep it with your other favorite recipes. OR just come back and visit us every time you need the ingredients and step by step. We love “seeing you” so there’s that. 😉
Sure to be your family’s next favorite meal ever, let us know what you think below once you enjoy a bowl yourself.
Interesting!!! I made this recipe nearly identical, with exception of changing two things: I used my favorite taco seasoning and I wanted this dish to be more authentic so I stirred the tomato sauce in with the ground beef. When making tacos, it is tradition to add tomato sauce to the ground beef to give it a good red texture and to amp it up a bit.
The dish was totally amazing and so easy to make. The proportions were literally spot-on.
The recipe (like most) is versatile – make it however you want. The fact that you can put everything into the pot and pressure cook it for three minutes and boom, it’s done is super priceless.
I can’t believe how good this dish tasted! My partner loved it, as well. She was excited to eat it when she saw a bowl of it come her way! I had told her I was going to make something taco-based but she wasn’t enthusiastic about tortilla tacos so this gives us that taco craving satisfaction without the tortillas.
Thank you for this recipe. It will be in our rotation!!!
A good go to, easy meal!
I also add a can of drained black beans, some frozen sweet corn and add a little more broth. We also usually eat it with corn chips, it comes out amazing!
yay!
@Kayla, YUM