Instant Pot Ground Beef and Pasta
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So stinking easy and budget-friendly! The perfect ONE POT meal with a hearty meat sauce. Only 5 min in the Instant Pot!
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why i love this recipe
- One and done meal. Thanks to the magic of the Instant Pot, this pasta dinner comes together so easily with zero babysitting. Even the uncooked pasta cooks right in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, soaking up all the flavors as if it had been simmering for hours on end. This means less dishes, less clean up!
- Speedy budget-friendly comfort food. With its quick cook time and short ingredient list, this is truly the best kind of comfort food without breaking the bank, pleasing the entire family, even the little toddlers.
- Flexible recipe. This is an incredibly flexible recipe, using pasta you already have on hand, or throwing in any lingering greens and veggies (ex. carrots, broccoli, frozen peas and corn) for a heartier meal.
- Freezer-friendly. This freezes beautifully, thawing overnight and reheating over the stovetop for a lightening fast weeknight meal.
Ingredients
Ground beef
Lean ground beef (90%) is ideal here. Note: the fattier the beef, the beefier it will be!
Onion
Yellow, sweet or white onion is great here. Shallots can also be substituted.
Garlic
Garlic powder or garlic puree can also be used in a pinch.
Red wine
Use a dry red such as cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or merlot. Red wine is a great way to deglaze the bottom of the Instant Pot, loosening up all the brown bits (where all the flavor is at!).
Marinara sauce
Since we’re doctoring up store-bought marinara sauce, be sure to use your favorite brand. Rao’s Roasted Garlic is always our go-to.
Beef stock
Beef stock is here to keep things happy and saucy. Always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety.
Pasta
Campanelle pasta helps capture all the meaty saucy goodness in its curves and ruffled edges. Fusilli, cavatelli and gemelli are great options as well.
Parmesan
Finish your dish with a healthy dusting of freshly grated Parmesan. Freshly grated is always preferred, imparting the best flavors and melting capabilities for a smoother, velvety consistency.
Basil
Top with fresh basil or your favorite herbs such as thyme or rosemary.
tips and tricks for success
- Use your favorite meat. Italian sausage (sweet or spicy), ground beef, chicken or turkey will all work very well here.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or merlot) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your dish. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with instant pot ground beef and pasta
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot Ground Beef and Pasta: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground pork or ground turkey or even Italian sausage can be used in place of ground beef.
Additional beef stock can be used for red wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Fusilli, cavatelli and gemelli are great subs.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop.
Instant Pot Ground Beef and Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup dry red wine*
- 1 (25-ounce) jar marinara sauce
- 1 ¾ cups beef stock
- 8 ounces campanelle pasta
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Heat olive oil; add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in marinara sauce, beef stock and pasta; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 5 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions. Stir in Parmesan and basil.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Thanks for the inspiration. I used pork mince, diced tomatoes, left out the wine. Used my own Italian herb mixture. Came out lovely!
I’d love to make this but I don’t have an IP. How can I make this in a crockpot?
Thanks!!
Totally delicious! I added 1/4 cup red wine vinegar to acidify it a bit and used dry basil. We did not even use Parmesan, it was flavourful enough without it.
Made it as directed. Set the timer for 5 minutes. Tasted great but pasta was way overdone. Next I will st timer for 2 minutes
Quick, easy, and delicious! I’ve made it several times including while camping using pre-cooked ground beef. Added 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes for a little kick. In place of fresh basil (which would be a great flavor booster), I substituted dried seasoning: about 2 tsp – 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning or a combination of basil & oregano depending on the marinara sauce used. Thanks for a keeper recipe!
LOVE this recipe!
So Damn easy!
So Damn Delicious!
I made this recipe as directed. It was flavourful and hearty. Next time however I will add chili flakes to add some zing. Easy family meal. and budget friendly 🙂
Oops. Forgot to mention I added additional pasta which worked very well.
A big win! Came together incredibly easy and dinner was done in 30 minutes! I also added some chopped bell pepper after the garlic and 1.5 lbs of beef. I found 5 minutes wasn’t enough so I added 1 more minute. Seasoned with some cumin and umami seasoning and it was amazing and the flavors super developed! Tasted so good my husband couldn’t stop saying, “mmm!”
I made this tonight, I changed it up a little by adding some turkey pepperoni, pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning to the list of ingredients. It was so delish, I will definitely make this again. Thank you
We are in the middle of a kitchen demo and pasta was requested. After looking at several InstantPot recipes I tried this one. It didn’t disappoint. Easy, can be done without a kitchen, and tasty. I didn’t have fresh basil – I think that will elevate it next time. And I’ll add more pasta next time. I used mini penne. I’d like to try it with rigatoni.
Can you double this recipe?
It was good, next time I will add a little more noodles. I did feel like it would be missing a few spices, so I added some Italian seasoning as well as the fresh basil, one bay leaf, and some red pepper flakes. It was perfect. I did penne noodles for 4 min and they were cooked perfectly. I did make sure my kid was tight so no leakage to cause any burn notice. Very good recipe, thanks for sharing!
By far my most favorite DD Instant Pot recipe!!! Have never had a burn issue – I think my hubby does a stellar job scraping bottom and sides after adding the wine. Will double the recipe for the first time as we will have company this week. This will be a crowd pleaser. My 21 mo. old grandson esp loves this dish. I do add fresh basil from my garden. Will add it before pressure cooking, as one reviewer suggested, to help infuse the flavors. Can’t wait to hear the reactions from the crowd!!!
It’s become more prevalent knowledge that the sugar in tomato sauce is often what causes the burn error – and some models of IPs are more prone to it than others. I follow advice that’s pretty common now to not stir tomato or marinara sauce for recipes like spaghetti or pasta and sauce.
Instead, after the meat, if any, is cooked, and spices and liquid (water, broth, wine) added, the pasta is just put on top, and very last the tomato sauce is carefull added. No stirring.
In fact for spaghetti, it’s often broken in half and then placed around the top like spokes, so I position some so when I pour in the jar of marinara, the spaghetti holds it away from the sides initially.
So I made this delicious recipe the same way. No stirring, sauce on top last. Think layers.
I did cook the meat all the way through, and didn’t get “burn” warning! Also added chopped celery and grated carrots
Delicious! I have made it without meat and it was still good, in case anyone wants to try a meatless version. But it’s good with meat as well. Thanks for the yummy recipes!
For an easy weeknight dinner, this is amazing. I followed directions exactly and I think if you make sure you deglaze with red wine, than there is the right amount of liquid to not get a burn notice.
This was a great tasting and easy recipe. I used medium shells. Thanks for the recipe. I’m going through a kitchen renovation and this was perfect with easy clean up. Fed my whole family with leftovers. The pasta didn’t fully cook after the 5 minutes but I turned off the instant pot and left it in and by the time we ate it was cooked perfectly through.
What I usually do is 3-4 minutes then immediate release and take lid off. I let it sit 5 minutes with lid off and warm function off, liquid is so hot by the time the 5 minutes is up the pasta is finished cooking and the sauce thickens up. This way I avoid over cooked pasta. I also add olive oil. Keeps the pasta from getting pasty if your saving leftovers for another day.
This was honestly my first epic fail in the Instant Pot! I use gluten free pasta so I even added a little extra water, but it don’t didn’t even come to pressure before it started to burn on the bottom. Had to finish cooking what I could salvage in my big skillet on the stovetop. I’ve had success with the frozen meatball version so I think I’ll stick with that.