Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Shells
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ONE POT DINNER! So creamy, cheesy and full of taco flavors using ground beef. Quick, simple + so bomb for the whole family!
So the sleepless nights continue with baby Cartman. He is unbelievably adorable and sweet, but he’s also a little bit of a terror when all he wants to do is play at 1AM, and then again at 4:30AM.
But that’s okay. I can still get dinner on the table in a flash using one single pot.
That’s right. We have a one pot wonder here from start to finish using crumbled ground beef, making this super quick and budget-friendly. Best of all, the uncooked pasta shells cook right in the Instant Pot with the rest of your ingredients in just 5 minutes!
Not to mention, these pasta shells are amazingly cheesy, creamy and so so filling, giving me the energy to play with this 6lb baby corgi all night long!
Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Shells
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 small poblano pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 cups beef stock
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 cup mild salsa, homemade or store-bought
- 12 ounces medium pasta shells
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, about 1 1/2 cups
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
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 poblano, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, oregano and cumin until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in beef stock, tomato sauce, salsa 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 cheese and heavy cream until cheese has melted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Amazing! Next time I may reduce the time on my IP so the noodles are not so soft.
I don’t eat beef so I made this with ground turkey and vegetable broth. It turned out delicious! We will definitely make this again.
Hi I just purchased my 1st IP and came directly to your website to find recipes. As usual I was not disappointed! This was a hit in my house, I cannot wait to try more recipes from you!
Amazing!!
So my husband loved this. The changes I made were adding Frontera Taco sauce mix instead of chili powder, also added extra beef bone broth (total of 4 cups) then cooked down at the end. Got more sauce and BAMM flavor!! Will definitely being making this again and again!
I’m going to make this tonight with ground turkey – do you think chicken stock would be a good substitute for beef stock? Or should I stick with beef stock? Thanks!
Made this for the first time last night and we all loved it. I think it was even better leftover for lunch today. It was a little runny last night, but it was perfect today. Thanks for another great and easy to follow recipe.
This was really delicious! I forgot to pick up the heavy cream, so I used the skim milk I had on hand. I made a slurry with the milk and a tsp of cornstarch. I’ll definitely be making this again!
I made this last night and it was delicious! Husband loved it too. Followed recipe as-is (I used Chi Chi’s mild chunky salsa) and added lots of grated parmesan to my serving. We will be making this again for sure.
Extra Parmesan is always a great idea! 🙂
We’ve made this several times and I swear it gets better every time. Even the leftovers are yummy!
Easy & Delicious!!! So very satisfying on a cool evening. Great alternative to chili for game day. Definitely a crowd pleaser! I didn’t have the creme to add – didn’t matter it was still delish! Would recommend to others and I’ll make again!!
Can I substitute the instant to the slow cooker?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! Good luck! 🙂
I tried it with the crockpot. I made this for national taco day. My kids & husband hate it when I make any form of pasta that is not Mac & Cheese. This dish was a hit; they all wanted seconds! All I had to do is add flour to thicken the sauce.
Thank you! This was loved by everyone at dinner tonight! It’s the first time I made it but reading the ingredients I knew it would be “Damn Delicious”! I wanted my little ones to get into the flavors of tacos and since they’re to little to eat them this was perfect! I just added the juice of one lime when you add the beef broth and pasta. Soooooo gooood! Nice job lady
Awesome taste and super easy. If I followed the directions exactly but prefer a thicker sauce, what is your recommended way of thickening it?
You can try to reduce the amount of beef stock. 🙂
I agree. The flavor was good, but my sauce was not thick enough.
Just made this for dinner tonight, didn’t change a thing, and it was AMAZING! Husband said this one is a keeper! Enough food for another two meals for us.
I made with what I had on hand, venison, no onion (bf isn’t a fan), no poblano, no chili powder, subbed garlic for powder (I was just feeling lazy ) and I just added my whole bag of pasta plus more water and cream and wow!!!!!!!! Just wow! I had just enough cilantro to garnish. I can’t wait for my leftovers this week for lunch, for once!
The leftovers taste even better! 🙂
If I want to make this on the stove top, do I need to alter the amount of liquids? Like should I cut them back? I don’t have an instant pot but want to make this soooooo bad!
You can try this recipe instead, Kelsey. 🙂
https://damndelicious.net/2018/12/11/creamy-taco-shells/
Making this this week, sounds delicious! Can’t handle spicy, can I omit the poblano pepper completely? Should I out anything else in like a bell pepper? Thanks!
Yes, you can absolutely omit. 🙂
Great recipe, very flavorful. I didn’t have shells, so used rigatoni pasta and added 1 minute to the cook time. Didn’t have poblano, but did have a fresno chili, so used that. Didn’t have heavy cream, so subbed sour cream…like a stroganoff. Turned out so good, we loved it!
What great substitutions, Jenna!
Made this today and it was absolutely fantastic! A total hit!! My local grocery store didn’t have poblano peppers so I just used a small jalapeno. Also, pasta boxes around here come in 16oz sizes, so I threw in the whole box (instead of using 12 oz pasta like the recipe states) and threw in an extra half cup of salsa for a tad more liquid. It turned out perfectly! Thank you so much, it will now be a regular around here! We LOOOVE your IP recipes!! Please keep them coming! (Especially that creamy pepper pasta shell one please!!)
That sounds amazing, Leslie! We’ll be sure to keep more IP recipes coming! 🙂
This was absolutely delicious! Total comfort food and easy to prepare. I’ll definitely make it again and would love more I start Pot recipes!
We are so glad this was a winner for you, Tracy! We have an entire Instant Pot category if you’d like to find more IP recipes! 🙂