Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese
by Chungah
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Homemade hamburger helper! Quick, easy, budget-friendly, and tastes SO much better than the boxed mix. A family (and childhood) favorite!
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Reasons to make cheeseburger mac and cheese in the Instant Pot
- Homemade hamburger helper. This tastes like that childhood favorite, made with better flavor and fresh ingredients. We’re talking real cheese, less preservatives, and less sodium.
- One pot convenience. With the help of the Instant Pot®, everything comes together in a single pot, even the uncooked pasta, making clean up an absolute breeze.
- Perfect for busy weeknights. With its fast cook time and hands-off cooking, this is one of the most handy recipes to have in your back pocket for those hectic weeknights. Not to mention, an instant hit for both kids and grown ups!
- Budget-friendly. This dinner comes together very economically using affordable pantry staples.
key ingredients for instant pot cheeseburger mac and cheese
Beef
80/20 ground beef is best, providing the most flavor and juiciness. For leaner options, opt for 90/10 ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey.
Onion, bell pepper and garlic
For flavor boost! This is always our go-to during those busy nights, cutting down prep time even more.
Seasonings
We’re calling in pantry staples here – paprika, oregano, salt and pepper.
Beef stock and tomato sauce
These are the liquids to keep everyone happy and saucy for all the rich, deep flavors.
Pasta
Elbow macaroni is a classic, quintessential choice, trapping in all the sauce with every bite.
Cheese
Opt for freshly grated cheese for the best taste and texture, melting more smoothly for that dreamy, silky, creamy-cheesy goodness.
Heavy cream
Add your finishing touches with heavy cream, making the sauce even more rich, velvety, and creamy.
tips and tricks for success
- Use your favorite meat. Ground beef, chicken or turkey will all work very well here.
- Freshly grated cheese goes a long way. Pre-packaged shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents that can lead to gritty and grainy mac and cheese.
- Use melty cheese. Sharp and medium cheddar cheese are classic choices for homemade hamburger helper, but other melty cheeses can also be used such as Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, American Cheese, or Pepper Jack.
- Sneak in some veggies. This is a great recipe to sneak in some extra nutrition and veggies for those picky eaters including leafy greens such as spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
what to serve with cheeseburger mac and cheese
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Easy Garlic Parmesan Knots
- Garlic Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Best Chicken Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground chicken or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
Mushrooms, peas, carrots, broccoli, zucchini or leafy greens (ex. spinach) are all great additions.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Absolutely! We have a recipe for that here.
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- ½ green bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 cups beef stock
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 12 ounces elbow macaroni
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 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 bell pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, paprika and oregano until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in beef stock, tomato sauce 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 parsley.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Cabot Creamery. As always, I only partner with brands that I love and truly believe in, allowing me to create more quick and easy recipes to get us through the week without breaking the bank. All opinions expressed are my own.
I’ve made this twice and the second time was better than the first. Still making some tweaks, but overall it’s delicious! And quick! I’m wondering if this is freezable?
Yep! This one is a keeper! I’ve made many variations of this and they were just “okay” but this one is it! So good!
I make this on the stove top by following the instructions as written in a Dutch oven and then cooking on medium heat for about 15 minutes (stirring often) instead of pressure cooking. We usually add some chipotle powder along with paprika, etc for a bit of heat but as written it’s an A+ classic hamburger mac.
I tried this in my dutch oven and 15 min was perfect! Thank you!
I don’t have an instapot, so I had to convert it. I cooked the pasta with boullion and put it in a pan. I cooked the ground beef with the vegetables, stirred in the spices , then added the tomato sauce. I poured it over the noodles. Cooked at 350 for 10 minutes. Added cheese and cooked 5 minutes longer. Perfect!
I made this as written except I used gluten-free pasta. I cooked it for 6 minutes and it was perfect, not soupy at all. My whole family enjoyed it but I feel like it’s missing something… maybe a dash or two of hot sauce? I also think the canned tomato flavor was too strong so I might try swapping plain tomato sauce for pizza sauce. Still yummy, but I think those changes would make it a real keeper.
Make the changes for you and family… cooking is an art! If your family likes loves hot sauce, spicy, add hot sauce… I hated diced tomatoes growing up, would push them to the side, tomato sauce works… My Mom and Grams called this a “Scrummage”…. Instant Pot just makes it faster and easier….
This was so easy and so yummy! Both my husband and 4-year old son loved it. My son doesn’t often ask for seconds or leftovers and he pounded this. I can’t eat bell peppers, so I left them out and just upped the onion from half to whole. I also don’t keep broth in the house because we just don’t use it up quickly enough, but I do keep Better Than Bouillon. No joke – that stuff is a life saver. This recipe is now on the make again rotation!
Just perfect. The Spouse requested cheeseburger mac with tomato, which isn’t a thing I usually make. It’s 4000 degrees out so I certainly didn’t want to put on a pot of water for pasta. Boom, this recipe. No beef broth in the house, but water and some additional salt did the trick. Happy Spouse!
Excellent recipe! Mine looked just like her picture.. That never happens. Tastes as good as it looks too! Very good whole family including picky toddlers lived it. Perfect recipe!
Has anyone made this without an Instant Pot?
I just made this for my family…we were going to order pizza but I am so glad we didn’t! the whole thing came together very quickly and easily. I love all the Damn Delicious recipes….. every single one is…well…damn delicious! thank you!
Loved this! Didn’t have a bell pepper, so I added a can of diced green chilies. It gave the perfect amount of spice. Also added frozen peas at the same time as the cheese just to add some more veg.
This was soooo good! Kids and parents loved it alike. To me, it tastes like lasagna without all the work. Will surely make again. Thanks!
Delicious. I used ground turkey and stirring in Parmesan adds a nice zing.
Thank you for another delicious recipe – family loved it!
Perfect! A little hot sauce at the end put it over the top.
So good we made it three days later
Very tasty! Swapped a couple ingredients to utilize what I had on hand (evaporated milk instead of heavy cream; tomato soup instead of tomato sauce); overall delicious recipe! Sort of like a DIY hamburger helper; reminded me of my childhood. Great comfort food!
Very easy and tasty! I’ve made it several times and was pleased each time. I’ve used a variety of cheeses – whatever is on hand – and I have also subbed in a can of tomato soup for the tomato sauce and it came out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Loved it! Very easy recipe and flavours are delicious. This is the second recipe I’ve made from the site and I feel like this is the only site I need! Thank you
Great recipe after a day of holiday baking!! I only had Cabot sharp cheddar but it was a wonderful taste!!!!
HUGE family hit and sooo easy!!!!
There isn’t one thing I have made from your blogs or your fantastic meal prep book that my family and I have not loved!!!! Seriously! This is a fave also!!
Do you have nutrition value listed anywhere for your recipes? I am using MyFitnessPal for a workout challenge for a month and would like to be as accurate as I can with my entries.
Thanks tons for all your hard work, yum recipes and fantastic instagrams with Butters and Cartman!!!
-Sandi
Hi Sandy
If you go into the Meals, Recipes and Food tab on My Fitness Pal you can add her recipe directly from the web 🙂
I did it, however I changed the servings to 7 because there was heaps!
This was easy & delicious! We ate it with ketchup & mustard and chopped dill pickles on top and it tastes just like a cheeseburger!!
Love how easy this was! Ultimate comfort food! I used a three cheese blend of medium, sharp, and white cheddar.
Eating this right now and as usual-yumm! Next time I will half the broth and increase the marinara bc my guys prefer lots of sauce. I also used ground buffalo cuz I didnt have beef and I used an Italian cheese mix rather than cheddar.