Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese
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Cheeseburger macaroni recipe? YES, PLEASE! Hamburger meat, pasta and an epic cheese sauce. All made in ONE POT. Too easy!
It’s been a bit hectic here. With the move, the traveling, the wedding planning, and the holidays, we’ve been constantly on the go-go-go.
But even with our super busy schedules, I can still whip up this cozy, comforting cheeseburger mac in a flash.
That’s right. You read that right. It’s cheeseburger MAC. AND. CHEESE. Aka, homemade hamburger helper made a million times better thanks to Cabot cheese.
Owned by 800 farm families throughout New York and New England since 1919, Cabot creates the best cheese and dairy. So it’s no wonder that this mac and cheese yields that super creamy, super epic cheese sauce.
And my favorite part? You can throw all of it in the Instant Pot®! And I mean, all of it, even the uncooked pasta. You barely have to lift a finger here.
After the quick-release, you can stir in all the cheese, letting it melt right into the pasta. The key here is using a good quality cheese, like Cabot Mild Cheddar Cheese. It will make all of the difference!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese
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 Cabot Mild 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.
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.
Is this supposed to look liquidy until the pasta sits a few minutes and has a chance to absorb more liquid?
I made it exactly as described above, and after opening the pot it is extremely soupy looking…??
I had the same thing happen, I’ll use half the broth next time
What I find to work well is to mix for a couple minutes after mixture has had the chance to cool some. The liquid absorbs back into the sauce and the sauce fills the inside of the noodles after some stirring (sort of how boxed mac looks very soupy until it mixes and sets). I actually used more broth than was called for, and when I was finished stirring and served, it set up so nicely I served it on a dinner place and the sauce did not run at all.
Yes, it’s a bit liquid..let it sit after adding cheese and cream.
Oh my! This was delicious. My husband loved it and deemed it a keeper. We have loved all your recipes I have tried so far… Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta, beef stew, blueberry vanilla muffins, etc. The only change I made was substituting penne for the macaroni since that’s what I had. I added one minute to cook time and it was perfect.
I’ve looked for Cabot mild Cheddar cheese, they do not sell it in our area (southern CA). Do you recommend another brand or just use any mild cheddar cheese?
You can use any mild cheddar variety, Mary. 🙂
It would be great if you included your macaroni al dente time in the recipe as a reference point for pasta we are using at home. For example, I have macaroni at home that ranges from 6 min to 13 min depending on the brand. I used a 9 min al dente for this recipe and cooked for 4 minutes with a quick release. The pasta was overcooked just slightly, but the recipe was still delicious. I will be making this again with the same pasta and will try for 2 minutes. Thanks for sharing a quick and simple weeknight meal!
I used trader joe’s macaroni, cook time 6 minutes. I cooked for 3 and the pasta was perfectly cooked but my dish was soupy?
Made this last night and it was perfect for a pregame quick and hearty meal for teens. I used what I had on hand: .8 lb meat, and halved all other ingredients. I didn’t have a can of sauce, so used part of a jar of Trader Joe’s pizza sauce. Despite this, it was really good! Not something I’d serve to company, but we’ll eat it a lot this winter. Thank you!
This is so delicious that I wish I had doubled it. All the ingredients are in perfect proportions!
This recipe looks like a keeper. The only issue I have with your site and others is using odd amounts of ingredients. Pasta comes in full pound packages, so why would you print this using 12 oz instead of 8 or 16 oz?
Hi Ken! This is a great recipe indeed and we hope you can give it a try! 🙂
To answer your question, we work very hard to develop and thoroughly test these recipes and they are created in relation to all other ingredients so it is very common that at least one of the ingredients does not turn out to be an even amount.
I ran into that too I wound up buying a kitchen scale it makes things so much easier in terms of measuring
Gluten free pastas come in 12oz packages, and are necessary for my Celiac fam, so I’m loving this! Generally it’s easy to eyeball other quantities, though!
I would love to make this but I don’t have an instant pot-just a crock pot. I have no room for another appliance. Is it possible that you could show the recipe and translate it into how to make it in a crock pot? It would be most appreciated!
Hi Donna! We have a Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese recipe that you could use as a reference for this recipe. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications. Hope that helps!