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Frozen Ground Beef in the Instant Pot is a fast and convenient way to thaw and cook a frozen block of ground beef. Use your pressure cooker to quickly cook frozen hamburger meat. Have cooked ground beef ready for your recipe!
Frozen Ground Beef in the Instant Pot
There are several Instant Pot® hacks that I really like. This is one of them. If you have ever forgotten to thaw out your pound of hamburger meat, and had your dinner plans messed up, then this hack is for you!
This method of cooking ground beef from frozen works with up to 2 pounds of meat (that I have tested so far). Go ahead and try it with more if you need to, though it may overcook the edges as the cook time will be longer.
Helpful Tips for Cooking Frozen Ground Beef in the Instant Pot
- Before you freeze the meat, remove the plastic pad thing on the bottom. They are a pain to take off while frozen!
- Use the trivet. Unless you want to boil the hamburger meat, set it on the trivet, up out of the water.
- Natural Release for a few minutes to help the meat retain more moisture.
Why Didn’t My Hamburger Cook Completely?
- Possible reasons why your ground beef may not be completely cooked through after using this method:
- How thick was the frozen meat? If thicker than what I show in the photos, add some cook time.
- More than 2 pounds – Add some cook time if you are cooking more than 2 pounds.
- High Pressure – Be sure to set your IP to High Pressure.
- Natural Release – Don’t skip the Natural Release time.
If your meat is still a little raw after cooking with this method, you can put the lid back on and cook a couple minutes more, or drain the water and add the meat back into the pot and sauté it for a few minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat.
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If you don’t already have a trivet with handles, here is a good one: Steamer Rack Trivet with Heat Resistant Silicone Handles (affiliate).
See my Instant Pot Accessories post for more ideas!
Does This Work With Frozen Ground Turkey?
Yes it does! It is important to check the internal temperature if you are not going to cook it further after using this method. It should be 165° F.
30+ Instant Pot Ground Beef Recipes
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Watch the video to see how easy it is to cook frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot!
Frozen Ground Beef in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup Water (6-qt pot, 2 cups for 8-qt)
- 1 - 2 lbs Frozen Ground Beef
Instructions
- Place the metal trivet /rack into the pot and add the water.
- Place the frozen block of ground beef on the trivet.
- Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select cook time in minutes. High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.For 1 lb of meat, cook for 28 minutes, for 2 lbs cook for 32 minutes. SEE NOTES.
- When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for 10 minutes (10 minute natural release). Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining steam/pressure.
- When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
- Remove the trivet with the cooked meat on it and move the meat to a plate. The meat will stay in the shape of a block.
- Use a fork or chopper/stirrer utensil to break up the meat.
- Now you can use the meat in your recipe!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for these instructions! This works great for ground turkey. In fact, because I can start it and walk away and the the outside is all nicely browned, I now prefer cooking ground meat like this better than in the frying pan now. I have found 20 minutes with a quick release is perfect, then I drain the liquid (unless I need it for some reason, like with tacos), turn on the sauté function, and it finishes cooking while I’m chopping and seasoning the meat. So quick!
That’s great! We use a lot of ground turkey!
This worked for me even without using a trivet. I just added a little olive oil to the pot before I added the meat and water to make sure the meat wouldn’t stick to the bottom.
My meat was in a thicker block than the photo so I cooked it longer. Worked perfectly.
I feel like my IP should’ve come with a trivet, but I can’t find it anywhere? Can I do it without?
Yes, I think it should have! You can make one with foil balls that sit in the pot with the meat on them to elevate it out of the water.
This worked great! For a block of ground turkey (Butterball from Costco), 20 minutes was just a tad too little, which was perfect as I was able to finish cooking it while chopping it into pieces in the pot after draining the liquid. I was afraid the texture wouldn’t be good, but it was. It even browned just a bit while chopping. Next time, because I will be using this method a lot, I’m sure, I’ll set it for slightly less time to give the few minutes of chopping and sautéing a little more time. Thank you so much!
Could you use a broth rather than water to flavor the steam, or is that useless?
I wouldn’t waste the broth on this unless I was going to use it in a soup or pasta recipe.
I found this technique so amazing. This is going to be a valuable resource for me. Thank you so much for creating it!
I tried this with a roll of ground venison this morning and it was still bloody when I removed the lid. It was easy enough to remove the trivet and saute until cooked. Not sure if it was due to being in a roll, or if venison would need longer to cook, but it thawed the meat easily 🤣
Probably because it was in a roll as they tend to be thicker than the rectangle packages. I’m glad it ended up working for you!
I buy hamburger in 5# rolls which I divide into varying weights for different recipes.
This will be SO much quicker and easier than waiting for it to defrost. In fact I was going to use it tonight!
Got this right I the nick of time