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Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni is a comfort food meal that tastes great! It reminds me of the “Cheeseburger Helper” we had growing up! This pressure cooker cheeseburger macaroni is creamy, cheesy, and delicious! A great weeknight Instant Pot pasta dinner!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
I suppose you could call this “nostalgia in a bowl.” This kind of creamy, cheesy pasta brings me right back to twilight games of Red Rover and Kick the Can! Any minute mom will yell for us to come and eat!
On really busy days we got to eat the “Helper” style quick dinner. Mom was a great cook, but you know how sometimes you just want something easy, and decide to make the boxed stuff? As busy kids sometimes mom did for a quick dinner! It was one of the first things I got to make by myself.
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni is fresher, and I think it tastes better. Also, you can control how much salt, cheese, etc. that goes in.
The steps to make this Instant Pot one-pot pasta meal are simple:
How to Make Cheeseburger Macaroni in the Instant Pot
- Brown the hamburger and onion on the Sauté setting.
- Add the garlic and spices.
- Add the broth or water.
- Add the macaroni.
- Pressure cook it.
- Add the shredded cheese.
- Stir in a little milk.
- Serve hot.
Make this tasty pressure cooker macaroni dinner for the family, and it will soon become a favorite! Adjust the recipe as will work for your family’s taste.
You can use ground turkey or ground beef to make this recipe.
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
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Watch the Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni Video
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey (93% lean)
- 1 Onion, chopped (or 3/4 tsp Onion Powder)
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced (or 1 tsp Garlic Powder)
- ¾ tsp Seasoned Salt
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Hot Sauce (optional)
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard (or 2 - 3 tsp dry mustard powder)
- 3 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (or Water)
- 12 oz Small Macaroni (3 cups) uncooked
To Finish
- 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese (fresh shredded)
- 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese (fresh shredded)
- ¼ - ⅔ cup Milk
Garnish
- Fresh Chopped Parsley
- Dollop of Sour Cream
Instructions
- Turn on the pot's Sauté setting. When it is hot, add the ground beef and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender, translucent, and the meat is browned.
- Add garlic. Stir.
- Add all of the spices after browning the meat.
- Add the hot sauce, if using, Dijon, and broth. Stir.
- Put a glass lid, or other lid on to let the broth heat up to almost a simmer. If you have to use the IP's lid, make sure it is on Venting.
- Next, remove glass lid and add the macaroni and make sure it is submerged.
- Close the IP lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position. Then cancel the Sauté setting.
- Press the Pressure Cook (or Manual) button, or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 4 minutes (or 1/2 the cook time your pasta's package directions indicate). The pot will take a few minutes to come to pressure.
- When the cook cycle is finished, turn the pot off and do a Controlled Quick Release* (explained below) of the pressure.
- *A controlled quick release means you release the steam in short bursts, then longer bursts, until you can be sure none of the sauce spews out of the vent with the steam from the intense pressure. Then fully open the vent and let it go.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, remove the lid and stir the pasta.
- Stir in the cheeses and then add as much milk as you want to make it as saucy as you like.
- Add optional garnish and serve hot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instapot Cheeseburger Macaroni and more
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The 3 in my family enjoyed this tonight! Having ground turkey on hand, and 12 oz of elbows (the other 1 cup had gone to another use), it really fit my needs! Followed recipe as given, just a touch less salt and I did use the dry mustard, as I ove finding uses for it. The hot sauce is a definite plus! We have enough left for another dinner!
This was a super good recipe. Very easy and quick. I didn’t add mustard because I don’t like the taste of it, but it was perfect without it. Reminded me of a healthier Hamburger Helper. I appreciated the tip about the quick controlled pressure release. I got an Instant Pot hand me down and haven’t learned all the ins and outs yet. This knowledge will help me avoid future Instant Pot incidents where sauce spews everywhere!
This is the second recipe I have used from your site and I have been so pleased with each of them. In this one I did not quite have a whole pound of ground beef so I cut it down a bit in every measurement. Even with that it turned out super!
I will be searching your recipes and getting my January meal plan in place!
Happy New Year!
This recipe is great. I used to make this stove top but the instant pot eliminates having to baby sit everything and stir. I use different cheeses to my taste and what I have on hand, but I have made this several times since discovering it while looking for a recipe for homemade cheeseburger/hamburger helper. I love it! I also use the whole box of pasta so I use more liquid and have leftovers for work lunches.
I am no cook and this came out delicious! I used my new kitchen scale and only had 10.5 ounces of mini gluten free noodles. It wasn’t soupy but it sure was gloppy – my mistake, my noodles were too tiny in shape and not enough in weight. Even so, the whole family thought it was delicious and we ate it all up. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this but omitted the milk and hot sauce. My 8 year old said she could eat this every day. It was a total hit with my family.
This is a great recipe. I’m not much of a cook, but it was easy to follow and is delicious. Thanks.
Either she didn’t use enough liquid OR the pot never came up to pressure. I am betting the latter. I know because it happened to me when I accidentally did not put it to the right setting and left it on venting.
Just made this and boy is it good. Thank you!
I made this recipe for my family this evening. I used the larger elbow macaroni and figured I would add sliced mushrooms while sauteing the onions and ground beef. We all loved it. Thank you Sandy
Glitchiest website ever, at least when attempting to read the recipe on an ipad! Oy!!
Oh dear, I’m so sorry. If you have any specifics, I will pass them on to my team of nerds, I mean tech people!
I watched the video and then read the recipe. In the video you stated 4 minutes for cook time, but the recipe says 14. Which do i use? Thanks
It says 14 for the total cook time because i included the time it takes to brown the meat and onion. Pressure cook time is still 4 minutes.