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Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni is homemade hamburger helper made with ground beef and pasta in a creamy, cheesy sauce. Quick, easy and kid friendly!
Raise your hand if your grew up eating Hamburger Helper cheeseburger mac? This was actually one of my favorite dinners, so I decided to make a healthier homemade Hamburger Helper for my own family. This Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni is quick, easy and even better than the cheeseburger mac you grew up with!
I’m always trying out new quick and easy Instant Pot recipes, and I whipped up this easy cheeseburger macaroni for the kids’ lunch today. I have a lot of Instant Pot ground beef recipes on the blog, but I didn’t have one for cheeseburger macaroni — until today!
The beautiful thing about this Instant Pot cheeseburger mac or even skillet cheeseburger mac is that you probably have everything you need to make it — nothing complicated about this recipe! I even had some ground beef in the fridge. So if you’re looking for a quick and easy Instant Pot dinner recipe that’s also kid approved, this one’s for you!
How to make Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni (homemade Hamburger Helper)
Cheeseburger macaroni is practically a dump and go recipe, only you do have to brown the ground beef first. To cut down on prep and make this dinner even easier, I use dried minced onions along with a few other spices. I use lean ground beef so that I don’t have to drain the fat, but you can drain it before adding your seasonings if you need to.
Next, add the macaroni, beef broth and then, add some butter. You need 4 cups of beef broth to cover the macaroni, so you can add a little water if you don’t have exactly 4 cups of broth. You can also use all water instead of broth if you want, but the broth gives this beefy mac an extra flavor boost!
After the pasta cooks, stir in some cream and shredded cheese — that’s it! I used a mixture of colby jack cheese and cheddar cheese, but you can definitely use you r favorite cheese here. Heck, if you want to make cheeseburger macaroni with Velveeta, go for it!
Guys, this Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni is so good! It’s absolutely perfect when you need a quick and easy, kid-approved dinner!
Looking for more Instant Pot ground beef and pasta recipes?
- Instant Pot Macaroni Beef Casserole
- Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef
- Instant Pot Creamy Taco Pasta
- Instant Pot BBQ Macaroni and Beef
- Instant Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff
Recipe for Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni (Homemade Hamburger Helper)
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onions
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 1 pound box macaroni noodles, uncooked
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth or water
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Press SAUTE on the Instant Pot and when it reads Hot, add olive oil and ground beef. Break up beef with a spatula, and cook until no longer pink
- Stir in the sea salt, garlic powder, onions and pepper, then hit CANCEL
- Layer the uncooked macaroni on the beef, pour the beef broth over and around the macaroni, and top with the butter
- Place lid on pressure cooker, turn vent to Sealing position, and hit PRESSURE COOK for 4 minutes. Pot will take a few minutes to pressurize, then cook for 4 minutes and beep when done
- Turn vent to Venting for a quick release, and when pin drops, remove lid, and stir. Stir in the cream, and gradually stir in the cheese, about 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each cup is added
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My family loved this easy Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
I didn’t have cream, so I used a 5.2 oz block of Boursin with garlic (so I left out the garlic powder) & added a teaspoon of yellow mustard at the end and stirred it in when I was adding the Boursin and shredded cheeses. It adds depth. Delicious!
That sounds delicious! So glad you liked it! 🙂
Looks delicious! Will be making for dinner tomorrow. One question, would evap milk be an okay substitute for heavy cream? I have some in the fridge I’m needing to use before it spoils.
Thanks!
You can use the evaporated milk instead of cream. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I am making this now. Can it be reheated later? Can I reheat in the Instant Pot? (I’m fairly new to this!)
It reheats well — We do this all the time, but I always just throw it in the microwave. I have reheated soup before in the IP but now pasta dishes. You can definitely try this, though. 🙂
My family likes their food a bit spicy, so at the end I stirred in some hot salsa. They and all their friends that were here for game night finished it off quickly! Thanks for a great recipe
That sounds like a wonderful addition! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Wow this was fantastic! My whole family loved it. Served with steamed broccoli (frozen) so literally one put to clean.
QUESTION: 4 cups of broth did not cover my pasta, so I added extra. And then when I open the pod there was too much broth left that I had to ladle out. Does the pasta have to be submerged under the broth in order to cook properly?
I usually pat the pasta down a little before cooking, but it does not need to be fully submerged. One of the mysteries of the Instant Pot! 🙂
Thank you for a great recipe! It was delicous!!
So glad to hear this, Sandra. Thank you so much!
Just made a double batch of this. It’s delicious! Definitely on my meal rotations. I didn’t have Colby cheese so I used Monteray Jack jalapeno. Yummy!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
That sounds so good! Glad you liked it! 🙂
Hey all! I wanted to share that I doubled this but changed the time to 0 minutes on manual high pressure and it was wonderful! My kids LOVED it!
If I double the recipe, so I need to increase cooking time?
The cooking time remains the same. Just double the ingredients. 🙂
Could you add a can of petite diced tomatoes too this. I’m wondering if I did if I would drain the tomatoes or not.
I would drain the tomatoes — but don’t stir before pressure cooking. I have a similar recipe that uses tomatoes here Instant Pot Macaroni Beef Casserole