Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta – An Easy 6 Ingredient Recipe

There are days when we all could use an easy to prepare dinner recipe like this Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta Recipe.

With just 6 common ingredients and little prep work involved this has become one of our favorite weeknight meals.

In fact, if you cooked the ground beef ahead of time, it would be considered an easy dump and go recipe.

All the flavors of a taco packed together in a filling pasta dish. And the best part of all is that everyone in the family loves it!

Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta Recipe

Ingredients

Lean ground beef – It is important to use lean ground beef 93/7 (lean to fat ratio) so that you don’t have to drain the ground beef after sautéing it in the Instant Pot.

However you can also substitute ground turkey or ground chicken in this recipe. Although if you do so you will need to add a little oil to the pot prior to browning it so that it doesn’t stick.

Taco seasoning – You will need an entire packet of store bought taco seasoning for this recipe. However, if you use buy bulk taco seasoning you would use 2 1/2 tablespoons.

Salsa – Use a chunky salsa variety for this recipe. The thinner salsa can also work, however if you use the chunky variety your Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta will have more texture.

Elbow or Rotini pasta – This recipe calls for a large, 16 ounce box of pasta. However, if you only have a 12 ounce box of noodles, you can use that instead. You will just need to decrease the amount of liquid used by 1 cup.

Pasta Substitutions

You can use whatever type of dried pasta that you have on hand. The important thing to remember is that whatever type of noodle that you use to adjust the cook time to half of whatever is stated on the instructions on the side of the box.

Beef or chicken broth – The purpose of the broth is to cook the noodles. Although beef or chicken broth will give you the most flavor, in a pinch you could use plain water if you prefer.

Shredded Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese blend – You can find this blend of mixed shredded cheese in most grocery stores. However it is sometimes labeled as Taco cheese.

Although if you can’t find the cheese already blended, you can purchase both shredded Monterey Jack and Sharp Cheddar cheese separately. Then use 1 cup of each for this recipe.

Instructions

The first step in making this Cheesy Taco Pasta is to turn the Instant Pot to the Sauté mode. Wait for the display to read HOT and then add the ground beef.

While the meat begins to cook, use a wooden spatula to break up the chunks. Continue to saute until most of the beef is browned.

Then sprinkle the taco seasoning on top of the beef and stir. Continue to saute until the ground beef is completely cooked through and no longer pink.

Press Cancel. Then add the salsa, broth, and pasta to the pot and stir.

Lock the Instant Pot lid in place and move the valve to the SEALING position, if required. Press Pressure Cook/Manual and set the cook time for half of the time on the pasta box. (Typically 4-5 minutes).

Additional Time Required

Just like all pressure cooker recipes, it will take time for the Instant Pot to come to pressure before the Cheesy Taco Pasta begins to cook. It took 6 minutes when I cooked this recipe in my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo for the pin to rise.

Once the cook time is up, the pot will beep and automatically switch to the Keep Warm mode.

As soon as it does this slowly move the valve to the venting position to Quick Release the pressure. Be sure to perform a controlled quick release where you slowly move the valve to prevent liquid from spewing out of the top of the valve.

It will take several minutes for the pressure to release. When the pin drops carefully remove the lid, facing it away from your face.

Stir the contents and add the shredded cheese on top. Stir the Cheesy Taco Pasta one more time and replace the lid to the Instant Pot until ready to serve.

Serve warm and top with extra cheese, sour cream, salsa, and/or cilantro.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are looking for other, easy to make Instant Pot recipes be sure to visit our Instant Pot Recipe Page.

Enjoy! Mary

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