I’ve forgotten to defrost something from the freezer for dinner more times than I can remember. On those days, we’ve had to resort to our emergency reserve of frozen chicken nuggets. Now with this Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef Spaghetti, I can still make a meal in half an hour! We can save those emergency frozen chicken nuggets… for when I’ve run out of frozen ground beef!
The pressure cook time of 5 minutes cooks the pasta but only thaws the frozen ground beef. We cook the ground beef thoroughly on the “SAUTE” setting after the pressure cooking is done.
If you need the frozen ground beef to be completely cooked through, it will take between 20-25 minutes. A bit too long for me! This cook time also overcooks the exterior of the ground beef and makes portions of it dry and tough.
The 5 minute cook time is the perfect way to multi-task and get a meal on the table in half an hour. Note, this method also works on other forms of ground meat, like ground turkey, chicken, or pork.
This Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef Spaghetti recipe can also be adapted for fresh ground meat and is even easier. Toss all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and let the pressure cook do its thing. Do not stir the sauce after you pour it in, else you may end up with a burnt on mess!
30 Minute Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef Spaghetti
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Colander
Ingredients
- 2 C water
- 8oz pasta whatever type you like!
- 1 lb frozen ground beef
- 1.5 C pasta sauce
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups of water into the Instant Pot along with the pasta.
- Set a trivet (with handles) on top of the pasta and set the frozen ground beef on the trivet.
- Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes and natural release for 5 minutes. Note, when the cooking is done, the ground beef will not be completely cooked through.
- Move the trivet with the ground beef onto a plate. Drain the pasta into a colander.
- Put the inner pot back in the Instant Pot and press the "Saute" setting. When it says "HOT", start browning / breaking up the ground beef for about 2-3 minutes. After browning, I usually like to pour out the oil (from the beef) or scoop it out with a big spoon.
- Add in the pasta and the pasta sauce and mix until everything is evenly coated in sauce and heated through.
- Serve & enjoy!
This method is fantastic! I use my instant pot all the time and had never tried this method to defrost and cook the meat and pasta all at the same time.
I did make a few additions to the dish for my own tastes: I added 4 teaspoons of chicken boullion to the pasta water, and added Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder when sautéing the ground meat. I used ground pork because that’s what I had in the freezer. In addition I used a whole jar of spaghetti sauce, rather than the 1.5 cups, because I like my pasta saucy. Next time I might cut up celery, onion, and carrots and saute them until soft, then add meat to saute. Might even microwave the veggies while pasta is cooking to speed up the process.
Overall VERY pleased. Thank you for this recipe!
I just came on here to say how much this recipe just saved me today. I have no idea what happened with other reviewers, but I do not agree with them at all. I just made this tonight and followed the instructions verbatim… And it came out PERFECT. pasta was cooked to perfection, and it was so easy to throw it all together. Family LOVED it! Perfect for an easy weekday meal! Thank you!!
Don’t recommend anyone try this. Bloody, crunchy, clumpy noodles. Maybe if you cook the pasta separately with much more than 2 cups (maybe enough to cover and space for the pasta to swell but even then idk if pasta is meant for the ip if you don’t like clumps) then cook the meat for 5 minutes. Do the sauté to cook the rest of the way. Might try it that way next. 10 out of 10 would not recommend trying the recipe as is.
My noodles were so crunchy, 🙁 ruined my spaghetti dinner night
Hi Rachelle, Sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t work out for you! For most pasta, 5 minutes does the job. If you have a pasta that requires a longer cooking time, follow this rule: take the recommended cooking time for the pasta, divide by 2, subtract 2 minutes. Also, make sure the water covers the pasta completely. Hope you’ll give this a try again!
I’m excited to try these recipes in my new instant pot… Thanks
Hi Sandy, welcome to lazy cooking days with the Instant Pot!