Instant Pot Taco Cheesy Pasta is a quick, filling and tasty dinner that kids love! Ground beef or sausage, combined with hearty noodles, salsa, Mexican seasonings and cheese in a creamy sauce, topped with tomatoes and sour cream. In just a few minutes dinner is ready!
I finally discovered the secret to cooking pasta in the Instant Pot!
You cook pasta for HALF the time it calls for on the stove. And it’s pretty much a no-fail tip! So now cooking pasta is my go-to for a quick meal my kids will love. They love pasta.
I’ve been wanting to try making my Taco Pasta in the Instant Pot. I used rotini noodles and cooked them for four minutes in the Instant Pot – they turned out perfectly. But you can use ANY type of pasta with this recipe. Just remember – set your timer for HALF the time indicated on the box if you are using your Instant Pot. So easy!!
We love Taco Tuesdays but sometimes we don’t have time to make tacos – this is a great alternative.
One of my favorite features of the Instant Pot is the saute feature.
It allows you to brown meat before you use pressure to cook the meal. For this recipe I browned the meat (I used ground sausage but you can also use ground beef or even ground turkey or chicken) along with spices.
Once the meat was browned, I switched the Instant Pot to high pressure.
Then I added the water, salsa and pasta. I set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 4 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
Then add the cheese.
Once the pressure released I opened the lid and added the cheese, stirred it around to melt the cheese.
Top with Taco Toppings!
I put the pasta in a bowl and topped it with chopped tomatoes and sour cream. You can add other taco toppings too like shredded lettuce, sliced olives and anything else that sounds good. YUM!
Such an easy meal.
My kids loved it. I think they liked that it was a pasta dish but the Mexican taste gave it a little zip and made it different from our traditional pasta meals. We added a salad and it was a great meal!
Here’s the recipe for Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta:
Instant Pot Taco Pasta in minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef , turkey, chicken or sausage I used mild sausage
- 1 T. olive oil
- 2 packets taco seasoning
- 4 cups water
- 16 ounces noodles
- 8 ounces salsa
- 3.5 cups shredded cheese I used colby jack
- 2 roma tomatoes, chopped (for garnish) optional
- 1/2 cup sour cream optional
- also optional - diced olives, other taco toppings
Instructions
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Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Once hot, add olive oil, ground meat and taco seasoning. Cook until meat is cooked through.
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Set Instant Pot to high heat pressure setting. Add -- noodles, water, salsa and set timer to HALF the time indicated on the pasta box. I used rotini and set my pressure to 5 minutes.
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Once the Instant Pot has come up to pressure and cooked the pasta, let the pressure naturally release. Then take the lid off the Instant Pot and add cheese. Stir cheese until melted and transfer pasta to a serving dish.
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Garnish with taco ingredients like shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream and/or olives. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This recipe makes enough for a large family. You can half the recipe for a smaller family.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Here are a few other Instant Pot recipes that we love!
Instant Pot Lemon Parmesan Pasta
Instant Pot 5-Minute Macaroni and Cheese
Instant Pot Crustless Veggie Quiche
Have a YUMMY day!
xoxo
