This Instant Pot Taco Pasta Recipe was a huge hit with the whole family! I love finding new easy dinners, and as someone who is still intimated by her Instant Pot, this was perfect. Dump and cook recipes are my favorite kind of recipes, especially on our crazy weeknights. I can’t be the only mom who is always trying to figure out how to squeeze in cooking dinner every night!

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Now one of our favorite Instant Pot dinners is the easy Instant Pot Pasta and Meatballs, I mean it’s so easy the girls can cook it alone now. My second favorite part of this dinner is that it is all the ingredients are ones that I always have on hand from picking up deals at the store. Meaning if plans fall thru I can whip this up in no time.

Take a lot of prep work out of weeknight dinners and precook and freeze your cooked ground beef! Pull and defrost the ground beef to put in recipes like this for an easy weeknight dinner! (If you aren’t sure how to best do this, check out Freezing Cooked Ground Beef)
Now I made this taco pasta in instant pot using my 6 Quart Instant Pot and it could be doubled in it as well. I love how fast this cooked and that there was only one cooking dish to be washed. We have some crazy nights with the kids in the house so the speed is a factor some nights for getting dinner on the table.
Instant Pot 8 Quartinstant pot 6 quart
instant pot accessories
Instant Pot Taco Pasta Ingredients:
- Ground Beef– This will need to be cooked and drained of grease to put in the instant pot.
- Diced Tomatoes– I used canned tomatoes, but you can use fresh if you want.
- Taco Seasoning
- Cumin
- Salsa– You can use whatever level of spice you want, I used mild because my kids don’t like a lot of kick to it.
- Shell Pasta
- Chicken Broth
- Mexican Shredded Cheese – You could use any shredded cheese you want, this is my family’s a personal favorite variety
How TO make taco pasta instant pot
Start by turning on your Instant Pot to the Saute mode.
Now I freeze up my ground beef (See the tips and tricks -> here) so all I had to do was reheat it. If you need to brown up your ground beef and be sure to break it up. Cook until the meat is done.

Drain any grease out if there is any of the meat was low fat you can leave the remaining grease in.
Leave saute mode on and mix into the meat the diced tomatoes, salsa, seasonings, and broth.
Allow this to warm up for a few minutes while constantly stirring the mixture. (Now I used my own Homemade Taco Seasoning but you could use packet seasoning too)
Next, add in your pasta and give it a good stir to mix everything up.

Seal the lid to your Instant Pot and cook on manual setting for 5 minutes.
Once the timer has gone off manually release the pressure by turning the valve.
Remove the lid when the pressure has finished releasing.

Stir in the cheese and recover with the lid to allow the cheese to melt.

Serve and enjoy!
*You could do this on the stovetop by making pasta separately and then mixing everything else into the pot.
*Also you can use diced tomatoes with extras in it. I used garlic and olive oil petite diced tomatoes, the store also had them with Jalapenos and chili peppers in them that would add a great flavor.
*To spice it up swap mild salad swap out for a more spicy salsa
Optional Toppings For Pasta Taco:
- Avocado
- Sour Cream
- Jalapeno
- Chopped Cilantro
- Green Onions
Optional Taco Pasta Mix-Ins:
- Tomato Sauce
- Monterey Jack Cheese
- Colby Jack Cheese
- Jalapenos
- Green Chilis
- Tomatoes with extra seasonings in them
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Ground Chicken Or Ground Turkey
How To Store Leftover Taco Pasta
Store in an air tight container for four to five days. Youc an freeze this, but allow it to be cooled off completely before freezing.
How To reheat Leftover Taco Pasta
Reheating in the microwave, stirring often; if it seems to start to dry out, you may need to add some milk. I put a damp paper towel over mine when I am microwaving it.
You can also reheat on the stove top or in the oven as well.
Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot is a great way to make dinner fast on busy weeknights! As well as dinner, it is easy to meal prep for the week.
- Taco Pasta
- Pork Carnitas
- Loaded Baked Beans
- Beef Chili
- Shredded Chicken Taco Meat
- Egg Loaf
- Pasta and Meatballs
- Crack Chicken
- Egg Bites
Instant Pot Taco Pasta Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Ground Beef
- 29 Ounces Diced Tomatoes
- 4 Teaspoon Taco Seasoning
- 2 Teaspoon Cumin
- 24 Ounce Salsa
- 3 Cups Medium Shell Pasta
- 2 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth
- 1 1/2 Cup Mexican Shredded Cheese
Instructions
- Start by turning on your Instant Pot to the Saute mode.
- Cook up your ground beef and drain any grease out if there is any of the meat, was low fat you can leave the remaining grease in.
- Leave saute mode on and mix into the meat the diced tomatoes, salsa, seasonings, and broth. Allow this to warm up for a couple of minutes while constantly stirring the mixture.
- Next, add in your pasta and give it a good stir to mix everything up.
- Seal the lid to your Instant Pot and cook on manual for 5 minutes. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the vent to “sealing”. Cook on manual for 5 minutes.
- Once the timer has gone off manually release the pressure by turning the valve. Remove the lid when the pressure has finished releasing.
- Stir in the cheese and recover with the lid to allow the cheese to melt.
- Serve and enjoy!
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