Taco Pasta is delicious, but make it in the Instant Pot in 4 minutes and it is even better. This recipe for Instant Pot Taco Pasta is a perfect weeknight family dinner that everyone will love, even your kids!
Perfectly cooked pasta shells are mixed in an amazing tomato based Instant Pot taco sauce that is seasoned perfectly. Ground beef, corn, black beans, cilantro and cheese are mixed in to make this dinner complete.
Insta-Meal Sauce for the Instant Pot
I partnered with Insta-Meal Sauces on this post. All opinions are my own! Scroll down to enter the INSTA-MEAL GIVEAWAY!
You know I have always loved my Instant Pot! So I was EXTRA excited when I found out there was a bottled sauce that is made specifically for your Instant Pot! (bonus Insta-Meal is a family owned, KC local company)
These sauces take the guesswork out of making or finding a sauce that is Instant Pot compatible. They are huge time savers not only in the kitchen, but also at the grocery store. Instead of buying 7 extra ingredients to make the taco pasta sauce, everything you need is already in the bottle for you! And they taste AMAZING!!
Their sauces come in 3 flavors:
There are more recipes to come using the other flavors.
You can buy these sauces in a 3 pack or individually, and if you have Amazon Prime, they will be to your house in no time! Click the links above to purchase on Amazon (affiliate link).
Insta-Meal Sauce Giveaway!
Sorry, this giveaway has ended. But please stick around for the amazing free recipe at the bottom of this post!!
Making Pasta in the Instant Pot
When I first got my Instant Pot, I didn’t believe that you could make pasta in 4 minutes! I would always add extra time because 4 minutes sounded crazy to me. But, truly that is all you need and your pasta cooks perfectly.
Here are a few other tips for cooking pasta in your Instant Pot:
- Most recipes will give you an exact amount of liquid to use in with an Instant Pot pasta recipe. But if you are winging it with a different amount of pasta, simply use enough liquid to just come to the top of your pasta, with a few pieces peeking out of the water.
- Only set your pot for 4 minutes! I know it sounds crazy, but that is the perfect amount of time.
- Do not pressure cook with cream sauces, like alfredo. Cook the pasta in a liquid, then add the cream sauce, cheese, thickeners after it cooks.
- Make sure that all the pasta is touching the liquid. It does not all need to be submerged, but it needs to at least be touching the liquid.
- Don’t forget to add a few pinches of salt to the pasta and water. This is your chance to actually flavor the pasta itself!
How to Make Instant Pot Taco Pasta
Turn the Instant Pot onto saute mode, once it reads HOT you will soften the onions and garlic in the oil for a few minutes. Next add the ground beef and crumble it into bite size pieces while cooking, this will be about 5 minutes. It’s ok if there is some pink remaining, it will cook thru during the pressure cooking.
Turn off saute mode and drain the extra grease from the pot, then put the beef and onions back in the pot.
You want to make sure you get all the sauce out of the bottle, so pour 2T of water into the now empty sauce bottle, swirl it around and pour it into the pot. Stir all the ingredients together and very lightly press the pasta so that it is at least touching the liquid.
Place the lid on the pot, lock the pressure valve to “seal”, and set the pot to pressure mode, on high, for 4 minutes.
Toppings for Taco Pasta
I hope you give this Instant Pot Pasta recipe a try in your kitchen!
Love- Susie
Instant Pot Taco Pasta Recipe
Instant Pot Taco Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 2 plump garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb. ground beef, 85/15
- 1 cup bell pepper or poblano pepper, diced If you have extra use as a garnish
- 1/2 lb. medium shell pasta about 2 1/2 cups
- 12 oz bottle Insta-Meal TacoTaco Sauce
- 2 cups plus 2 T water, divided
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped extra used for garnish
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese, can use cheddar, monterey jack, colby jack, or pepper jack extra used for garnish
- 1 fresh roma tomato, diced for garnish **Optional
Instructions
- With the Instant Pot on saute, soften the onions and garlic in the oil for a few minutes. Add the ground beef and crumble while cooking, for 5 minutes. Turn off saute mode and drain the grease.
- Add the beef and onions back to the pot. Stir in the peppers, pasta, Taco-Taco Sauce, chili powder, salt, and 2 cups water. Pour the 2T of water into the empty sauce bottle, swirl it around and pour it into the pot, this will ensure you get all the sauce out of the bottle. (flavor!!!)
- Stir all the ingredients together and lightly press the pasta so that it is all at least touching the liquid.Place the lid on the pot, lock the pressure valve to "seal", and set the pot for pressure mode, on high, for 4 minutes.
- Do a quick release of pressure. Stir in the black beans, corn, cilantro, and cheese. Let the pasta sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Serving Instant Pot Taco Pasta
- Garnish the pasta with additional cilantro, diced bell peppers, diced tomatoes, jalapenos, avocado, extra cheese, or sour cream (Greek yogurt). Any toppings that you like on a taco would work on this pasta too! Enjoy!
John says
Five stars all the way for this cheesy taco deliciousness!! 😋😋😋