Instant Pot Recipes Using Frozen Ground Beef

Forget to thaw out your ground beef to make Taco Meat, Homemade Sloppy Joes, or Instant Pot Hamburger Helper? No worries! Use the Instant Pot to cook up any type of frozen ground meat and get dinner on the table quickly!

As you most likely know, it is NOT safe to thaw meat out at room temperature, but what about safely cooking ground beef from frozen in an instant pot?

Just like the Instant Pot can cook frozen chicken breast, and frozen pot roast, The Instant Pot can be used to cook frozen ground meat effortlessly.

Instant Pot Taco Meat

You have two options when cooking fresh ground beef in your pressure cooker. You can opt to saute the meat using the saute function or you steam the beef for a hands-off method for cooking ground meat.

A note to this method--it seems silly to get out your pressure cooker if you are just sauteingyour meat (you can do that on the stove), but if you are using it to start another recipe you will finish in your Instant Pot, it is a great method to use!)

YES! This would work perfectly for any ground meat like pork, chicken, or turkey and the cooking times would remain the same.

Instant Pot Baked Ziti

HA! I wondered that too. And I was hesitant to try out my test for a while due to the fear I would be WASTING ground beef. But let me assure you, the texture is amazing on ground beef cooked this way. It is soft but still firm--it is not mealy, mushy, or watery at all. There are no crispy brown bits in the meat, instead, everything is cooked perfectly.

YES!! The trivet does 3 things: prevents the meat from getting watery, prevents the meat from scorching, and allows the fat to drain off the meat as it cooks.

Absolutely! However, I find it is best to season the ground beef after it has been pressure cooked and broken up for even flavoring.

How To Cook Frozen Ground Beef In The Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

If this method for cooking frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot saved your dinner, I would love for you to leave a comment and rating below.

Calories: 155 kcal | Protein: 24 g | Fat: 5 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Cholesterol: 70 mg | Sodium: 74 mg | Potassium: 392 mg | Calcium: 10 mg | Iron: 2.7 mg

Hi, I am Kristen, creator of A Mind Full Mom. I believe that making a wholesome family meal does not need to be hard or expensive! I love nothing more than to share with you delicious solutions for your hungry family.Learn the easiest way How To Cook Frozen Ground Beef In The Instant Pot in just 20 minutes with only two ingredients. No thawing, no waiting, no dry meat! Use this method to cook any type of frozen ground meat.

Instant Pot Ground Beef Burrito Bowls

This is one of those super easy and handy Instant Pot recipes that will save dinner time. Serve it as is with some seasoning or use in any other recipes calling for ground meat like this Taco Pasta or Korean Ground Beef.

Let’s face it, most of the time the hardest part of dinner is when you realize that you forgot to thaw the meat.It happened to me so many times when I had great plans and ideas of how delicious dinner would be only to realize that I have a frozen block of ground beef still in the freezer.

But the night can be saved with these easy tips on how to cook frozen ground beef in the instant pot or other pressure cookers with only 2 ingredients, one of which is just water! This is a great recipe for busy days and it’s a convenient way to cook quickly cook frozen meat.

Easy Korean Ground Beef

Also, once it has been cooked using the saute function to brown the beef with some taco seasoning for an instant pot taco meat recipe! Feel free to use the cooked meat to make other delicious meals like sloppy joes, tacos, quesadillas, or a quick chili.

To make weeknights stress-free and dinner a breeze, check how to cook frozen chicken breasts or chicken wings, how to cook a whole frozen chicken, and also how to cook frozen pork tenderloin in the instant pot.

Also, you will need aTrivet or Steamer Insert, the Instant Pot comes with a trivet, but if you don’t have one, you can use a steamer insert.

How To Cook Frozen Ground Beef In Instant Pot

This is a super simple and easy recipe to follow, no matter if you are using frozen hamburger patties or frozen meat. Also, watch the short video tutorial attached for a quick guideline. The general steps are as follows:

Absolutely! It is a time saver and so easy to make, you only need two ingredients: water and beef. While I would highly recommend staying away from cooking frozen meat in the microwave or boiling it on the stovetop or cooking it in the slow cooker.

Because the cooking time takes too long. Also, the beef becomes over-cooked on the outside and under-cooked in the center, and the texture just isn’t the same. The pressure cooking method, however, is the one that I found the most success with. It only takes minutes to cook frozen ground beef in the instant pot, so make sure to save the recipe for emergency dinners!

Instant Pot Ground Beef Pasta

I got this question from a few readers and that’s a no-no. Do not attempt to brown frozen beef. While the beef has the most amazing flavor when browned, you do not want to try that with frozen beef.

After crumbling it, I like to add some spices, to add more flavor to the beef. It tastes just like you would cook it on the stove. If you find the beef to be a bit fry, after you crumble it, you can mix in 1-2 tablespoons of beef broth or chicken broth.

It tastes absolutely amazing. I like adding taco seasoning to my crumbled beef, as well as pepper flakes, and about 1 tablespoon of beef broth. After mixing well, you get some delicious taco beef.And then I’m annoyed when I go to cook dinner and realize that my meat is still frozen solid and I end up having to microwave it. Which never works well.

Frozen Ground Beef In The Instant Pot

Being able to pull a block of frozen ground beef out and have it cooked in less than a half hour is fantastic.

I have found that if you are cooking meat that is included in the cooking time chart at the back of the Instant Pot recipe booklet (comes with the Instant Pot), it’s quite easy to adjust the time for frozen meat.

Usually frozen meat will take about 1.5 times as long as fresh meat to cook. So for instance, if you’re cooking chicken breast they take 8 minutes to cook at high pressure if they’re fresh, and 12 minutes if they’re frozen.

Instant Pot Taco Meat From Frozen Ground Beef

You can cook frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot, which is fantastic since it doesn’t thaw very evenly in the microwave, and who actually remembers to take meat out the day before to thaw?

Cooking frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot takes about 20 minutes. If your blocks of ground beef are really thick it will likely take a bit longer than that.

I freeze my ground beef in flat, 1-1.5 inch thick blocks and it takes 20 minutes to cook almost all the way through in the Instant Pot.

The Best Instant Pot Ground Beef Recipes

You can add a few more minutes to get it completely cooked through, but I find it’s easier to crumble and break up if it’s still a bit pink in the middle.

It only takes a couple minutes with the saute function to break it up and finish cooking it after the pressure cooking cycle is complete.

I freeze my ground beef in 1 pound portions, pressed flat so it’s an even thickness of 1-1.5 inches. With 20 minutes of pressure cooking time, the beef frozen in this way is almost completely cooked, with a bit of pink remaining in the middle which is easily finished with the saute button on the Instant Pot. I don’t like to cook it further than this point as it then becomes difficult to break up and crumble nicely.

How To Cook Ground Beef From Frozen In The Instant Pot

If your frozen ground beef is a thicker slab of 2-2.5 inches instead, I would recommend adding 3-4 minutes to the pressure cooking time, or it will still be quite raw in the middle and you will be sautéing for a few more minutes to finish up the browning.

You can cook two pounds of ground beef the same way if you like, just lay them side by side (or stacked slightly if they don’t fit side by side) on the trivet. The pressure cooking time will not change.Step by step directions showing how to cook juicy and tender Instant Pot frozen ground beef. The ultimate weeknight meal secret for cooking frozen ground beef in 20 minutes flat! No thawing needed.

Thanks to the Instant Pot, cooking frozen ground beef is not only safe but also fast and efficient. From Instant Pot whole chicken and Instant Pot pulled pork - the pressure cooker really is a lifesaver for getting the protein portion

Best Instant Pot Ground Beef Recipes Quick & Cheap