This easy, one pot meal is full of flavor and sure to please little ones and grow ups alike.
Around my house any kind of spaghetti dish is sure to be a hit. If it involves some kind of pasta and some kind of red sauce, I can pretty much guarantee there will be full bellies by the end of dinner. It’s not a risky, controversial food like chicken or cheese my three year old can’t identify. Cue food negotiations.
This Instant Pot Cheeseburger pasta is the perfect, simple pasta dish to please your crowd on a week night. While its’ name may conjure up images of a greasy drive-through paper bag, in reality, it’s a dish you can feel good about serving to your family. It’s made with whole wheat pasta, and the ground beef can easily be subbed out for ground turkey, and it would be every bit as tasty. There are even some sneaky veggies in there that may go undetected, but add to the big flavor.
Like all the most exciting Instant Pot recipes all your work is done right there in the pot. I still can’t get over the thrill and ease of it all.
Begin by setting your Instant Pot to saute on medium. As it heats up, dice up some onion and green pepper.
Next throw your veggies into the pot with a pound of ground beef and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, and cook until beef is cooked through and veggies are tender. Drain any excess grease.
Next you dump your tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and a box of uncooked rotini into the Instant Pot, and give it all a good stir to combine.
Seal on your lid, and and set to pressure cook for a mere 4 minutes and BOOM, perfectly cooked pasta absolutely bursting with rich, tomato flavor.
Now it’s time to put the “cheese” in Cheeseburger Pasta. Add a little (or a lot) of shredded cheddar and mix until gloriously melty.
And just like that you’ve pulled together a easy, toddler-approved pasta dish that you can feel good about serving to your crew.
Here’s the proof…
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This “Cheeseburger” pasta is super simple to pull together on a weeknight, but is flavorful and filling enough to please a crowd.
Ingredients
- 1 box whole wheat rotini
- 1.25 pounds ground beef or turkey
- 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 (15 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup green pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute on medium and add ground beef or turkey, diced onion, diced green pepper, and garlic. Cook until meat is browned, and vegetable are tender. Drain off any excess grease.
- Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt and pepper, and uncooked rotini. Mix together until combined.
- Seal Instant Pot and set to pressure cook for 4 minutes.
- Do quick release and stir in the cheddar cheese. Top with extra sprinkle of cheddar cheese if desired.
About the Author
Alyssa is a former English teacher turned stay-at-home mama to a three year old little wildflower named Lucy, and one year old, Jacob, with fire-engine red hair. She married her high school sweetheart and still thinks he’s dreamy. She likes to write about, talk about, make, and most importantly eat delicious, nourishing food. You can follow her journey at alwaysoverdressedbyalyssa.com where she passionately writes about her faith, family and parenting, mama style, and, of course, food.
Hi. My pot didn’t come to pressure. I think next time I will need to use 1 can of tomato sauce and 2 cups of water.
Oh shoot. I hate it when that happens. Hopefully all your parts were in correctly and your ring is still fitting snuggly. I had to order new rings recently because the original got too loose.
There is plenty of liquid in this recipe for the amount required for the Instant Pot, though.
I think my tomato sauce was really thick for some reason. Anyway I did add a bit more water and it eventually did get up to pressure. My whole family loved the pasta including my 4 year old. A tasty recipe!
Good to know. Thanks, Leslie. Glad you liked it.
This looks absolutely delicious! Is there an alternative for the Worcestershire sauce in this recipe?
I’ve found that soy sauce (look for all-natural Tamari Soy Sauce) can usually take the place of Worcestershire sauce.