This Instant Pot Taco Meat from Frozen Ground Beef is the easiest way to do weeknight dinner! No thawing the meat, no extra pots — just throw it in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker, cook and season! This taco filling is perfect for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or taco salad and great for prepping ahead!
Happy Thursday friends! I’m jumping in here for yet another Instant Pot recipe, and we’re still sticking with the basics: how to make Instant Pot taco meat from frozen ground beef!
I’ll admit, when I first heard about people cooking frozen ground beef in their Instant Pots, I wasn’t convinced. I mean, how can that even work? Wouldn’t it cook into a big solid block??
But after my success with cooking frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot, I was pretty determined to give it a try!
(Looking for more easy Instant Pot recipes? Check out these Instant Pot Baked Potatoes or this Creamy Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup!)
Friends, I have a 3 month old, a 3 year old, and a 5 year old. I’ve got a lot on my mind, and I’ll be honest, spending a lot of time running around like crazy not really getting anywhere. If I actually remember to take some meat out to thaw in the morning, it’s some kind of miracle.
If the 3 month old makes it into real clothes for the day, it’s also some kind of miracle.
So learning to cook meat from frozen is one of the first things I knew I had to do with my Instant Pot! It’s a game changer you guys.
You can absolutely just use this recipe and not add the taco seasoning. You can make sloppy joes, or spaghetti sauce, or just about anything where you need cooked ground beef and weren’t exactly prepared for dinner that night 😉
Tips and Tricks for Making this Instant Pot Taco Meat from frozen ground beef:
- I usually cook two pounds at once, and they are frozen into square blocks. They are pretty thick, so even if your meat is in a slightly different shape it shouldn’t take any longer. If you have more than one pound frozen together, you will want to add 5 minutes or just cook longer on saute at the end.
- Because I am going to saute it with the seasoning in the end anyway, I’m not that concerned about it being completely cooked through after pressure cooking. I would rather have it a little easier to crumble and a little pink yet in the inside, then totally dried out and tough.
- It’s going to take a little time and muscle to scramble the meat — use a hard metal or wooden spoon and just go to town. Had a bad day? This is a great way to get some of that anger out! 😉
Instant Pot Taco Meat from Frozen Ground Beef
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups + ½ cup water
- 2 lbs frozen ground beef frozen in 1 lb blocks
- 3 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Pour the water into your Instant Pot (mine is a 6 quart) and add the trivet or a cooking rack.
- Add the ground beef, side by side, on top of the trivet.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual, high pressure, for 18-20 minutes (18 if your blocks are thinner, 20 for thicker blocks in the middle).
- At the end of the cook time, turn the Instant Pot off. Do a quick release and drain the water from the Instant Pot (I like to use my trivet to hold the meat in the pot as I dump out the water).
- Using a strong metal or wooden spoon, crumble the ground beef. This will take a few minutes! It’s okay if your beef isn’t cooked right through as we’re going to be cooking further.
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute and add the ½ cup water, cumin, garlic, paprika, salt, onion powder, black pepper and cayenne and stir until thoroughly combined, adding an additional ¼ cup water if necessary.
- Serve immediately, refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Want to save this recipe?
Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again.
Tried this recipe?
Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel —
I love to see what you’re making!
Tag @thereciperebel
[simple-recipe:8823a]
Tonya Weekley says
Nailed it! Thank you for posting!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Thanks Tonya!
Janet says
So I use your method for cooking the ground beef for my lasagna. Perfect! Here’s a tip – I put my raw chopped onions (from my lasagna recipe) in the instant pot water under the trivet. After cooking, I strain them as I pour the water into my gravy/fat separator. Then I have my cooked onions and good beef broth to use in the recipe instead of water – extra flavor without the fat! Just started following you and am loving your insight on recipes!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Janet! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Lindy says
Yes I did use it to cook frozen hamburger meat but after first step turn the hamburger into chili using a preboxed chili mix. Turned out great thanks for the recipe for cooking frozen hamburger.
The Recipe Rebel says
Glad it worked out for you Lindy!
InstaNewbie says
Why do we need to drain the water?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi! It’s something I prefer. The water in the bottom will include fat so I like to remove it and add clean water. Hope this helps!
tanyatissaaratchy@gmail.com says
Are you able to add the saute time to your recipe? I had to look in the comments to see what you suggested to others. Our family love taco nights!
Ashley Fehr says
Time is not as important as doneness. First, you will crumble the beef. It will take however long it takes 🙂 Then you will add in the spices and cook and stir until it is combined.
Patricia says
Hi I have a question do I use the same amount of time for one pound of meat? I’m looking forward to trying this!! Your frozen chicken breast recipe was life changing and I’ve been recommending to everyone!!! Thank you
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Patricia! Yes I would use the same cook time — I hope you enjoy it!
Carol says
Made it today it worked well only change I made was to add beef bullion and no salt. It was quick easy with less clean up than normal.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so happy to hear that Carol!
April Crawford says
I’m new to the instapot and was actually given one second hand. It doesn’t have the trivet. Will this method work without it? I take care of anywhere from 4-8 grandkids on any given day and I struggle to have dinner ready for grandpa when he gets home.
Ashley Fehr says
I would see if you can find a trivet on Amazon or somewhere secondhand. They really do come in handy! I think it would probably work without but I’ve never tried. You may be able to just prop it up with something else that is pressure cooker safe.
Claudia says
When did you add the beef bouillon? With the water out with the taco seasoning?
Hilary says
Can you do this with only 1 lb of ground beef? If so, how would the recipe/method change?
Hilary Caron says
Also- I’m brand new to InstantPot- is there a good technique for draining out the water?
Ashley Fehr says
No problem! You can definitely do it with one pound! To drain the water I usually put the trivet over top of the meat to hold it in the bottom, then dump to drain
Luis says
With fresh ground meat do I just put it in the pot or do I still use the trivet and water?
Ashley Fehr says
If you’re using fresh ground beef you can just saute and completely skip any pressure cooking!
Tod Sackella says
Great recipe! Used tonight when I forgot to thaw out the ground beef and it turned out terrific! Thanks so much for posting.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Tod!
Karen says
I put 2 pounds of frozen meat in the pot for 20 minutes. It was mostly cooked, but I could still break it up easily. It didn’t take long at all to break up and it had finished cooking by then. I drained the water, added the spices and fresh water. It was so easy! Thank you! I will definately do this again.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Karen! I’m so glad it worked out well for you!
Raquel says
How do you reheat this after you freeze it.?
Ashley Fehr says
You can thaw in the fridge and microwave or reheat it on the stove top pretty easily.
Ray says
How long do you sauté for.
Ashley Fehr says
Until the meat is cooked and has absorbed the spices. Probably about 4-5 minutes.
Andrew Mayer says
I tried this last night.
I love the concept, but I think you’re overcooking the meat a bit, especially since it’s going to need to be sauteed with the spices. I also like to add some onions, fresh garlic, and bell pepper.
I’m going to try it with 10 minutes and see what happens.
Ashley Fehr says
You can definitely adjust as you like 🙂 I like it to be thawed enough in the middle that I can easily break it apart!
T Sieracki says
Thank you for this post! My instant pot just arrived so I was eager to try it out. Tacos were on the menu so I decided to give this recipe a try. Worked like a charm. I was nervous at first because my ground turkey blocks were too big to lie side by side so I had to stack them. After the 20 minutes of cooking, I opened the pot and where they were touching was still pretty pink. But like you mentioned, I switched to sauté and it finished cooking while breaking the turkey into crumbles. I ended up pulling some out before adding the seasoning for a future meal. So happy with the results!
Ashley Fehr says
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that!
Jennifer Stevens says
I don’t have the rack, is it possible/ok to do this without the rack?
Ashley Fehr says
I don’t think it’s a good idea to place the frozen ground beef right on the bottom of the pot. Maybe you have something you can put it in or on to keep it off the bottom?
Amy says
A steamer basket works well if you don’t have the Instant Pot rack.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for the tip!
Susan cox says
Do you put the trevit under or over the meat while cooking?
Ashley Fehr says
You just follow the recipe as written.
Carole says
If you put the trivet UNDER the meat to cook it, how do you use the trivet to keep the meat in the bowl while you’re dumping ova eh water?
Carole says
oops- out the water! not ova eh water! ha
Ashley Fehr says
I just put the trivet on top to drain! I cook with it under though 🙂
Joanna says
Use a potato masher to break up the meat 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
That’s a great idea! Love it!
Danielle says
Another great way to use my Instant Pot! And I NEVER remember to take ground beef out to thaw. It’s like some kind of mental block, I had no idea you could use an Instant Pot (never considered it). Love that I came across this!
Ashley Fehr says
Yes! So hard to remember!