Taco Spaghetti just got ultra quick and easy with your Instant Pot. The beef gets sautéed right in you pot, and then you add the spaghetti and a 4 minute pressure cook time for this easy weeknight dinner your whole family will love!
Taco Tuesday meets pasta night with this one! This dish is all taco flavor, but instead of taco shells, you are serving it with spaghetti noodles!
Just like your regular taco Tuesday, each person can add the toppings of choice - so this is a great base dish to make and each family member gets to add the toppings they love the most!
Very Easy, Basic Ingredients Make Taco Spaghetti!
No pasta sauce required for this spaghetti dish!
Here is what you need, and some ideas for swaps if you don't have exactly these ingredients or need to modify.
- Ground beef - You can easily use any ground meat of choice. Turkey, chicken, bison, any wild game, it is completely up to you,
- Rotel Tomatoes - these are now (finally!) available in Canada but if you have a hard time finding Rotel tomatoes, use a can of diced tomatoes, and add a can of diced chilis (usually found with the taco kits and Mexican ingredients in grocery stores). Rotel does have spice to it. If you are making this for the kiddos and don't want any heat, stick to regular diced tomatoes.
- Dry spaghetti noodles - this is taco spaghetti so I say spaghetti is king here, but you can swap to any pasta you like, the cook time may need to be modified. The general rule is to take the cook time on the box, and half it for the pressure cooking time.
- Beef broth - if sodium is a concern for you, or you don't have beef broth, you can sub for water. The flavor will be less bold and you may need to add a bit of salt on your own terms if you sub this out.
- Taco Seasoning - I opted for store bought for this recipe, but you can absolutely make your own and use that. This is a great recipe for home made taco seasoning.
- Shredded cheese - I like to use a bit of cheddar and mozzarella, but ultimately you can use any shredded cheese you like.
Tips, Tricks, and How to Make Taco Spaghetti in the Instant Pot
- Hit that saute button and when it is hot, add the beef, breaking it up as it cooks. When it is almost cooked, add the onion and garlic for the last 2 mintues. Then add the taco seasoning.
- Deglaze the pot by adding beef broth (or water), and scraping all of the brown bits off. If you don't do this, you are at high risk to get that dreaded burn notice. Add the rotel tomatoes at this point as well.
- Break your pasta noodles apart and hope your Italian friends do not see you do this! Fan out the noodles like the photo. This is important to avoid all of the noodles sticking together. Gently push the noodles as far into the broth as you can. It is ok if not all of the noodles are in the broth.
- Set the pot to high pressure for 4 minutes, and then quick release the pressure.
At this point you can add the cheese to the pot, but it is harder to clean this way - so, you can add the cheese right to each individual bowl if you want to avoid cleaning hardened cheese off your Instant Pot liner.
Add desired toppings to each dish and serve!
Freezing and Reheat Instructions
Yes, you can freeze cooked pasta. However, if you have accidently over cooked your pasta, you shouldn't freeze it.
When you reheat pasta, it continues to cook a bit, so if it is already over cooked, it will not hold up well on reheat.
I like to freeze my taco spaghetti in individual portions using my Souper Cube trays, but you could also freeze in one large pan.
To reheat, it is best to have your taco spaghetti thawed. You can add it to a pot or pan and on medium heat, reheat. Add a teaspoon of water to prevent burning.
You can also microwave it. For the Souper Cube blocks, I also add a teaspoon of water, and start with 5 minutes (if frozen) and then add time in 1-2 minute increments, until warm throughout.
If you like the looks of this, you should try some of these other one pot pasta recipes, too!
If you make this, be sure to tag me @mealplanaddict on Instagram, so I can see your version!
Instant Pot Taco Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 1 can rotel tomatoes
- 3 cups beef broth
- 8 oz dry spaghetti noodles
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Topping Suggestions
- green onion
- cilantro
- fresh diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Press the sauté button on the Instant Pot.
- Once the pot is hot, add the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks.
- When the beef is about 90% cooked, add the onions, garlic, and taco seasoning. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Pour the beef broth into the pot, and scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any brown bits. This is really important to do to avoid the dreaded burn notice.
- Add in the Rotel tomatoes and taco seasoning, and mix.
- Break your spaghetti in half (and hear the Italians cry). Fan it out in the pot like the image. This prevents the spaghetti from sticking in a big clump.
- Gently push the dry noodles down into the liquid as best you can. It is OK that not all of the noodles are in liquid.
- Pressure cook for 4 minutes. If you choose a different noodle, simply change the cook time to half the time on the package.
- Carefully, quick release the pressure. Sometimes, pasta can foam. If spurting of foam starts. Release pressure for a second, close the valve for 2 and repeat (this is an intermittent quick release).
- Give the pot a gentle stir and add the shredded cheese.
- Let the pot sit a few minutes to allow the cheese to melt. If you dislike cleaning the cooled cheese out of the pot, you can also just add the cheese to the individual dishes once plated.
- Add salt and pepper to taste as well as the toppings of choice.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Kelly says
Made this tonight. First time making pasta in the IP. So easy and tasty. Freezing leftovers for lunches! 🙌
Anon says
So easy! Whole family loved it.
Shannon says
Looks amazing! What size instant pot is this recipe for though? I have a smaller 4qt model, wondering if it will all fit?
Steph says
Half the recipe for a 3 quart pot!