Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef is pure comfort food. This easy Instant Pot dinner recipe is so creamy and cheesy. Pasta shells and ground beef are cooked in a tomato sauce and then Parmesan cheese, cream, and cream cheese get mixed in. Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef is a little like homemade Hamburger Helper, only much, much better.
Made from simple ingredients, it is perfect for a busy weeknight meal and is sure to be a family favorite.
How To Make
To make Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef, first use the saute mode to cook a pound of lean ground beef and a chopped onion. Then add your flavors- dried Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes plus a tablespoon of tomato paste.
Once the ground beef is no longer pink, pour the uncooked pasta shells on top. Pour a jar of spaghetti sauce and 3 cups of water over the shells. Press the shells down into the liquid, but do not stir. Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.
The pasta soaks up so much flavor cooking this way rather than just being boiled in water and then mixed into sauce.
After pressure cooking, do a manual release. Stir in 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of heavy cream, and 2 ounces of softened cream cheese.
This Instant Pot recipe is so easy and so delicious. Your family will be fighting over the leftovers.
★★★★★
What readers are saying
This quickly became a family favorite. The kids could probably eat it every day and be happy. Leftovers are good for lunch the next day. And it’s very easy to improvise if I’m out of an ingredient or 2.
Variations and Substitutions
- Make is spicier. Double the amount of crushed red pepper flakes.
- Use ground turkey or ground Italian sausage instead of ground beef.
- Mix in 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- To make it vegetarian, use Impossible Beef.
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Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 (16-ounce) box medium pasta shells, uncooked
- 1 (24-ounce) jar pasta sauce
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks and softened
Instructions
- Add olive oil to the inner pot of an Instant Pot. Turn on “Saute” mode. Add onion and cook until starting to get soft.
- Add ground beef and cook and crumble it with a wooden spoon until no longer pink. Turn Instant Pot off.
- Add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes and tomato paste and stir.
- Pour shells on top of ground beef mixture.
- Pour pasta sauce and water on top of shells. Do not stir, but press shells down into liquid with the back of a spoon.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is in “sealing” position. Set to Pressure Cook on HIGH for 5 minutes.
- Do a manual pressure release and when the pin drops, remove the lid. Stir in Parmesan cheese, heavy cream, and cream cheese. Serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally posted June 6, 2018.
Recipe adapted from Meatloaf and Melodrama
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Has anyone tried this without the cream cheese?
Yes! I didn’t put any cream cheese and it was amazing and delicious. The heavy cream made it creamy enough so much so I can’t imagine it with the cream cheese. Even then I didn’t put the entire amount of heavy cream called for.
What can I use other then Cream Cheese?
You could use a little sour cream.
Good but needed a bit more salt
Followed the recipe as written. Did forget to the scrape the bottom of the pan, so we got the burn error. Was very good!
I used an 8Q IP. Followed recipe but added 2 mins as other suggested. Pasta was still undercooked. I might do 10 mins total next time. I didn’t get the burn warning; however, it was JUST slightly starting to burn when I opened the lid. Glad I opened it when I did. Great taste, though.
Exactly same thing happened to me too, I opened as soon as it was done but was starting to burn! May be need more water.
The 8 qt Instant Pot seems to burn a lot easier than the 6 qt. I would definitely recommend using more water as the 8qt seems to need it!
I made this with penne instead of shells, and added some extra cheese (I’m from Wisconsin, what can I say) and it’s heavenly. I will definitely be making this again.
I used the Barilla ProteinPlus Penne! It worked perfect! I typically pick high protein pastas since my daughters notoriously pick around meat.
Can this be made with gluten free pasta?
I’m making it gf at the moment. I’ll let you know
I always make it GF – just follow the box’s time for cooking and subtract 1 minute – you should be good to go! Works wonderfully!
So I made this tonight and followed the instructions in my 6qt InstantPot and had problems. 😢 It didn’t pressurize the 1st time so I added more liquid. Did the same again and I added more liquid total of 2 1/2 more cups. Finally the 3rd time at least the noodles were cooked but the bottom of my pan was burnt and it never pressurized. HELP!! What could have happened here???
Could you have forgotten to set the lid to seal?
I found this recipe when we got our instant pot 3 months ago for our wedding. I saved it and just came across it again today. Amazing! Great flavor and so creamy and delicious. Can’t wait to make it again!
Made this exactly as written and it turned out delicious! I’d love to make it again but since I’m only cooking for two I wanted to only make a half recipe. Would I adjust the water and/or cooking time if I cut all of the other ingredients in half? Thank you!
I always cook for my 7 year old son and myself. When I make dishes like this, I freeze half of it for a quick dinner later. Just a thought!
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