Easy Instant Pot Ground Beef Tacos
These easy Instant Pot Tacos are packed with flavorful ground beef and kid-approved seasonings. Best of all, they’re ready in under 30 minutes thanks to your pressure cooker. Say hello to your new favorite weeknight dinner!
Hi all, Jenn here!
Tacos are on a weekly rotation at my house. Sometimes, it’s chicken tacos, sometimes pork carnitas, and sometimes these awesome ground beef tacos.
I love this recipe for its delicious flavors, of course. But even better, it’s a quick, one-pot, dump-and-go meal. All you need is some ground beef and a few flavorful seasonings that are probably already in your spice cabinet.
⏲️ Whether you have fresh or frozen ground beef, you’re less than 30 minutes away from a filling meal that your family will love!
How to Make Instant Pot Tacos in Any Brand of Electric Pressure Cooker
This Instant Pot Taco Meat recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Tacos are one of the easiest meals to whip up in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot!
🛑 After the quick release, the beef will not be fully cooked! This is intentional to avoid the burn notice and get fully flavored, perfectly cooked taco meat!
This recipe cooks at high pressure to cook the meat, and then uses the Saute function to break up the meat and evaporate any remaining liquid. I like to use my OXO meat chopping tool to easily separate the meat inside my Instant Pot.
Best Spices for Ground Beef Tacos
A month or two ago, my son told me, “Mom, I wish your tacos were as good as Taco Bell Tacos.”
Um, what?! Challenge accepted!
I’d researched a few copycat recipes, and they all pointed to the same secret ingredient: granulated beef bouillon.
It makes a HUGE difference and really kicks up the beefy flavor of the tacos!
And, I can officially tell you that my son has decided this recipe is “WAY better than Taco Bell tacos.” (I agree!)
🌶️ The taco seasonings in this recipe are mild and kid-approved. If you like it spicy, I highly recommend doubling the chili powder or adding crushed chili pepper flakes.
How to Cook Ground Beef Tacos with Frozen Beef?
If you’re using frozen ground beef, you’ll have best results with beef that is frozen in completely flat. (A misshapen frozen piece of meat won’t cook evenly.)
If your beef is frozen flat, the only difference between cooking these tacos with frozen vs. fresh beef is an extra 2 minutes of cook time.
- For Fresh Ground Beef: Cook on High Pressure for just 3 minutes
- For Frozen Beef: Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes
💡 Tip: If your ground beef comes larger packages, weigh out 1 pound portions and freeze them flat in ziplock bags for Instant Pot ground beef recipes like this one.
How to Serve Instant Pot Ground Beef Tacos
When it comes to serving this quick and easy dinner, the possibilities are endless. I’ll toss on whatever we have on hand. Some ideas:
- soft flour or hard corn tortillas
- chopped fresh tomatoes
- diced onions
- diced peppers (bell peppers for the kiddos and jalapenos for an extra kick)
- thinly sliced radishes for a zesty twist
- salsa or green taco sauce
- chopped lettuce
- fresh-squeezed lime juice
- a sprinkle of shredded cheese
- a generous dollop of guacamole (I just found out that my Costco sells guac in individual portion cups that don’t go bad, and it’s been LOVE.)
My favorite sides for Instant Pot tacos are my pressure cooker cilantro lime rice or my easy Instant Pot Spanish Rice. When I cook it, I freeze the leftovers in individual portions for future lunches!
Who says you need to wait for Tuesday to have a taco party? With this easy recipe for Instant Pot ground beef tacos, you’ll find yourself serving tacos all week long.
More Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot Ground Beef Recipes
- Instant Pot American Chop Suey (AKA Beefaroni)
- Pressure Cooker Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole
- Pressure Cooker Tex-Mex Chili Mac
- Taco Soup from Foodie Crush
Instant Pot Ground Beef Tacos
Flavor-packed Instant Pot Ground Beef Tacos with kid-approved seasoning is the one-pot dinner you need on busy nights! Use fresh or frozen ground beef for this foolproof recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- ½ teaspoon salt*
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon granulated beef bouillon
- 1 pound lean ground beef, fresh or frozen
- Tortillas, cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole, for serving
Instructions
- In the pressure cooking pot, combine the water, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried onion, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, sugar, and beef bouillon. Add the ground beef. Lock the lid in place.
- If the beef is not frozen, select High Pressure and set the cook time for 3 minutes. For frozen beef, select High Pressure and set the cook time for 5 minutes.
- When the cook time ends, use a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid and give everything a good stir. (Note that the ground beef will not be cooked through at this point.)
- Select Sauté and cook, stirring frequently, until the water evaporates and the beef is browned and crumbled, about 5 minutes.
- Serve as desired, wrapped in flour tortillas or crisp taco shells, with cheese, salsa, fresh lettuce, diced tomatoes, and guacamole.
Notes
*If using frozen ground beef, adjust the cook time to 5 minutes.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 servings Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 241Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 480mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 24g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
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Hi there, I’ve been using your recipe for a little over a year there about, my whole family loves “dads” taco/burrito days, I feel you deserve the shout out, its consistently enjoyed, ranked right up there with 3 different picky kids favorites, thanks very much!
That’s so fun – thanks for sharing Rich!
We are also near-weekly taco people…
I think with thawed beef it may be as fast or faster to sauté it – no waiting to get to pressure!
Brown first, then add reduced amount of water with the spices.
Our taco tip – sprinkle a little cheese in the shell, then add the well-drained beef, them a little more cheese on top.
Pop these in a 325 deg oven for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and you can smell the toasted corn.
Then serve hot for all to add toppings.
Hi Ronnie – thanks for sharing your taco tip!
Thanks for sharing. It came out great on my Ninja Foodie. I used chopped onions and it cooked great!
That’s great – thanks!
Dear Barbara…thanks so much for all your excellent recipes, and this one rates up at the top for me. I’ve made it many times and shared the recipes with friends. I’m getting ready to make it again and thought this time I should tell you!
I only have 1/2 lb of ground beef, should i cut the water & seasonings in 1/2?
I’m so sorry that there were comments made on your blog in response to this recipe that were downright rude, disrespectful, and inappropriate. I’m afraid our culture is continuing to stoop to a level of treating people this way and I try my best not to simply look the other way when I encounter it. I typically read some of the comments for a new (to me) recipe to discover whether or not it was generally successful for most and unfortunately found those comments near the top. Wanted to let you know that I appreciate your blog and the time you spend making it an enjoyable read, the ability you have enabled your readers to jump straight to the recipe if/when in a hurry, and your gracious responses to those who appear to be mean-spirited and rude. Thank you. I’m looking forward to trying this new way of making one of my favorites (beef tacos) n the IP.
Thank you so much Michelle! Your support means so much.
Well said, Michelle! Barbara, I am cooking this recipe right now. I did not feel the need to read all the introductory info, so hit the “jump to recipe” and voile! Not too complicated for a reasonably intelligent person to get right to the recipe! Keep up the good work, and for those of us with young kids who are so picky, greatly appreciate this recipe!
Thanks for the support Nancy!! Hope your picky kids loved this taco recipe.
New to the IP family… do you have the lid off when sautéing the meat???
Hi Jill – yes, you always saute with the lid off. Enjoy!
How hard is it to just right down a recipe. I’m trying to find quick meal ideas not learn about your stupid family history
Hi Bill – thanks for checking out the recipe. This is a quick and easy recipe and there is no family history given, just information about the recipe – tips on cooking from fresh or frozen hamburger, what to serve with it, links to other recipes to serve along with it or on a different day. I’m trying to answer questions people may have about the recipe so they don’t have to ask later. And if you want to skip all that great info that I took the time to write in addition to the free recipe, I have a Jump To Recipe button at the top of the post that takes you straight to the recipe.
Barbara, you’re very gracious in the way you answer these rude comments. We should all be so gracious. Here’s my take on the lead-in to recipes … (when I have time) I enjoy the history, tips, substitutes, and all the precede a recipe. I even like reading the reviewer’s comments. When I don’t have time, I jump to the recipe and skip the comments. Keep up the good work, Barbara. MANY of us appreciate all that you do! Have a very Happy Mother’s Day!!!
I agree Bill,
I’m so tired of trying to find a recipe only to have to sift through page upon page of filler. ESPECIALLY ON MOBILE!
Just want the recipe, not what your friends and family think of your tacos!
Hi James – fortunately for you, there is a Jump To Recipe button right at the top of the post so you can skip to the recipe if you don’t want to read all the helpful information.
You may want to skip the internet reading and resort to thumbing through ordinary cookbooks. This is a great recipe and I hope you try it, after hitting the “jump to recipe” and button you also missed.
In your haste to be critical, you must have missed the “jump to recipe” tab. It’s a very good recipe that you can WRITE down easily yourself.
Have a good day and try this recipe, it’s very good!
Cooked well, but pretty greasy.
Glad you enjoyed it Neida – it’s definitely important to use lean ground beef if you’re not draining the beef.
Hi There,
I need to make tacos for about 20 people &want to use my IP to save time. I am very new to IP cooking and am wondering how many pounds of meat could I cook at one time and how much water per pound? Would be using fresh squares of meat. Thank you!
Faith
Hi Faith – I would use 3.5 lbs of ground beef, triple the spices but use just 1 cup of water in a 6-quart pressure cooker, 1 1/2 cups of water in an 8-quart pressure cooker. I would break up the meat squares into quarters when you add it to the pot, so it fits better in the pot and it’s easier to brown later. Let me know how it goes.
These turned out awesome. I make great tacos however I wanted to try making them in my new Insta pot. Found your recipe and gave it a shot thanks for sharing it was awesome.
That’s great – thanks Anthony!
OUTSTANDING! I am a newbie to IP cooking, thought tacos sounded good for dinner tonight. This recipe is delicious – perhaps the best ground beef taco I’ve ever had at home. No changes, although it took probably eight to 10 minutes to sautés the ground beef to completion. Will definitely make again, and as our current culture allows, I may even use it to host Taco Tuesday party!
That’s great – thanks for the rave review Jane!
If using 2 pounds of meat, do I also need to double to water?
Hi Laurie – no I would not increase the water, but you would want to double the spices.
How long do i.cook 2 pounds for?
Hi Tracy – it will depend on how the 2 lbs are shaped. It’s fresh you won’t need to increase the time. If it is two 1 lb. squares then you won’t need to adjust the time. However, if it’s frozen as a thick block of meat, then you’ll need to increase the cook time by maybe another 3 to 5 minutes.
Right now I only have Better Than Bouillon. Would I use the same amount? Thanks
Hi Sherry – I would use the same amount. Enjoy!