Acapulco Delight is a layered casserole with seasoned ground beef, rice, refried beans, sour cream, olives and cheese. Your Instant Pot helps get this recipe going in the shortest time possible!

Acapulco Delight
This is a layered dish that will delight your taste buds! I tweaked the original recipe a bit and used my Instant Pot to limit the amount of dishes and time used. This reminded me of a mexican version of lasagna…layers of deliciousness. You can get creative with some of the ingredients. I have listed substitution ideas below.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Lean ground beef or ground turkey
- Minced dried onion or 1 cup diced onion
- Beef broth or chicken broth
- Parboiled rice or long grain white rice
- Mild green taco sauce or salsa verde
- Taco seasoning or make your own
- Refried beans or pinto beans or black beans
- Sour cream
- Olives (optional)
- Shredded cheddar or mexican blend
- Green onions
- Tomato or pico de gallo
- Avocado or guacamole
The Basic Steps
- Brown the beef using the saute setting.
- Deglaze the pot.
- Sprinkle in the rice evenly over the meat. Don’t stir, this will prevent the burn error message.
- Pressure cook.
- Season the rice.
- Layer the ingredients in a casserole dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes at 350°F. Or you can layer the ingredients in your Instant Pot and use an air fryer lid to “bake.”
- Remove from oven and garnish. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- What is converted/parboiled rice? Don’t confuse converted rice (or sometimes it is called parboiled rice) with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. Sometimes I buy it at Winco in the bulk section. I have also found it in the orange box (Ben’s brand) next to other rices.
- To make this recipe gluten free use gluten-free taco seasoning.
- Serve with shredded lettuce on the side.
- I used my Duo Crisp 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Another recipe you can make with the half bottle of taco sauce is Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Orzo.

More Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice Recipes…
Instant Pot Hamburger Jazz
An easy 6 ingredient recipe that has pantry ingredients you probably already have on hand. Rice, enchilada sauce, ground beef and mozzarella cheese are the stars of this one pot meal.
Instant Pot Crispy Cowboy Casserole
A hearty casserole with rice, beans, corn, picante sauce and cheese. It’s topped with french fried onions for a crispy finish!
Instant Pot Amish Shipwreck Casserole
An old fashioned frugal recipe to clean out your kitchen that comes together quickly with the help of your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Popeye’s Cajun Rice
Ground beef, green pepper and rice with Cajun seasonings. An easy copycat recipe that you can make at home in your Instant Pot.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.Print

Acapulco Delight
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Acapulco Delight is a layered casserole with seasoned ground beef, rice, refried beans, sour cream, olives and cheese. Your Instant Pot helps get this recipe going in the shortest time possible!
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 Tbsp minced dried onion or 1 cup diced onion
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth or chicken broth
- 1 cup parboiled rice or long grain white rice
- 1/2 cup mild green taco sauce or salsa verde
- 2–3 Tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 (16 oz) can refried beans
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 (2 oz) can sliced olives (optional)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or mexican blend
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion. Brown beef for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle in the rice evenly over the meat.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir the taco sauce and taco seasoning into the pot. (Use as much taco seasoning as you like…some taco seasonings are more potent than others).
- Layer the following in a 9×9 inch or baking dish: half of the meat/rice mixture, refried beans, sour cream, olives, remaining meat/rice mixture, cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes at 350°F.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with green onions, tomatoes and avocados. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you have an air fryer lid for your instant pot you can do the last three steps in the Instant Pot instead of the oven. Layer the ingredients (except cheese) in the bottom of your Instant Pot and air fry at 300° F for 10 minutes. Add the cheese and air fry for 3-5 more minutes.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot/Oven

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I want to feed about 12 to 15 in my family.
I would double the recipe and use a 9×13 inch baking dish
Is there a good substitute for sour cream? I am allergic to dairy. I have a good vegan shredded cheese, but I haven’t been able to find a palatable vegan sour cream. Thank you for your help!
Hmmm, you could just leave that layer out and instead put on a layer of pico de gallo (don’t bake it) or guacamole (again don’t bake it)
Hi Debbie!
I would never take anything away from Karen at all, but here is a link to make your own or some purchasing ideas for vegan sour cream. If the link doesn’t work, Google vegan sour cream and click on clean green simple’s link for 5 vegan sour cream ideas.
https://cleangreensimple.com/article/vegan-sour-cream-substitutes/
I hope this helps!
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