Instant Pot American Chop Suey–beefy, cheesy noodles with seasoned tomato sauce and green peppers. A classic comfort food from mom’s kitchen.
Each week in 2020 I’m sharing a recipe inspired by one of the 50 states. (See all the state recipes I’ve covered so far.) Today’s recipe is inspired by the Granite State, New Hampshire.
Last year we went on a fun trip to all the New England states. New Hampshire with its stunning White Mountains was one of my favorite parts. So beautiful! It’s a small state, one of the 13 original colonies. It’s known for having the highest peak in the northeastern U.S., the shortest coastline of any state (18 miles) and having the first presidential primary of the season.
Instant Pot American Chop Suey
Today’s recipe is inspired by New Hampshire and New England, in general. It’s called American Chop Suey…an interesting name, I know. American chop suey is the quirky New England name of this well-known and loved comfort food that combines ground beef, elbow macaroni and green bell peppers in a seasoned tomato sauce. No, it is not related to any Chinese food. You may have heard it called goulash, Johnny Marzetti, macaroni hamburger and tomato or chili mac. Whatever you call it, it is delicious! You’re going to love making American Chop Suey in your Instant Pot. It is so easy and quick too!
What Should I Serve with American Chop Suey? A side of garlic bread and a green salad.
How Do I Store the Leftovers? Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I would not recommend freezing this dish as the pasta will become mushy once it is reheated.
Can I use ground turkey instead? Yep just use in the place of ground beef.
What other types of cheese can I use? Cheddar cheese is great! Other options are colby jack, pepper jack, etc.
Can I use red bell peppers? You can. I really liked the green peppers it this dish though! Give them a shot.
More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes…
Instant Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper
Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan Manicotti
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Primavera
Instant Pot American Chop Suey
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Beefy, cheesy noodles with seasoned tomato sauce and green peppers. A classic comfort food from mom’s kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 pound 85% lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 8 oz dry elbow macaroni
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion. Brown the beef for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt, pepper. Stir in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot. Turn off saute setting.
- Sprinkle in the macaroni in an even layer. Add the green pepper, oregano, cayenne, parsley and Worcestershire. Dump the tomatoes on top. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been craving American Chop Suey and this recipe is perfect. We absolutely call it American Chop Suey in New England.
★★★★★
So glad to hear it! Thanks Caroline.
Super easy and a wonderful recipe remembrance to my childhood days. A similar recipe that my Mom would make. I now am my Mom’s care giver and she loves this. Thank you 😊
★★★★★
That’s so sweet Cindy. Thanks for sharing!
Currently cooking this now. I’d say this is more of American goulash than American Chop Suey though since Chop Suey is an Chinese American dish and nothing like what I had as a child in the Midwest when going to the Chinese restaurants..
Good recipe nonetheless.
This is 100% American Chop Suey! At least that’s what we called it in. New England!
Again, Chop Suey is from Chinese Americans. This ain’t it. Look at the other comments which say the same thing.
Promise that we call this Chop Suey in New England. Yes, we know it isn’t the Chinese American version, but in New England we make up names for lots of things that aren’t correct. 🙂 This is 100% American Chop Suey in New England, and it’s delicious!
Yes, Bill, you’re 100% correct. Obviously these other people aren’t from New England and have different names for it, and that’s ok. 🙂
Like many others, growing up in the deep south, this was known as goulash in our home. My mother did make a dish called chop suey and I wish I had a recipe for that. It had rice, ham, bell pepper, can of Chinese vegetables, and we always sprinkled those small crispy fried noodles out of a can on it, but I can’t remember the actual recipe and I have been wanting to eat it again for so long.
★★★★★
That sounds tasty! Wish I had the recipe too.
https://allourway.com/chop-suey/
Loved this recipe! Reminded me so much of my mom’s Goulash recipe. It was actually better the next day. Mine was a tad bit juicy (runny) the first night, is there a way to thicken it up after cooking (other than eating the next day)?
★★★★★
You could try a cornstarch slurry
Or use a pasta sauce like Ragu Traditional. That is my go to, and the kids gobble it up.
Laura, I agree that this recipe is always better the following day. I think the noodles soak up more of the sauce by then.
It was good, but next time will only cook it for 3 minutes vs. 4 minutes. The pasta was a bit overdone. Overall, it had good flavor.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it!
Only had about 1/2lb of burger so added 1/2lb habernero sausage,so good! From new england so it’s American Chop Suey here
That sausage sounds like an amazing choice!
If you double the recipe do i need to increase cooking time?
nope! https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-double-instant-pot-recipes/
Do you think I could double this recipe in the 6 qt IP?
Yes you can!
EZ Peasy & sooooooo delicious! Made this the other day & it was an instant hit at our house. Grew up eating this a LOT, but it was called ‘goulash’ at Mom’s house. I don’t care what you call it, it tastes really good & was a breeze to get it to the table. On the go-to list from now on.
★★★★★
We called it goulash too but in the NE they call it something else. Like you said it doesn’t matter because it tastes good!!! Glad you liked it!
This was my first official recipe done in the instant pot, and it’s delicious. I didn’t have any peppers, so I substituted a stalk of celery. Very tasty and easy to make. Thanks, this give me a little more confidence in using it again soon!
★★★★★
Good for you Terri!! Keep at it! You’ll love the IP
Made this tonight because I had a pound of hamburger and I’d been waiting to try this. So easy to put together and ready in a jiffy. Excellent flavor! My husband loved it. He did call it goulash. It’s great and going to be a staple in our house. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
So glad you and your husband liked it Noreen!
Add some paprika and nutmeg and voila you have my old stand by goulash. Think I’ll raid the pantry and make some tonight. It’s what we called rib sticking food and a way to stretch one pound of meat to feed 6.
Sounds like a good plan to me Nancy!