Instant Pot Lazy Wife’s Dinner could also be called “busy day dinner” because whether you feel like being lazy or you’re too busy to make an involved dinner this easy recipe has got you covered. Start with a pound of ground beef and end with a hot dinner that your family will love.
Note: the SLOW COOKER recipe instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Instant Pot Lazy Wife’s Dinner
I had to laugh at the title of this recipe–“lazy wife’s dinner.” I have adapted this recipe from a cookbook called “The Best of Amish Friends Cookbook Collection” that you can actually purchase on Amazon*. Well whether you call it lazy wife’s dinner, lazy husband’s dinner or lazy teenager’s dinner it’s a good one! The whole point is that it’s a super fast and easy dinner to get on the table.
My son had a big helping before football practice and then after football practice for “second dinner” he requested another helping! He said, “Mom, this is bussin bussin!” Which in 8th grader terms means, “Mom, this is so good!”
- I used a pound of ground beef but you can also use a pound of ground turkey or ground pork. For more flavor use a pound of sausage.
- Instead of elbow macaroni you can use bowties, cavatappi, penne, shells, rotini or egg noodles. Use 4 ounces of pasta. For egg noodles you will only need to pressure cook 2 minutes.
- I used Russet potatoes but you can also try red or yellow potatoes. I used 2 medium-small potatoes.
- Try using any cream of soup that you like. I used cream of chicken. If you’d rather, you can leave out the cream of soup and add a brick of cream cheese into the pot instead. It will get soft and to the point where you can easily stir it in.
- I had a half bag of frozen lima beans that needed to be used up but you can also use frozen corn (or another veg of your choice…peas would be good).
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot or halve the recipe in a 3 quart pot.
More Amish Inspired Recipes…
- Instant Pot Haystack Supper
- Instant Pot Amish Yumasetti
- Instant Pot Amish Breakfast Casserole
- Instant Pot Amish Country Casserole
- Instant Pot Amish Chuck Roast
- Instant Pot Amish Chicken Corn Soup
Want More Tried And True Instant Pot Recipes?
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- Buy the 365 Days of Pressure Cooking Cookbook
Instant Pot Lazy Wife’s Dinner
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Lazy Wife’s Dinner could also be called “busy day dinner” because whether you feel like being lazy or you’re too busy to make an involved dinner this easy recipe has got you covered. Start with a pound of ground beef and end with a hot dinner that your family will love.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey or pork
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth
- 1 cup (4 oz) elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into quarter inch rounds
- 2 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1 1/2 cups frozen lima beans or frozen corn
- 1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken or cream of mushrooms soup
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup cream or milk
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. If there is excess grease, drain it off. Stir in the kosher salt and pepper. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Sprinkle in the macaroni. Dump the carrots and potatoes on top. Sprinkle the potatoes lightly with salt and pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary and basil. Dump the lima beans on top. Spoon the cream of chicken soup on top and finally pour in the Worcestershire sauce. 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 time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the cream or milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Brown the ground beef and stir in the kosher salt and pepper. Add into the slow cooker.
- Pour in ½ cup of broth, carrots, potatoes, lima beans, cream of chicken soup, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, basil and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours, or until potatoes are cooked through (all slow cooker cook at different rates). Cook macaroni separately on the stove according to package directions and drain.
- Stir in the macaroni, cream and salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
- 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.
Amazing! I added celery and an onion and left out the onion powder. So good!
I like those additions!
I’ve tried this recipe and we all loved it, however, I have an issue with cream any cream, Do you have any suggestions?
Could you add in 4 ounces of cream cheese instead of the soup?
It was tasty. Used cubed baby carrots. This would probably be good with frozen mixed vegetables.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the 5 stars Sharon! I bet you’re right!
Would baby carrots work in this recipe? Excited to make this tomorrow!
They will probably work. Might be a little hard. I’d put them in the bottom under the macaroni.
Really good…..I did go easy on the seasonings, except for adding the stated amounts of onion and garlic powders and I forgot the Worcestershire sauce but I don’t care much for it anyway. ….I would have just added a dash or two. (We like things pretty plain.) Husband gave it thumbs up and said I could make it often and he’d be happy! I also liked the fact that it was easy to put together. Very hearty and filling as well as tasty!
★★★★★
Thanks Vicki! So glad you all enjoyed it! Thanks for the 5 star review
Suggestions on how to cut carbs in this recipe.
Thanx
Any suggestion on how to lower the carbs ?
Thanx
Can you use frozen meat or thawed is best in this recipe
?
You’ll need to use thawed meat so you can break it up and brown it in step 1. Sorry!
Making this tonight! I realized I dont have cream of anything soup. But I DO have the block of cream cheese.
I don’t think you add the cream cheese at beginning like you would the cream of soup ?
Would cream cheese best be added at the end ?
★★★★★
I would add it at the beginning! I have done that and it works well!
Could this be made with rice? If so what would be the approximate amount( 1 cup) and the cooking time?
Yes that would be fine. I would leave out the pasta and replace with 1 cup of rice. Keep liquid and times the same.
I defintely prefer the beef stock and cream of mushroom version. Great with or without Worcestershire sauce or heavy cream. We used frozen corn. But both were great
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the review and the 5 stars!
I made this and it was delicious! I have a question – macaroni – 1 cup (4 ox???). Isn’t a cup 8 oz? I used the 4 and it was just right. I did not use all of the seasonings. I used about half. I mixed them all together and then just sprinkled it over. Some of the comments on FaceBook did not like the name. Guess they were offended by lazy wife.
It was great!
★★★★★
A liquid cup is 8 ounces. 1 cup of dry macaroni is about 4 ounces.
Can you freeze this recipe?
I worry that the pasta would get mushy…but you could try it!
How much is a serving? Awesome recipe my wife just made it.
★★★★★
It’s just 1/6 of the recipe…probably about a heaping cup
Great flavour. Satisfying meal.
It is the first true day of fall, with a lot of steady rain, windy and cooler temperatures.
That made today a perfect time to get back into using the Instant Pot for the next 6 months.
(We tend to cook more simple meals May through September)
I made 1.5 batches for my first try in the 6 quart Duo which worked well.
When finished, as I was about to add the cream, I tasted a tiny portion without and a tiny portion with cream. I do not see the point of adding the cream since it seemed to dilute the spice/herb flavour too much (and I tend to be heavy with my use of spices & herbs).
So without the cream it is!
Yes fall is here! My favorite time of year! I’m glad you made it work for your preferences!
Absolutely agree. The name came from. A time and place where women’s only job was cooking and housekeeping so I get that but time to change the name. The people saying this is “wokeness” clearly must make enough money to have stay at home moms and wives. If I work a full time job and do all of the grocery shopping and all of the cooking don’t call what I feed you “lazy wife meal”
“So bad that I posted it on social media to get validation on how virtuous I am and about how right I am about how WRONG this is. Right, everyone?!”
Sure thing, Kristen.
Recipe was great. Husband sent it to me. Ground turkey turned out amazingly.
Hi, this looks really good! I only have beef cubes on hand right now. I’m not sure how to adjust the instant pot cook time for the larger pieces. Do you have any suggestions? I could wait until I get to the store in a couple days, but it sounds so tasty, it’d be nice to make it sooner with what I have in my freezer. Thanks!
Not the original poster, but I’d say add maybe another 2-4 hours for the beef cubes. Check them after two and see if they’re tender enough for you. If not, cook longer until you like the consistency. You may want to wait to add the pasta as the extra time might cause it to become mushy, or even cook it separately and stir it in at the end, but that’s entirely up to you!
★★★★★
Oops! That’s advice for a slow cooker! For an instant pot, maybe add an extra 10-15 minutes. The bit about the pasta still stands though.
Thanks for the tips, for both methods!
Like beef stew meat? I would cook the stew meat with the broth and salt and pepper for 15 minutes. Quick release. Add the rest of the stuff in and pressure cook for 5 more minutes. Should work good!
Thanks Karen! I’m looking forward to trying this!
Can’t wait to try this! Looks simple, easy and one of those good recipes where you’ll likely have everything on hand and it seems economical too. I also like the directions which give me the option to use my instant pot or my crockpot. As for the name of the recipe…it’s what drew me to it! There are days where I am feeling like making dinner is the last thing I want to do! Thank You!
★★★★★
you’re welcome! I hope you like it!
Hi Kristen, in my blog post I explain the origin of the name of the recipe. It’s not a name that I, personally, invented.
Please don’t bring wokeness into recipes. If you read Karen’s post you would see it is from an old Amish cookbook. The Amish have different customs. Respect that.
You are free to change the name in YOUR copy of the recipe.
I really enjoy Karen’s recipes and appreciate what she does.
Exactly Mike. Some people just try to find something wrong with anything. So annoying
★★★★★
AMEN! and AMEN! Thanks, Mike. So sick to death of all this wokeness garbage. Karen’s just trying to help all of us get great meals on the table quickly & efficiently & I appreciate her as well. If people don’t like the names of these recipes, by all means do us all a favor & get off this blog. Take your hatred & bad attitudes elsewhere. We’re all happy campers here!! Go Karen!!
Hi Karen,
This looks great (like all your recipes!), but in the description you say to use 8 ounces of pasta, while the recipe itself calls for only 4 ounces. Which is the correct amount? Thanks for any more info.
Oops! I just corrected that. It is supposed to be 4 ounces
I COOK THIS IN A PAN BUT I WOULD LIKE TO DO IT IN AN INSTANT POT… IUSE A 1LB OF JONNY HOT SAUSAGE WELL COOKED, A GOOD CUP OF KIRTLAND ORGANIC SALSA , TWO CUPS OF HASH BROWNS , 6-8 EGGS , FOR SPICES I USE SALT, PEPPER , GARLIC POWDE R , ONION POWDER , ITALIAN POWDER, RED PEPPER FLAKES , MEX BLEND CHEESE , SOME TIMES I PUT OLIVES SLICED IN , OR JALOPINOS IN , WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS
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I am unsure on how to do that in the Instant Pot unless you are using the pot-in-pot method. https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/pot-in-pot-method-explained/