Instant Pot Sloppy Joe Casserole—A sloppy joe and macaroni and cheese mash-up meal! Top it with chopped dill pickles for a crunchy twist.
Instant Pot Sloppy Joe Casserole
This recipe is a fun cross between sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese. Two meals that kids love made in one pot, your Instant Pot. Greg and Skyler LOVED this meal. They especially liked the pickles on top.
A few notes about the ingredients:
Ground Beef: I like to use extra lean or lean ground beef so that I don’t have to drain off any grease. You can also use ground turkey for this recipe with no changes.
Pasta Noodles: I used fun, curly cavatappi noodles. They haven’t been seen in Smiths (Kroger) for months! But I finally found them last week. Yay! You can use elbow macaroni or any other sturdy tubular pasta (like penne).
Bell Pepper: I used a red bell pepper, which I usually prefer over green bell pepper. However when I make this recipe next time I will use green! I think for this particular recipe green bell pepper would taste better.
Beef Broth: I like to use Better than Bouillon Beef Base plus water to make beef broth. Use 1 teaspoon of the base with 1 cup of water. I always have a big container of it in my fridge (and the chicken base too). I like to buy them at Costco because it’s much cheaper per ounce than at a normal grocery store.
Cheddar: For ultimate flavor use a sharp or medium cheddar over a mild cheddar. And grate it off the block!
More Beefy Pasta Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot American Chop Suey
Instant Pot Million Dollar Spaghetti
Instant Pot Creamy Mock Lasagna Noodles
Instant Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper
Instant Pot Sloppy Joe Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A sloppy joe and macaroni and cheese mash-up meal! Top it with chopped dill pickles for a fun, crunchy twist.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lean or extra lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 green or red bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 3/4 cups beef broth
- 8 oz dry macaroni or cavatappi pasta
- 1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 2 cups grated sharp cheddar
- 1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and onion. Break up the beef and brown it for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic powder, salt, pepper and bell pepper. Stir. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot clean so that nothing is sticking. Sprinkle in the pasta in an even layer and gently press to submerge.
- In a bowl, stir the brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire and tomato sauce together. Pour the mixture over the top of the pasta. Don’t stir.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure the 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 cheddar and the pickles.
- Scoop onto plates or in bowls and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. Make in the 8 or 3 quart pot with no changes.
Recipe adapted from Food Network.
- 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.
Could I eliminate the brown sugar? Or is it a critical ingredient to this recipe?
Thank you.
You can eliminate it if you’d like.
Karen I don’t think this says what you wanted it to say…
“Cheddar: For ultimate flavor use a sharp or mild cheddar over a mild cheddar.”
Use a mild cheddar over a mild cheddar? That’s not what you mean I don’t think.
★★★★★
oops you’re right! Just corrected that typo. thank you.
I just wanted to tell you that I love the picture of you and your family. Very sweet picture and you have all sisters. I didn’t know where I could tell you this, but on here. You were also a very cute child.
Frances
ahhh, thanks Frances!
You are quite welcomed.
Another hit in this household! Thank you for the recipe, followed exactly!
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Wahoo!!!
Absolutely delicious. Followed your recipe to the letter. Sorry I waited so long to try this one….shame, shame on me!! BTW, those pickles send this one over the top. YUM!
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Thanks Kim! Yes to the pickles…they are a must!
Another delicious recipe that we will have on repeat! I used 1/2 lean ground turkey breast and 1/2 extra lean ground beef, along with whole wheat pasta. I was a bit skeptical about adding the dill pickle relish to the entire pot, so we added it to the top of each dish. We ended up loving the extra flavor! Awesome recipe..thanks!
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So glad you liked it Kathy!
This was great on so many levels! First, it was easy to make and throw together which on a Friday matters to me, as I’m tired from the week, 2nd, its comfort food and 3rd kids AND adults love it! I was skeptical at first but we are addicted to your hamburger casserole so we had to try this. I’m not a big fan of dill pickles either but man they were PERFECT on top of this. Thanks for another easy pantry go-to recipe! I bought my Instant Pot from a friend who never used hers for 20.00 and it was the best thing I’ve bought for the kitchen, in large part your recipes here! Thanks again!
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Wow $20! What a steal! I’m glad you are here Lisa!!
I was so disappointed in this. Don’t know if I did something wrong but I could really taste the red wine vinegar and didn’t care for it. Plus the noodles didn’t cook all the way. I used the same cavatappi noodles. I’ve made at least 50 of your recipes so far and loved every single one except this 😢 I’m sorry.
Shoot! Sorry you didn’t like it!
Love the look of this but haven’t tried yet! Question….what’s the black utensil you’re using in the first step to break up the clumps of meat? Looks useful. I’m I’m UK so can’t buy from US without high shipping costs. If I knew more about it I could search locally (Amazon UK??). Thanks
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I think they call it hamburger chopper tool! Here is the link https://amzn.to/2PHQtzB
Delicious!! The kids loved it and we will definitely make this again!!
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Awesome! So glad to hear it Lisa!
I’ve seen tubular pasta made out of chickpeas, broccoli, spinach at my grocery store here in Austin
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Interesting! I wonder if it would hold up under pressure?
I’d really like to try this recipe as it looks delicious! The hubs and I try to eat low carb every day because he’s diabetic and it runs in my family already. I’d like to omit the pasta in this recipe so what changes would you make? I plan to use 93% ground sirloin.
I really want to use this recipe…I saw the other sloppy joe recipes you have up and this one is closest to the one that sounds like one that we would prefer.
I appreciate your help (in advance) and thanks so much all of your work on all of your wonderful recipes and videos! It’s awesome to have so much great help with pressure cooking recipes that are quick, easy, healthy, and not complicated! 🥰🥰
Hi Sue,
I am not the author just a recipe trier 🙂 and thought I’d share what we did.
My daughter tried this recipe w cauliflower in place of noodles. She omitted the noodles above and followed all other steps 1 to 6. After step 6, she added on top, no mixing, cauliflower florets that she lightly dusted with salt and chili powder. For crunchier florets she did 1 min + Quick Release and for more tender 2 mins + Quick Release. After the quick release, she mixed in the cheese but omitted the pickles since it didn’t seem complimentary to her. It was quite yummy!
Oops, forgot to say we used only 1 cup broth since no noodles to cook.
Thanks, I might but not a big cauliflower fan…it upsets my IBS…(sorry if that’s TMI)🤷🏻♀️😕
Thanks for your great idea! When I get my tummy issues settled, I hope to return cauliflower back to diet! It’s a great veggie to sub for a lot of things! Thanks for a great suggestion! 🥰
Thanks Sue! It sounds like Yuki had a good idea! I would try that.
I still would like it plain…no pasta or anything. I’m thinking if I just did it all on sauté, I wouldn’t get a good merge of all the flavors. Could I light brown the onions, peppers, with the meat and add the other spices and did a 1 or 2 min PC would be ok but how much liquid? And will I get a water notice?
I watch carbs for my hubby especially since he’s diabetic so we try to stay away from pastas.
Anyway, hope you can guide me thru this! 🤗
Thanks!
Sure you could do that. I would use a 1/2 cup of broth so that it will come to pressure. And 1 or 2 minutes should be sufficient.