Porcupines in a Pot

Porcupines in a pot is an Instant Pot recipe that has the flavors of porcupine meatballs (rice, tomatoes, beef and cheese). But it takes only a fraction of the time to prepare and to cook.

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Porcupines in a Pot

Have you ever had porcupine meatballs before? They are meatballs that have rice cooked inside them. The rice pops out once cooked and looks like porcupine quills. The flavors are super tasty! This dinner was Greg’s favorite when he was growing up.

If you love porcupine meatballs you’ll love this easy deconstructed version. It is so easy! With only a handful of ingredients and the fact that you don’t have to form the meatballs this dinner comes together quickly.

This was a very simple meal but I loved it. I kept sneaking bites of it! It makes great leftovers and freezes nicely too. You may want to double the recipe and save half for another day.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–or ground turkey
• Package of onion soup mix
• Water
• Converted rice–or long grain white rice
• Diced tomatoes–I used petite diced tomatoes. Fire roasted tomatoes would be awesome.
• Tomato paste
• Worcestershire sauce
• Shredded cheddar cheese–or colby jack, mozzarella, mexican blend, etc.

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion soup mix. Brown for 5 minutes. 

Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. 

Sprinkle in the rice.

Dump in the tomatoes, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. 

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 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir. Sprinkle cheese on top and let it melt. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with tomato cucumber salad, green salad or another side of vegetables.
• I used my 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 or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• 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.
• Other recipes you can make with converted rice are Instant Pot Sunshine Chicken and Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Casserole.

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More Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice Recipes…

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. 

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*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.