How to Cook Frozen Ground Beef in Instant Pot (2024)

Make perfectly cooked Instant Pot Ground Beef using fresh or frozen ground meat!

Forget to thaw out your ground beef to make Taco Meat, Homemade Sloppy Joes, or Instant Pot Hamburger Helper? No worries! Use the Instant Pot to cook up any type of frozen ground meat and get dinner on the table quickly!

From Frozen to Cooked

If you go to make dinner and realize you have forgotten to thaw out your ground beef--YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I have done this more times than I care to admit.

As you most likely know, it is NOT safe to thaw meat out at room temperature, but what about safely cooking ground beef from frozen in an instant pot?

It works like MAGIC!

Just like the Instant Pot can cook frozen chicken breast, and frozen pot roast, The Instant Pot can be used to cook frozen ground meat effortlessly.

How to Pressure Cook Frozen Ground Beef

• Pour cold tap water into the bottom of the inner pot. Use 1 cup for a 3 or 6-quart instant pot and 1.5 cups for an 8-quart model. Then place in a metal trivet or rack inside the inner pot.

• Place the frozen ground beef on your trivet, and seal the instant pot closed with the vent closed.Be sure all plastic, styrofoam, or any other packaging is completely removed from the frozen meat. If not, run under cold water until you can remove the packaging.

• Place the lid on the inner pot and seal. Set to high pressure and cook for 20 minutes for a 1-inch thick slab of frozen meat.
• Once the cooking time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Check the temperature with a meat thermometer--it should be at least 160 degrees. If it is not, seal again and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. *See my notes at end of the post to troubleshoot why your meat would need longer to cook.

• Carefully remove the meat from the instant pot and place it in a large mixing bowl.
• Discard the cooking liquid and fat that drained off the beef.
• Use a spatula to break up the ground meat and use it just as you would for any recipe calling for browned or cooked ground beef.

How To Pressure Cook Fresh Ground Beef

You have two options when cooking fresh ground beef in your pressure cooker. You can opt to saute the meat using the saute function or you steam the beef for a hands-off method for cooking ground meat.

Option 1: Saute the Meat

Using the saute function on the Instant Pot is nearly the same as browning the meat on the stove.

• Hit the saute function on the Instant Pot and then hit Adjust to change the heat to normal heat.
• Let the Instant Pot heat for 2-3 minutes. Some models display Hot once heated, some do not, but after a few minutes of time, you can begin to saute the meat.
• Add in a couple of teaspoons of oil and let the oil heat for 1 minute.
• Add the ground meat, and allow to cook, breaking the meat up into small pieces as it browns.
• Once the ground beef is cooked thoroughly, which takes about 6-7 minutes, turn the Instant Pot OFF.
• Drain off any excess grease and then use as desired. This works great for recipes like Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff, Instant Pot Chili, or Instant Pot Hamburger Helper.

A note to this method--it seems silly to get out your pressure cooker if you are just sauteingyour meat (you can do that on the stove), but if you are using it to start another recipe you will finish in your Instant Pot, it is a great method to use!)

Option 2: Steam the Meat

• Pour cold tap water into the bottom of the inner pot. Use 1 cup for a 3 or 6-quart instant pot and 1.5 cups for an 8-quart model. Then place in a metal trivet or rack inside the inner pot.
• Place 1-2 pounds of ground beef on your trivet, seal the instant pot, and be sure the vent knob is closed.Be sure to form your meat into a thick patty/brick so that the meat cooks uniformly. Just the way meat comes in the Styrofoam tray.
• Set to high pressure and cook for 6 minutes.
• Once cook time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release for 5 to 10 minutes, then do a quick release of any remaining pressure.
• Check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer--it should be at least 160 degrees. If it is not, seal again and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. *See my notes at end of the post to troubleshoot why your meat would need longer to cook.
• Once your meat is cooked, carefully remove it from the instant pot and break it up and use it as you would for any ground beef recipe.
• Discard liquid (and fat that drained off beef) from your Instant Pot Base.

FAQs on Instant Pot Ground Meat

Troubleshooting and Timing for Instant Pot Ground Beef

• I have tested this recipe out with 1 and 2 pounds of ground beef that was frozen in a ¾ to 1-inch block (not a tube). If you want to cook meat from a frozen tube, you will need to increase the cooking time. I would start by increasing the time to 25 minutes.
• I would not recommend cooking more than 3-4 pounds of frozen meat at a time. Doing so, would overcrowd your Instant Pot and therefore would cause it to take forever to reach pressure. Not only is this time-consuming, it potentially could be dangerous if you have frozen meat hanging out long waiting to cook.
• To cook 3-4 pounds of meat, increase the time by 5 minutes per pound for frozen meat.
• Be sure to completely remove packaging from frozen meat BEFORE cooking--you don't want any wax, paper, or lining left on the meat before cooking.
• In all my tests, it has never taken longer than 11 minutes to reach pressure for this recipe for frozen ground beef in the instant pot. The average time was 7 minutes.
• Pro-Tip: Freeze your meat in 1-inch thick slabs so that the meat will cook evenly in the instant pot.

Recipes using Ground Beef

• Instant Pot Chili
• Instant Pot Lasagna
• Homemade Hamburger Helper
• Slow Cooker Chili
• Mexican Lasagna

If this method for cooking frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot saved your dinner, I would love for you to leave a comment and rating below.