Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef Can Be Thawed And Cooked In No Time At All If Youre Forgetful Like Me Thawing Frozen Ground Beef Has Never Been Easier
If youre like me and need to know how to make Instant Pot frozen ground beef so its defrosted in under 25 minutes, Im going to show you how. Added to our list of 101+ easy Instant Pot recipes and pressure cooker tips its something I use on a semi weekly basis and now am sharing it with all of you.
We cook a lot of frozen meat in Instant Potbecause I tend to be forgetful.
If you need easy Ninja Foodi recipes, you can use that pot instead.
Lets start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
I love thawing frozen ground beef in my pressure cooker because its keeps its juiciness, drains out all the fat.
- Since I am forgetful I no longer have to worry if Ive forgotten to take it out of the freezer the day before!
How To Cook Ground Beef In The Instant Pot Easy Photo Tutorial
Your IP should have come with a trivet. Its that little metal stand thingy. Cant find yours? You have plenty of options on Amazon, or can even repurpose your steamer insert. Youre going to need it in order to get the best texture out of your ground meat.
Step 1: Place the trivet in the base of the Instant Pot insert.
I know what youre thinking isnt the meat going to fall through the trivet?! Nope. It stays together. Its okay. I didnt believe it until I saw it, either.)
If you dont have a trivet, this method will still work youll just have a slightly different texture of meat because it will be boiling in the water.
Step 2: Load up your trivet with frozen ground beef and add 1 cup of water or whatever is your pressure cookers minimum liquid requirement.
For the sake of this recipe, I am using 2 pounds. Ive had friends cook upwards of 5 pounds of ground beef at a time!
DO NOT MISS THIS STEP.
The water is NOT optional its needed to build up enough steam to come to pressure.
Step 3: Put on the lid, move the valve to sealing, and select 25 minutes on manual mode at high pressure.
When the timer is up, carefully release the pressure .
Step 4: Use a meat thermometer to take the interior temperature of your meat. Youre aiming for a minimum of 160° F.
Step 5: Remove the ground beef into a bowl using tongs. Youll notice that it stayed together as a log/block and didnt disintegrate.
Step 6: Simply use a sturdy spoon or potato masher to break into chunks.
How To Cook Ground Beef In The Instant Pot
This is a super simple and easy recipe to follow, no matter if you are using frozen hamburger patties or frozen meat. Also, watch the short video tutorial attached for a quick guideline. The general steps are as follows:
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Can You Cook A Roast That Is Frozen
When you leave a roast in its frozen form, you negatively impact several steps of the cooking process. The first is your overall cooking time. Placing the frozen roast in any cooking device increases the overall time needed for the meat to cook, as the meat must first thaw before it can properly cook through.
Quick Beef And Kidney Bean Chili
Great chili doesnt have to take all day. With this Quick Beef and Kidney Bean Chili, youll get rib-sticking delicious chili in just 45 minutes!
While easy, this chili doesnt skimp on the flavor, with notes from poblano pepper, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. A melange of kidney beans, tomatoes, and, of course, ground beef, add heft.
This recipe is simple to start with frozen ground beef. Cook your frozen ground beef on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot. Next, sauté your veggies in a Dutch oven. Add the ground beef, all the flavorings and accoutrements, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
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How To Cook Ground Beef From Frozen In The Instant Pot
No need to worry about thawing your ground beef for recipes when its so easy to cook frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot!
The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.
We all know that the Instant Pot has a reputation of being able to cook quickly from frozen. It is amazing and oh-so-convenient. I have entire freezer meal plans where you can just dump in, or better said, place in a frozen block of food, set the cook time and walk away. Like I said, convenient.
But on a day-to-day basis, the times I most relish the Instant Pots ability to cook from frozen are when I have completely forgotten to take out a package of ground beef from the freezer and its time to make dinner.
Unlike chicken breasts, which thaw rather quickly, a block of ground beef can take an hour or more to thaw. Now, instead of changing dinner plans I just put the frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot, add a little water, and walk away as the Instant Pot not only thaws the meat, but also cooks it so it will be ready to use in our pasta sauce, tacos, enchiladas, empanadas, nachos, whatever.
Shopping For The Perfect Ground Beef
When you go to the market, and you see the hamburger section, it can be so overwhelming with all the choices. Its like a field of options and if you dont understand what all of it means you wont know which way is best for you.
Here is a breakdown to help guide you through the ground beef buying process:
- Regular Ground Beef It can have up to 30 percent of fat content in it.
- Medium Ground Beef The fat content in medium ground beef is not allowed to have more than 23 perfect fat.
- Lean Ground Beef When making lean ground beef, it cant be more than 17 percent fat content.
- Extra Lean Ground Beef This has the least amount of fat content and isnt more than 10 percent.
The choice of ground beef that you buy will depend on your preference for fat content. Low carb / Ketogenetic lifestyle followers will choose a higher fat content ground beef, whereas those who are following a lower-fat diet will obviously choose something closer to the lean or extra lean category.
A higher fat content usually results in more flavor, as the old adage goes Where theres fat, theres flavor. So most people will use more added seasonings to season up the lower fat ground beef.
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How To Thaw Ground Beef In The Pressure Cooker:
In order to defrost your ground beef in the Instant Pot, you will have to actually cook it. There is no function to thaw or defrost it without cooking it!
To do so, add water to the pot , position the trivet or rack, and then place your frozen ground beef on top of the trivet. Pierce the frozen ground beef with a knife as far it can go to help vent so the inside meat cooks better.
If the frozen ground beef has a flat form, it will take around 20 minutes. But it has a tube or cylinder form like mine, it will take about 25 minutes to reach a safe cooking temp which is 165 degrees F .
After that, you may season and saute your ground beef to add flavor and use it in whatever dish you want to.
Of course, you can make a ground turkey in the Instant Pot instead! In fact, you can cook any type of ground meat such as ground chicken, pork, etc. not only beef.
How long to cook ground beef in the Instant Pot?
It depends on whether the meat is fresh or frozen and also its form/shape.
If the meat is fresh, it takes around 6 minutes to 8 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot.
But if the beef is frozen, the cooking time will be longer about 20 to 25 minutes .
In any case, always check the cooked ground beef internal temperature to safely consume it. The meat thermometer must register 165 F .
For more Instant Pot recipes and their cooking times, get the charts and see how to use a pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Italian Sausage
The frozen pieces will make things colder, longer and cause the pot to take longer to create steam, and thus pressure. Bargain for at least 10 extra minutes for the pot to come to pressure when using frozen meats. Sometimes up to 40 extra minutes, depending on what you are making. Dont pressure cook big frozen blocks like a roast.
Normally you make sausage and potatoes on a sheet pan and bake it, but this recipe even easier: set it and forget it in your pressure cooker! With less than 20 minutes of hands-on cooking time, this dairy-free, gluten-free Instant Pot version of the classic sausage and potatoes recipe is yummy enough to serve for company and simple enough to enjoy on a busy weeknight.
The Instant Pot is a countertop pro when it comes to cooking meats, even if theyre frozen, but the manufacturer points out that there is a longer preheat and cook time for frozen meats, which is based on the amount of food you are going to cook. Our writer used Instant Pots directions on her own countertop cooker, with great results.
Pour 1 c. water into your Instant Pot and lower a trivet down. Place 1-2 lbs frozen ground beef on your trivet. Close your lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 5 minutes. Do a natural release for 10 minutes.
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Faqs On Instant Pot Ground Meat
Can you cook other types of ground meat in the Instant Pot using this method?
YES! This would work perfectly for any ground meat like pork, chicken, or turkey and the cooking times would remain the same.
What about the texture of meat being steamed over browned in Instant Pot?
HA! I wondered that too. And I was hesitant to try out my test for a while due to the fear I would be WASTING ground beef. But let me assure you, the texture is amazing on ground beef cooked this way. It is soft but still firm–it is not mealy, mushy, or watery at all. There are no crispy brown bits in the meat, instead, everything is cooked perfectly.
What about the taste of the meat?
Tastes delicious, no difference in taste.
Do you have to add water to bottom of Instant Pot?
Yes, that moisture allows the pressure to build up in your instant pot.
Do you have to use your trivet?
YES!! The trivet does 3 things: prevents the meat from getting watery, prevents the meat from scorching, and allows the fat to drain off the meat as it cooks.
Can you add seasonings to the meat?
Absolutely! However, I find it is best to season the ground beef after it has been pressure cooked and broken up for even flavoring.
How To Make Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef:
- The size/shape of your frozen ground beef blocks will change the time needed to cook it in the Instant Pot. Blocks that are 1-1.5 inches thick will take about 20 minutes. If theyre 2-3 inches thick, add 3-5 minutes to the cook time.
- This recipe will have your ground beef almost, but not quite, cooked through. Finish cooking it with the saute function while you break up the block of beef, before continuing with your recipe.
- Make sure not to discard the Instant Pot liquid down the drain as the beef fat will be part of it after pressure cooking. If you refrigerate it for a few hours, the fat will solidify and can be easily scooped off and discarded.
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How Do You Cook Frozen Ground Beef In The Pot Instantly
Cover the bottom of the container with 1 cup of cold water for a 6-liter instant container and 1.5 cups of cold water for an 8-liter instant container. Add the plate and place the frozen or fresh ground beef directly on the plate. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and turn the valve to close. High pressure for 20 minutes when frozen and 6 minutes when fresh.
Thawing Frozen Ground Beef In The Instant Pot
If you read the recipe card you will see in the Notes I added a little explanation regarding thawing vs. cooking. The recipe provides instructions for cooking frozen hamburger , but if you are really looking to speed up the process you can very easily just thaw your frozen hamburger and then quickly finish sautéing it in the Instant Pot® too!
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How To Cook Frozen Ground Beef In The Instant Pot
One of the best parts of using your instant pot is the ability to quickly cook meals, even when you didnt thaw out the meat! Stuck with frozen hamburger for dinner? No worries! Lets take that frozen ground beef and cook it in the instant pot and save dinner!
I know weve all been there. We meal plan, we prep for the day and then we forget to pull out the burger we need. I cant tell you how many times that has happened to me. I use to get frustrated but now I just turn to my instant pot for help and dinner is back on schedule!
Air Fryer Breakfast Sausage
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure for more information. Published: Feb 24, 2020
If you like having sausages for breakfast, but you hate cleaning up a messy, greasy stove, you need to start cooking breakfast sausages in your air fryer.
This easy air fryer recipe works for sausage links and sausage patties. And, you can cook with both fresh and frozen sausage.
I used my Instant Pot Vortex Plus air fryer this time. But, you can use this same recipe with a basket style air fryer or a larger toaster oven style air fryer like the Instant Pot Omni Plus.
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How To Store And Use Leftovers
Bolognese sauce will stay in thefridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days and up to 3 months in thefreezer. Make sure the sauce is cooled completely before storing.
- How to use leftovers: add kidney beans to the leftover bolognese sauce to turn into chili or chili con carne
- Use as lasagne filling
- Make some spaghetti bake using your favourite melty cheese and bake in the oven. My daughter still calls this lasagne and I dont blame her, they taste similar.
What Vegetables To Serve This With
My personal favorite is to serve this with some sauteed Brussels sprouts, but I know potatoes and carrots are a much more popular option.
I think the potatoes and carrots will taste best if you roast them separately in the oven, or you could try making my popular Honey Glazed Carrots!
If you want to cook the potatoes and carrots in the Instant Pot with the roast, youll need to decrease the cooking time by 15 minutes and do a quick release. Then add in halved potatoes and carrots. Cook everything for the remaining 15 minutes and then proceed with the natural release for 30 minutes.
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Perfect Ground Beef In The Instant Pot
One of the most common questions is how to cook ground beef in the Instant Pot.
Cooking ground beef from fresh is easy peasy! Just hit the sauté button
on the Instant Pot and brown your ground meat as you would usually on the stovetop.
But when it comes to making ground beef from frozen, it requires an additional step. One has to first cook the beef to then sauté it with seasoning in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Does it work well? You bet it truly does!
How To Cook Brats In The Instant Pot
The great thing about cooking brats in the instant pot is that you can sauté them to get that crispy brown skin and then steam them to make them tender and succulent.
Heres how you do it.
- Turn your instant pot to sauté mode. Wait until the instant pot says it is hot.
- Add your cooking oil and brats. When the skins turn brown turn them over and cook the other sides. You dont want to cook your brats all the way through at this stage you just want to get a little bit of color on them.
- Take your brats out of the instant pot and add your cooking liquid . Use a spatula to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. This will stop the bits from burning and impairing the taste of your brats.
- Put your trivet in the instant pot and add your brats in a single layer
- Close and seal the instant pot and cook your brats for seven minutes
- When cooked, let the pot release the pressure and your brats will be ready to eat!
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