Instant Pot Goulash

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Family comfort food has never been easier. With this super easy, 3-step recipe for Instant Pot Goulash, you can make a meal the whole family will love in just 30 minutes!

Prep	Saute	Pressure Building	High Pressure	Quick Release	Stir	Total Time
5 mins	6 mins	10 mins	4 mins	7 mins	3 mins	35 mins

Instant Pot Goulash | 3-Step, 35 Minute Recipe | Nerd Chefs (1)

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👍🏻 Recipe Features
🍝 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
🎥 Video
💭 Top Tip
🍽 Equipment
🥗 Side Dishes
🥡 Leftovers
🥘 Related Recipes
Instant Pot Goulash

👍🏻 Recipe Features

Super quick This whole recipe comes together in just over 35 minutes. That makes this comfort food favorite easy to make on a weeknight.
Deep Flavors! Instead of just adding salt, soy sauce gives a more well-rounded saltiness to the bite. Chicken stock helps to bolster the meatiness of the bite. A couple of easy steps to a next level meal!
Just 3 steps. Just brown the beef in the pot, dump your ingredients and let the Instant Pot (affiliate) work its magic. When it's done, a quick stir is all that's needed to bring everything together.

🍝 Ingredients

Lean ground beef. Simply put, we want lean ground beef because draining excess fat from an Instant Pot is a pain. Go with the lean stuff so the excess fat is minimal and can just be cooked into the sauce.
Minced garlic and diced white onion: These round of a savory flavor base, seasoned with salt and pepper.
Macaroni pasta. Elbows are traditional, but I opted for spiral-shaped cavatappi instead. Any type of tube-shaped pasta does the trick, as it picks up the sauce well as it cooks.
Chicken stock, soy sauce, and bay leaf: Enhances the savory flavors cooked into your pasta and sauce.
Crushed Tomatoes & Italian seasoning: For next-level sauce, opt for San Marzano crushed tomatoes. Do not stir the tomatoes into the sauce before it cooks. Just drop it on top of everything then stir it at the very end.

🔪 Instructions

Step 1

Instant Pot Goulash | 3-Step, 35 Minute Recipe | Nerd Chefs (2)

Turn the Instant Pot to Saute: More. When the display reads "Hot" add in ground beef, diced white onion, and minced garlic. Season everything with salt and pepper. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, break up the meat and stir everything as it cooks. Saute until beef is browned.

Step 2

Instant Pot Goulash | 3-Step, 35 Minute Recipe | Nerd Chefs (3)

Instant Pot Goulash | 3-Step, 35 Minute Recipe | Nerd Chefs (4)

Stir in macaroni pasta. I used cavatappi pasta this time, just for something a little different. Any time of curved tube pasta works fine. Dump in the chicken stock, Italian seasoning, soy sauce, and bay leaves. Stir everything together and try to keep the pasta completely submerged in the stock.

Top with crushed tomatoes. Do not stir these in, but you can spread the sauce to cover any exposed noodles as best you can. We want the crushed tomatoes to sit on top of everything as it cooks. Close the lid and make sure the vent is set to "sealing".

First, hit the cancel button, then set Instant Pot to Manual: High Pressure for 4 minutes. Allow about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure before the timer starts.

Step 3

When the timer goes off, flip the valve to "venting" and allow the steam to release. This is referred to as a quick release. When pressure is fully released, and the indicator has gone down, carefully open the lid. Remove the bay leaves.

Your Instant Pot Goulash will look fairly soupy at this stage, but stir it for about 2-4 minutes. The sauce will thicken as you stir, coming together to coat your noodles well.

🎥 Video

💭 Top Tip

Looking to make this a little healthier? Sub in dark meat ground turkey for the ground beef. Dark meat does a better job of mimicking beef than ground turkey breast, so pay attention when you're picking it up from the meat counter. Also, add in a tablespoon of Worcestershire to help increase the beefy flavor, without the beef itself.

🍽 Equipment

Instant Pot

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🥗 Side Dishes

Keep things simple with an easy chopped caesar salad kit (affiliate), as the creaminess and fresh veggie mix balances well against the comforting goulash. A good crusty bread goes well alongside it, as do freshly baked dinner rolls.

🥡 Leftovers

Instant Pot Goulash makes for excellent leftovers. Store the leftover goulash in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge. Leftovers are good for 3-5 days and can be warmed in the microwave. Top it again with parmesan for an easy leftover lunch.

Check out some of our other most popular Instant Pot Recipes, like Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings, Instant Pot Chicken and Yellow Rice, or Instant Pot Baked Potato Soup.

Author: Mike
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 servings 1x

Description

This classic Hungarian meat and pasta dish in a delicious red sauce is ready in just 35 minutes! 3 quick steps from beginning to end, just saute, dump and stir for a delicious dinner!

Ingredients

Scale

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground beef
1 small white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbspsalt and black pepper
16 oz box macaroni pasta
3.5 cups chicken stock
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 bay leaves
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
shredded parmesan cheese, to taste

Instructions

Saute beef, onions & garlic: Turn Instant Pot toSaute: More. When the display reads "Hot", add ground beef, diced onions, and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Stir together, breaking up meat as it cooks. Cook until beef is browned, then drain excess fat.
Add the rest: Add macaroni pasta and stir together. Pour in chicken stock, Italian seasoning, and soy sauce. Top with crushed tomatoes and bay leaf (cover top of noodles but do not stir in!).
Cook & finish: Close lid and make vent is set to sealing. Press Cancel, then set Instant Pot for Manual: High Pressure for 4 minutes. When the timer goes off, perform a quick release by flipping the valve to venting. When the pressure has released and the indicator has gone down, carefully remove the lid. Remove bay leaves, then stir everything together. Goulash will thicken after 1-2 minutes of stirring. Serve warm topped with parmesan cheese.

Equipment