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Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef Recipe

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This Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef is an easy pressure cooker recipe that can be made in under 30 minutes! This delicious pasta recipe has shells and ground beef that are cooked in a cheesy, creamy tomato sauce.
Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef Recipe

This Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef is the perfect comfort food recipe and so easy to make!

What are the best things to cook in an instant pot?

The possibilities of foods you can cook in an Instant Pot are endless!  Some of our favorite things to make in our Instant Pots are hardboiled eggs, rice, pasta, soup, beef and chicken.

We’ve even made dessert in our Instant Pots!  You can find all of our Instant Pot recipes HERE.

One of our favorite Instant Pot soups is our Creamy Chicken Soup – our readers give it rave reviews!

Which Instant Pot Is Best?

If you are like me, you might have gotten a pressure cooker for Christmas or Mother’s Day and it sat in a box for a few months until you finally got around to getting it out of the box.

Our favorite Instant Pot has over 34,000 4-star reviews on Amazon.  You can find it HERE!  It’s also one of the more affordable electric pressure cookers available.

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How to make Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef:

This easy pressure cooker recipe is perfect for beginners!  The best part about this Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef Recipe is that it can all be made in your Instant Pot so you’re not dirtying a bunch of dishes.


Start by adding olive oil to the inner pot of the Instant Pot and turn on SAUTE mode.

Add diced onion to the Instant Pot and sauté for a few minutes until onion starts to soften.

Add ground beef to the pot, break into small pieces, and cook until browned; drain excess grease and turn off the Instant Pot.

Add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder and tomato paste to the beef mixture.  Stir to combine.

Pour uncooked pasta shells on top of the ground beef mixture, then pour pasta sauce and water on top.  Don’t stir the pasta and sauce together!

Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef in Instant pot

Do a manual pressure release and when the pin drops, remove the lid.

Stir in parmesan cheese, half and half and cream cheese until well combined.

Serve and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

There you have it!  Dinner made from start to finish in less than 30 minutes!

We like to serve this Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef with our Easy Homemade Rolls and our Fresh Green Salad.

Easy Instant Pot Recipes:

Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef Recipe

Creamy shells and beef made in the Instant Pot.
Serving6
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 Tablespoon italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 16 ounces medium pasta shells
  • 24 ounces pasta sauce
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, (softened)
  • fresh parsley, for garnish

Equipment

Instructions

  1. Add olive oil to the inner pot of the Instant Pot and turn on SAUTE mode.  
  2. Add diced onion to the Instant Pot and sauté for a few minutes until onion starts to soften.
  3. Add ground beef to the pot, break into small pieces, and cook until browned; drain excess grease and turn off the Instant Pot.
  4. Add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper and tomato paste to the beef mixture; stir to combine.
  5. Pour uncooked pasta shells on top of the ground beef mixture, then pour pasta sauce and water on top.  Don't stir the pasta and sauce together.
  6. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and put the valve in SEALING position.  Cook on MANUAL/HIGH for 5 minutes.
  7. Do a manual pressure release and when the pin drops, remove the lid.
  8. Stir in parmesan cheese, half and half and cream cheese until well combined.
  9. Serve and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Notes

This recipe can also be made in a skillet. Cook times will vary.

Nutrition

Calories: 608 kcal · Carbohydrates: 70 g · Protein: 37 g · Fat: 20 g · Saturated Fat: 10 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 7 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 87 mg · Sodium: 1231 mg · Potassium: 998 mg · Fiber: 5 g · Sugar: 9 g · Vitamin A: 938 IU · Vitamin C: 10 mg · Calcium: 316 mg · Iron: 5 mg
Cuisine: American
Course: Main Course
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.

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Published: July 29, 2021Updated: November 10, 2022

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Questions & Reviews

  1. Danielle says:
    Has anyone cooked noodles al dente in the insta pot? If so, how long did you cook them? This recipe has noodles done in 5.
  2. Susan says:
    This recipe sounds so yummy. Do you have any suggestions on how I could convert it to a crock pot recipe?
  3. Gina Dieter says:
    This looks and sounds delicious. I have a duo mini would I have to make any adjustments?
  4. rick says:
    i would like to no what saute mode you r put it on i have 3 mode so can you tell me thanks
  5. Jenny says:
    I found it amusing how on an instant pot channel one would ask how to convert this to a crock pot. Why not get an instant pot? Its a crock pot as well and like $50 when on sale for the 6 quart , get get one for xmas or black Friday coming up. Its cheaper then a dinner for two.
  6. Dotty says:
    Newbie here: cooking 1st dish now....I am making a recipe similar to this, how do I know when the 5 minutes actually starts so I'm not starring at my IP scared, I don't want to miss the quick release time? doesn't it take like 20 minutes to pressurize or something like that? How can cut up raw Italian sausage be done in 6 minutes? I'm a perpetual over cooker to make sure things are cooked all the way.
  7. Cyd says:
    Hi Dotty. Just set your timer for 5 minutes. After your Instant Pot is done pressurizing, it will start to count down on the 5 minute timer. It could take about 5-10 minutes. You will hear a beep when it's done and then you can do the quick release.
  8. Rachel says:
    Just Made this recipe and got the burn notice, I followed the receipt perfectly but it wouldn’t come to pressure, I cancelled added more water and tried scraping the bottom of the pot and tried again and still got the burn notice...maybe I added too much pasta? I layered the pasta sauce like the directions said so not sure what happened.
  9. Lori says:
    So good! Thanks for the recipe!
  10. Cyd says:
    Hi Lori. We are so glad that you liked Six Sisters Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef. We hope you'll come back for more of our Instant Pot Recipes! Have a great week!
  11. Laura A Whitlock says:
    When I made this recipe I felt like the sauce was watered down. Any idea why? I filled the recipe to the letter.
  12. Jacque says:
    Lori this might happen if your pot is set to release and not pressure! I always have to double check mine!
  13. Tracy Gregory says:
    Can we skip the tomato paste?
  14. Cyd says:
    We haven't taken the tomato paste out of this recipe. But it should be fine because of the pasta sauce.
  15. Amber says:
    Do you have a recipe that isn't for the Insta Pot?
  16. Cyd says:
    You could easily adapt this to a skillet. Here are a few of our pasta dishes that might help you adapt this recipe: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/hawaiian-pasta-skillet/ https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/chicken-bacon-ranch-pasta/ https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/cowboy-pasta-salad/
  17. Jenny says:
    Looks amazing! Any advice on using gluten-free noodles?
  18. Angela Johnson says:
    Cooked this exactly as it said, and got the dreaded burn notice. Should I have put the water in before the noodles? I hate burning dinner when I am in a crunch for time.
  19. Janeil says:
    Thanks for this quick and easy recipe it was a thumbs up for all 7 of us. It makes a lot!! We all had seconds and we still had left overs. The only thing I changed was the kind of noodle because I didn’t have shells so we used elbow and cooked it for Three mins. Seriously SO creamy and delicious!!
  20. Cyd Adamson says:
    Yah Janeil. So glad you liked the Instant Pot creamy shells and beef. We love easy recipes that bring the family together at the dinner table. Elbow mac would be great in this too. Thanks for sharing and stay safe. Have a terrific week.
  21. MSJOE143 says:
    Yum yum yum! Followed recipe as-is. Not sure why folks get the dreaded burn notice, but I didn’t have any issues. Will be adding this to my rotation :-)
  22. Katie says:
    I see water listed in the ingredient list, but not listed in the directions as to when to add the water. I assume you’d get a burn notice without adding water. Can you please clarify because this looks yummy
  23. Momma Cyd says:
    In step 5 it tells you to add the water to the pot.
  24. Gina Wayman says:
    I made this receipt, and loved it....I am tracking my consumption of foods, where would I find the nutritional value of this dish?
  25. JB says:
    Yes. Take the cooking time from the package of noodles, divide by 2 and subtract 2. So, if the cooking time on the pasta says 10 mins. Divide by 2 = 5 minutes and subtract 2. Pressure cook for 3 minutes. This is how I do all my pasta - half and subtract 1 or 2 minutes for al dente.
  26. Joyce says:
    Do you use real Parmesan or the stuff in the “green can”?
  27. Momma Cyd says:
    We have used both, but the grated Parmesan cheese with the green lid works just fine.
  28. Carolyn W (Perth Western Australia ) says:
    Thankyou Havent had my non brandname pressure cooker out for over a year. Just made this...beautiful.
  29. Bari says:
    Jenny, you sound like a witch. If she doesn’t want to buy a whole separate machine, she shouldn’t have to.
  30. Phil says:
    Do all you gaskets stink horribly after 1st use? Am I doing something wrong? And by the way all you recipes are awesome.
  31. Momma Cyd says:
    We wash ours in the dishwasher on the top rack. We also have a rubber one for meats and one for desserts. Replacements are on amazon.
  32. Jenn Vander Meer says:
    I made this tonight and my family absolutely LOVED it! My kiddos even asked for 2nds which NEVER happens!
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