Thank you to the Mushroom Council for sponsoring this post. Make the pledge to be a blenditarian and share what drives you to do better!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Helper is the perfect family friendly meal! In just 10 minutes, you can have a meal on the table that everyone will enjoy!
This Instant Pot Cheeseburger Helper is a much more delicious and healthier take on the crummy old box recipe! I know what you’re thinking when I mention healthier… You’re thinking I loaded this recipe with a bunch of ingredients you couldn’t get a real child to eat. Well, let me just stop you there! This recipe is still the same cheesy pasta that kids know and love, with a secret healthy ingredient they couldn’t find unless you told them. That secret ingredient is mushrooms!
Believe it or not, mushrooms are fat-free, cholesterol free, low in calories, and provide important nutrients like vitamin D, B vitamins, antioxidants and potassium! Mushrooms are also low in sodium and rich in umami (the “fifth” taste), which means enhanced flavor without the added salt. Don’t worry, these mushrooms are not just thrown in, they are actually blended in with the meat and you won’t even taste them!
Like I mentioned in my Instant Pot Beef and Brown Rice Burrito Bowls recipe, mushrooms can actually match the consistency of meat they are paired with. All you need to do is chop them fine enough and blend them with your meat. I use the food processor to make this task super simple, but you can do the chopping by hand. After you have incorporated your mushrooms to your meat, you can cook it like you traditionally would.
I learned all these awesome mushroom facts and how/why to blend mushrooms into meat after doing a little reading on the Bleditarian website. I loved the whole idea so much, I took the pledge to become a Bleditarian myself and have been cutting my meat with mushrooms ever since. Being able to sneak a full serving of veggies into the plates of my ridiculously picky family is truly is a #momwin!
Ready to try out being a Bleditarian? Take the monthly Blenditarian Challenge (you could win $250!)
Besides all the health benefits of blending mushrooms into meat, it’s also a great way to save a buck, which I’m all about! It adds volume, generating more servings and stretching recipes into more portions which is perfect for larger households. Meals like this are already cheap to make but blending your meat with mushrooms great way to make huge portions for pocket change.
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Helper is the perfect family weeknight meal when you just don’t have the time to work away cooking dinner. I mean, it will taste like you salved over the stove all day, but really it will take you about 10 minutes to get everything into the Instant Pot and let it work it’s magic. And, adding mushrooms to Instant Pot Cheeseburger Helper really helps to increases the flavor while cutting a few unnecessary calories. You can also change this up easily by adding hot sauce, bacon, tomatoes, sour cream, etc.
Once you try this version homemade Cheeseburger Helper, I can guarantee you’ll never go back to the box version again! Have I convinced you to try blending mushrooms with meat yet?! Make the pledge to be a blenditarian and share what drives you to do better!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Helper
Chop mushrooms super fine or blend in a food processor.
In a larger bowl, combine ground beef and mushrooms and kneed until mixed well.
Turn Instant Pot onto saute and wait until it is hot to add meat. Cook meat until no longer pink then drain off excess fat and water. Turn Instant Pot off.
Return meat to pot then add elbow noodles, broth, and all the seasoning. Don’t stir but push down the noodles to make sure they are all covered.
Close Instant Pot and set to sealing position. Select manual high pressure (the manual button or the pressure cook button on the newer models) and set timer for 4 minutes.
While Instant Pot is cooking, mix milk and cornstarch together in a separate small bowl until no lumps remain.
When timer is up on the Instant Pot turn it off and perform a quick release of pressure. Turn Instant Pot back onto saute and add milk mixture. Cook for around 2 minutes (until everything starts to thicken up).
Add cheese in and stir until melted. Serve and enjoy!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Helper
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 16 oz mushrooms
- 4 cups beef broth
- 16 oz elbow noodles
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tbsp garlic
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Chop mushrooms super fine or blend in a food processor. In a larger bowl, combine ground beef and mushrooms and kneed until mixed well.
- Turn Instant Pot onto saute and wait until it is hot to add meat. Cook meat until no longer pink then drain off excess fat and water. Turn Instant Pot off.
- Return meat to pot then add elbow noodles, broth, and all the seasoning. Don't stir but push down the noodles to make sure they are all covered.
- Close Instant Pot and set to sealing position. Select manual high pressure (the manual button or the pressure cook button on the newer models) and set timer for 4 minutes.
- While Instant Pot is cooking, mix milk and cornstarch together in a separate small bowl until no lumps remain.
- When timer is up on the Instant Pot turn it off and perform a quick release of pressure. Turn Instant Pot back onto saute and add milk mixture. Cook for around 2 minutes (until everything starts to thicken up).
- Add cheese in and stir until melted. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
If you are looking for another delicious and quick meal check out this Instant Pot Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice or Instant Pot Cashew Chicken!
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Pretty tasty. Love sneaking in veggies on my family. I omitted the sugar since we are trying to be lower refined sugar in our diets and it didn’t affect the dish at all.
Amazing for a quick meal, I added a little Parmesan cheese for a little kick. Made it in 15 mins while doing other chores. 👍
This recipe was a big hit with my family!
Hi Ashley,
This is on next week’s menu, but since I cook for two I’m wondering if it’s possible to freeze half the beef/mushroom blend before cooking.
You could absolutely freeze half the meat mixture. I hope you like it!