Old-fashioned Instant Pot goulash is a classic family dish that comes together easily in your pressure cooker. Whether you call it goulash, Johnny Marzetti, or American chop suey, you have to agree that this recipe is simply THE BEST!

Pressure Cooker Goulash Recipe

Readers have been begging me to create an Instant Pot version of my popular Old-Fashioned Goulash recipe.

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Therefore, I’m SO happy to be sharing this incredible Instant Pot goulash recipe with you today!

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This is the most popular recipe on my blog, and thousands of Pinterest users have tried and loved this easy family recipe!

Our Instant Pot goulash recipe is SPECIAL and UNIQUE! In other words, It’s not just pasta, meat, and a jar of sauce.

It’s loaded with quality, real ingredients that come together to make a flavorful family meal.

PRO Instant Pot Tip: How To Fix The C6L Error On Your Instant Pot

How to Make Instant Pot Goulash

Note, this is American goulash. Sometimes it’s also called American chop suey or for Ohioans like me, Johnny Marzetti.

Are you looking for Hungarian-style goulash recipe? Then check out this one.

Certainly, I love easy recipes. I’m not above using a jar of pasta sauce!

However, you just can’t beat the depth of flavor achieved when using my special combination of delicious ingredients.

If you’re saying to yourself, enough talk already, just SHOW ME THE RECIPE, then just scroll down toward the bottom of the page to get our complete Instant Pot goulash recipe! :)

Cook the ground beef

Firstly, set the Instant Pot to sauté. When hot, add the olive oil, onion, and garlic; sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground beef. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and brown until no pink remains. Spoon off any excess liquid.

Add the additional ingredients

Secondly, add the one cup of beef broth and stir to deglaze. Add the 2 cups of water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings. Stir well. Stir in the elbow macaroni.

Cook on high pressure

Finally, put on the lid, set to sealing, and set to high pressure for 1 minute, with a quick release. After that, when all the pressure is released carefully remove lid and stir. Make sure to turn off the keep warm function to prevent the pasta from overcooking. Serve your Instant Pot goulash IMMEDIATELY for best results! Top with shredded cheese, optional, but honestly… who wouldn’t? :)

Tips for Making Instant Pot Old-Fashioned Goulash

I make this goulash recipe in my 6-quart Instant Pot. You will need to use a 6-quart or larger pot to accommodate this recipe. I’ve been thinking about getting an 8-quart pot, myself. Do you have one? Do you love it?

In addition, be sure sure to break up your ground beef well during the sautéing phase.

Important note about cooking time. While it may seem like 1 minute at high pressure is not enough time, trust me, it is. Keep in mind that the pasta will be starting to cook while the pot comes up to pressure.

I find that the 1 minute with a QUICK RELEASE produces a JUST al-dente pasta that will hold up on day two and three. If you want your pasta to be even closer to true al-dente, you could cook for 0 minutes at high pressure with a quick release.

Moreover, if find the pasta is still too tough for your liking, it’s a very simple fix. Put the lid back on and let it sit for a minute or two. You can make your pasta softer, but you don’t want to go too far and have mushy pasta hence the 1 minute cook time!

Finely grate your own cheese (like in my picture) for the most luscious results. You can use the bagged stuff too, of course! :)

I am SUCH an IP-recipe junkie. In fact, I just tried Jessica’s Instant Pot Baked Ziti, and y’all, it’s SO GOOD!

More Delicious Recipes

Did you make this recipe? It really is the BEST! If you loved it and want to really help this site, consider leaving a rating, comment, and pinning this recipe to your favorite Pinterest boards. Your support helps us so much! :)

Classic Old-Fashioned Goulash (stovetop version)
Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Instant Pot Beef Stew (really good!)
Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
Chicken Cobbler

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large yellow onions chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 cup beef broth
2 cups of water
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
2 cups elbow macaroni uncooked
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Set the Instant Pot to sauté. When hot, add the olive oil, onion, and garlic; sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground beef. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and brown until no pink remains. Spoon off any excess liquid.
Add the one cup of beef broth and stir to deglaze. Add the 2 cups of water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings. Stir well. Stir in the elbow macaroni.
Put on the lid, set to sealing position, and set to high pressure for 1 minute, with a quick release. After all the pressure is released carefully remove lid and stir. Make sure to turn off the keep warm function to prevent the pasta from overcooking. Top with shredded cheese, optional.

Notes

Remove the inner pot after cooking is complete to allow for faster cooling.
Serve IMMEDIATELY for best results!

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Nutrition

Nutrition values are estimates, sourced from an online nutrition calculator. This information should never be considered a substitute for medical advice. Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Course: Instant Pot

Cuisine: American

Keyword: american goulash, Instant Pot goulash, old fashioned goulash, pressure cooker

Did you make this?

I would love to hear from you! Make sure to leave your review below and follow on Pinterest for more!

4.44 from 667 votes (634 ratings without comment)

127 Comments

Sara McCubbin says:

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Can this be made ahead of time? Like a freezer dump meal?

Carrie P says:

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I found this and my family loved it! So it is now in my Pinterest board of our family’s favorites so that I don’t have to search for it. I’ve made it many a time and it’s always great. Thanks for a great recipe of a nostalgic food item.

1. Crissy Page says:
  
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  Thank you so much for commenting. I’m so happy you love it!!
  
Sunny says:

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This is my favorite goulash recipe to date. On repeat with the family at least once a month. I do add one green pepper for a little zing. It’s perfect!

Linda Dillon says:

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This is the perfect recipe. My husband loves it. Thanks for sharing!

BP says:

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I cut the recipe in half. I cooked it same amount of time listed. I would recommend letting it depressurize passively for 5 minutes then do the quick release because pasta wasn’t quite done. But it was delicious!

Rachel says:

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This is our families go to goulash recipe and we’ve made it so many times, and each time it comes out perfect! Tonight we used Goodles pasta which is a wheat and chick pea pasta. I didn’t make any other adjustments. It still turned out perfect! Family favorite!!