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.
Therefore, I’m SO happy to be sharing this incredible Instant Pot goulash recipe with you today!
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
Instant Pot Goulash
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
Did you make this?
I would love to hear from you! Make sure to leave your review below and follow on Pinterest for more!
Made this the other night my whole family, from my dad to my kids loved it. So easy and quick.
If you have a “crockpot” insta cooker use the beans/chili button for the high pressure 4 min part
Good, and much easier and quicker than my normal American chop suey. No burn in the IP either.
Great recipe, and fast! It’s a keeper! Yummy
First time I made this 2 minutes was perfect but it continued to cook in the broth afterwards just sitting ( and i removed the inner pot) so by the time I was ready to package leftovers the noodles were overcooked and soaked up all and I mean all the broth. next time I will be smart and do it one minute as you say lol
Funny, she did say that’s exactly what would happen but good to know. 😉
This turned out great! I subd the whole wheat rotini pasta and read some reviews while I was waiting for it to heat up, left natural pressure release for 1 min only then quick released to avoid undercooking noodles as many commented about it, mine came out perfect! I also subd 1lb Turkey burger for the meat and a 1lb meatless Italian sausage because that’s what I had on hand. Delish!
My family loved this recipe tonight. The next time I make it I will season the meat just after browning rather than putting the seasoning in with all the liquids.
I’ve been looking for a good goulash recipe a
I cut the ingredients in half and followed instructions. It turned out perfectly! Thank you for this! I definitely will check out your other receipes!
That’s what I need to do since there are just 2 of us, it tasted so good but too much
I always do a half batch too- it’s a family favorite- never any leftovers!!
Question very new to instant pot after doing the sautéed part of onions what option do you put it on after that for hamburger Etc.
Sautee for onions and hamburger
I am making this now. I fudged the recipe and used less pasta but kept full liquid and only did one can tomato sauce 1 can diced tomatoes and added some diced jalapenos to give it some pep. I cooked 2 minutes for they say to use 1/2 the time listed on the bag of pasta in the instant pot and 2 minutes is still even less than that so we shall see.
update looks good but after 2 minutes noodles dpnt look quite done so I am letting it bubble on saute mode for an extra minute
This came out great! I had to substitute a few things with what I had on hand, tho. I used homemade tomato soup that I froze last summer to which I added a fair amount of tomato paste in place of the tomato sauce. Also used teriyaki sauce vs Worcester. Used basil vs oregano. I didn’t hear the timer go off after 1 minute so it slow released for two minutes. Pasta was perfect! None of these little change ups made much of a difference. Really good!