Instant Pot Ground Beef Burrito Bowls is a regular on our dinner menu! Family dinner ideas that are quick and easy are something that I am always on the hunt for! The flavor of this is fantastic but my very favorite part, aside from the fact that you can add in or substitute anything you want, it’s done in 10 minutes! Do you hear that?! DINNER IN TEN MINUTES!
Life is so busy especially with three kids who are all in completely different stages of life. We are constantly on the go. We need meals that are healthy, quick, and kid friendly. Some of our favorites are 20 Minute Cheesy Pesto Pasta, 20 Minute Cherry Tomato Basil Angel Hair Pasta, 15 Minute Chicken Stir Fry, 15 Minute Pesto Pasta, and 15 Minute Beef Stir Fry.
This Instant Pot Quick and Easy Ground Beef Burrito Bowls are being added to that list. They are so flavorful and my kids love them! They can put whatever toppings they want on their own bowl. It not only allows them to be creative in the kitchen, but they are also more likely to eat something they have helped cook.
We have been dialing up our instant pot game and creating more recipes for you all, and for us too. I mean, we create recipes for ourselves, but we always have you all in mind too! You can find all of our Instant Pot Recipes here. We have everything from BBQ ribs to peanut butter cup cheesecake.
If you are new to the instant pot or you want a concise list of the cook times for all your basic foods, check out our Instant Pot Cheat Sheet!
How Do I Make Instant Pot Ground Beef Burrito Bowls?
Like most instant pot recipes that include meat, we start by cooking the meat first. Put your instant pot in “saute” mode and brown your ground beef. We don’t know how we ever lived before getting our ground beef meat chopper (see link below). It is so awesome!
- What Kind of Ground Beef Should I Use?
- Before you ask, we prefer to use 85/15 ground beef. It has just enough fat to have delicious flavor but not so much that your dish is greasy.
After you have browned the ground beef, you can add the seasonings (garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin coriander and oregano) and diced onions with some olive oil and saute them until the onions start to soften and the ground beef is cooked. Then add some olive oil and the uncooked rice. We have found that sauteing the rice for a minute or two gives it such a great flavor.
Add the last four ingredients (black beans, canned tomatoes, corn and beef broth) and give everything a good stir. You can totally swap these four ingredients for other things you love…pinto beans instead of black perhaps! Put the lid on your instant pot, lock it and set it to “manual” high pressure for 7 minutes.
read more: Looking for ground beef dinner ideas? Try our Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole, too!
Quick Release or Natural Release?
When the instant pot has done it’s thing, you will want to do a quick pressure release. When the pressure has gone down, you can open the lid and give the rice a good fluff. Add the cheese to the top and put the lid back on for a minute or two until the cheese has melted.
What Toppings Should I put on My Burrito Bowl?
Then you can dish up bowls for everyone and let everyone put the toppings on that they want. It’s like choose your own burrito bowl adventure! We like to sort of make a burrito bowl bar with all the toppings out so everyone can personalize their bowl. The kids go crazy for this! Here are some of our favorite toppings:
- cheese
- tomatoes, diced
- sour cream
- avocado
- sliced jalapenos (fresh or pickled)
- chopped fresh cilantro
- sliced olives
- tortilla strips
- lime wedges
Can I Use Frozen Ground Beef?
Now, I know that no one wants to think about getting meat out to defrost, but it really is best to use thawed meat. And just in case you don’t, I tried partially thawed ground beef and it totally worked. NOT frozen, but frozen in the center. Hope my efforts to test help a stressed out mom. If it does, please send gift cards for hot french fries to, Carrian… oh just kidding, fresh baked bread will do as well. 😉
What Size Instant Pot Do I Need?
We have had a lot of questions about what instant pot is the best. We still love our 6 Qt 9 Function Instant Pot. It is the perfect size for our family of 5. If you’re feeding more people, you might want to look into the 8qt size. If you’re cooking for one or two people, then the 3qt will be just fine.
How Do I Clean My Instant Pot?
You can clean an instant pot same way you would an other nice pan. We like to clean it by hand in the sink rather than putting it in the dishwasher. We share all our tips for cleaning an instant pot in here.
What Do I Do if I Get a Burn Error on My Instant Pot?
If you get a burn error on your instant pot, you’re fired! Haha! Just kidding, it can totally happen. Head over to our post for our Award Winning Healthy Turkey Instant Pot Chili where we go into details about what can cause the burn error, how to avoid it, and how to fix it.
You are going to love this fast and easy family dinner! Dinner on the table in 10 minutes?! Are you out of your mind?! Instant Pot Quick and Easy Ground Beef Burrito Bowls should be next on your dinner menu!
We recommend topping it with some of our Restaurant Style Salsa too!
Instant Pot Quick and Easy Ground Beef Burrito Bowls
Description
Ingredients
Bowls
- 1 Pound Ground Beef , 85/15
- 3 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1/2 Onion, yellow, minced
- 1 Cup Rice, uncooked extra-long grain
- 14.5 oz Tomatoes , fire roasted with Diced Green Chiles, diced, drained
- 15 oz Black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 Cup Corn, Frozen
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 2 teaspoons Chili Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Cumin
- 1/4 Teaspoon Coriander, ground
- 1/4 Teaspoon Oregano
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt, or season to taste
- 2 1/4 Cups Beef Broth
- 1 Cup Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
Toppings
- Cheese
- Tomatoes, chopped
- Avocado, chopped
- Sour Cream
- Jalapeno, sliced
Instructions
- Press the Saute button, and adjust button to, More.
- Once hot, add ground beef to the pot, using a ground beef chopper to break up the meat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the onions and seasonings and cook until onions start to soften.
- Add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and uncooked rice and toast uncooked rice for a minute.
- Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, corn, and broth.
- Lock Instant Pot lid in place and set to Manual, High Pressure for 7 minutes.
- Use Quick Pressure Release, and once pressure drops, open Instant Pot and fluff the rice.
- Sprinkle with the cheese, recover and let set for 1-2 minutes to melt cheese.
- Garnish with fresh tomatoes, sour cream etc.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
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Laurie Norris
Delicious! Perfect for unexpected guests for a quick, impromptu dinner!
Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Laurie!
Amanda Green
I’ve made this atleast 5x! So good! Quick, easy, and not terribly unhealthy lol
Sweet Basil
Yay! Thank you Amanda!!
Brandy
This was good. I used ground turkey instead of beef and 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup lentils to make a little healthier. Cooked for 17 minutes. It was delicious , kids and husband approved! Topped with lettuce shreds, tomato, guacamole, cheese, plain Greek yogurt, jalapeños, and a few crushed up chips.
Sweet Basil
That sounds amazing! I love your substitutions! Thank you so much for taking time to leave a comment Brandy!
Kathleen
I am new to the instapot craze and can now understand why everyone loves it. It is just me and the hubby now so I was skeptical to get one. This was my 3rd recipe and I made some adjustments to use what I had on hand. I added probably a whole big onion to use up to halves I had (I didn’t want them to go to waste!) I didn’t have 1 – 14 5 oz can of diced tomatoes fire roasted with green chili’s so I used 2 – 10 oz cans. I didn’t drain them either!! (I didn’t see that I had to till I was reading comments looking to see if there were any comments about freezing!!!) It turned out GREAT! This is now my favorite recipe to make and is my hubby’s favorite to eat!!!
Sweet Basil
Yay! Love to hear this Kathleen! And thank you for taking time to leave us a comment!
Melody
I love this recipe and I’ve made it a few times now. My only issue with the recipe as written is that there is no mention of salt. Add that and this is perfect. I still couldn’t bring myself to take off a star for that though. It’s too good to be rated anything less than 5 stars!
Sweet Basil
Hi Melody! You are totally right. I thought I had added to season to taste, but it wasn’t in there. I’ve added a little salt to the recipe now. Thank you for the heads up! And thank you for the support!
Jen
I’ve made this recipe a ton of times!! It is a crowd pleaser!! Tell me why, after all the times, I forgot to toast the rice!! Crossing fingers I didn’t ruin, lol!!
Sweet Basil
It will still be delicious, but there is something about toasting it first that makes it soooo good!
Halie
This turned out great! I love using my IP and finding fool proof recipes! I skipped the diced chili’s, too much spice for me, but will probably my add salt and extra chili powder next time. It was delicious. Do you know if this freezes and reheats well??
Sweet Basil
Hi Halie! Thank you so much for taking time to leave a comment! Yes, it freezes great! It works a little better if you freeze without the cheese and then add the cheese right before serving. So glad you enjoyed it!
Tara
If I prepare Spanish rice separately but keep the rest of the recipe the same, how would I adjust the amount of stock? Any guesses? I’m trying to avoid soup. 😉
Sweet Basil
Oh man! Great question! If I was going to do it that way, I would honestly just make it on the stovetop and skip the Instant Pot. The whole point of the Instant Pot is to cook the rice quickly. You will omit the stock almost entirely would be my guess unless the meat mixture looks like it needs a little juice. I hope this helps!
Christa
This dish is delicious! Thank you for sharing. I have made it before with the long grain white rice and it turned out perfect. I don’t have any white rice, could I use brown? What would I need to change?
Sweet Basil
Hi Christa! Great question! And it is so good with brown rice. You’ll just want to add another 1/4 cup of beef brown and increase the cooking time to 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Joan
When making rice in the Instant Pot, the best rice/liquid ratio I have found is 1:1-1/4. I have made this many times using 1 cup rice and 1-1/4 cup broth. Then you do NOT need to drain the tomatoes.
I have noticed that when using tomatoes or tomato sauce, it may cause a Burn Notice. To prevent that from happening – Do Not Stir the ingredients. Layer them in the IP. For any recipe, not just this one – layer meat, veggies, rice, liquid. Gently push the rice under the liquid to make sure it all gets cooked nice and soft.
Sweet Basil
Hi Joan! Thank you so much for all the tips! This is so great!
Joe
What a great recipe, and easy to make. Very flavourful and filling! I added a can of pickled jalapeños as we like a bit of spice. To prevent the possibility of burning, stirred frequently after adding rice – no problem. This one is added to our go-to list!
Sweet Basil
Yay! Love to hear that! Thank you so much for the feedback!
April
After reading all the comments I was worried to make this because I knew with my luck, I’d get that horrible burn notice. I decided I’d try it anyway. I did. I got the burn notice. I used 1 cup rice to 1 cup beef broth. I got the burn notice, deglaze bottom of pot best I could and put it back to pressure cook. I got the burn notice again and decided I would just move all the food in the pot over to stovetop. I let it simmer for about 25 minutes with lid on Dutch oven (I added about another half cup of beef broth). When done, the bottom of the Dutch oven had a bunch of burned food but the top food was good. It was really tasty. It is even better as leftovers. I just wish I could figure out a way to make it in the Instant Pot without it burning. I will be making this again. 😃
Sweet Basil
That darn burn notice!! It’s so frustrating. We’ve never had that issue with the recipe, but I know a lot of people have. Did you pour the rice on top and just poke it under the liquid? I’m glad it turned out okay on the stove top.
Kris
So good! Even my two picky eating boys gave it two thumbs up. Definitely will make it again!
Sweet Basil
Anytime I can get my picky eaters to like a meal, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot! So glad this was a hit for your family!
Greeshma Joseph
Does “manual high pressure” mean “normal high” or “more high”? Cause i put “normal high” and needed to put it for 25 minutes.
Sweet Basil
We must have different versions of the Instant Pot! Manual high pressure would just be normal high pressure. It shouldn’t take that long to cook the rice. It could be that on your pressure cooker it needs to be “more high”.
Kari Spears
We also are needing to cook for longer. We love anything taco/burrito/nacho/etc. The rice did not cook all the way and it was very soupy. I realize I did not drain the tomatoes. We have the Instant Pot brand and just did pressure cook for 7 min, which was not long enough. Will adjust in the future to best suit my pot. Thanks for the recipe!
Sweet Basil
Thanks for the feedback Kari! Draining the tomatoes will help too!
Greeshma Joseph
SO DELICIOUS. I’ve made this 4 times already and it just keeps on getting better and better. Thanks for the awesome instant pot recipe!!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much!! And thank you for taking time to leave us a comment!
Cady
Thanks for the recipe. It is delicious and quick to make.
After reading other reviews, I decided to use 2 cup broth + 2 cup rice (I read that somewhere for cooking rice in instant pot). I also added 1/2 tsp of salt. The result is still a bit on the wet side. I think I will reduce 1/4 cup of liquid next time.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Cady and thanks for feedback!
JoAnn
Too much liquid. I would definitely use lot less liquid for su or add more rice!
Bb
Made this on the stove in a big pot. Everyone loved it. I did use 1 3/4 cup of chicken broth to the 1 cup of long grain rice. Used about 1 cup of chopped tomatoes, black beans, black olives and corn with ground turkey. Then simmer on low for 20-25 mins. I had tostadas shells and it worked well. Used tomatoes, green onions, avocados, chopped lettuce, sour cream, cheese for toppings. It works with whatever you have on hand for a nice Mexican dish. I give it 5 stars because it really is a versatile dish. We enjoyed it. Thank you for this recipe!!!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much! I love how you took the recipe and made it work for you! Sounds like a delicious meal!
Hailey
Too much liquid. It was swimming in it. Maybe 1 1/4 cups. But 2 1/4 was a lot to use
Sweet Basil
Did you drain the beans and tomatoes? It shouldn’t have had excess liquid at all. Sorry for the frustration!
Pgrove831
I had the same issue. I drained the tomatoes and no beans. Too much liquid.
Rachel
We had no issues with it cooking in our IP and although I didn’t eat any my husband said it was delicious. It did need salt though – I don’t think any was included in the recipe. Will make again for sure!
Sweet Basil
Yay! Thank you for the feedback Rachel!
Lana
Way too much liquid and with all those spices, it was very bland.
Sweet Basil
That shouldn’t be the case at all if the directions are followed correctly. I’m sorry it didn’t turn out how you expected!
Deanna
Can you use ground turkey
Sweet Basil
Absolutely!
Kim
Hi,
This looks good! Could I use basmati rice instead? Only rice I have on hand 🙂
Thanks!
Sweet Basil
Yes! Basmati rice usually needs a little longer to cook, so I would add a couple minutes to the Instant Pot.
Amy
No matter what I did, it kept burning. I tried 5 times. I even emptied the pot, scrubbed the bottom and put it back in to start from scratch. I added more liquid. It came to a boil but still stuck to the bottom and burned. Any idea what I did wrong?
Sweet Basil
We are finding that certain Instant Pots are more sensitive than other to the burn notice. I’m so sorry for the frustration!
Kaethe
I tried this tonight after having luck with my new instant pot. This was my first fail. I followed all of the instructions, but as soon as my meat hit the pot, I knew it was going to burn. I set the pot to saute and “more”, like instructed and it burned the CRAP out of my meat and rice. I didn’t even put the lid back on and cook it as instructed, I tried stirring it to keep it from burning, but no luck. This recipe looked really good and I’m pretty disappointed.
Edye Disner
Absolutely delicious and super easy prep
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much!!
Megan M
Very first recipe I’ve ever made in my instant pot! Such a hit in our family. Thank you for the great recipe!
Sweet Basil
Yahoo!! Love to hear this!! So glad you and your family enjoyed it!!
Kelly Jean Bollinger
This is my first recipe in the instant pot and I keep getting the ‘burn food’ message 😭 what am I doing wrong!!!??
First time it happened I emptied everything into a bowl, ‘deglazed’ the bottom (had to google that term), added about a cup more broth, put ingredients back In and started over. After 10 minutes in ‘pre heat’ mode – I got the ‘burn food’ message again
Sweet Basil
Oh man…that horrible burn message! I haven’t ever had it happen with this recipe, so I’m not sure what might be happening. I’ve heard of some people stirring everything together except the tomatoes and just pouring the tomatoes on top. That might help. I’m so sorry!
Amanda
I also keep getting the “food burn” warning. I took the lid off, stirred up the bits stuck to the bottom, and am not just cooking on “slow cook” for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. This should be enough to cook the rice, and meld all of the flavors…. I hope.
Yuri
OMG !! This is very good flavor exactly like store or Mexican Restaurant meal !! I’ve been making like Mexican flavor meal for long time. But always flavor is not quite right like pro made. Even same ingredients recipe. I think amount of every spice combination are well balanced this recipe.
Thank you so much. Definitely keep as one of my favorite recipe !!
Sweet Basil
Yay! Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed it!
Linda
Just wondering if you rinsed the rice before adding to thcIP for toasting?
Sweet Basil
I don’t usually, but you definitely can!
Thea
I don’t have an instant pot, can this be done in a skillet pan?
Sweet Basil
Absolutely! Just saute the beef on the stove top and then the onions. Follow all the rest of the instructions and then cook on the stove for about 25 minutes on medium/low heat.
Ayra
These look delicious!
Sweet Basil
Thank you!!
Janet Ulrich
I see where it references adding “an additional tablespoon of olive oil” in step 4, but no reference to the first two. Where are the first two added?
Sweet Basil
Oopsies! Those other 2 tablespoons should go in with the onions in step 3. Thank you for letting us know! I’ll go in and fix that now.
Aimee
Would this work with long-grain brown rice? Would it require extra cooking time?
Sweet Basil
Hi Aimee! Great question! Yes, it will definitely work. Add an additional 1/2 cup of broth and cook for 25 minutes. Enjoy!