This Creamy Beef and Shells in the Instant Pot is a perfect 20 minute dinner. The pasta is cooked in a tomato and cream sauce that mixes deliciously with the beef in the recipe! It is thickened up with parmesan cheese and ready to serve so quickly. You’re going to love it!
Matt’s mom makes a dish that his family has loved forever. They call “One Pot Pasta”. It’s basically shell pasta with beef in a creamy tomato sauce. And they call it one pot because… you guessed it… it comes together in one pot!
I’ve been loving my Instant Pot recently, so I decided to take the concept of their favorite meal and transform it into an Instant Pot recipe!
The perks of cooking pasta in the Instant Pot is that I just feel like the pasta is so much more flavorful than it is when simply cooking on the stove. The pasta cooks in the chicken broth and tomato sauce, which makes it infinitely more scrumptious.
Plus, I can throw it all together in a pot and not have to worry about continuing to check my pasta to figure out if it’s done.
What Ingredients are in this Instant Pot Recipe for Creamy Beef and Shells?
Onion
Ground beef
Tomato sauce, canned
Chicken stock
Medium Shell Pasta
Italian seasoning
Salt
Heavy Whipping Cream
Parmesan cheese
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How to Make Creamy Beef and Shells
Turn your Instant Pot to the saute function. Add some olive oil to the Instant Pot and saute the onions until translucent and soft.
Add the beef into the pot. Break apart the meat with a wooden spoon and allow it to brown completely.
Once the meat is browned, add the chicken stock into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. This is an important step as you don’t want to cause a burn notice effect later.
Add the tomato sauce into the pot, then the shells, then the italian seasoning, then salt to taste in that order.
Set Instant Pot to manual for 5 minutes. Once the pasta finishes cooking, do an instant Release. Open the lid to the Instant Pot and add in the cream and the parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Enjoy!
What if I Don’t Have Shells?
If you don’t have shells, have no fear! You can use any type of pasta of similar size. This includes mostaccioli, larger shells, or anything else of the variety.
If your pasta is similar in size, do not change the cooking time. If the substitute pasta is larger than medium shells, you may need to increase cooking time by a minute.
Can I Use Marinara Sauce Instead of Tomato Sauce?
Yes! If you’d like, you can use marinara sauce instead of tomato sauce. In fact, I use this combination in my Instant Pot Pasta with Palomino Sauce, and it is a delicious combination!
I like plain tomato sauce more in this pasta recipe because the Italian seasoning flavors it up nicely. However, feel free to use whatever recipe you’d like.
What Kind of Meat Should I Use to Make this Dish?
My recommendation is 80% lean ground beef. I’ve found that this combination gives a wonderful flavor to the meat that can’t be beat!
If you don’t eat red meat but still want to make this dish, feel free to substitute ground chicken or ground turkey instead. The result will be fairly similar and definitely delicious!
Can I Freeze my Creamy Beef and Shells?
Absolutely! If you’d like to freeze your Creamy Beef and Shells, simply spoon the pasta into a freezer safe container. You can store the pasta in the freezer for up to 6 months.
If you liked this recipe, make sure to take a photo and share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag @TheForeignFork. For more recipes like this, check out the other Instant Pot Pasta recipes I have on my site:
Creamy Beef and Shells in the Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 lb ground beef, 80% lean
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups tomato sauce, canned
- 8 oz shell pasta
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt, or more to taste
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Add some olive oil to the Instant Pot and saute the onions until translucent and soft.
- Add the beef into the pot. Break apart the meat with a wooden spoon and allow it to brown completely.
- Once the meat is browned, add the chicken stock into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. This is an important step as you don’t want to cause a burn notice effect later.
- Add the tomato sauce into the pot, then the shells, then the Italian seasoning, then salt to taste in that order.
- Set Instant Pot to HIGH for 5 minutes. Once the pasta is done cooking, do an instant Release. Open the lid to the Instant Pot and add in the cream and the parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Enjoy!
Mary says
I followed to the letter. There’s not enough liquid so it cooked off before it ever came to pressure. Now I have a mess soaking in the sink.
The Foreign Fork says
Hi Mary. So sorry that you had that experience with this recipe! 3 cups of liquid is generally more than enough to bring a pot to pressure, and I’ve never heard of that problem before with this recipe…. so I’m wondering if perhaps the Instant Pot seal was off or something along those lines? Hope you were able to find a good dinner despite the mess! <3
Kerri says
My shells were not fully cooked after 5 minutes. Was I supposed to stir to make sure they were fully submerged prior to sealing pot for pressure cook?
The Foreign Fork says
You want to make sure that they’re completely submerged in water! I don’t stir it, but I do lightly press the noodles so that they become submerged. If they’re not cooked to your liking, you can always put the lid back on and cook them for another minute or two:)
Amber Lynn says
I love this recipe! I’m very picky and this has made it into my weekly rotation!
The Foreign Fork says
Aw yay! So glad you like it Amber 🙂 Thank you for the review!
Brooke says
Have you ever doubled the recipe? Wondering if I should adjust the cooking time.
The Foreign Fork says
Hey! I have. You do not need to adjust the time 🙂 Enjoy!
PJ says
What can I substitute the tomato sauce with?
The Foreign Fork says
Hi PJ. You could do a different pasta sauce (vodka sauce, alfredo, etc). Someone in a comment thread once also recommended gravy, but I have never tried that! If you do sub something, let me know what you think.
Frank Huber says
Can you use beef stock instead of chicken stock?
The Foreign Fork says
Absolutely!
Tanya says
Wondering how to create this in a crockpot instead 🤔 Any ideas?
The Foreign Fork says
Hi Tanya,
I’m so sorry, I actually have only used my crockpot a couple of times, and I don’t want to give recommendations I haven’t tried before! I’m hoping someone else coming to the comments will have suggestions for you 🙂
Nicola says
I have a small instapot. Should I divide the recipe in 1/2? Thank you.
The Foreign Fork says
What size is your Instant Pot Nicola? This should work on a 6 or 8 quart. I have never tried it on a 3 quart, but as long as it doesn’t come past the no-fill line it should be fine 🙂
Sue Elleker says
I do something similar, with the addition of button mushrooms, which I love!
The Foreign Fork says
Mmm im a big fan of mushrooms, that sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂 XX Alexandria
Chloe G says
How would you recommend adjusting the recipe to cook the pasta separately? I find that pasta in the IP is too gummy, and I would like to try it separate! I typically use Banza pasta for reference
The Foreign Fork says
Hi Chloe, thank you so much for asking. I have never experimented with cooking the pasta separately, so I am wary of giving advice on it. If you do try it, please let me know what you try and how it turns out!