This Instant Pot Taco Meat from Frozen Ground Beef is the easiest way to do weeknight dinner! No thawing the meat, no extra pots -- just throw it in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker, cook and season! This taco filling is perfect for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or taco salad and great for prepping ahead!
Pour the water into your Instant Pot (mine is a 6 quart) and add the trivet or a cooking rack.
Add the ground beef, side by side, on top of the trivet.
Set the Instant Pot to Manual, high pressure, for 18-20 minutes (18 if your blocks are thinner, 20 for thicker blocks in the middle).
At the end of the cook time, turn the Instant Pot off. Do a quick release and drain the water from the Instant Pot (I like to use my trivet to hold the meat in the pot as I dump out the water).
Using a strong metal or wooden spoon, crumble the ground beef. This will take a few minutes! It's okay if your beef isn't cooked right through as we're going to be cooking further.
Turn the Instant Pot to saute and add the 1/2 cup water, cumin, garlic, paprika, salt, onion powder, black pepper and cayenne and stir until thoroughly combined, adding an additional 1/4 cup water if necessary.
Serve immediately, refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
This recipe will work just as well with fresh ground beef! Set the Instant Pot to Manual, high pressure, for 15 minutes and then crumble on saute as per the recipe.