This Instant Pot Cheeseburger Casserole is an easy 30 minute dinner recipe the whole family will love. Hamburger and brown rice is cooked in the pressure cooker and topped with cheddar, pickles and special sauce for a hearty and healthy meal.
Pressure Cooker Hamburger and Rice
A wholesome meal of rice and hamburger is always a comforting and welcomed dinner on a cool evening. This Instant Pot Cheeseburger Casserole made in the pressure cooker is just that. It’s filled with great flavor that will have your family asking or it again and again!
Rice can be a more time consuming component when making dinner, but the pressure cooker cuts down the time to cook it. It also comes out fantastic and there is no worry about forgetting your pot of rice and it burning on the bottom!
Cheeseburger Rice Hot Dish
The base of this recipe is a simple mix of hamburger, brown rice and diced tomatoes seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and seasoning salt. It is topped with shredded cheddar for cheesy goodness and some crunchy pickles. Last but not least we finish it with a dollop of special sauce.
Can I use white or brown rice?
We use brown rice for this cheeseburger casserole in the pressure cooker for a good dose of healthy fiber. The bite of brown rice is our preference, but we understand it’s a personal preference.
If you want to make this hamburger hot dish with white rice, you will simply cut down the cooking time in the Instant Pot. Instead of allowing for a 10 minute natural release, you will do a quick release to stop the cooking.
We only use one cup of rice to two pounds of hamburger for a low-carb dinner.
How to make Cheeseburger Casserole in Instant Pot
To get started, turn your Instant Pot to the “SAUTE” function and add a drizzle of olive oil to the inner pot. Add the ground beef and diced onion to the pot. Season with a teaspoon of seasoning salt. Using a hamburger chopper, break up the ground beef.
How to prevent the BURN message
When cooking rice, some recipe result in the BURN message on your Instant Pot and it is important to avoid that. To do so, you will want to be careful on how you layer your ingredients.
When the hamburger is browned and broken up, add 3/4 cup water to the pot. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any browned on bits.
Sprinkle one cup of brown rice over the water and hamburger mixture and do NOT stir it together. Top the rice with the Worcestershire sauce and two cans of diced tomatoes, being sure to cover all the rice with tomatoes.
How long to cook hamburger and rice
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock it in place and move the knob to seal. Cook the Cheeseburger Casserole on high pressure for 10 minutes.
When the Instant Pot as come to pressure and counted down the 10 minutes of cooking time, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 additional minutes. This meant that you do NOT turn the knob to vent and let out all the pressure until 10 minutes has passed. (If you are using white rice, immediately release the pressure.)
How to serve Cheeseburger Casserole
When the cooking time and natural release is complete, carefully turn the knob to vent to let out any additional pressure that hasn’t naturally released. Remove the lid and using a fork, mix the rice, tomato and hamburger mixture.
Top the mixture with shredded cheddar and place the lid back on top for a couple minutes to allow the cheese to melt. We prefer shredding a block of cheddar for the best melty cheese, but bagged shredded cheese works as well.
Serve the Cheeseburger Casserole with diced pickles and Greek yogurt special sauce on the side.
Greek Yogurt Special Sauce
Just like our cheeseburgers, we love this casserole with a little special sauce. We lightened up this ketchup and mayonnaise mixture with some Greek yogurt. It’s a simple mix, but it lends a nice creamy tang to the hamburger and rice casserole.
We serve this on the side for everyone who wants some extra flavor and creaminess on their casserole. You can offer a little plain ketchup for the kids in the family. It’s also a good simple dish all on it’s own.
Can I use ground turkey?
Ground turkey is a good substitute for ground beef in this Cheeseburger casserole for a healthy dinner. Don’t use the 99% lean ground turkey though or you won’t have enough moisture or flavor to really complete this meal. Stick to 93/7 ground turkey for the best results.
Cheeseburger Inspired Recipe
If you love the flavors of cheeseburger in your dinner recipes, this Cheeseburger Quinoa Skillet is another great recipe that is made on your stovetop.
For a hearty family friendly meal on your smoker, be sure to try this Traeger Cheeseburger Meatloaf.
It’s hard to go wrong with the combination of beef, onion, cheese and pickles!
Instant Pot Cheeseburger Casserole
Ingredients
Beef & Rice Mixture
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup long grain brown rice
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 cups shredded cheddar
Special Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- dash of salt and pepper
- chopped pickles
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the "SAUTE" function and add a drizzle of olive oil to the inner pot.
- Add the ground beef, diced onion, seasoning salt, black pepper and garlic powder to the pot. Using a hamburger chopper, break up the ground beef.
- When the hamburger is broken up and mostly browned, add 3/4 cup water to the pot. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any browned on bits.
- Sprinkle one cup of brown rice over the water and hamburger mixture and do NOT stir it together. Top the rice with the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and two cans of diced tomatoes, being sure to cover all the rice with tomatoes.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, lock it in place and move the knob to seal. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes after the cooking time is complete.* Carefully turn the knob to vent to release any additional pressure.
- Using a fork, mix the beef and rice mixture. Top with shredded cheese and place the lid back on the pot for 2-3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.
- While the casserole is cooking, in a small bowl, mix the special sauce ingredients. Serve the casserole with the sauce and chopped pickles on the side. Enjoy!
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