Super easy and flavorful taco meat seasoned with homemade taco seasoning and made quick in a pressure cooker. Prefect for loading up your taco shells, salads, or even enchiladas! Easy weeknight dinner or meal prep for the week!
We absolutely love tacos! I mean, who doesn’t? Back in the day taco night meant I was cooking ground beef with a packet of taco seasoning. It was easy and tasted fine… But that was before I realized how easy it was to make homemade taco seasoning AND it tastes 10x better! Plus, you don’t have to worry about any unwanted mystery ingredients that you would normally find in the premade taco seasoning packets.
As you may have noticed, I love making quick and easy meals. Especially if it is made in the Instant Pot. Although you can make this on the stove, the Instant Pot makes the meat super tender and very quick! While the meat is cooking, I am able to prep all the other ingredients.
We love using the taco meat to top our Mexican inspired salads, or filled in tortillas or taco shells. This recipe makes a large batch, which means for our family of 4 we end up with leftovers. I like to use the leftovers for quesadillas, nachos, and breakfast burritos.
Tidbits
Meat– Any ground meat will work! I have used lean ground beef and ground turkey with great success. I think ground chicken would be fabulous with Salsa Verde!
Salsa– I recommend using your favorite salsa. This will be the key ingredient for the heat (spiciness) level of the meat . I use a medium salsa and it is perfect for my kids. If you or your family members don’t care for spicy foods, you may want to go with a mild salsa. My go-to salsa is on the runnier side, more liquid than chunks. If you are using a really chunky salsa, you may need to add just a bit (around ¼ cup) of liquid. This can be water, broth, or tomato sauce.
Try it out! You won’t be disappointed with the ease or flavor!
Instant Pot Taco Meat
Equipment
- pressure cooker
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- ½ medium yellow onion minced
- 1 cup red bell pepper minced
- 2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
- 1-2 teaspoons salt *see notes
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 3 teaspoons chili powder NOT cayenne powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 cup salsa any variety
- ¼ cup water or broth optional * see notes
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the oil. Once the oil has heated, add the onion, red bell pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up into smaller pieces as it cooks for 3-5 minutes. *The meat does not need to be cooked all the way, as it will continue to cook while under pressure.
- Add the remaining spices, salsa, and water, if using. Stir to fully combine all the seasoning and liquid.
- Cover and cook on high ‘manual’ heat for 15 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally, or if you are in a hurry you can quick release the pressure.
- Add meat to taco shells, tortillas, salads, or use in any of your favorite recipes that call for taco meat.
Notes
Water- Depending on your salsa, you might need to add a little bit of water to help your instant pot come to pressure. The salsa I use isn’t very chunky. So I do not need to add any additional liquid. If your salsa is more chunky than liquidy (think pico de gallo chunky) add ¼ cup of water or broth.