Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos made at home are a fun, family meal. Fresh ingredients and a little trick for the most fun Taco Tuesday in your own home.
Pressure Cooker Drive Thru TacosMake your own Drive Thru Tacos right in your own home, without wondering what lurks in the meat
Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos are super simple recipe to make in your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, which mimics your favorite drive thru taco stand. I’ll even show you a trick to get the meat same texture.
Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Tacos
Drive Thru Tacos are great for Taco Tuesday and taco bars.
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Ingredients for Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos
- Avocado Oil, Canola Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Ground Beef or other Ground Meat
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Beef Broth or Better than Bouillon Beef Base
- Maseca Yellow Corn Masa Flour – the flavor boost is amazing
- Homemade Taco Seasoning – it is super easy to make and so much better
Another type of taco for Taco Tuesday or inclusion in a taco bar are Air Fryer Tijuana Street Tacos. All around Tijuana These are easily made at home and saves a trip down to Baja California. There are so many taco stands in Tijuana,.Without where meat is skewered beneath a pineapple and the pineapple juice drips into the meat as it is being cooked, this recipe is authentic.
Can Ground Turkey Be Substituted for Ground Beef?
- Yes and it is very good. Ground turkey, as well as ground chicken releases quite a bit of liquid and shrinks much more than ground beef. I suggest using 1.5 pounds of ground turkey for this recipe.
- If using ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef, add an additional two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce to “beef” up the flavor.
Allow your Pressure Cooker to Heat
When cooking with stainless steel, making the pot non stick is easy.
How to Make Stainless Steel Pot Non Stick
- Before adding any fat to the stainless steel pot, heat it up fully.
- On the Instant Pot, the display will change to “HOT” once the pot is fully heated.
- For pressure cookers without this feature, allow the pot to heat up about three minutes.
Pro Tip: Make sure to deglaze the pot after browning the meat. The brown bits called “fond” will easily release from the bottom of the pot and add fantastic flavor.
Add Ground Beef and Water
How to Make Taco Meat like Taco Bell
After the ground beef has been added to the cooking pot, a bit of beef broth or fresh water should be added.
will help to break the meat down into tiny crumbles like the Drive Thru Taco joints..
During the sauté, the meat will brown and most of the water will evaporate.
Break up the Meat into Crumbles
I recommend a High Temperature Meat Chopper for breaking up the meat.
The crumbled meat really makes a difference in the texture.
Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos are much better for your belly than those nasty mystery meat tacos at fast food stands. What do you imagine is actually in those? And do you think the employees really wash their hands after…well, you know….
Pressure Cooker Salsa Lime Chicken would be great for a taco bar too. Pressure Cooker Chicken Enchiladas are a wonderful dish for a Mexican themed dinner.
Strain the Liquid from the Meat
A Stainless Steel Mesh Strainer is useful to use to catch the meat while pouring off the extra liquid.
The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning
Time to season the meat. My homemade taco seasoning is made with every day panty ingredients and of course, no fillers. However, if you are in a hurry, you can always use a packet of taco seasoning.
Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Minced Onions, Ground Cumin, Dried Oregano, Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper are the individual seasonings.
- All you have to do is measure out the amounts into a container and mix them up.
I suggest making a large batch and storing the taco seasoning in a container so that it is ready to use at any time.
Fresh Homemade Pico de Gallo makes a great topping for these tacos. Make up a batch in advance and let it marinate in the refrigerator until dinner.
Add the Seasoning Mixture
The filling for Instant Pot Tacos can be made in advance and frozen. A great idea is to buy ground beef on sale and make a huge batch of taco filling so that you have several freezer meals.
Freezing Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos Filling
Make sure to store the meat in a air tight container or use a Foodsaver. When you are ready to reheat, use your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker. The pot in pot method works best. Grab a trivet and a stainless steel pan and add the frozen meat.
Place a cup or water in the bottom of the cooking pot and set the cook time for 5 minutes.
Pro Tip: We like making a few batches at once and storing them in the freezer for later use. All you would then need to do is to get some toppings ready, while the meat is reheating.
Add Beef Stock, Chicken Stock or Water
We love to use turkey in this recipe, as much as we like the beef, so you might be wondering about the liquid.
Liquid for Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos
- If using ground beef or ground bison use Better than Bouillon Beef Base.
- For ground chicken and turkey, use Better than Bouillon Chicken Base.
Either boxed broth or stock can be used. If using flavor bases are mixed with water and add so much flavor.
You can absolutely just use water if you like, but the stock will really add some good flavor. Do whatever works for you. 🙂
Simmer the Meat Until all Liquid has Evaporated
There is a very short cook time. At this point, you might be thinking that this is just as easy to do on the stove.
Well, it is, however, some people don’t have stoves, don’t want to use their stove, or don’t want to have to slave over a hot stove.
Plus, the real reason to make Instant Pot Drive Thru Tacos is that the flavors are super infused when cooked under pressure. You could use this method and walk away during the cook time or take 30 minutes and watch the pot on the stove.
Now you are thinking, how many times did she say “stove.”
Sprinkle the Masa over the Meat
Here is the tricky trick trick.
Wait what, she is adding Maseca Yellow Corn Flour. What the hell is that?
Masa is a corn flour.
Why add Masa to Instant Pot Tacos?
- Masa adds a wonderful and unique taste and locks in the moisture from the broth.
Masa is also wonderful to thicken up my Pressure Cooker Competition Chili Con Carne recipe and adds a delicious flavor to the Chili.
Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Tacos
Serve in taco shells and garnish with your favorite vegetables and toppings. I love these cute little Taco Holder Tongs, so that my filling doesn’t end up all over my plate. Oh, comeon, they’re cute and cost under $5.00 too! We like our Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Tacos pretty simple.
Toppings for Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Tacos
- Shredded lettuce
- Grated cheese
- Diced tomatoes
- Avocado slices
- Sour Cream or Homemade Yogurt
Another admission, I love Taco Bell Taco Sauce in the little packets. I use the sauce when I use this taco meat in burritos. OMG, so good.
Luckily, I can buy bottles of the sauce, so, all is good with the World.
Tips and Tricks for Instant Pot Tacos
- Heat pressure cooker before adding oil.
- Use a meat masher and mash up the meat until it looks like mush.
- Make sure to strain out the water very well.
- If you don’t have or cannot find Masa, grind up a hard taco shell (turn it into powder) and use it instead.
Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Burritos
My husband is a Soft Taco/Burrito, sort of guy, so he eats his either with Soft Taco shells or I roll them up to make a Burrito.
When I do Burritos, I add a scoop of my Pressure Cooker Frijoles (Re-Fried Beans) for a seriously yummy Burrito!
However you eat them, enjoy!
More Taco Recipes to Make:
- Air Fryer Baja Fish Tacos with White Sauce
- Instant Pot Taco Sloppy Joes
- Air Fryer Carne Asada Recipe {Grilled Meat Tacos}
- Air Fryer Tijuana Street Tacos {Carne/Beef}
Taco Tuesday is every day of the week, as far as I am concerned!
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
- Meat Chopper and Masher
- Salbree Steamer Basket
- Fine stainless steel mesh strainer
- Homemade Yogurt Recipe
- Taco Holder Tongs
- Taco Bell Taco Sauce
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Here is your handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extra Virgin
- 1 pound Ground Beef ground turkey or ground chicken
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1.25 cups Beef Broth (or 1.5 tsp Better than Bouillon Beef Broth + 1.25 cups water), divided
- 2 teaspoons Maseca Yellow Corn Masa Flour
Seasoning Mix
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Granulated Onion Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Minced Onions dried
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cumin ground
- 1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
- 1/16 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper ground
- 3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper or to taste
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Select Sauté or Browning on your Instant Pot/pressure cooker and allow to fully heat.
- If using Better than Bouillon Base instead of prepared beef broth or stock, whisk together 1.5 teaspoon of base + 1.25 cup of fresh water.
- Add oil, ground Beef and 1/2 cup of broth (or Better than Bouillon mixture).
- Using a meat chopper/masher (or anything which will smash the meat), break up meat and sauté until crumbled and browned.
- Turn off Instant Pot.
- Carefully drain out any excess water through using a large mesh strainer to catch the meat.
- Scrape any stuck on bits from bottom of cooking pot.
- Add browned meat back into cooking pot.
- Add all seasonings (if you mixed up a big batch of taco seasoning, use 2.5 Tablespoons of the seasoning mix), Worcestershire Sauce and the rest of the beef broth/stock (or Better than Bouillon mixture).
- Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve.
- Cook at High pressure for 3 minutes.
- When beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
- Open lid and sprinkle and stir.
- Sprinkle masa over meat mixture and mix well.
- Hit the Sauté button and stir the taco filling until liquid has evaporated.
- Turn off pot and make tacos.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Tacos & Burritos!
My kids are begging me for tacos as they got the Dragons Love Tacos book for Christmas. I’m going to try this tomorrow!
Question, why drain in the first place if you’re just going to add water or broth right back in? We’re not fat averse at all, so unless there’s another reason I’d rather leave it in…
Ok, I’ve had a long term love affair with same drive through taco place since my senior year of high school and my boyfriend would take me there for lunch on Saturdays. I always loved the smooth texture of the meat in my tacos, but no matter how much smashing or chopping or stirring I did, it still came out like hamburger! Until tonight-these were the best tacos I have ever made, Seasonings were perfect and texture was great. My husband raved over them, and we almost consumed all of two pounds of taco filling (for 5 of us). These are tacos worth cooking at home!
Hi Cynthia. What high praise. Thank you so much. I am glad you enjoyed your homemade tacos! Jill
Great recipe! This was my first dinner I made with my new instant pot. Thank you!
Congrats, Danielle. So glad the first meal was a success. Many, many more, I am sure will also be a success. 🙂 Jill
Made this today in my 8 qt IP with 5.6 lbs of 90% lean ground beef. Great recipe, thank you. Now to freeze in 1# packages to use as needed.
Hi there!
I need to make a lot of taco meat for a crowd (30) – what’s the best way to multiply this recipe? Thanks!
Tried this recipe today and loved it! I would like to make this for a group of 20-25 people. What would I increase for the cooking times? Thanks again!
Hi Jolene. So glad you loved the recipe. No increase of time needed. 🙂 Jill
Going to try
I made this last night (doubled the recipe for my large family) and we loved it. The meat was so tender and the flavor was wonderful! I used to try to accomplish this by adding water to my taco meat and simmering down on the stovetop (TWICE) but this was much quicker and worked better. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe was OUTSTANDING!! I have a weakness for “drive thru tacos” and I’ve always cooked my taco meat in a pan on the stove, but tonight I tried your recipe with some ground chicken breast meat and LOVED it!! There was something special about the meat when cooking it with this method. Like you said, the flavor really gets infused into the meat and I love your spice blend. I think I’ll make it in bulk and weigh out the right amount for future taco nights! I’ve made a handful of your recipes and want to thank you for sharing so many recipes from your heart to our kitchens. Your recipes have never failed me and whenever I see someone in the IP FB group post a link to a recipe on your site, I know it’s going to be a home run.
Hi Stephanie~
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I also have a love for those nasty drive thru tacos, but was always concerned about the handing and what was really in them. Thank you for your kind words. Jill
I made your recipe tonight and LOVED it! I have a serious weakness for “drive thru tacos” and I’ve always cooked my taco meat in a pan on the stove. This recipe tasted special because I tried your method. Although it may take longer, it was satisfying and delicious. I loved your spice blend, which I’ll make in bulk so I can scoop out the right amount for taco night again. I’ll definitely make taco meat with your recipe again. It was excellent. Thanks for sharing all of these tasty recipes from your heart to our homes. I’ve made a few of them, and there are more on my list to try. When I see someone share one of your recipes in the Instant Pot Facebook group, I know I can trust it to be a home run. 🙂
My instant pot should arrive today so this is probably a beginner question but isn’t the pot hot after you sauté the meat? How do you easily grab it to drain it?
I sauté on high and grab the inner pot with my hands to drain and don’t find it too hot. If you’re sensitive to heat use an oven mit to take it out.
This sounds great! Would it be possible to double or triple this recipe and cook all at once for parties?
Hi Drew~
Sure, no problem. 🙂
Jill
Do you freeze the taco filling after cooking? How would you reheat?
can I make the Cilantro rice PIP with this?
I am really enjoying your recipes — I like using an Instant Pot and I prefer “real” ingredients and cooking from scratch. So your blog is super useful!
Hi Esther~
Thank you so much. I am glad you are enjoying your Instant Pot.
Jill
Would anything sub for the masa if we don’t have that on hand?
I’ve been thickening my burrito/chili dog and chili pots with corn meal for a number of years. Had a thin batch of chili and threw in a couple of tablespoons of cornmeal and loved the thickening and the flavor it contributed. Now I do it with all these dishes because I like the taste and I always have cornmeal on hand.
I’m going to try your seasoning blend, having grown bored with the one I’ve been using for the last few years. Here’s a good approximation of Taco Bell Mild Sauce. I use ½ teaspoon onion powder in place of the flakes, then double the recipe and keep it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge, because taco emergencies happen with astonishing frequency in my home.
http://www.copykat.com/2009/03/27/taco-bell-taco-sauce/
Thank you Jill! I love your recipes! I’ve added a “button” to my iPhone that takes me directly to your blog! You’re my super heroine!
Thank you, Patricia!
Jill
How do I do that??
How would this change for a freezer meal?
A friend gave me a jar if homemade Mexican seasoning for Christmas. How much of it would I add to this recipe instead of the individual seasonings? I imagine it is very similar to these seasonings.
Obviously, I am not Jill, but I thought I might be able to help since I use the exact seasoning mix that she does as my homemade taco seasoning and have for a few years now. Mark, this seasoning mix makes 3 tablespoons. The store-bought mixes recommend 3-4 tablespoons per pound of meat. With your homemade seasoning (I do my own as well), I use 3 tablespoons. Try 3 tablespoons initially. If there is not enough flavor, add 1 additional tablespoons.