Easy Instant Pot Texas Haystacks
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My family loves Hawaiian Haystacks. I found a recipe for Instant Pot Texas Haystacks and thought they would be a hit too. My family loves just about any Tex-Mex meal and this version was basically a Tex-Mex version of the Hawaiian version we love.

The sauce for these haystacks is basically a chili. It comes together in no time because you cook it in the Instant Pot. It uses ground beef, onion, garlic salt, chili powder, beef broth, chili beans, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.
Ingredients to Make Texas Haystacks
- GROUND BEEF
- ONION
- GARLIC SALT
- CHILI POWDER
- BEEF BROTH
- BUSH’S BEST CHILI BEANS (I USED MILD)
- TOMATO SAUCE
- TOMATO PASTE
- LONG GRAIN WHITE RICE
- WATER
- CORNSTARCH
- DESIRED TOPPINGS: SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE, FRITOS, DICED GREEN ONIONS, DICED RED ONION, DICED TOMATOES, SOUR CREAM, DICED AVOCADOS, SLICED OLIVES

How to Make Instant Pot Texas Haystacks
- You brown the beef and onion in the Instant Pot on the sauté mode. Once the beef is cooked, you drain off any excess grease.
- Then, mix in the garlic salt and chili powder.
- After you combine that, you pour the remaining ingredients for the chili on top of the beef.
- At this point you can put the lid on and cook the chili.
- Alternatively, to do pot in pot cooking, you can cook the rice in the pressure cooker along with the chili. You need a tall trivet to put over the chili.
- Then, you add the rice and 3 cups of water into a shallow pan that fits inside your Instant Pot. It will cook right along with the chili. I personally just prefer to cook my rice separate in a rice cooker. I included the instructions in the recipe for cooking the rice in your Instant Pot with the chili.
- At this point, it’s time to serve these Instant Pot Texas Haystacks. You place some rice on the bottom, followed by some chili on top.
- Then this is where the fun comes in. You can top it all with your favorite toppings. You can use shredded cheddar cheese, Fritos, green onions, red onion, tomatoes, sour cream, avocados, guacamole, or olives for toppings. Feel tree to include anything else that you think would be good.

Frequently Asked Questions
Can I substitute ground beef with another type of meat?
Yes, ground turkey or chicken can be used as lighter alternatives.
What type of rice works best for this recipe?
Long grain white rice is recommended for the best texture.
How do I store leftover rice?
Store cooled cooked rice in a shallow container, cover tightly, and refrigerate. You can refrigerate rice for 3 to 5 days or freeze it for up to six months. You may reheat properly cooled and refrigerated or frozen cooked rice.
for More recipies like this, Try:

Instant Pot Texas Haystacks
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 2 16 oz cans Bush’s Best Chili Beans (I used mild)
- 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- 2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
- 3 cups water
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
- Topping ideas: shredded cheddar cheese Fritos, diced green onions, diced red onion, diced tomatoes, sour cream, diced avocados, sliced olives
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Add in the ground beef and onions. Cook until fully cooked. Drain off any excess grease.
- Stir in the garlic salt and chili powder.
- Deglaze the pot with the beef broth by scraping the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. This will prevent getting a burn message.
- Add in the beans, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Don’t stir.
- I just cook my recipe separately. However, f you’d like to cook pot-in-pot rice at the same time add a tall trivet into the pot. Then pour the rice and 3 cups of water into a shallow pan that fits inside your Instant Pot. Put the lid on the pan. Place the pan on top of the trivet.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 8 minutes.
- When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then manually remove any excess pressure. Remove the lid.
- Carefully remove the rice dish.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. Stir cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Stir the mixture into the Instant Pot. When contents are thickened turn off Instant Pot.
- To serve, scoop some rice into a bowl, top with chili mixture and desired toppings. Serves 6-8.
Recipe is adapted from 365 Days of Slow + Pressure Cooking.