You need to try this Creamy Vegan Beef and Shells recipe for dinner! It's a delicious and hearty plant-based meal that can be completely ready and on your table in just 20 minutes or less. The whole family will love this one!
Do you remember eating hamburger helper as a kid? It was essentially mac and cheese with ground beef. This recipe is sort of like the grown up version of that, but even better! This recipe is creamy, meaty (without any actual meat!), hearty, and delicious!
Cooking this in the Instant Pot is a total game changer. Allowing the pasta to cook in broth as well as tomato sauce gives more layers of flavor to this dish. Season this with Italian seasonings or even use a seasoned (or spicy) tomato sauce to infuse even more flavor.
Why you'll love this recipe
- A Family Favorite Meal - Everyone at the table will love this meatless meal, but they won't even know unless you tell them!
- Hearty & Filling - This meal will keep everyone full for the whole evening! The meaty crumbles and creamy pasta are very hearty.
- Quick and Easy - Using the Instant Pot, this recipe is done so quickly!
What you need for this recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Onion - Diced white or yellow onion
- Minced Garlic - I used pre-minced. You can mince your own garlic if you'd like, it's up to you!
- Plant-Based Ground Beef - I used LightLife Plant-Based Crumbles, which are already browned and only need to be warmed through. If using something like Impossible Burger Ground, you may need to sauté a bit longer to get it browned.
- Tomato Sauce - The amount used in this recipe is a little bit more than what is in one 15 ounce can. You will need to buy 2 15 ounce cans OR buy a larger can. Canned tomato sauce worked best for this recipe. Jarred may work as well, but canned is preferred.
- Vegetable Broth - I used Better Than Bouillon mixed into water. Feel free to use regular vegetable broth or just salted water.
- Shell Pasta - Use the shells of your choice, or any short pasta shape! In this recipe, I used cavatelli, which is a small shell shape.
- Italian Seasoning
- Vegan Cream Cheese - I used VioLife brand, but Kite Hill, Tofutti, and Trader Joe's all have great vegan cream cheeses.
- Vegan Parmesan - I highly recommend using the VioLife Just Like Parmesan if you can get your hand on it. If not, any vegan parmesan alternative will work.
Equipment:
- Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker
- Wooden Spoon or Spatula
- Knife & Cutting Board
How to make this recipe
Step 1: Sauté Ingredients
Start by turning the Instant Pot on to the 'sauté' function on high. Wait for that to heat up, then add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot.
Add 1 whole diced white onion to the pot and stir until onions are soft and translucent.
Next, add the entire block of beefless ground. Use a spatula to break apart the block as best as you can, and stir to combine with the onions.
Once the onions and beef crumbles begin to get just slightly crispy, add 1 ½ cups of vegetable broth and 1 ½ cups of canned tomato sauce (this is just over one 15 ounce can).
Stir to combine.
Step 2: Pressure Cook
Next, add the shell pasta, the Italian seasoning, and the salt.
Very gently pat the pasta down so that it is slightly covered by the broth and sauce, but do not stir the pasta.
Close the lid on the Instant Pot, set the valve to sealing, then pressure cook on HIGH for 5 minutes.
After the 5 minutes are up, perform a quick release of the remaining pressure, then remove the lid.
Step 3: Finishing Touches
Stir the cooked pasta with the sauce, making sure none of the shells are stuck together or stuck to the bottom.
Add the vegan cream cheese and stir until melted.
Then add the grated parmesan and mix to combine well.
If you still would like the dish to be creamier, consider adding some non-dairy milk.
Serve hot and garnish with herbs and more parmesan.
Expert Tips
- Make this a spicy pasta dish by throwing in some crushed red pepper flakes at the end of the cooking process. Adding them before pressure cooking will make this extra spicy, so proceed with caution.
- If you want this to be a vegetarian dish, instead of vegan, just swap the vegan cream cheese and parmesan for real cream cheese and parmesan. I would also recommend adding a few tablespoons of heavy cream.
- Use any kind of short pasta you like! Rotini, orecchiette, or even elbow pasta would all work very well here!
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Add your leftover beef and shells to an air-tight container and seal the lid. store in the freezer up to 6 months.
If you can't find canned tomato sauce, try to find jarred tomato sauce or even marinara sauce.
Yes! I suggest sticking with short, medium-sized pasta shapes so that the cooking time stays consistent. Rotini, elbows, orecchiette, or penne all work very well!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like:
Creamy Dairy-Free Mushroom Stroganoff (Instant Pot)
Vegan Tuscan Pasta (Instant Pot)
📖 Recipe
Creamy Vegan Beef and Shells (Instant Pot)
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Cheese Grater or Microplane
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Shell pasta
- 1 ½ cups Vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cups Canned tomato sauce
- 12 ounces Beefless Ground
- 1 tablespoon Minced garlic
- 1 White onion diced
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Vegan parmesan grated
- ¾ cup Vegan cream cheese
Instructions
- Start by turning the Instant Pot on to the 'sauté' function on high. Wait for that to heat up, then add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot.
- Add 1 whole diced white onion to the pot and stir until onions are soft and translucent.
- Once soft, stir in the minced garlic until lightly golden.
- Next, add the entire block (12 ounces) of beefless ground. Use a spatula to break apart the block as best as you can, and stir to combine with the onions.
- Once the onions and beef crumbles begin to get just slightly crispy, add 1 ½ cups of vegetable broth and 1 ½ cups of canned tomato sauce (this is just over one 15 ounce can).
- Stir to combine.
- Next, add the shell pasta, the Italian seasoning, and the salt.
- Very gently pat the pasta down so that it is slightly covered by the broth and sauce, but do not stir the pasta.
- Close the lid on the Instant Pot, set the valve to sealing, then pressure cook on HIGH for 5 minutes.
- After the 5 minutes are up, perform a quick release of the remaining pressure, then remove the lid.
- Stir the cooked pasta with the sauce, making sure none of the shells are stuck together or stuck to the bottom.
- Add the vegan cream cheese and stir until melted.
- Then add the grated parmesan and mix to combine well.
- If you still would like the dish to be creamier, consider adding some non-dairy milk.
- Serve hot and garnish with herbs and more parmesan.
Notes
- Make this a spicy pasta dish by throwing in some crushed red pepper flakes at the end of the cooking process. Adding them before pressure cooking will make this extra spicy, so proceed with caution.
- If you want this to be a vegetarian dish, instead of vegan, just swap the vegan cream cheese and parmesan for real cream cheese and parmesan. I would also recommend adding a few tablespoons of heavy cream.
- Use any kind of short pasta you like! Rotini, orecchiette, or even elbow pasta would all work very well here!
- Nutrition Information is for 1 serving, which is ¼th of this total recipe.
- Calories: 559 cal
- Total Fat: 22 grams
- Total Carb: 67.3 grams
- Protein: 24.3 grams
Bryce says
The instructions don't include the garlic from the ingredients.
Emily says
Updated!
mio says
this recipe is an absolute breeze! super easy to make and i love the fact it's customizable from being totally vegan, to vegetarian. it also tastes incredibly delicious for something that takes 25 minutes tops to make. i like to add mushrooms and a couple extra spices to give it a little something extra hehe :] thank you so much for such an excellent, truly 'one pot', recipe! it comes out great every single time!