This recipe for the Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice Shawarma is what happens when you come home tired after 4 long days of driving, everyone is hungry, there's almost nothing in the fridge and you need to cook dinner for 5 people.
It really was just time for some plain comfort food.
I had ground beef, a package of shredded cabbage and cole slaw, the odd onion and a few slivers of garlic, and of course, I always have rice and spices in my house (Asian girl syndrome).
So I decided to just throw what I had into the Instant Pot, and decided if it didn't work, there was also Pizza on call.
Everyone had been moving, driving, hauling boxes, etc. all day, and we were all tired and just needed some comfort food before we went to bed.
Some of us may or may not have eaten 3 servings of the rice and meat before crawling into bed. As a matter of fact, this recipe has even become a favorite of my readers.
I served this with a side of kale, and we had Vietnamese Yogurt for dessert. The whole thing took 20 minutes from start to finish. It doesn't get easier than this.
History of Shawarma
Okay let's be specific--this is not really a shawarma. A Shawarma (Arabic: ????????) can be either one of those loaf of meat, not unlike my Gyro recipe a or it can be chunks of spiced chicken, like in my Chicken Shawarma recipe. Or if you're like me and like to play around with food traditions, you can make Shawarma green beans.
Shawarma typically looks like this hunka grilled meat. Long slices are cut off and inserted between pillowy pieces of pita bread, with a little tzatziki on it, and off you go, with one of the tastiest sandwiches you've ever had.
But when it come to chicken shawarma, usually it's chunks of meat. So why am I calling this Ground Beef Shawarma then?
I'm doing that because it actually tastes a lot like the Chicken Shawarma recipe I created, and it has the same spice mixes.
So if you have leftover spice, I'd like you to check out the Chicken Shawarma recipe and see if that doesn't fit the bill for you as well. Here's what that Chicken Shawarma looks like:
The Recipe steps for this Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice Shawarma are:
- Sauté aromatics briefly
- Sauté ground beef briefly
- Add spices, water, and rice
- Cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, 10 mins NPR
Equipment & Ingredients You May Need to Make Ground Beef & Rice Shawarma
- Instant Pot Mini Duo or Instant Pot 6 quart or Instant Pot 8 Quart
- Measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Vegetable Oil
Want More Beef Recipes?
- Keto Big Mac Salad- A favorite for the whole family because of my copycat sauce recipe taste just like the real thing!
- Low Carb Beef Stroganoff- Comfort food and Keto? Yes, it's true!
- Low Carb Beef Shawarma- An easy weeknight dinner option you'll want to make again and again!
- Ethiopian Beef Stew- You won't believe how much flavor is packed into such a simple dish.
- Beef Rendang- Fall apart tender meat in less than an hour!
- Kheema Meatloaf- The perfect solution for the days you're craving Indian food but are short on ingredients.
- Kimchi Beef Stew- An easy pour and cook recipe full of umami flavors.
- Bulgogi Burgers- Put your air fryer to work with this fun twist on burgers!
- Corned Beef and Cabbage- A classic done in a fraction of the time.
- Indian Beef Curry- Done in less than an hour and so good you'll wonder why you haven't made it before!
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below! Just click on the stars in the recipe card to rate. Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup (160 g) onions, chopped
- 5 cloves (5 cloves) Garlic
- 1 pound (453.59 g) Lean Ground Beef
- 1.5 cups (375 g) Water, or broth
- 1.5 cups (277.5 g) Basmati Rice, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups (70 g) shredded cabbage
- 4 tablespoons (2 teaspoons) Shawarma Spice
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1/4 cup (4 g) chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot onto Sauté on high. When the display reads HOT, add oil. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add onions and ground beef. Stir while breaking up the ground beef clumps. Don't worry about cooking the beef at this stage, just break it up well. Note, if you have ANYTHING sticking to the bottom of the Instant Pot, pour in 1/4 cup of water and thoroughly deglaze the bottom of your pot.
- Add rice, water, cabbage, salt, and shawarma spice.
- Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes, and allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Release remaining pressure.
Get support & connect with our community on Facebook!
Nutrition
Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
Karen
So good! The only thing i did differently was to use shallots instead of onion as i had some i wanted to use up. I quadrupled the shawarma spice recipe and look forward to using it in other dishes. I also made toum from scratch for the first time to top this, and am so happy with how everything turned out. Great flavour combinations and the leftovers are going to be even better as my lunch all week!
Debba
Absolutely delicious! I made one substitution: used ground lamb instead of beef. I figured, considering the part of the world this hails from, it would work. It does and beautifully! Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
Sara K
So this smelled GREAT! But not all of my rice cooked and honestly it’s a bit bland. I followed the recipe for the linked spice mix - I didn’t measure the mix once I had made it just dumped it all in. Was I supposed to stir everything or just put in the order listed in the recipe?
URVASHI PITRE
So rice not cooking. You need to ensure that all the rice is submerged under water before putting the cabbage on top. Otherwise the bottom rice cooks and the top stays crunchy which is no good. As to spice, add a little more salt or squeeze a little lemon juice right before serving to bump up the flavors. You can also add a little more cayenne pepper to the spice mix.
Boyd
Hey so some of the values have changed right? 5 mins vs 6 mins. 4 tbsp vs 3 tbsp of spice. Did the amount of rice change also? Just curious.
URVASHI PITRE
I upped the spice and that’s really the only thing that should have changed. This way you not only get more flavor but it uses up one batch of spice mix which I think works more efficiently.
Mel
This is one my favourite instant pot recipes in rotation! A new comfort food.
Jenn
Wondering why under ingredients it says: 3 tablespoons (2 teaspoons) shawarma spice?
URVASHI PITRE
Oh it’s that annoying auto conversion from metric to UK and it’s not always right! It’s 3 tablespoons
Rachael
It stuck to the bottom a bit, but I had kids helping and the rice/water ratio may or may not have been a little off 😉 At least it did pressure up fine. We used jasmine rice and ground chicken because that was what we had.
SF
Can I substitute Jasmine rice if I don't have basmati on hand?
URVASHI PITRE
yes you can
Isabel
Delicious and easy!