Best Buddies Casserole

Best Buddies Casserole–ground beef, rice, chili beans, salsa, cheese and Fritos make a delicious taco casserole with the help of your Instant Pot.

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Best Buddies Casserole

2 dinners with one effort! Make one for yourself and one for your friend. You can also halve the recipe and just make one casserole. You can also make both but freeze the 2nd for another day. (If you do choose to freeze it don’t add the Fritos and cheese on top before freezing.)

This casserole has the flavors of tacos. With ground beef, taco seasonings, salsa, fritos, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream you’ve got your taco bases covered. The rice bulks up the dish and takes on the flavors of the salsa.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–I used 93/7
• Minced dried onion–or 1 cup fresh chopped
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Beef or chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
• Converted rice–or long grain white rice
• Salsa–I used mild
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Garlic powder
• White chili beans–or pinto chili beans
• Chili Cheese Fritos–or regular Fritos
• Cheddar cheese–I like sharp
• Sour cream
• Diced tomatoes

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion, salt and pepper. Brown for 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.

Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.

Sprinkle in the rice. Dump salsa on top. Add in the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and 2 cans of beans. 

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir. Spread the mixture into 2-9×9 inch baking dishes or 1-9×13 inch baking dish. Distribute the Fritos and cheese over the top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top with some sour cream and tomatoes, to your taste and preference. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with shredded lettuce.
• If you don’t want to do the baking step then just scoop some of the mixture into serving bowls and top each serving with some Fritos, cheese, tomatoes and sour cream. 
• This recipe is gluten free (just check the chili beans to make sure they are gluten free).
• This recipe can easily be halved. Cut all ingredients in half and use the same cooking time.
• Chili beans are something you’ll find in the canned good aisle at your grocery store. They are usually pinto beans in a mild chili-spiked sauce but today I used white beans.
• Try using a can of refried beans instead of chili beans.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The Fritos won’t be good after the first day because they get soggy.
• Other recipes you can make with chili cheese fritos are Frito Chicken Casserole and Hungry Cowboy Chicken.

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for. 

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More Instant Pot taco inspired recipes…

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.