Nostalgia Casserole

Nostalgia Casserole–a quick and easy Instant Pot dinner featuring seasoned ground beef, cavatappi pasta, and sloppy joe sauce, finished with melty pepper jack cheese and tangy dill pickles for a fun, flavorful twist.

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Nostalgia Casserole

Sloppy joes are one of those foods that just remind me of childhood! So much nostalgia thinking about school lunch sloppy joes and my grandma’s sloppy joes. This recipe is like a sloppy joe pasta. The addition of dill pickles is a fun flavorful twist. With only a handful of ingredients it’s just as easy to make as sloppy joes.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–or lean ground turkey
• Onion–yellow or white
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon beef base
• Cavatappi noodles–or elbow macaroni
• Sloppy joe sauce–I used Manwich
• Pepper jack cheese–or another type of cheese you like
• Dill pickles

Steps

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

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

Sprinkle in the noodles. Dump the sloppy joe sauce over the pasta evenly. 

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes. Move valve to venting and remove the lid.

Stir in the cheese and pickles. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with a side of coleslaw and a slice of garlic toast.
• Use lean ground beef (90/10 or leaner) to minimize grease and avoid a greasy finished dish.
• Layer the ingredients without stirring after adding noodles and sloppy joe sauce—this helps the pasta cook evenly and prevents sticking.
• Garnish with extra pickles or a drizzle of mustard for a cheeseburger-style finish.
• I used my 3 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 6 or 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.
• Other recipes you can make with dill pickles are Instant Pot Dill Pickle Pasta Salad and What’s The Dill Soup.

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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*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.