Tennessee Trash Casserole

Tennessee Trash Casserole–an easy Instant Pot dinner made with ground sausage, Rotel tomatoes, black beans, corn and cream cheese for a fun Tex-Mex meal the whole family will love.

Tennessee Trash Casserole

This is an easy, terrific one pot meal. I made it when my parents were in town and all agreed it was a winner. I liked it because I didn’t have to think up a bunch of side dishes to make with it. We just served it with cheese, cilantro and tortilla chips on top and called it good. My dad even complimented the dinner which is saying something because he doesn’t seem to really care that much about real food (he just lives on peanut M&Ms and chocolate chips ;). The change up with sausage instead of ground beef and cream cheese instead of sour cream were what really made it feel unique. (I adapted this from Tennessee Trash Casserole on facebook).

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Ground sausage
• Onion–or shallot
• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
• Converted rice–or long grain white rice
• Rotel tomatoes with green chiles–I used mild
• Black beans–or pinto beans
• Frozen sweet corn–or canned corn (drained)
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Garlic powder–or 1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
• Cream cheese–or Neufchâtel cheese
• Salsa–or picante sauce
• Tortilla chips–or Fritos
• Shredded cheddar cheese–or Monterey Jack or pepper jack

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the sausage and break it up. Add in the onions. 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 in the Rotel, beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder. Place cream cheese on top.

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

Stir in the salsa.

Scoop onto plates and top each serving with some crunched up tortilla chips and some shredded cheddar cheese. 

Notes/Tips

• Serve with avocado slices and shredded lettuce.
• We don’t love extra spice at my house so I used mild Rotel and mild salsa.
• I used my 4 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3, 6 or 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this. Let it cool completely, then freeze in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
• Other recipes you can make with cream cheese are Loaded Million Dollar Casserole and Instant Pot Farmhouse Potatoes.

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 rice and sausage recipes to try…

*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.