Ultimate Johnny Marzetti Casserole

Ultimate Johnny Marzetti Casserole–a quick and easy one-pot pasta made with Italian sausage, rotini, tomato sauce, and melty cheese.

Pin this recipe for later!

Ultimate Johnny Marzetti Casserole

I’ve made Johnny Marzetti before but this is the ultimate version where we use Italian sausage instead of ground beef. The sausage just amps up the overall flavor of the dish so much. This easy one pot meal can is quite flexible. Try adding in some spinach, peas, zucchini or corn. Mix up the type of pasta you use as well as the cheese. The leftovers are better the next day! Enjoy!

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Italian sausage
• Onion–or shallot
• Mushrooms
• Chicken broth–or beef broth
• Rotini pasta–or egg noodles
• Petite diced tomatoes–or fire roasted tomatoes
• Tomato sauce–or crushed tomatoes
• Sugar–or brown sugar
• Garlic powder–or 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• Italian seasoning
• Italian cheese blend–or mozzarella and parmesan
• Sharp cheddar cheese–or Colby Jack

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the sausage and break it up. Add in the onion and mushrooms. 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 rotini and dump tomatoes and tomato sauce over the top. Sprinkle in the sugar, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Don’t stir.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir in the cheeses and serve. 

Notes/Tips

• Serve with garlic bread and green salad. I love the Olive Garden Italian salad dressing.
• Use fire-roasted tomatoes if you want a deeper, slightly smoky flavor.
• Don’t stir after adding the pasta and liquids to help prevent the burn warning.
• For a little heat, use hot Italian sausage or add red pepper flakes.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 4 or 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this, but the pasta may soften slightly when reheated.
• Other recipes you can make with rotini are Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Meatball Casserole and Instant Pot Ultimate Chicken Casserole.

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. 

Pin this recipe for later!

Print

More Instant Pot recipes with Italian sausage…

*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.