Aggressive Casserole

Aggressive Casserole–a Tex-Mex inspired Instant Pot dinner with ground beef, rice, salsa, black beans, and corn all cooked together in one pot and finished with melty pepper jack and queso blanco.

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Aggressive Casserole

Anyone who’s scrolled social media has probably seen picturesque cooking videos with pretty marble countertops and a soothing voice. It’s pretty much not reality. But today’s recipe comes from Jessica who describes her videos as “aggressive cooking tutorials.” She’s quite real and hilarious. She says about this cheesy taco rice, “I didn’t want to cook. I still don’t want to cook. But if I’m being honest, this one-pan cheesy taco rice kinda hits every time. Minimal effort. Max comfort. Zero regrets.” I’ve of course switched up the recipe to make it easier in the Instant Pot. It is good as is or you can use it as a burrito filling. It freezes well too for another day.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–or ground turkey
• Taco seasoning–I used McCormick brand
• Dried onion–or ½ cup diced onion
• Garlic–or 1 tsp garlic powder
• Water–or chicken broth/beef broth
• Converted rice–or long grain white rice
• Salsa–or picante sauce
• Diced green chiles–or green salsa
• Frozen sweet corn–or canned corn
• Black beans–or pinto beans
• Pepper jack cheese–or mexican blend
• Queso blanco dip–or nacho cheese dip

Steps

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

Stir in the taco seasoning, dried onion and garlic and stir. 

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

Sprinkle in the rice. Dump on the salsa, green chiles, corn and beans. Don’t stir.

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

Stir in the cheese and the queso.

Serve and enjoy! (We like this with sour cream, tortilla chips, diced tomatoes and cilantro).

Notes/Tips

• Serve this with tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream, diced avocado or guacamole, fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes and lime wedges. It also works well as a burrito filling or over shredded lettuce for a taco salad.
• What is converted/parboiled rice? Don’t confuse converted rice (or sometimes it is called parboiled rice) with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. Sometimes I buy it at Winco in the bulk section. I have also found it in the orange box (Ben’s brand) next to other rices.
• This recipe can be gluten free if you use gluten free taco seasoning and queso.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Other recipes you can make with Instant Pot Salsa Rice and Instant Pot Creamy Salsa 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 recipes with beans and rice…

*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.