Always-A-Hit Casserole–don’t know what to make for dinner to please the kids, teens and adults alike? Try this creamy, flavorful penne with smoked sausage and bacon. It is addicting and always a hit!
Always-A-Hit Casserole
You have to have some aces up your sleeve as the cook of the house and this is one of mine! I guarantee your people will love this supper. With penne pasta in a cream cheese/ranch flavored sauce and smoked sausage with onions, garlic and bacon crumbles you really can’t go wrong. Plus this recipe only has a 3 minute pressure cooking time so you can get dinner on the table lickety split!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Olive oil–or canola, vegetable, butter
- Onion–yellow or white
- Beef smoked sausage–or andouille, kielbasa
- Garlic cloves–or 1 tsp garlic powder
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon*
- Mini penne pasta–or rotini, cavatappi, macaroni
- Petite diced tomatoes–or fire roasted tomatoes
- Cream cheese
- Dry ranch dressing mix–I like Hidden Valley Brand
- Green onions
- Bacon crumbles–or you can fry up bacon
- Colby jack cheese–or sharp cheddar
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and sausage and brown for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. Evenly sprinkle in the the penne.
Dump the tomatoes, cream cheese and ranch dressing mix on top. Don’t stir.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the 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 green onions, bacon and cheese.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with garlic bread and a side salad.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- You can use another short cut pasta. If you use another type of pasta you may need to adjust the cooking time. Here is the formula: look at the back of the box of pasta and see how many minutes it says to boil the pasta. If it’s 10 minutes you divide that number by 2 (=5) and then subtract 2 minutes. So you would pressure cook for 3 minutes.
- Try using andouille sausage in the place of smoked sausage for a little extra flavor and heat.
- 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 your other half of the cream cheese block are Deceivingly Delicious Casserole and Loaded Million Dollar Casserole.
More Instant Pot Penne Recipes
Henny Penny Chicken
Penne pasta and chicken in a creamy white sauce…better than alfredo!
Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne
Saucy penne pasta with ground turkey, tomatoes, green chiles, cumin, cream cheese and spinach. Make it fast in the electric pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Penne in Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce
Make this Instant Pot Penne in Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce for a quick and easy weeknight meal. With options to prepare it with andouille sausage or meatless you can make everyone happy.
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.
Always-A-Hit Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Don’t know what to make for dinner to please the kids, teens and adults alike? Try this creamy, flavorful penne with smoked sausage and bacon. It is addicting and always a hit!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup diced onion
- 1 (12 oz) package beef smoked sausage, sliced into quarter inch rounds
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces mini penne pasta
- 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 3 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix
- 2 green onions, diced
- 1/3 cup bacon crumbles
- 1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and sausage and brown for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Evenly sprinkle in the the penne. Dump the tomatoes, cream cheese and ranch dressing mix on top. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the 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 green onions, bacon and cheese.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
I would “LOVE” to make this recipe but I don’t have an InstaPot…how would I make it in the crock pot or on the stove?
My husband smoked some sausage in our Big Green Egg this weekend and told me to find a good recipe that uses smoked sausage. I found this recipe and it is appropriately named “Always a Hit Casserole”. My family loved it. Thanks for sharing Ms. Karen, you never disappoint. I always find something good to make on your website. 💕
yum! That sounds awesome!!
Very good! Has a bit of a smoky flavor (I used smoked sausage). I doubled the amount of bacon bits and cheese as it was all I had left and I didn’t want to leave just a little bit. I also spread the cream cheese out so that it wasn’t in one big clump. Came out ooey gooey and will definitely be making it again. Thanks!
nom nom! Thanks for the 5 stars Mason!
if I wanted to do this on the stove how do I do that?
how do I make this in the crockpot?
i have crockpot how do i make this recip
ok, so if the pasta says to boil for 10 minutes, you pressure cook it for 3, then wait 5 minutes (8 minutes) before venting, which takes at least a few minutes, so you are in for more than 10 at that point anyway. what’s the purpose of using a pressure cooker for this recipe, instead of just boiling?
It’s a set it and forget it recipe and all of it is cooked in one pot so less clean up! you could certainly make it on the stove if you prefer 🙂
I was wondering if you have a recipe on how to make homemade noodles for chicken and noodles. And also a instant pot and slow recipe for chicken and noodles with homemade or frozen noodles
this might be the closest thing I have: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-amish-chicken-and-noodles/