Best Friends Casserole–one pan for you, one pan for your BFF. An easy recipe for a noodle bake with marinara sauce, mozzarella and more. Use your Instant Pot to prep this recipe fast!
Best Friends Casserole
I love recipes like this! It’s the same amount of work to make one pan as it is to make two. So why not make two pans at the same time and eat one tonight and give the other away (or freeze it for another night)?
This recipe is simple and delicious. Even picky eaters will love it! You can jazz it up with extras (like mushrooms, spinach and green peppers) or you can make it plain with just noodles, cheese, meat and sauce.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Ground turkey–or lean ground beef or ground Italian sausage
- Diced onions–I used frozen diced yellow onions
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Italian seasoning–you can make your own
- Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Beef Broth
- Egg noodles–you can also use another short cut of pasta like macaroni, cavatappi, bowtie, rotini or penne. If you do use a different cut of pasta you’ll probably want to increase the pressure cooking time to 4 minutes.
- Green bell pepper–If you don’t love green peppers you can leave them out.
- Petite diced tomatoes–you can also use crushed tomatoes or stewed tomatoes.
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese
- Spaghetti sauce–I used a jar of Ragu. Use your favorite brand.
- Mozzarella cheese–I shred it off the block for better meltability.
Steps
- Brown the ground turkey: Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the turkey and break it up*. Add in the onions, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Brown for about 5 minutes.
- Deglaze the pot: Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot* so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add ingredients: Add in the egg noodles. Cover the noodles with the green peppers and the diced tomatoes. Don’t stir.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute on high pressure. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Stir in the butter and let it melt. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
- Layer ingredients into two pans or one big pan: Get out 2 8×8 inch square baking pans (or 1 9×13 inch pan). Pour a third of a cup of the spaghetti sauce into the bottom of each of the pans and use a spoon to spread it out. Pour half of the noodle mixture into one of the pans and half into the other pan. Pour half of the remaining sauce over the top of one of the pans and then the rest over the other pan. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese on one pan and then the other.
- If you want to eat immediately: Heat oven to 350 and bake for 10-15 minutes. If you want to refrigerate for tomorrow: Cover with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 20 minutes with the foil on, remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. If you want to freeze: Cover tightly with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 45 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with garlic bread and salad. I love the Olive Garden salad dressing!
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also use an 8 quart pot. The 3 quart pot isn’t big enough to make this recipe as is. You’d have to cut the recipe in half.
- When I give the second pan to a friend I like to use those foil pans. That way you don’t have to worry about not getting your nice pans back. I find mine at Sam’s Club or even the dollar store.
- Try stirring in some spinach for extra nutrition and color. I would add it in when you add the butter. I like to chop my spinach so you it’s easier to eat. You could also add in a bag of frozen spinach and lay it on top of the noodles before you pressure cook.
- If you’re a mushroom lover try adding in some chopped or sliced mushrooms on top of the egg noodles before pressure cooking.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Freezer Meal Casserole Recipes…
- Instant Pot “In Case I Die” Casserole
- Instant Pot Celebration Casserole
- Inflation Navigation Casserole
- Instant Pot Friendship 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.
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Best Friends Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
One pan for you, one pan for your friend. An easy recipe for a noodle bake with marinara sauce, mozzarella and more. Use your Instant Pot to prep this recipe fast!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 cup diced onions
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 (12 oz) bag egg noodles
- 1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 (25 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
- 8 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the turkey and break it up. Add in the onions, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Brown for about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in the egg noodles. Cover the noodles with the green peppers and the diced tomatoes. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute on high pressure. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Stir in the butter and let it melt. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
- Get out 2 8×8 inch square baking pans (or 1 9×13 inch pan). Pour a third of a cup of the spaghetti sauce into the bottom of each of the pans and use a spoon to spread it out. Pour half of the noodle mixture into one of the pans and half into the other pan. Pour half of the remaining sauce over the top of one of the pans and then the rest over the other pan. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese on one pan and then the other.
- If you want to eat immediately: Heat oven to 350 and bake for 10-15 minutes. If you want to refrigerate for tomorrow: Cover with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 20 minutes with the foil on, remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. If you want to freeze: Cover tightly with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 45 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes.
- Category: Turkey
- Method: Instant Pot and Oven
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This looks quite tasty but I don’t have an Instant Pot, nor do I want one. It would be nice if a crockpot or stovetop version was included. I will look at the recipe some more to see if I can figure something out.
To do the stove top/oven is the same as the above. Its not that hard. Just do steps 1 and 2 in a skillet…Step 3 boil your noodles in a pot like you usually would and then drain them, and return the noodles to their big pot. Skip step 4, and instead, add the suff from the skillet to the pot with the noodles and stir together. Resume with steps 5 and 6..
I would not make this in the crockpot. But the stovetop/oven would work well. Here’s how I would do it:
1 pound ground turkey
1 cup diced onions
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
3 cups beef broth
1 (12 oz) bag egg noodles
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 (25 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
1. In a pan over medium high heat brown the ground turkey and onions and green peppers. Stir in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Set aside.
2. Boil noodles as per directions on the package. Drain. Stir the butter and parmesan cheese into the noodles until melted.
3. Get out 2 8×8 inch square baking pans (or 1 9×13 inch pan). Pour a third of a cup of the spaghetti sauce into the bottom of each of the pans and use a spoon to spread it out. Pour half of the noodles into one of the pans and half into the other pan. Pour half of the meat into one of the pans and half into the other pan. Pour half of the remaining sauce over the top of one of the pans and then the rest over the other pan. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese on one pan and then the other.
4. If you want to eat immediately: Heat oven to 350 and bake for 15-20 minutes. If you want to refrigerate for tomorrow: Cover with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 20 minutes with the foil on, remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. If you want to freeze: Cover tightly with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 45 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes.
Can you do this in the crock pot?
I would not make this in the crockpot. But the stovetop/oven would work well.
1 pound ground turkey
1 cup diced onions
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
3 cups beef broth
1 (12 oz) bag egg noodles
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 (25 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
1. In a pan over medium high heat brown the ground turkey and onions and green peppers. Stir in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Set aside.
2. Boil noodles as per directions on the package. Drain. Stir the butter and parmesan cheese into the noodles until melted.
3. Get out 2 8×8 inch square baking pans (or 1 9×13 inch pan). Pour a third of a cup of the spaghetti sauce into the bottom of each of the pans and use a spoon to spread it out. Pour half of the noodles into one of the pans and half into the other pan. Pour half of the meat into one of the pans and half into the other pan. Pour half of the remaining sauce over the top of one of the pans and then the rest over the other pan. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese on one pan and then the other.
4. If you want to eat immediately: Heat oven to 350 and bake for 15-20 minutes. If you want to refrigerate for tomorrow: Cover with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 20 minutes with the foil on, remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. If you want to freeze: Cover tightly with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat bake at 350 for 45 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes.
Would you boil the noodles in the beef broth, and discard the broth after cooking? Otherwise I don’t see where the broth would be added.
oh right, sorry. No need to use broth for the oven version.
Do you have to use ground turkey? Can you use sausage or hamburger? Thank you.
See the Ingredients/Substitution Ideas section.
Ground turkey–or lean ground beef or ground Italian sausage can be used.
Yes you can use ground beef or ground Italian sausage. Both would be amazing!