College Casserole–an easy Instant Pot dump and go recipe for rice and beans with just 5 ingredients. Perfect when you’re short on time, ingredients and money.
College Casserole
When I was in college I would constantly make rice with salsa in it for dinner. It was my go to recipe freshman year. Back then I didn’t have a pressure cooker but it sure would have come in handy. My daughter, Reagan, loves using her 3 quart Instant Pot at college. I made this recipe up with things she would have on hand. It was so yummy! It only makes 2-3 servings so you can make just enough for dinner and lunch the next day for one person (you can double it if you want more!). I am going to send her this recipe so she can enjoy an easy, healthy and cheap meal. Make sure to watch the YouTube video that goes along with this recipe and subscribe to my channel 🙂
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or 1 cup water and 1 tsp Better than Bouillon chicken base. You can also use vegetable broth.
- Converted rice–or white rice
- Pace picante sauce–I use mild
- Black beans–or pinto, kidney, chili beans
- Cheddar cheese–sharp or medium
- Tortilla chips–or Fritos
- Sour cream–optional. Or guacamole, sliced avocados.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with cornbread muffins, a green salad or raw veggies and dip.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot. I would have loved to use my 3 quart instant pot to make this recipe but I gave it to my daughter to use at college.
- This recipe makes only about 2-3 servings. Perfect for someone feeding themself. If you’d like to feed a family I suggest doubling the recipe. Double the ingredients and keep the cooking time the same.
- You can add meat to this recipe if you’d like. Consider cooked rotisserie chicken, browned ground beef or turkey, or sliced smoked sausage.
- Try adding in a can of pinto beans or kidney beans instead of black beans. For more flavor try adding in a can of chili beans.
- 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 Pace Picante sauce are 5 ingredient salsa chicken and school night casserole.
- 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.
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.
College Casserole
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: 2.5 servings 1x
Description
An easy Instant Pot dump and go recipe for rice and beans with just 5 ingredients. Perfect when you’re short on time, ingredients and money.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cup water and 1 tsp Better than Bouillon)
- 3/4 cup converted or white rice
- 1 cup Pace picante sauce
- 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Tortilla chips or Fritos
- Sour cream, optional
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the rice. Dump in the picante and beans.
- 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 vetning. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the cheese.
- Scoop onto plates and top with crunched up chips and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.
- Category: Meatless
- Method: Instant Pot
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*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 can’t find the rice you’ve suggested, what would you recommend I do?
you can just use long grain white rice
Easy and tasty! Made this today for my husband and I…and look forward to all the possibilities with leftovers (burritos, lettuce wraps, etc). Next time I will used hot picante (today used Med) for a little more kick, and will add some precooked chicken for more protein.
Love both those ideas! Thanks for the 5 stars Glenna!
I made this tonight for just myself in an Instant Pot. My rice was not fully cooked, was a little crunchy. I opened pot after 7 minutes of venting. Good but not perfect.
what if you don’t have a instant pot. how would you cook this?
You could cook rice as per the package directions then stir in the beans and picante sauce and cheese to warm through.
hi Karen, your dish looks delicious and I haven’t tried it yet because I will be using a slow cooker, how long would I have to cook the rice for?
thank you
Eva 🇨🇦
If you don’t have an instant pot I would just cook it on the stove. Cook rice as per the package directions then stir in the beans and picante sauce and cheese to warm through.
I made this tonight. I didn’t have any meat defrosted so this was a very easy fix for dinner tonight. I stretched the meal by serving this on tortillas with sour cream and cheese. Everyone really enjoyed this. Thank you!
Yes to the tortillas idea!
Do you adjust the time of you double the recipe?
I would use the same cooking time.
This recipe looks great. Just wondering what the substitution would be if I used quinoa instead of rice. I like rice, but it doesn’t like me very much. Thanks for your help with this.
I would use 1 cup quinoa to 1.5 cups broth ratio and only pressure cook for 1 minute with a 5-10 minute natural pressure release.
Thanks so much for your reply Karen. Appreciate it. Have a great day.
I’ve not tried this, but it looks very similar to one my daughter began making while in college. In order to boost the protein she adds a large can of (drained) chicken breast; otherwise it looks very similar. Easy, delicious, nutritious, and fairly easy on the pocketbook, which is just what college students need!
That is a great tip! Thanks for the idea 🙂