Cruncheroni Casserole

Cruncheroni Casserole–an easy Instant Pot pasta dinner with ground beef, Rotel tomatoes, cheddar and crispy fried onions.

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Cruncheroni Casserole

Remember how your mom would just throw together whatever ingredients she found hanging out in her pantry and somehow create a delicious dinner? This recipe reminds me of that! It has just a handful of pantry friendly ingredients plus a pound of ground beef. It comes together very quickly with the help of your Instant Pot.

I found the idea for this recipe on a blog called Reality Daydream. The original author of this recipe said she received this recipe from a friend when she was a newlywed, “and all these years it has been our absolute favorite meal. Then when we had kids, it became their favorite meal too (and made us feel justified in eating elbow noodles). The original recipe calls for a can of tomato soup instead of Rotel, but we like the extra zing of the green chilies in the Rotel. And I like the colorful bits of tomato that make the meal appear to be more healthy than it really is (HELLO CHEESE, CARBS, and FRIED ONIONS).”

I changed up the recipe and made it into an Instant Pot recipe, I used a different type of pasta and added some seasonings too. This was comfort food to the max and tasted so good as we broke our fast.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–I used 93/7. You can also use ground turkey.
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper–I like coarse ground pepper
• Garlic powder–or granulated garlic
• Dried minced onion–or 1 tsp onion powder
• Beef broth-or water and Better than Bouillon
• Radiatore pasta–or elbow macaroni
• Rotel–I used mild
• Cream of mushroom soup–or cream of chicken, cream of celery, 4 ounces of cream cheese or make your own homemade version of cream of mushroom soup
• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese–or another type of cheese you like
• French’s Crispy Fried Onions

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Stir in the salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion. Brown for about 5 minutes. 

Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. Evenly sprinkle in the pasta. Then dump in the Rotel and cream of mushroom 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 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir well. Sprinkle cheese on top and let it melt. Sprinkle the french fried onions on top and serve.

Notes/Tips

• I served this with roasted vegetables (carrots, red onions, mushrooms and tomatoes), a side of corn and a simple fruit salad (pear, apple, oranges with a bit of orange juice concentrate and a dash of lemon juice and lime juice). Another option is to serve with a green salad or some steamed broccoli.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
• 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. I usually use a 5-10 minute natural pressure release for pasta.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The noodle part is good as leftovers but the french fried onions do get soggy.
• Other recipes you can make with french fried onions are French onion beef casserole and Cowboy Meatloaf Potato Casserole.

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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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*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.