Fancy Pants Casserole

Fancy Pants Casserole–a savory Instant Pot dinner with crispy bacon, tender chicken, and flavorful rice cooked with mushrooms, spinach, and a punch of onion-mushroom seasoning, finished with optional melty mozzarella cheese for an easy, comforting meal.

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Fancy Pants Casserole

Okay, this Instant Pot recipe is a total weeknight lifesaver and it seems fancy-ish. It’s got everything you want: juicy, flavorful chicken, perfectly cooked rice, and that amazing umami kick from the onion-mushroom soup mix. The mushrooms soak up the bacon flavor (yum!), and the fresh spinach adds a nice touch of green. It’s all finished off with melty mozzarella (if you want that extra cheesy goodness). The best part? It’s so simple—you just layer everything in the pot, and the Instant Pot does all the work. It’s comforting, savory, and feels like a meal you put a lot of effort into, even though it’s super easy.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Bacon
• Mushrooms
• Balsamic–or red wine vinegar
• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
• Converted rice–or long grain white, basmati, jasmine
• Chicken tenderloins–or boneless chicken thighs cut into cubes
• Lipton’s Onion Mushroom soup mix–or plain onion soup mix
• Spinach–fresh or frozen
• Mozzarella cheese–optional

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the bacon and fry until crispy. Use tongs to place bacon pieces on a paper towel lined plate and set aside. 

Discard all but 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease. Add the mushrooms into the pot with the 2 Tbsp of bacon grease. Saute for 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the vinegar and broth. Scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.

Sprinkle in the rice. Place chicken in one layer on top of the rice. Sprinkle the soup mix over the chicken.

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

Stir in the spinach and bacon. If desired stir in a half cup or shredded mozzarella cheese. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with green beans, asparagus, broccoli or peas.
• This recipe can be gluten free if you can find a gluten free substitute for the lipton soup mix.
• 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 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Other recipes you can make with bacon are Instant Pot Bacon Egg Casserole and Slow Cooker Cheesy Bacon Cauliflower.
• 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. 

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More Instant Pot recipes with spinach…

*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.