Instant Pot Celebration Casserole

Instant Pot Celebration Casserole–cheesy chicken and pasta with a couple unique ingredients that make this dish pop….like a party in your mouth! An easy dump and go recipe that only has a 4 minute pressure cooking time.

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Instant Pot Celebration Casserole

I’ve been making a sauce to serve over chicken for years that has Cajun seasoning and mayo in it. It might sound weird but it adds so much flavor. I decided to incorporate both of those ingredients into this simple chicken and pasta dish. Each member of my family ate separately (because it’s that crazy time of year) and each separately expressed how much they loved this pasta dish.

This recipe is fast, easy (dump and go) and that calls for a celebration! I think you will really love it too! Give it a shot this week!

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
• Rotini pasta–or other pasta like elbow macaroni, penne, bowties, etc.
• Frozen sweet corn–you can also used canned corn that has been drained
• Pace’s mild picante sauce–or another brand that you like. We chose mild because we aren’t huge fans of spice.
• Chopped and cooked chicken or pork–rotisserie chicken is a great option for this recipe. I also love basic, seasoned shredded chicken in the Instant Pot and freezing for recipes like this one. If you have a Winco near you try buying their pork carnitas meat. Cook it with a cup of broth for 30 minutes with a natural pressure release and you’ll have tender, shreddable meat that you can use for this recipe or for BBQ pork sandwiches.
• Sour cream–I used full fat
• Mayonnaise
• Cajun seasoning–I just use the store brand at Smiths called Smidge and Spoon
• Garlic powder
• Cumin
• Colby jack cheese–or another type of cheese you enjoy like pepper jack or cheddar
• Optional toppings–we liked diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro and my son added crunchy fritos to the top of his portion

Steps to making Instant Pot Celebration Casserole

1. Layer in the ingredients: Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the pasta. Dump the corn and picante sauce on top. Don’t stir (this will prevent the burn error message).
2. Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes (or 3 minutes for al dente). When time is up move valve to venting. If foam starts coming out of valve then turn back to sealing and wait 20 seconds and then try again. Remove the lid.
3. Make creamy sauce mixture: In a bowl stir together the sour cream, mayo, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and cumin. Stir a cup of the hot contents from the Instant Pot into the sour cream mixture to temper (this will prevent the sour cream from separating). Stir the mixture into the Instant Pot. Stir in the cooked chicken.
4. Get cheesy: Sprinkle with the cheese and let it melt (I sped up the process of melting cheese with an air fryer lid). 
5. Serve: Scoop onto plates and serve topped with desired toppings.  

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Notes/Tips

• I used rotini pasta but you can use any type of short cut pasta you like. Different types of pasta take different amounts of time to cook in the pressure cooker. Look at the back of the pasta package and take the number of minutes it states to boil, divide that by 2 and subtract 1 minute. So if the package says 10 minutes it would be 4 minutes of pressure cooking time (10/2 = 5-1 = 4).
• Try adding a can of black or pinto beans. Just rinse and drain them first. Add them in when you add in the corn.
• If you don’t like mayo try adding in 2 ounces of whipped cream cheese.
• For more of a baked pasta taste cook through step 3 and then pour the mixture into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 25 minutes at 350° F. 
• You can also eat half now and save half for later by spreading it in a baking dish, covering tightly with foil and then freezing. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then bake for 30 minutes with foil on top at 350° F. 
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.

More Instant Pot Recipes…

• Instant Pot Bubble Up Enchiladas–enchilada casserole with biscuits instead of tortillas
• Inflation Navigation Casserole–orzo, chili beans, salsa and cheese
• Instant Pot Loaded Chicken And Potato Casserole–potatoes, chicken and corn coated with French onion dip, seasonings, bacon crumbles and cheese
• Instant Pot Queso Rotel Chicken–an easy dump and go recipe with flavorful chicken, rotel, cheese sauce and creamy mashed potatoes

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.