Instant Pot Cherokee Casserole–a cheesy, creamy rice and beef casserole that is so fast and easy to make in your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Cherokee Casserole
I came across this recipe on the All Recipes website. I’m really not sure where it got its name. The author of the original recipe said, “My Granny always made this for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.” One commenter said, “I have the original recipe which was published in a Minute Rice calendar for 1968. It includes a bay leaf (remove before eating) and 3 sliced stuffed olives (which adds an interesting twist and are small enough for kids to eat around)…we ate this from 1968 onward; still a hit with the next generation.” Well wherever it came from and whatever it’s called it really tasted yummy and I had all the ingredients on hand to make it.
A few notes about the ingredients:
- In order to prevent the burn error message you will need to layer this dish as stated in the recipe and do not stir.
- I used long grain white rice. However you can make this with brown rice as well. You will just need to pressure cook for 20 minutes instead of 3 minutes. Brown rice takes a lot longer to cook than white rice but both turn out great.
- Cream of mushroom soup is used in this recipe but you can also use cream of chicken soup. I haven’t got a great solution for an alternative if you don’t like cream soups. You can forego the creamy layer all together or you can stir in 4 ounces of softened cream cheese after the pressure cooking time.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this in the 3 or 8 quart pot.
You’ll also like…
Instant Pot Cattle Drive Casserole–-a hearty taco-seasoned ground beef and crescent roll casserole that will keep you full and ready to work all day long!
Instant Pot Shipwreck Casserole—a compilation of random ingredients like ground beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots that ends up tasting really amazing together!
Instant Pot Spanish Rice with Beef–a super fast and easy recipe for rice with ground beef, tomatoes, green peppers and spices.
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Instant Pot Cherokee Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A cheesy, creamy rice and beef casserole that is so fast and easy to make in your Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/4 cup beef broth
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (10.75 oz) can Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the beef and onions. Break up the beef. Brown for about 5 minutes. If there is excess grease you can drain it off. Stir in the kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, Italian seasoning and bay leaf.
- Pour the broth into the pot and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Evenly sprinkle in rice. Evenly dump tomatoes on top of rice. Take spoonfuls of cream of mushroom soup and plop it evenly on top of 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 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid and discard the bay leaf.
- Sprinkle the cheese on top and use an air fryer lid to melt the cheese for a couple of minutes or place pressure cook lid back on top for a few minutes (keep on warm setting) and let cheese melt.
- Scoop onto plates and serve.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
can you substitute the rice all together and instead use riced cauliflower? I’m on keto and would love to make this again from my childhood.
Unfortunately, it won’t work to do that in the pressure cooker because the cauliflower will cook way too quick and will release more liquid instead of soaking it up like regular rice would.
So good!! I love your recipes, never disappointed! Thank you so much for sharing them!
★★★★★
Thank you so much Renee!
Can you sub pasta for the rice? Love all your recipes that I’ve made! Thank you 😇!
Ella
I believe that would work well. I would add in 8 ounces of pasta instead of the rice and 2 cups of broth instead of 1 1/4 cups. Use a 5 minute pressure cooking time for most pastas.
Thank you so much Karen for your reply. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your recipes. You are amazing!😇
★★★★★
ahh you are so nice!
Our favorite!
★★★★★
Thanks for the 5 stars Billy!
What is a good substitute for the diced tomatoes.
You could just leave them out if you want. Or add in a can of tomato sauce.
all campbells soups have MSG in them. I do not use soups with MSG.
Make your own. That’s what I do. Don’t do msg either.
Hi Karen- would you drain the tomatoes, or no? Also could you use ro-tel, and again, to drain or not to drain?
I do not drain the tomatoes!
I liked the Happiness Casserole better the first night of serving it than the second night as a leftover since the tortillas were pretty soggy the second serving night about 4 days later. However, my husband liked it both nights. I think when I make it again I will not add the tortillas to the instant pot but will remove half of the casserole and add some tortillas at the table. On the second night I will reheat the 2nd half and, again, add the tortillas at the table so they are more the same as the first night. It doesn’t seem to take long for the tortillas to soften, but they wouldn’t be as soggy as they were as leftovers tonight.
★★★★
Good idea!
Hi! I was wondering if you could use Refried beans instead of any cream soup? Maybe dilute it a bit with chicken broth or something?
Sure! That would be awesome!! And maybe 1/4 cup of chicken broth to dilute.
Hello Karen…I love love your recipes and I’m wondering if all the recent recipes are in your cookbook??
thank you
Hi Nellie, my cookbook has recipes from the blog from April 2017 until August 2020. So the recent recipes are not in there.
Can brown rice be used in place of the white rice with increasing the cooking time to 22 minutes?
Yes it can!
On the rice setting on my multi-cooker it is 12 minutes that’s why I was confused. Thanks.
My mother made this recipe when I was growing up. It was always one of my favorites! She add sliced green olives for some tangynes. I can’t wait to make this for her!!
Thank you for brining back a great memory!!!
★★★★★
Oh how sweet. I love hearing of vintage recipes. And the olives sound good!
Is 3 minutes going to cook the rice? As you said it came from a Minute Rice recipe which was not long grain rice.
Yes. White rice cooks in 3-4 minutes at high pressure in an Instant Pot!
Yes it does!
When you say let it sit, then release valve. Is the IP still on or turn it off after the initial cooking time?
Yes it will switch over to warm and you can keep it on warm.
Was delighted to see this recipe.It was a favorite of my mother-in-law. She called it five spice beef and rice and passed the recipe on to me 45 years ago .I am so happy now to be able to prepare it in the IP.I think it was originally a recipe promoting the use of Minute Rice.I do make it without the cheese.
★★★★★
Oh how fun to hear this. Thank you for sharing Susan!