Instant Pot Heavenly Casserole is named so because when a bite of this dish hits your mouth you’ll believe you’re in heaven. Noodles, beef, spaghetti sauce and cheese never tasted so good.
Instant Pot Heavenly Casserole
Looking for a delicious family dinner idea that everyone will love? Look no further! This recipe for Instant Pot heavenly casserole is super simple with only a handful of ingredients (which you probably already have at home) but it tastes sooooo good. I couldn’t stop eating it. I probably ate 3 servings.
Start by browning ground beef (or turkey) in your Instant Pot with the sauté setting. Then you’ll season up the beef with dry ranch dressing mix. Don’t use bottled ranch dressing, I’m talking about the dry mix. I love using the Hidden Valley brand. I like to buy it in the large container from Costco. It’s much cheaper than buying a packet of it for $2. If you want to make your own from scratch that’s an option too.
After the beef is cooked you can deglaze the pot with water. Add in the Better than Bouillon (I used the beef kind, the big jar from Costco), egg noodles and finally plop a brick of cream cheese on top. Since we are only pressure cooking for 1 minute the cream cheese will be fine to pressure cook. It softens it up nicely and it becomes very easy to stir in. If you’d like to use another type of noodle that is an option. Egg noodles cook very fast since they are so thin. If you’re using penne or cavatappi I’d cook for 4 minutes. For rotini use a 3 minute pressure cooking time.
Once the pressure cooking cycle is over let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then release any remaining pressure. At this point you’ll stir in the cream cheese well. Some of the noodles won’t look cooked and that is okay. We will be finishing this dish off in the oven, so preheat the oven to 350° F at this time.
Get out a 9×13 inch casserole dish pan. Layer half of the noodles, half of a jar of spaghetti sauce (I like the Classico brand) and half of the cheese. While the food was pressure cooking I grated up an 8 ounce block of Monterey jack cheese. You can use another cheese like colby, cheddar or mozzarella if you’d like. Then you’ll repeat the layers once more ending with cheese. Pop the dish into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
After the casserole is done baking the cheese will be melted and it will be hot and bubbly. Serve the casserole with a green salad and a side of fruit. You’re really going to love this Instant Pot heavenly casserole! I know it!
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Instant Pot Heavenly Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute (plus 5 minute NPR) and 20 minutes in oven
- Total Time: 59 minute
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Noodles, beef, spaghetti sauce and cheese never tasted so good.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- 1 packet dry ranch dressing mix (3 Tbsp)
- 3 cups water + 1 Tbsp better than bouillon beef base (or 3 cups beef broth)
- 1 (12 oz) package egg noodles
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
- 1 (24 oz) jar favorite spaghetti sauce (I used Classico brand 4 cheese pasta sauce)
- 1 (8 oz) block monterey jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off any excess grease. Stir in the ranch dressing mix.
- Pour in the water and bouillon and scrape bottom of pot so nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Dump in the egg noodles and press to submerge as many as possible. They all won’t be under liquid and that’s okay.
- Dump the cream cheese on top of noodles.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute. When time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well to coat the noodles with the cream cheese.
- In a 9 x 13 inch pan layer half of the noodles mixture, half of spaghetti sauce and half of cheese. Repeat.
- Bake for 20 minutes in a 350° F oven.
- Scoop onto plates and serve.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot/Oven
*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.
Took me about an hour and a half with the time it takes to come to pressure and release and then bake. I should have read ahead in the directions because I didn’t realize it ends with baking so I had to waste time preheating the oven after the pressure cooking was done. Might help to put in a step of preheating the oven towards the beginning of the recipe.
★★★★
This dish was heavenly right out of the Instant Pot before the spaghetti sauce, cheese & baking! It was all I could do to finish preparing the the dish after a taste test. Two recipes in one. I sauteed chopped onion & bell pepper with the ground beef. Next time will try pot-in-pot, then use the bake function on my Duo Evo Plus 6 qt, then the mealthy crisp lid for a few minutes. All in one pot! Outstanding recipe Karen, thank you! Now one of my favorites. I especially appreciate the dry ranch recipe – great to help cut down on salt.
★★★★★
It really is so good! One of my absolute favorites! Glad you liked it too. Thanks for the 5 stars!
1302 mg of sodium per slice?
Yes, for 1/8 of the dish. Which is a good sized portion.
Is there a way to use an air fryer lid instead of baking it in an oven?
★★★★★
Yes.
Once the pressure cooking cycle is over let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then release any remaining pressure. At this point you’ll stir in the cream cheese well.
Layer half of the noodles, half of a jar of spaghetti sauce (I like the Classico brand) and half of the cheese in the Instant Pot. Then you’ll repeat the layers once more ending with cheese. Use the air fryer lid at 350 for 10 minutes.
Could I do the pressure cook part and then assemble everything in a Fat Daddio pan and use the AFL or would there be too much for the pan?
It would have to be a pretty deep pan or else there would be too much
If I made 1/2 of the recipe, could I use the pot in pot as my pan? If so, can I use the airfryer attachment for the IP to hear it up, or does it need an oven?
Yes I believe you could do that with success.
Karen – I see you offer a recipe so I could double it for more people. I have an 8 quart IP. Will lit hold all the ingredients in it? Thanks. It looks and sounds just like one I have made for many years in the oven. Love your recipes.
Yes an 8 quart should be great!
I made this in my instant pot the other night and my husband and I loved it. Very delicious!!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear it Liz!
Can I do this delicious sounding recipe in my slow cooker?
I wouldn’t because I’ve had mixed success with noodles. I would boil noodles on the stove, cook meat on stove then make it in the oven as a casserole.
Thank you so much. Looking forward to making it as you have stated. Sounds absolutely yummy.
Thanks again👍👍
★★★★★
This recipe was incredibly delicious! I thought that ‘heavenly’ might have been a bit of hype, but it most assuredly isn’t. One of the best IP meals I’ve made. Thanks, Karen!
For IP Mini (3 qt.) users: I made this as written, but reduced the ingredients to 3/4 in order to fit the Mini. Easy to figure even for the math challenged like me. Fit perfectly in a 7″ x 9″ glass baking dish. All times were the same as noted for the 6 qt. IP.
★★★★★
Thanks so much John and also good tips for the 3 quart users!!!
This recipe goes along way which is great for me, less cooking for two following days. I was fascinated with the utensil you used to break down the ground beef. I’ve never seen something like this and I’m wondering what it’s called? I’ll buy it from your blog as soon as I get your reply! Thank you.
★★★★★
I don’t know what it’s actually called but I call it Meat breaker upper! Here is a link to one on amazon* https://amzn.to/2UcfJ1o
I got the same meat breaker from walmart
Oh wow, I loved the video clip instructions! I when I read a recipe I try to visualize it coming together, but this did all the work for me and cleared up all my questions! I didn’t think it would be that liquidy at the start, and was confused on how it was layered until I saw the clips. What a fabulous tool!!
★★★★★
Yes I am visual too! I am glad it was helpful to you.
Would it be okay to add the spaghetti sauce to the instant pot so that it can be a one pot meal?
yes you can add it on top of the cream cheese if you’d like
Can this be frozen? There is just me and my husband.
Yes I think it would freeze nicely.
Looks delicious!!! Any suggestions for making it more carb friendly?
Hmmmm, you could try layering beef mixture with riced cauliflower and the spaghetti sauce. You won’t really need the Instant Pot for that though.