Instant Pot Hillbilly Casserole–with only 5 ingredients this dish of beans, dogs and and tots comes together in a snap. Make in your Instant Pot with air fryer lid or in your oven.

Instant Pot Hillbilly Casserole
Sometimes I make some interesting stuff in the Instant Pot. Greg will walk by and raise his eyebrows from time to time. As he looked at this he said, “whatcha making? Hillbilly casserole?” Haha!! That’s about right. With baked beans, tater tots and hot dogs it makes a cheap albeit delicious meal. I actually really loved the combination of flavors and you can doll it up by using flavored smoked sausages instead of hot dogs, like I did.
To make Hillbilly Casserole you’ll need…
With only 5 ingredients this dish comes together in a snap. You can make it in your Instant Pot with an air fryer lid* or you can simply bake it in your oven. This recipe makes only 3-4 servings so you may want to double it!
- Bush’s Best® White Chili Beans in Mild Chili Sauce–or you can use ranch style beans or baked beans
- Johnsonville jalapeno cheddar smoked sausages–or you can use hot dogs or any other smoked sausages that you like
- Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce–or your favorite BBQ sauce
- Tater tots–I like the Ore-Ida brand best
- Colby cheese–or cheddar

How to make the recipe…
Instant Pot Instructions:
To make this in the Instant Pot you’ll use the pot-in-pot method and then finish the dish off with an air fryer lid*. If you don’t have an air fryer lid you’ll probably want to make this in the oven instead.
- Slice the sausages/hot dogs in half lengthwise and then cut into half inch slices widthwise.
- In a pot-in-pot dish* add the beans, sausages and drizzle the BBQ sauce on top.
- Pour 1 ½ cups water into bottom of Instant Pot. Place a trivet* into the pot. Lower the pot-in-pot dish on top of the trivet.
- Cover the 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 move valve to venting.
- Discard the water in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add the tater tots to the top of the dish, in one even layer, if possible. Place dish on top of a trivet. Cover Instant Pot with an air fryer lid. Air fry at 350° F for 5 minutes and then switch to 425° F for 7-10 minutes, or until tots are crispy and browned. Add the cheese and air fry for 1 more minute to melt.
- Serve immediately.
Oven Instructions:
- Slice the sausages/hot dogs in half lengthwise and then cut into half inch slices widthwise.
- Add the beans, sausages and bbq sauce to a 9×9 inch baking dish. Stir.
- Dump the tots on top in an even layer.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 425° F then add the cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Serve immediately.
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Instant Pot Hillbilly Casserole
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
With only 5 ingredients this dish of beans, dogs and and tots comes together in a snap. Make in your Instant Pot with air fryer lid or in your oven.
Ingredients
- 1 (15.5 oz) can Bush’s Best® White Chili Beans in Mild Chili Sauce (or ranch style beans or baked beans)
- 7 ounces Johnsonville jalapeno cheddar smoked sausages (or about 3 hot dogs)
- 2 Tbsp Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce
- 2–3 cups frozen tater tots
- 1 cup shredded Colby cheese
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Slice the sausages/hot dogs in half lengthwise and then cut into half inch slices widthwise.
- In a pot-in-pot dish add the beans, sausages and drizzle the BBQ sauce on top.
- Pour 1 ½ cups water into bottom of Instant Pot. Place a trivet into the pot. Lower the pot-in-pot dish on top of the trivet.
- Cover the 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 move valve to venting.
- Discard the water in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add the tater tots to the top of the dish, in one even layer, if possible. Place dish on top of a trivet. Cover Instant Pot with an air fryer lid. Air fry at 350° F for 5 minutes and then switch to 425° F for 7-10 minutes, or until tots are crispy and browned. Add the cheese and air fry for 1 more minute to melt.
- Serve immediately.
Oven Instructions:
- Slice the sausages/hot dogs in half lengthwise and then cut into half inch slices widthwise.
- Add the beans, sausages and bbq sauce to a 9×9 inch baking dish. Stir.
- Dump the tots on top in an even layer.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 425° F then add the cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Serve immediately.
- Method: Instant Pot/Air fryer lid


*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.
I used a pound of Earl Campbell Jalapeno sausage link, ranch style beans, jarred chopped jalapenos, Mexican cheese and tater tots. I omited bbq sauce as SBR’s is too sweet for his taste. We enjoyed this dish and will make it again.
★★★★
Thanks for sharing! love these ideas 🙂
Why serve immediately. Can it be prepared and served later.
The tots will get soggy so that’s why I said that. If you cooked tots separately they’d be ok
The second temperature setting for the air fryer indicates 425 degrees but the instant pot lid only goes to 400 on air fry. Is that a typo ?
Oh mine when to 425. Just use 400 it’ll be fine!
When cooking the beans, sausage, and BBQ sauce under pressure do I need to cover the dish with foil to keep out excess water? Also, which flavor Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce do you suggest is best for this dish?
I left it uncovered and it was fine! I like the original sweet baby ray’s!