Instant Pot Hobo Casserole–Like hobo dinners you make when you are camping but way faster and in a the form of a family-style casserole. The ultimate comfort food!
This recipe can also be made in the slow cooker. The instructions are listed in the recipe card below.
Instant Pot Hobo Casserole
Hobo dinners (AKA foil dinners) are often made when camping. I know in my experience the potatoes never really get done and the meat is always a little iffy! Ha! They do have the potential to be great but cooking over a fire isn’t exactly gentle or evenly heated. That’s why I took the flavors from hobo dinners and turned it into a casserole that you can make fast and easily in your Instant Pot in your kitchen at home.
This recipe comes together after just a little prep. Peeling the potatoes and carrots and cutting them up are the most time consuming part. After that you’re home free. If you are serving a crowd you can easily double this recipe. Double all the ingredients but keep the cooking time the same.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Lean ground beef–or ground turkey
- Onion-or 2 Tbsp of dry minced onions
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Chili powder
- Beef broth–or chicken broth
- Carrots–or baby carrots
- Russet potatoes–or red or yellow potatoes
- Cream of mushroom soup–or cream of chicken soup. You can also make your own from scratch.
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. If there is excess grease drain it off.
Add in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and chili powder. (If you have another seasoning blend you like feel free to use that!)
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. Dump in the carrots.
Then the potatoes.
Finally dump in the soup. 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 release pressure by moving valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with some green vegetables like green beans, asparagus or broccoli.
- 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. This is not a great option to freeze because the potatoes and the carrots will get mushy.
- You can use cream of chicken soup or cream of celery soup instead of cream of mushroom soup. If you don’t want to use canned soup you can make your own from scratch (stir it in after the pressure cooking time) or you can substitute with 4 ounces of cream cheese (and possibly some milk to loosen it up).
- Other recipes you can make with carrots are Easter Bunny Potatoes and Straight out of Heaven Casserole.
More Instant Pot “Camp” Recipes…
Instant Pot Alabama Camp Stew
Shredded pork and chicken in a tomato bbq sauce with potato chunks, lima beans and corn. Super tasty and made easy with your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Hobo Dinner
The best parts of a foil dinner at home in your Instant Pot! A delicious meat and potatoes dinner.
Instant Pot Foil Dinners
Foil dinners are a popular in the summer when camping but did you ever think about making Instant Pot foil dinners? If you have a craving for this campfire dinner you can make it much easier and faster in the Instant Pot at home. You can also make these foil dinners in your slow cooker,
Karen’s Campfire Potatoes (Instant Pot)
Karen’s Campfire Potatoes are like the Dutch oven potatoes you eat when camping but they are made in a fraction of the time. Plus you don’t have to set up camp and start a fire! You’re going to love these red potatoes with onions, bacon and the perfect amount of seasoning.
Instant Pot “Not a Camper” Casserole
A hamburger, potato and cheese casserole that started out as a camping dinner made in a dutch oven. My version is made indoors with your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
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.
Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Hobo Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Like hobo dinners you make when you are camping but way faster and in a the form of a family-style casserole. The ultimate comfort food!
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onions
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 cup beef broth
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks (or baby carrots)
- 1 pound Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. If there is excess grease drain it off. Add in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and chili powder.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Dump in the carrots, potatoes and finally the soup. 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 release pressure by moving valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. If there is excess grease drain it off. Add in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and chili powder. Add the mixture to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the broth, carrots, potatoes and soup.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy!
- 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.
Great base recipe. However, I built upon this adding a can of cream of chicken to the can of cream of mushroom, corn, either Frozen or canned, coconut aminos, Worcestershire sauce, and smoked paprika to taste. it was hit at guys night.
★★★★★
Sounds like a great version!!
Followed the recipe according to directions, but in the instant pot it didn’t work out. A bit of a greasy mush. Flavors were good, if a little bland, but the simplicity of a hobo dinner is what I love! I’ll try this again in a slow cooker
★★★
Sorry it didn’t work well for you. Did you forget to drain the grease?
Used ground chicken. Left skin on potatoes. Doubled recipe and used one can cream of mushroom, one can cream of chicken cause that’s all I had. Delicious. Wife loved it so that’s an automatic 5 stars.
★★★★★
automatic 5 stars! love it!
Loved it…. fills you up, is quick, tastes great!
★★★★★
Thanks for the 5 stars Vicki!
I saw a moses.
★★★★★
Could you suggest something in place of the mushroom soup, please?
I don’t like mushrooms, so I always use cream of celery. Gives everything a sort of fresh taste.
★★★★★
My husband won’t eat mushrooms either. I use cream of onion. We love e it.
cream of chicken, cream of celery
I see no reason at all to peel the potatoes or the carrots! Clean both with a vegetable scrubber and cut them in large chunks. 5 minutes max and more nutrition whole than peeled.
★★★★★
Good tip!
I was coming to the comment section for this question. So thanks Dave!
★★★★★