Instant Pot “In Case I Die” Casserole is a tex mex casserole that makes enough for 2 pans…one for now and one to freeze for later. With a few pantry friendly ingredients and a couple fresh items you can make this for dinner tonight.
Instant Pot “In Case I Die” Casserole
I’m sure you’re wondering about the title of this recipe! Do you ever think to yourself “I need to make a document that contains all the information my family would need to know in case I die”? There are so many things that us moms do for our families we sometimes wonder what they would do without us. For example, how could they find their shoes that are sitting in the entryway or the milk that is right in front of their faces without us? 😂 One of my blogger friends has a physical file folder that is entitled “in case I die” that tells her husband what to do with her blog in case she dies.
My friend Eden makes all sorts of casseroles and saves half for now and half for later (which she freezes). She calls the casseroles in her freezer “death casseroles.” I asked her the story behind the death casseroles and she said, “Ha ha. The story is really just whenever I’d make any extra casseroles and freeze them, I would let Scott know I made one and it’s in the freezer for him in case I die…so he wouldn’t starve 🙂
He started calling them the death casseroles. The casseroles are nothing specific, just ones he could pop in the oven because he doesn’t cook…at all!”
With all jokes aside, these kinds of casserole recipes truly come in handy on those busy days when you don’t feel like cooking or you are too busy to cook. They are also perfect if you’re giving one away to a friend. One for your family, one for their family. This particular casserole has ground beef, rice, enchilada sauce, beans and cheese. It tastes great topped with diced tomatoes, cilantro and sour cream.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Lean ground beef (I used 80/20)–or ground turkey
- Diced onion–or 2 Tbsp dehydrated onion flakes
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Garlic powder
- Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon beef base
- Long grain white rice–or converted rice (or 1 1/2 cups brown rice)
- Tomato paste
- Ranch style beans with jalapenos–or try using Bush’s Chili Beans
- Red enchilada sauce–I used mild. You can also use green enchilada sauce.
- Colby Jack cheese–or another type of cheese like cheddar, monterey jack, mozzarella, pepper jack
- Cherry tomatoes–or roma tomatoes
- Cilantro
- Sour cream and salsa–for topping
Steps
- Brown the ground beef: Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and onion. Use a spoon to break up the meat. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Season the beef: Stir in the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder.
- Deglaze the pot: Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off sauté setting.
- Layer in ingredients: Sprinkle in the rice. Add in the tomato paste, beans and enchilada sauce, don’t stir.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes for white rice or 25 minutes for brown rice. When time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Get cheesy: Stir well. Spread the mixture into a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Alternately, you can just sprinkle the cheese into the pot and let it melt on the “keep warm” setting.
- Garnish and serve: Sprinkle the tomatoes and cilantro on top and serve topped with sour cream and a little salsa. This makes a good filling for tortillas or with Fritos or tortilla chips.
Freezing and Baking Instructions
This recipe makes a good freezer meal for later. You can eat half now and save half for later in a square baking dish. Spread the cooked mixture into a baking dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap and then foil. Label and freeze. When ready to cook, thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking. Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove the plastic wrap and foil and replace the foil. Bake, covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle cheese on top and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve topped with tomatoes and cilantro.
Variation Ideas
- Try topping with sliced olives.
- Try using V8 juice in the place of broth.
- Try making this meatless! Add in 2 cans of beans instead of 1 and leave out the ground beef. Use 2 Tbsp dried onion in the place of the fresh onion. No sautéing steps necessary!
- Instead of a can of enchilada sauce try using a cup of Pace Picante sauce.
- Instead of using a can of ranch style beans try using a can of pinto or black beans or chili beans.
- Try adding in a can of diced tomatoes or Rotel.
- Try using pasta instead of rice. Orzo or elbow macaroni are good options. Use 8 ounces of pasta (half a box) in the place of rice and use 2 cups of broth.
- Try serving the rice mixture as a filling for burritos. Roll up the mixture in soft tortillas and enjoy now or wrap in foil and freeze for later.
More Freezer Meal Recipe Ideas…
- Instant Pot Celebration Casserole
- Inflation Navigation Casserole
- Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
- Instant Pot Friendship Casserole
- 3 Dump And Go Instant Pot Freezer Meals
- 16 Freezable Slow Cooker Dinners (With Instructions To Make Ahead, Freeze, And Then Cook)
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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In Case I Die Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
A tex mex casserole that makes enough for 2 pans…one for now and one to freeze for later. With a few pantry friendly ingredients and a couple fresh items you can make this for dinner tonight.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 1/3 cups long grain white rice or converted rice (or 1 1/2 cups brown rice)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 (16 oz) can ranch style beans with jalapenos
- 1 (10 oz) can mild red enchilada sauce
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
- 2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- Sour cream and salsa, for serving
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and onion. Use a spoon to break up the meat. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Stir in the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder.
- Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off sauté setting.
- Sprinkle in the rice. Add in the tomato paste, beans and enchilada sauce, don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes for white rice or 25 minutes for brown rice. When time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Spread the mixture into a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Alternately, you can just sprinkle the cheese into the pot and let it melt on the “keep warm” setting.
- Sprinkle the tomatoes and cilantro on top and serve topped with sour cream and salsa. This makes a good filling for tortillas or with Fritos or tortilla chips.
Notes
Freezing instructions: This recipe makes a good freezer meal for later. You can eat half now and save half for later in a square baking dish. Spread the cooked mixture into a baking dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap and then foil. Label and freeze. When ready to cook, thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking. Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove the plastic wrap and foil and replace the foil. Bake, covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle cheese on top and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve topped with tomatoes and cilantro.
- 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 casserole ! As you said, we’ll be freezing some. For us, adding chopped jalapenos really kicked it up a notch. Next time more cheese.
★★★★★
love the idea of jalapenos! Thank you for the 5 stars!
Just so delicious, full of flavours, served it with corn chips and everyone loved it – was a big hit and will be a keeper recipe for gathering because this made a large amount – the only change I did was use my homemade Mexican black beans instead of the ranch beans listed and to compensate I used Monterey Jack Jalapeño cheese on top, everything else the same. I might have to make half recipe for just my husband, he is in love with this dish. Thank you Karen, we use your recipes so much.
★★★★★
So happy to hear this Helene! I love corn chips!
I am truly enjoying your IP & CP recipes. If I could make a request that would be a big benefit for your followers, there are 2. First is at the end or wherever you’d like to include some suggestions on how to serve..ex. There are so many recipes that are just loose meat and vegs, plus some kind of sauce, I get tired of wrapping everything up in a tortilla and over rice or noodles. Please make other serving suggestions. 2nd is to suggest a few side dishes to be served with recipe. These 2 request would be such a plus 👍 Well while I’m asking and you do this on some recipes is to tell us if it’s a good “freezer meal” or not and how to store it. Thank you so much for your time and consideration of the ideas. I have probably close to 50 meal prep and freezer meal friends and we have discussed wishing someone would include those suggestions. Have a blessed weekend and keep those recipes coming. 👍🌻
★★★★★
Most instant pot recipes say 15 minutes for brown rice – why is cook time 25 minutes for brown rice version in this recipe?
I’ve always used a 22 minute pressure cook time for brown rice. This one is 25 because the pot is already warm so it comes to pressure quicker.
Going to make this in my ninja foodi and air fry the cheese on top, so much excite! Happy taco Tuesday friends!
Enjoy!
When is the enchilada sauce added in? Also, the recipe says to add in picante sauce, but it’s not listed in ingrediants, so just need to know how much? Thanks. I’ll be trying this as soon as I get that info. Sounds so delicious!
Thank you for asking! I read this recipe several times trying to figure it out.
I believe that when she says picante sauce that would be the enchilada sauce. At least that is what I plan to do.
yes you are right, I corrected it to read the correct way
I’m sorry about that! I just corrected it to read the right way.
I can’t wait to try this recipe tomorrow night. I’ll be making one for my husband n I and the other will be sent to my daughter n her very young family as she just tested positive for Covid. Three kids under 5. It’s tough taking care of them when you’re not sick. Thank you for the idea because I was trying to figure out what to make for them.
Yay! I hope they enjoy!
My daughter said her husband and kids really enjoyed the casserole. They topped it with a black bean salsa. Thanks again for so many great recipes!
★★★★★
mmmm, black bean salsa sounds so good!
Another elderly person here, but I will not only be making this one, if I like it, I will make SEVERAL. I need quick, “thaw and bake” recipes on hand, now that I’m attending more funerals! My mother had several, but her recipe book was destroyed in a home fire several years ago. I love having another casserole in my “arsenal.”
Oh I’m sorry about the fire. That is so devastating!