Instant Pot Kathy’s Country Chicken Casserole–pasta, chicken and broccoli in a flavorful sauce and topped with french fried onions.

Instant Pot Kathy’s Country Chicken Casserole
This dinner is super flavorful! Honestly, I hardly eat seconds of any dinner I make myself. But this dish I had seconds and so did both of my kids. We all agreed it had amazing flavor and the pasta, chicken and broccoli was perfectly cooked.
I got the idea for this recipe from Food.com and changed it up to make it my own and make it into an Instant Pot recipe.
You’re going to love how it’s a one pot meal (pasta, broccoli, chicken all in one dish). And you’re going to love how it’s a dump and go dinner as well! No sautéing and a super easy clean up!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Bay leaf–fresh or dried
- Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Rotini pasta–or penne or macaroni (use a 4 minute pressure cook time)
- Chicken breast–or chicken thighs
- Celery salt
- Poultry seasoning
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Worcestershire sauce
- Butter
- Steamable frozen broccoli florets–or you can use another vegetable that you like
- Heavy cream–or half and half, 4 ounces of cream cheese, or ½ cup of sour cream
- Shredded mozzarella cheese–or another type of cheese like cheddar
- Crispy fried onions–like the kind you put on green bean casserole. Usually I find them in the aisle with the green beans.
Steps
Pour water into Instant Pot. Add in the bay leaf and the chicken base. Sprinkle in the pasta. Dump the chicken evenly over the pasta. Sprinkle the chicken with the celery salt, poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Add in the Worcestershire and butter.

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 the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Steam the broccoli in the microwave according to package directions (you can also cook the broccoli on the stove, if you prefer). Stir in the broccoli.

Add in cream and mozzarella into the Instant Pot. Turn off Instant Pot.

Sprinkle the crispy fried onions on top.

Use air fryer lid for 2 minutes at 300 degrees to crisp up the top.

Scoop onto plates or into bowls and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- When you cut the chicken breasts make sure to slice across the grain. Then cut each of those wider strips crosswise into bite size cubes. All muscle has a grain to it. The placement of your knife to this grain will determine the length of the muscle fibers in an individual slice of meat, which in turn will have a profound effect on how tender or tough that meat is.
- If you’d like a more “broccoli soup” type of feel with how the broccoli is cooked then you can add it into the pot on top of the chicken. It will be more of a pureed type of broccoli than individual al dente florets.
- Adaptation: try another type of vegetable instead of broccoli. Steam a bag of mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans) and use in the place of broccoli.
- Serve with garlic bread.
- I used my Duo Crisp 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- If you don’t have an air fryer lid you can finish this dish off under your oven’s broiler. Scrape the pasta mixture into a 9×9 inch pan and sprinkle the crispy onions on top. Broil for 2 minutes, watching closely so that it doesn’t burn.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The crispy fried onions will be soggy but the rest of the dish will taste great.
- Other recipes you can make with the other half of your bag of rotini pasta are Instant Pot Ultimate Chicken Casserole and Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Meatball Casserole.

More Instant Pot Recipes with Broccoli…
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Reminiscent of Panera Bread’s broccoli cheddar soup this pressure cooker version has chopped broccoli, shredded carrots and celery simmered in a velvety smooth cheese sauce. I believe this version is just as good or better than you could order at any restaurant! Try it for dinner this week.
Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli Sausage Casserole
Fresh broccoli, melty cheese, smoked sausage, a homemade creamy sauce and rice make this casserole the quintessential comfort food. An easy Instant Pot recipe with no browning or sauteing steps.
Cracker Barrell Broccoli Cheddar Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)
An Instant Pot or Crockpot take on the Cracker Barrel favorite! It’s got chicken, cheese, broccoli, creamy sauce and Ritz cracker topping.
Instant Pot Broccoli Alfredo
A one pot meal of fettuccine noodles, homemade alfredo sauce and fresh broccoli florets. The fastest and easiest way to make fettuccine alfredo with broccoli!
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 Kathy’s Country Chicken Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Pasta, chicken and broccoli in a flavorful sauce and topped with french fried onions.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Tbsp Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- 8 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
- 12–16 ounces of chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper (this dish is quite peppery, you can reduce pepper to 1/2 tsp if you’d like)
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 (12 oz) package steamable frozen broccoli florets
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup crispy fried onions
Instructions
- Pour water into Instant Pot. Add in the bay leaf and the chicken base. Sprinkle in the pasta. Dump the chicken evenly over the pasta. Sprinkle the chicken with the celery salt, poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Add in the Worcestershire and butter.
- 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 the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Steam the broccoli in the microwave according to package directions.
- Stir the broccoli, cream and mozzarella into the Instant Pot. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle the crispy fried onions on top. Use air fryer lid for 2 minutes at 300 degrees to crisp up the top.
- Scoop onto plates or into bowls and enjoy!
- Category: Chicken
- 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.
For me, it was just OK. I thought it was dry. It could have used some Alfredo sauce. I will not be making this again.
★★★
I have a 6qt. Family coming to town and the week will be busy. Can I double the recipe in my size pot? Or maybe 1.5x that would be enough for 6(3 are men with good appetites)
Small kitchen so I am planning a simple quick meals. Tx
I think you could double it in the 6 quart. For sure you could 1.5 times the recipe.
Would it work to leave the pasta out entirely and keep the cooking time and everything else as written?
The broth is there to cook the pasta so you’ll be left with a soup I’m afraid.