Instant Pot Polish Casserole–penne pasta with polish sausage, sauerkraut and a creamy sauce. A fast and easy recipe that feeds a crowd and tastes great!

Instant Pot Polish Casserole
The first sound out of my son’s mouth was “mmmmmmm” after he took a bite of this! The pasta, sausage and sauerkraut is a delicious combination. And the recipe comes together super quickly. This recipe makes a lot (enough for 8) so if you’re serving a small amount of people it’s best to save half for today and then freeze half for another day.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Olive oil–or another type of oil for frying the sausage
- Polish sausage–I used the Private Selection brand at Smith’s. Feel free to use kielbasa.
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Penne–or another type of pasta like ziti or bowties
- Sauerkraut–make sure to rinse well or else it will be a little too salty
- Dijon mustard
- Minced garlic
- Cream of mushroom soup–or another cream of soup like cream of chicken or celery. You can also use 4 ounces of cream cheese.
Steps
- Brown the sausage: Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the sausage and brown for a minute or so on each side.
- Deglaze the pot: Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Layer in the ingredients: Dump in the penne, sauerkraut, Dijon, garlic and cream of mushroom soup, in that order without stirring.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Serve: Stir well. Serve and enjoy. Top with a bit of shredded Swiss cheese, if desired.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with salad or roasted broccoli.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 8 quart pot. Halve the recipe in the 3 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with sauerkraut are Instant Pot Sloppy Ottos and Instant Pot Reuben Casserole.
- Recipe adapted from a stove/oven recipe on Taste of Home.

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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 Polish Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Penne pasta with polish sausage, sauerkraut and a creamy sauce. A fast and easy recipe that feeds a crowd and tastes great!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 1 (12 oz) package polish sausage, sliced into quarter inch rounds
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (16 oz) box penne
- 1 (16 oz) jar sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the sausage and brown for a minute or so on each side.
- Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Dump in the penne, sauerkraut, Dijon, garlic and cream of mushroom soup, in that order without stirring.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Serve and enjoy. Top with a bit of shredded Swiss cheese, if desired.
Notes
If you’re a meat lover double the amount of sausage!
- Category: Pasta
- 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.
i want to let everyone know of a better cream. soup to use, that is seldom mentioned. try cream of celery soup instead
,, it works wonderfully in many of the recipesl
Thanks! Good tip!
5/25/23 – This recipe looked interesting and I like sauerkraut so I tried it. It is quite good!
It’s a quick & easy recipe that’s ready within 30 minutes. I made the mistake of not rinsing the sauerkraut before cooking and the taste was a little too sour so I added about ¼ cup of fresh shredded Jarlsberg (Swiss) cheese. Wonderful. I used Holmes small batch smoked Kielbasa.
This recipe is a good starter recipe and could easily be modified to substitute various frozen vegetables for the sauerkraut and even substitute 1 lb ground sautéed sausage for the kielbasa. If you substitute frozen veggies, I would reduce the mustard to 1 tablespoon or substitute Mayonnaise or 4oz cream cheese for the mustard.
★★★★★
Thanks Mike! Good tips 🙂
a different recipe. my husband was thrilled it wasn’t chicken & my mom loved the saurkraut twist.
I halved the recipe. used cavatuppi pasta & added some diced ham. it was perfect & no leftovers from 3 people.
thanks.
★★★★★
Good idea on the diced ham! I love that idea!
I love the addition of Ham my ex and I used to make this in a big pot on the stove top with wide egg noodles instead of penne. But I can’t eat sausage anymore. Now you have given me the idea to use ham, saukraut, penne and mushroom soup, I sneak in a can or fresh mushrooms when I can just leave them big enough for my husband to pick out. He no like mushrooms. Thank you again. And thanks for the air fryer pressure cooker recipe.
I bet you can sauté bacon with the sausage and it will be similar to lazy pierogi! (well, even better since no sausage in lazy pierogi)
That is a great idea!
Is the penne cooked beforehand?
No. Dry right from the box. And don’t stir!
no it goes in uncooked
I’m another one that doesn’t like mushrooms so I use cream if chicken –
I recently bought a case of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup from Costco.
Grew up in 50’s & 60’s…it was a staple.
When I got home, we noticed that it contains…surprise, surprise… MSG.
Next trip to Costco the first thing I did was…return the case of soup.
Even the lady behind the counter was surprised at the MSG.
Hi, just wanted to let you know that mushrooms naturally contain msg. That’s the umami or savory flavor you hear about. There are many foods that naturally contain msg, like tomatoes and cheese. There isn’t actually anything wrong with msg, but everyone has a personal preference.
have you tried other cream soup in place of the cream of mushroom soup? I’m not fond of the mushrooms so I usually don’t keep on hand. I love sausage so I will probably double the meat. As ways love your recipes. keep up the great work you do for us.
Elaine Smith
I bet cream of chicken would be great.