Instant Pot Preacher’s Casserole—time saving, inexpensive hamburger and macaroni casserole that feeds a crowd or a congregation.

Instant Pot Preacher’s Casserole
This Instant Pot preacher’s casserole recipe is perfect for a church potluck or for a weeknight dinner. It combines elbow macaroni noodles, cheese and ground beef for a tasty, inexpensive meal.
- Potluck tip: Make the recipe in the Instant Pot and then switch the pot to the keep warm setting until everyone is ready to eat. Keep the lid on top so that it doesn’t dry out.
- Doubling up: For a family of 4 like mine I did a scaled down version of the original large recipe but you can easily double this recipe to feed about 10 people.
- Tomato Soup: I know what you’re thinking. Condensed tomato soup? Yes the answer is yes. It gives a unique flavor to this recipe. But you must use Campbells brand. Don’t use the store brand. There is a big difference in the taste. Most generic items are interchangeable but with tomato soup you just have to buy the name brand. If you don’t want to use tomato soup I put a substitution idea for you in the recipe card below.
- Bake it or not: If you prefer the bubbly, baked taste of casseroles you can finish the casserole off in the oven. The Instant Pot will still save you a couple steps by letting you cook the pasta and ground beef in the same pot. And you don’t have to worry about the pasta water boiling over.
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Heavenly Casserole
Instant Pot Perfected Parmesan Garlic Pasta
Instant Pot Amish Country Casserole

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Instant Pot Preacher’s Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Time saving, inexpensive hamburger and macaroni casserole that feeds a crowd or a congregation.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 ribs of celery, diced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 3/4 cups beef or chicken broth
- 8 oz uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 (10.75 oz) can Campbell’s condensed tomato soup (or 8 ounces tomato sauce, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp teaspoon salt, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce)
- 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (you can also use shredded cheddar)
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion and celery. Let the beef brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off any excess grease.
- Stir in the chili powder, seasoned salt and garlic powder. Add in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Cancel the sauté setting.
- Sprinkle the macaroni into the pot over the broth and meat. Dump the tomato soup on top. Don’t stir.
- 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 pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Sprinkle the cheese on top and serve. (You can also pour the mixture into a square baking dish and sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 10 minutes at 350° F.)
Notes
Double this recipe to serve a larger group. Double all ingredients and keep the same pressure cooking time.
- 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.
When I saw this recipe I knew I needed to make it. Not only is it quick and easy to make, but it brought out my inner child. One of my favorite memories was going to my grandmother’s and eating yummy meals. She often made a dish very similar to this. Unfortunately I never really learned how to make it since she died when I was young. I omitted the celery and cheese and tossed in a can of kidney beans instead (because I wanted to get it closer to what I remembered). The taste was wonderful. I would have liked a bit more tomato so next time I will either add tomato paste or even just another can of tomato soup.
Thank you for posting the recipe and directions. My inner child is smiling 😁
How sweet. I love hearing this. Isn’t it interesting how food can bring back such great memories?
Instead of pooping it in the oven, can you top it off with the air fryer lid? If so, how would you do it? K
Umm. Popping, not pooping.
I would do 350 degrees for 5 minutes with the air fryer lid 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I veganised it by using a mix of cooked lentils and kidney beans, Massell vegan beef stock and a nutritional yeast/homemade “parmesan” on top. Mixed some silverbeet through after cooking too. Loved it and it’ll be a regular here. Thank you.
★★★★
Thanks Louisa! I saw your post on Instagram! Thanks for sharing the love.
Made it for dinner tonight and it hit the spot. I added diced carrots & minced garlic instead of powder.
Thanks Pam! Good idea on the carrots!
I have 3 appliances that I purchased spicifically so I don’t have to turn my oven on during the summer! If I can’t complete the dish in one of these appliances I don’t want to make it.
This recipe does sound delicious though!
★★★★★
Yep summer gets so hot! IP and crockpot are lifesavers!
Very tasty & very easy. This one is being tagged as something I can make in our RV when we travel.
In your step-by-step directions, I think you swapped photos between steps 6 & 7.
★★★★★
Yes this will be a good RV recipe!