Island Park Casserole

Island Park Casserole–-rice, chicken, picante sauce and pinto beans made fast and easy in your Instant Pot. A fast and easy weeknight dinner.

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Island Park Casserole

When we were in Island Park at our cabin this summer we didn’t go to the grocery store very often. There isn’t anything very close so we like to keep the kitchen stocked with basics. This recipe is one of those basic recipes that we always had the ingredients on hand to make. Rice, frozen chicken, beans, salsa or picante sauce and cheese (we always keep a bag of shredded cheese in the freezer). It is such an easy-to-make dinner too!

This is a perfect “recovery” food according to my son. He is into working out and lifting weights and is always looking for food with protein (chicken) and healthy carbs (brown rice). We had leftovers and he was excited to have this as an after the gym “snack” for a few days.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
• Brown rice–see notes section if you’d like to use another type of rice
• Garlic salt
• Cumin
• Lime juice
• Frozen chicken breasts–or thighs
• Picante sauce–I used mild. Or salsa.
• Pinto beans–or black beans or chili beans
• Sour cream–or plain yogurt. You can leave out the sour cream, if you prefer.
• Tomato
• Cheddar cheese–or colby jack cheese
• Cilantro
• Tortilla chips–or Fritos. Lately I’ve been loving the Lightly Seasoned Don Julio Tortilla Chips.

Steps

Add broth into bottom of Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the rice, garlic salt, cumin and lime juice. Place the chicken on top. Dump half of the picante sauce on top of the chicken. Save the other half for later. 

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Place chicken on a cutting board and shred or chop. 

Stir the chicken, remaining picante sauce, pinto beans, sour cream, tomato and cheese into Instant Pot. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve topped with some cilantro and some chips. 

Notes/Tips

• Serve with tortilla chips. You can also roll this up in a tortilla (like a burrito filling). Try topping with some sliced avocado and pico de gallo.
• This recipe can be gluten-free if you use gluten-free tortilla chips.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot. This recipe can easily be halved or doubled.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• If you’d like to use another type of rice like long grain white rice, you can. Just adjust the cooking time and use chicken that will cook at the same rate as the rice. For example, I usually cook long grain white rice for 3-5 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. Chicken tenderloins (or chicken cut into that size) will cook perfectly in that time range. If you use frozen chicken breasts they won’t cook at the same rate as white rice so you’ll have to cut it up.
• We’ve made this recipe plenty of times without the sour cream. It is good either way!
• Other recipes you can make with picante sauce are school night casserole and Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Salsa Pasta.

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*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.