Kelly’s Casserole

Kelly’s Casserole–rice with mushrooms and creamy lentils made fast in the Instant Pot. A healthy, one pot dish.

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Kelly’s Casserole

Today’s recipe is a creamy rice dish. It’s quite healthy and I loved it. I love lentils and so I tried out red lentils (pink, orange…all the same). Red lentils cook very quickly and in this dish come out very creamy. They, in fact, are not discernable in the final product. It just feels like a creamy rice with carrots and mushrooms. The lentils add protein and fiber. You can keep this dish meatless or you can try adding in some rotisserie chicken. Enjoy! This recipe has been adapted from Kelly’s herbed lentils and rice casserole.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Olive oil–or canola, vegetable oil
• Onion–yellow, white
• Mushrooms
• Water
• Better than Bouillon chicken base–or vegetable base
• Converted rice
• Red lentils–also known as pink or orange lentils. I buy in the bulk section at Winco.
• Carrot
• Italian seasoning
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and mushrooms. Saute for 4 minutes.

Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. 

Stir in the better than bouillon. 

Sprinkle in the rice and lentils. Add in the carrot, Italian seasoning and a pinch of salt and pepper. 

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 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid. 

Stir gently. Serve topped with a bit of parmesan cheese.

Notes/Tips

• Serve as a side dish to chicken or pork. This dish can also be served as the meatless main dish. Serve alongside a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette.
• You can add a cup of cooked chopped rotisserie chicken into the Instant Pot.
• Try stirring in a half cup of cooked peas into the dish after pressure cooking. Or another option is to stir in some chopped spinach.
• If you’d like to use brown lentils instead of the red lentils you can. They will stay more intact.
• This recipe is gluten free.
• This recipe can be dairy free if you leave out the parmesan cheese.
• What is converted/parboiled rice? Don’t confuse converted rice (or sometimes it is called parboiled rice) with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. Sometimes I buy it at Winco in the bulk section. I have also found it in the orange box (Ben’s brand) next to other rices.
• I used my 3 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 6 or 8 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 mushrooms are Zicken Chicken and Slow Cooker Chicken Mushroom Tortellini Soup.

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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*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.