Kentucky Casserole–creamy cheesy penne pasta with bacon, tomatoes and turkey or chicken. This is an easy dump-and-go Instant Pot recipe!

Kentucky Casserole
The Kentucky hot brown sandwich is a favorite in Louisville. It has turkey, bacon, a creamy sauce and tomatoes. Today’s recipe takes those flavors and puts them all together in an easy dump and go one pot Instant Pot recipe.
With just some basic ingredients you’ll be surprised at how flavorful this dish is! I loved it! I am sad that my daughter isn’t home because I know she would looove it. I’ll have to share the recipe with her!
This recipe is adapted from Dump-and-Bake Kentucky Hot Brown Casserole by The Seasoned Mom.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Penne pasta–or rotini
- Cooked, chopped turkey or chicken–I used rotisserie chicken
- Garlic cloves–or 1 tsp garlic powder
- Diced tomatoes–you only need half a can for this recipe, I freeze the leftovers. You can also just throw the whole can in for an extra tomato-y dish.
- Bertolli garlic alfredo sauce–or another brand that you enjoy
- Bacon–I cooked mine in the air fryer (390 degrees for 5 minutes on each side). You can also use packaged bacon crumbles.
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese–shredded or grated
Steps
Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the penne.

Dump in the turkey/chicken, garlic, tomatoes and alfredo sauce. Don’t stir.

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 pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir in the bacon.

Sprinkle the cheese on top

(I use an air fryer lid to melt the cheese and brown up the top for 3 minutes at 350 degrees).

Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- Serve with broccoli (steamed or roasted) and garlic bread or breadsticks.
- You can use another short cut pasta for this recipe like cavatappi, rotini, macaroni, ziti, etc. You may need to adjust the cooking time. Here is the formula: look at the back of the box of pasta and see how many minutes it says to boil the pasta. If it’s 10 minutes you divide that number by 2 (=5) and then subtract 2 minutes. So you would pressure cook for 3 minutes.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot. You can easily double this recipe (use a 2 minute pressure cook time instead of 3 minute).
- 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 mozzarella are Chicken Georgia and Company Beef Casserole.

More Instant Pot Penne Recipes…
Teenage Boy Casserole
Instant Pot beefy penne pasta with fire roasted tomatoes and cheese. A hearty meal that your teens will gobble up!
Instant Pot Creamy Beef and Penne
Ground beef, garlic, penne pasta, fire roasted tomatoes, cream cheese, spinach and pine nuts cooked quickly and in one pot, your Instant Pot. An amazing pasta dish that your whole family will love!
Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne
Saucy penne pasta with ground turkey, tomatoes, green chiles, cumin, cream cheese and spinach. Make it fast in the electric pressure cooker.
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.


Kentucky Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Creamy cheesy penne pasta with bacon, tomatoes and turkey or chicken. This is an easy dump-and-go Instant Pot recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- 2 cups cooked, chopped turkey or chicken
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 of a can of diced tomatoes (I freeze the leftovers)
- 1 (15 oz) jar Bertolli garlic alfredo sauce
- 1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon (5–6 pieces)
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 Tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the penne. Dump in the turkey/chicken, garlic, tomatoes and alfredo sauce. Don’t stir.
- 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 pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the bacon. Sprinkle the cheese on top and let melt (I use an air fryer lid to melt the cheese and brown up the top for 3 minutes at 350 degrees).
- Serve and enjoy!
- 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.
Can these recipes be adapted for a crock pot ?
Loved it! Highly recommend! Substituted small shell pasta (that’s what I had) and a full 10oz can of mild Ro-tel tomatoes. I stirred in the cheese and served. Your site is definitely my go to for dinner.
★★★★★
Rotel sounds great!! Thanks for the 5 stars Marilee 🙂
Definitely going to make this!
★★★★★
Enjoy!
how big is the can of diced tomatoes that you used half of?
sorry about that it was a 14.5 ounce can
I don’t have an Instant Pot. How would I cook this in a slow cooker? It looks delicious!
I would like to know, if you don’t have an Insta pot, what can you use for an alternative?
I adapted the original recipe that was made in the oven. I would try that recipe! Here it is: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-kentucky-hot-brown-casserole/
maybe alternate cooking instructions for those who don’t have an instant pot??
I adapted the original recipe that was made in the oven. I would try that recipe! Here it is: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-kentucky-hot-brown-casserole/