Rough Day Casserole–when you’ve had a rough day and you need a comforting dinner with hardly any effort try this dump and go Instant Pot cheesy macaroni, chicken and corn supper.
Rough Day Casserole
I was having a rough day and then to top it off I spent a lot of time creating a new recipe and it totally failed. Womp wah. I didn’t have much energy left and it was dinner time. I came up with this comforting, easy dinner and it worked wonderfully. The pot was scraped clean as we all loved it. If you’re having a rough day and need an easy recipe try out this!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or vegetable broth
- Elbow macaroni–or rotini
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Dijon mustard
- Frozen sweet white corn–or a can of corn
- Cooked, chopped chicken–I used frozen costco rotisserie chicken. You can also use 1 pound of raw chicken cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- Velveeta cheese–or a can of condensed cheese soup
- Milk
Steps
Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the pasta, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dijon mustard, corn and chicken. Place the Velveeta on top of the chicken.
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. Add a bit of milk, if needed to loosen up. I used 3 Tbsp of milk.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with steamed or roasted broccoli.
- With your leftover Velveeta make underground chicken casserole or rotel dip.
- 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. Keep the same pressure cooking time.
- 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 you can add in a bag of frozen broccoli or another vegetable when you add in the chicken. If you like peas stir them in after the pressure cooking time is over or they’ll get too mushy.
- You can easily make this without chicken. Another optional is to make it with sliced up smoked sausage or hot dogs or even tuna fish.
More Instant Pot Comfort Foods…
Instant Pot Cafeteria Noodles
Buttered egg noodles kicked up a notch! A super fast and easy recipe for classic comfort food.
Grandma’s Comforting Casserole
Grandma’s chicken, gravy, homemade noodles and mashed potatoes is a good, old-fashioned, comforting dinner that you can make all parts of in your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Comfort Casserole
A creamy rice dish with chicken, green beans and mushrooms.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken and Dumplings
The tastiest, easiest, most addictive chicken and dumplings ever! The addition of bacon, ranch dressing mix and cheddar bring this dish to a whole new level.
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.
Rough Day Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
When you’ve had a rough day and you need a comforting dinner with hardly any effort try this Instant Pot cheesy macaroni, chicken and corn supper.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni (or rotini)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 cup frozen sweet white corn (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (or 1 pound of raw chicken cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
- 8 ounces Velveeta cheese
- Milk, to thin out, if needed
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the pasta, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dijon mustard, corn and chicken. Place the Velveeta on top of the chicken.
- 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. Add a bit of milk, if needed to loosen up. I used 3 Tbsp of milk. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you’d like you can add in a bag of frozen broccoli or another vegetable when you add in the chicken.
- 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.
If I have raw chicken, do I cook it first before adding it to my instapot?
you can add in the raw chicken before pressure cooking if it is cut up into 1/2 inch cubes. It will cook along with the pasta.
So if fixing on stove, leave the chicken broth out all together?
right.
is the pasta cooked ?
this Janet wants to know if this chicken is cooked 😂
Hi Janet 🙂
the chicken was cooked rotisserie chicken
It’s uncooked pasta that you will add into the pot
This is a great recipe. The Velveeta was salty and didn’t need any more salt. But I put the 3 cheese blend in it the next time and seared my chicken in butter and a touch of oil it was very good. I am going to try the slow cooker version next. Thanks for all your ideas and you are the best!!
Thanks Gloria! Glad you liked it 🙂
This recipe sounds tasty, quick and easy. What other cheese could I substitute for Velveeta? It’s one processed food refue to eat.
You could stir in shredded cheddar after the pasta is done cooking. I would use cheese shredded off the block so it melts better than pre-shredded cheese.
is there a recipe using a crockpot?
I haven’t tried this in the crockpot but if I did this is how I would try it:
Add broth, pasta, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dijon mustard, corn, chicken and Velveeta into crockpot.
Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours.
Stir. Add a bit of milk, if needed to loosen up. Serve and enjoy!
thank was curious about the times using a crock pot
I’d also like to know if this could be done in the slow cooker?
I haven’t tried this in the crockpot but if I did this is how I would try it:
Add broth, pasta, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dijon mustard, corn, chicken and Velveeta into crockpot.
Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours.
Stir. Add a bit of milk, if needed to loosen up. Serve and enjoy!
I don’t have a instant pot, and I don’t like lugging my Crock-Pot out to cook for two people. can I make this any other way?
You could cook this on the stovetop.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain it. Then stir in the remaining ingredients (not the chicken broth). Should be great!
so to make this on stove, I won’t use chicken broth at all?
right
Hey, Karen! So very sorry about your “no good, very bad, rotten bummer day” & the flopped new recipe. Good thing you’re a Kitchen Queen & came up with another one that’s a winner!! Hubby is a ‘noodle nut’ & he will love this one. Be back with stars.
Thanks Kim!! Luckily this recipe turned out 🙂
Hello, this recipe looks very good, however I don’t have an instant pot. I do have a crockpot and wondered if I used it, how long on Lowe cook and high cook? Thanks very much
I haven’t tried this in the crockpot but if I did this is how I would try it:
Add broth, pasta, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dijon mustard, corn, chicken and Velveeta into crockpot.
Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours.
Stir. Add a bit of milk, if needed to loosen up. Serve and enjoy!