Sassy Casserole–Instant Pot ground beef, pasta and salsa casserole with cheese and a crunchy topping.
Sassy Casserole
Today’s recipe is a sassy twist on a ground beef and pasta casserole. With the addition of salsa or picante sauce and green chiles the flavor is kicked up a notch. This recipe has been adapted from Sassy Southwest Stuffed Shells on Taste of Home. The author, Kellie, said, “When I was a child, my mom made this dish quite often. When I came across her recipe on an index card, I quickly copied it. Over the years, I have made very few changes to retain that taste-of-home memory.”
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Lean ground beef–or ground turkey
- Salt and pepper
- Carrot
- Green onions
- Garlic cloves–or 1 tsp garlic powder
- Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Radiatore pasta–or penne, macaroni, bowtie
- Diced green chiles–I used mild
- Tomato sauce
- Picante sauce–or salsa
- Cheddar–I used sharp
- French fried onions
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the ground beef and break it up. Brown for 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Lightly salt and pepper the beef.
Stir in the carrot, green onions and garlic.
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
Evenly sprinkle in the pasta.
Dump the green chiles, tomato sauce and picante sauce 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 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir in half of the cheese.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and then sprinkle the onions on top. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with roasted asparagus and a side of fresh fruit.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 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. The french fried onions will get soggy in the fridge but the rest of the casserole will taste great as leftovers.
- Other recipes you can make with picante sauce are College Casserole and 5-ingredient salsa chicken.
- If you use another type of pasta 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 usually use a 5-10 minute natural pressure release for pasta.
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.
Sassy Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot ground beef, pasta and salsa casserole with cheese and a crunchy topping.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large carrot, shredded
- 3 green onions, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups beef broth
- 8 ounces radiatore pasta
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup picante sauce or salsa
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 1/2 cup french fried onions
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the ground beef and break it up. Brown for 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Lightly salt and pepper the beef.
- Stir in the carrot, green onions and garlic.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Evenly sprinkle in the pasta. Dump the green chiles, tomato sauce and picante sauce 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 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in half of the cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and then sprinkle the onions on top. Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
More Instant Pot Beef Pasta Dishes…
Deceivingly Delicious Casserole
Ground beef, pasta and three cheese casserole that is better than it looks!
North Dakota Casserole
Seasoned ground beef with macaroni, tomatoes and corn. Lots of flavor and not a lot of work. Make it in your Instant Pot or on the stove.
Hot Stuff Casserole
Beefy rigatoni with chili seasonings, cheese, sour cream, Rotel tomatoes and more. A delicious and easy weeknight dinner recipe you can make with the help of your 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.
Kim B. says
Can’t wait to try this one, Karen. Need quick, EZ recipes & I can always find the best ones here. My husband really thanks you, else he’d get real hungry. Ha! Be back with those stars.
Karen says
haha! I’m glad he’s not too hungry 😉
Cheryl says
please post slow. cooker recipes