School Night Casserole–Instant Pot noodle casserole with Italian sausage, pepperoni, cabbage, mushrooms and marinara sauce.

Instant Pot School Night Casserole
School nights can be a whirlwind of activity, from homework to extracurricular activities, leaving little time to prepare a hearty and wholesome dinner. That’s where the school night casserole and the Instant Pot come to the rescue! This easy-to-make dish is not only a time-saver (only has a 1 minute pressure cooking time) but also a crowd-pleaser that will leave your family satisfied and ready for the next day.
The Italian sausage, pepperoni and mozzarella give a bit of a pizza flare to this dish plus lots of flavor. The cabbage and mushrooms add in some much needed (but hidden) vegetables. You’ll love this easy pasta dish, it has so much flavor! If you’re lucky you’ll have leftovers for lunch the next day.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Ground Italian sausage–mild or hot
- Onion–yellow or white
- Mushrooms–white or baby bella
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Cabbage–green cabbage
- Egg noodles–or another type of pasta like penne or rotini
- Marinara sauce–or spaghetti sauce
- Pace picante sauce–I use mild
- Pepperoni–or salami
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the sausage and break it up. Add in the onions and mushrooms. Brown for about 5 minutes.

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

Add in the egg noodles.

Then dump the cabbage, marinara and picante sauce over the top of the noodles.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir in the pepperoni and cheeses.

Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- Serve with a green salad and garlic bread.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot. For the 3 quart pot you’ll need to cut the recipe in half.
- 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 cabbage are Back In My Day Bake and Instant Pot Dolly Parton Diet Soup.
- Try swapping out Italian sausage and use sliced smoked sausage instead.
- Try using chopped spinach in the place of cabbage.
- Add in a diced green bell pepper to add in more pizza flavor.
- If you decide to use a different type of pasta you will probably need to increase the pressure cooking time. I take the number on the back of the box, divide by 2 and subtract 2 minutes.

More Instant Pot Egg Noodle Dishes…
Instant Pot Amish Beef Noodles
Tender bites of roast with mushrooms and egg noodles. A homey, comforting dish.
Instant Pot Cafeteria Noodles
Buttered egg noodles kicked up a notch! A super fast and easy recipe for classic comfort food.
“Don’t Touch!” Casserole
Seasoned ground beef, cabbage and egg noodle casserole with melty cheese on top.
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.


Instant Pot School Night Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot noodle casserole with Italian sausage, pepperoni, cabbage, mushrooms and marinara sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1 cup diced onion
- 4 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 2 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped cabbage
- 8 ounces egg noodles
- 1 (24 oz) jar marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup Pace picante sauce (I use mild)
- 1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the sausage and break it up. Add in the onions and mushrooms. Brown for about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in the egg noodles. Then dump the cabbage, marinara and picante sauce over the top of the noodles.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the pepperoni and cheeses.
- 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.
This is so simple to prepare and DELICIOUS! I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out amazing. The next time I make this, I am going to add sliced black olives to add to the pizza vibe. 😀 Thank you!!!
★★★★★
totally! Love that idea!
Can it be made in the slow cooker? If you cook the noddles separate, it looks like once the cabbage is soft from cooking in the crockpot in the marinara sauce, than it is possible to convert this to a slow cooker.
oh yeah, you could totally do that. Do you have a slow cooker that has the browning function? If not you’d need to brown the sausage on the stove beforehand.
I liked it. Very easy. I could probably leave out the cabbage next time.
★★★★
Thanks Fe Fe!