Take Me Back Casserole–cheesy beef and macaroni casserole with pickles made in your Instant Pot.
Take Me Back Casserole
This casserole reminds me of a cross between “goulash” that my mom used to make and a cheeseburger with pickles. It takes me back to childhood a bit! I think you’ll love the flavor in this easy beefy cheesy pasta dish. My kids ate and ate and didn’t want to save any for Greg! Luckily, I stopped them in time.
This dish uses easy ingredients you probably already have on hand. It is a great dinner for any night of the week. Try adding in some veg if you’d like (a bit of corn, a cup of shredded cabbage, peas, etc). You can easily make it your own. Enjoy!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Lean ground beef–I used 93/7. You can also use ground turkey.
- Onion–yellow or white
- Garlic cloves
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Worcestershire sauce
- Red wine vinegar
- Beef broth
- Brown sugar
- Elbow macaroni–or cavatappi, penne
- Pasta sauce–I like Mezzetta brand
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Dill pickles
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the diced onion. Brown for 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire and vinegar. Stir.
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
Sprinkle in the macaroni. Pour the sauce over the top of the pasta. Don’t stir.
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 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir. Stir in the cheddar and pickles.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a green salad or roasted green beans.
- 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.
- Try using another type of pasta like rotini, penne or cavatappi (same cooking time) for egg noodles use a 1 minute pressure cook time.
- Other recipes you can make with pickles are Dill Pickle Pasta Salad and What’s the Dill 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.
Take Me Back Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Cheesy beef and macaroni casserole with pickles made in your Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni
- 1 (24 oz) can pasta sauce
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup diced dill pickles
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the diced onion. Brown for 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, vinegar and brown sugar. Stir.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle in the macaroni. Pour the sauce over the top of the pasta. Don’t stir.
- 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 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir. Stir in the cheddar and pickles.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
More Instant Pot beef pasta recipes…
Cruncheroni Casserole
An easy Instant Pot pasta dinner with ground beef, Rotel tomatoes, cheddar and crispy fried onions.
Lionel’s Casserole
Penne pasta with ground beef and vegetables in a creamy sauce. An easy, weeknight recipe made fast in the Instant Pot.
Calm Down Casserole
An easy recipe for Instant Pot stroganoff with beef stew meat, mushrooms, egg noodles and sour cream.
Old Fashioned Company Casserole
Layers of seasoned ground beef, noodles, marinara sauce and sour cream and cottage cheese topped with melty mozzarella cheese. This dish is made with the help of the 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 was very good,. ThPickles were a surprise ingredient, but they added a lot. I didn’t add the brown sugar because the recipe didn’t say when to add it. I was afraid it might have been a mistake?
oops that was an error. I just added that into the recipe card!
family loved it
Thanks Rissa!
Made this for dinner tonight. I ended up skipping the brown sugar and added shredded mozzarella as well. It came out a bit too saucy, the extra cheese was definitely needed. But it was savory, tangy, hearty, and delicious. My husband said “it slaps” so it’s going in his favorites. Thanks for the recipe!
Love that “it slaps”! haha!