Teenage Boy Casserole–Instant Pot beefy penne pasta with fire roasted tomatoes and cheese. A hearty meal that your teens will gobble up!

Teenage Boy Casserole
This week I’m taking my 15 year old son and two of his friends to the cabin for a few days. They are huge eaters, as you can imagine, so I’m excited to serve up hearty dishes like this one. This dish is quick and easy and really yummy!
Start out by browning some ground beef and onion. Season it up. Then dump in the rest of the ingredients and press start! After the pressure cooking time is up you just stir in some cheese and you’re ready to serve up some hungry kids. This dish will probably feed 3 hungry teenagers (or 6 normal size servings).
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Ground beef–I used 90/10 ground beef. You can also use ground turkey or ground sausage. If you use sausage don’t use the salt.
- Onion–yellow or white
- Garlic powder–or 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Penne pasta–or macaroni
- Fire roasted tomatoes–or petite diced tomatoes
- Dijon mustard
- Yellow bell pepper–or orange or red bell pepper
- Sharp cheddar cheese–or colby jack or pepper jack
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.

Stir in the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.

Evenly dump in the penne. Dump tomatoes, mustard and yellow pepper on the 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 the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir well. Stir in the cheese.

Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- Serve with a green salad and some watermelon or other fresh fruit.
- 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 by doubling all ingredients and keeping the cooking time the same.
- 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 dijon mustard are Dude Catching Chicken and Instant Pot Coca Cola Chicken.

More Instant Pot Penne Pasta Recipes…
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.
Instant Pot Penne in Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce
Make this Instant Pot Penne in Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce for a quick and easy weeknight meal. With options to prepare it with andouille sausage or meatless you can make everyone happy.Â
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.


Teenage Boy Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot beefy penne pasta with fire roasted tomatoes and cheese. A hearty meal that your teens will gobble up!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- 1 (15 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onion. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Stir in the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Evenly dump in the penne. Dump tomatoes, mustard and yellow pepper on the 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 the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Stir in the cheese. Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Beef
- 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.
When cooking this recipe on the stove, do you have to drain the meat? I didn’t.
★★★★★
it depends. If the meat is very greasy then I would. But if you’re using like 90/10 meat then I wouldn’t worry about it.
Although I like the taste of Dijon mustard, it overpowers every other ingredient in this recipe. Like the ease of the dish but not a repeat.
★★
looks good, the name tho
★★★★
Can this be adjusted for a crockpot/slow cooker? Looks great!
no, sorry. This isn’t a good fit for the slow cooker. you could make it on the stove though…see my answer in another comment about how.
Can I make this dish in my crockpot/slow cooker?
No sorry not this one!
To cut carbs without altering the flavor would brown rice, or cauliflower rice, or Zoodles work to replace the penne pasta? Br rice would take a 22 minute cook time. How about the cauliflower rice or Zoodles?
I think you could use one of those options however I wouldn’t pressure cook them because they cook very quickly and would get mushy. I might do this on the stovetop instead. Brown the meat and onions and then add in the peppers and cauliflower rice and seasonings. Cook through then add in the tomatoes, dijon and cheese and warm through. No broth needed.