That Casserole

That Casserole–seasoned ground beef with protein pasta, tomato sauce, cream cheese, cheddar and green onions. An easy high protein Instant Pot meal.

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That Casserole

I’m so excited to tell you about a new (to me anyway) pasta. I have had it in my pantry for a month or two but hadn’t tried it out yet because I was skeptical. The pasta is made with chickpeas (don’t click out). So that makes the pasta high in protein and in fiber. I used the rotini in this recipe and I swear I couldn’t tell the difference between “normal” pasta and this Banza chickpea pasta. I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting it to taste “normal”. Anyway, if you’re looking for ways to get more fiber and more protein try swapping out regular pasta and using Banza pasta instead. You can find it at your grocery store in an orange box. I found it at Winco (even though Winco doesn’t have a huge variety of brands). It is at a good price point too. It wasn’t that much more expensive than normal pasta. No, this isn’t a sponsored post I’m just that excited about this product.

I used the pasta in a typical ground beef and pasta recipe and it worked great. It does use less time to cook (only 2 minutes with a 4 minute NPR). This was a hearty meal (36 grams of protein!) that kept me full and satisfied. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from That Casserole on Food.com.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–or ground turkey
• Garlic salt
• Black pepper
• Italian seasoning
• Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon beef base
• Banza* rotini chickpea pasta–this is in an orange box by the other pastas
• Tomato sauce
• Cream cheese
• Cheddar cheese–or pepper jack, monterey jack
• Green 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. Stir in the garlic salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

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

Sprinkle in the pasta. Dump the tomato sauce evenly over pasta. Add in the cream cheese. Don’t stir.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 2 minutes. When time is up let the pressure release naturally for 4 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir.

Sprinkle the cheese on top and let it melt.

Sprinkle with green onions. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with a green salad and italian salad dressing. We like the olive garden italian dressing.
• I used my 3 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 6 or 8 quart pot.
• This recipe can be halved or doubled.
• This recipe is gluten free as long as you use Banza pasta.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Another cut of banza pasta can be used with this recipe. If the box says 5-7 minutes cook 2 minutes high pressure with a 4 minute natural pressure release. If the box says 7-9 minutes cook 3 minutes high pressure with a 4 minute natural pressure release. If the box says 9-11 minutes cook 4 minutes high pressure with a 4 minute natural pressure release.
• Other recipes you can make with cream cheese are Mississippi sin pasta and chicken enchilada 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. 

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More Instant Pot beef and pasta dishes…

*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.