The Ultimate Big Montana Casserole

The Ultimate Big Montana Casserole–an easy one-pot Instant Pot dinner made with ground beef, pasta, ranch-style beans, tomatoes, corn and a savory sauce.

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The Ultimate Big Montana Casserole

This is one of those hearty dinners that you can throw together with a bunch of pantry staples and it turns out so good! I ate a big portion and wanted more for lunch the next day. I loved the radiatore pasta. All those little ridges and ruffles grab onto the sauce and make it so fun to eat. It kind of reminds me of something you’d eat around a campfire…filling and nothing fancy but tastes so good!

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Lean ground beef–or ground turkey or ground pork
• Onion
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder–or use 1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic.
• Chili powder
• Beef broth–or chicken broth
• Radiatore pasta–or another short cut pasta like rotini, cavatappi or medium shells can work.
• Ranch-style beans–don’t drain, use them with their sauce. You can also use chili beans.
• Crushed tomatoes
• Cream of mushroom soup–or cream of chicken
• Frozen corn–or canned corn, drained

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 salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder. 

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

Sprinkle in the pasta. Dump in the ranch style beans, crushed tomatoes, cream of mushroom and corn. Don’t stir. 

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set 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.

Gently stir and serve.

Notes/Tips

• Don’t stir after adding the tomatoes and cream soup. Layering the thicker ingredients on top helps prevent the Instant Pot from giving you a burn notice.
• Use the ranch-style beans undrained. Their seasoned sauce adds quite a bit of flavor to the finished dish. If you can’t find ranch style beans look for chili beans.
• Pasta: Radiatore is a great choice because all those little ridges grab onto the sauce. I couldn’t get enough!
• For a cheesy dinner: Stir in a handful of shredded cheddar cheese after pressure cooking or sprinkle cheese over individual servings.
• For some heat: Add diced green chiles, jalapeños, cayenne pepper or a few shakes of hot sauce.
• Toppings: Try shredded cheddar, sliced green onions or sour cream.
• More veggies: I think adding in mushrooms and green peppers would be really yummy!
• What to serve with it: This is pretty much a complete meal on its own, but you could serve it with a green salad or cornbread.
• Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for 4 days. Freeze individual portions in airtight containers for an easy lunch or dinner later.
• Instant Pot size: I cut this recipe in half and used a 4 quart Instant Pot*. For the full recipe you’ll need a 6 or 8 quart pot.
• Tools:
  • Wooden saute paddle*
  • Knife*
  • Cutting board*
  • Magnetic measuring cups*
  • Magnetic measuring spoons*
  • Glass measuring cup*
  • Kitchen scale*

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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*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.