Therapy Casserole

Therapy Casserole–an easy and comforting Instant Pot dish of creamy chicken and rotini pasta with sundried tomato pesto and mozzarella cheese.

Pin this recipe for later!

Therapy Casserole

Sometimes you just need a dinner that feels like a big hug. The creamy pasta, the melty cheese, the smoky bacon, and that punch of flavor from the sundried tomato pesto all come together perfectly. We took this entire pot down in no time. I adapted this recipe from an Instagram post I saw. The author said, “My mama had this recipe she called ‘therapy casserole’. She would make it for families when they lost loved ones, the sick, and on occasion for us to enjoy. I sorta knew what ingredients went in to making that bubbly, cheesy pot of goodness but never had the recipe. Mama was pretty stingy with sharing her recipes because she wanted to make them FOR us 🤗 Thanks to her best friend coming across a handwritten copy of therapy casserole, I was able to make it for my family to enjoy this week. I cried happy and sad tears, but thankful for the gift that was given to me.”

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken broth–or water with Better than Bouillon chicken base
• Rainbow rotini–or another type of short cut pasta like penne, elbow macaroni
• Chicken thighs–or chicken breasts (won’t be as tender)
• Sundried tomato pesto–I found this by the jarred spaghetti sauces
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Italian seasoning
• Cream cheese
• Heavy cream–or half and half, evaporated milk or milk
• Whole milk mozzarella cheese–whole milk mozzarella is so good! Try it 🙂
• Crumbled bacon–optional
• Parmesan cheese–or topping, if desired

Steps

Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the rotini.

In a bowl stir the chicken thighs and tomato pesto together. Lay the chicken on top of the rotini.

Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning. Add the cream cheese on top.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir. Stir in the cream, mozzarella and bacon. 

Scoop onto plates and top each serving with some parmesan cheese.

Notes/Tips

• A simple green salad with Italian dressing and some garlic bread or breadsticks makes the perfect meal alongside this casserole.
• The rainbow rotini is fun to look at and it holds onto the creamy sauce really well. I found mine in the bulk section at Winco.
• You’ll usually find sundried tomato pesto right by the regular basil pesto. It’s most often in the pasta aisle near the jarred spaghetti sauces. Some stores keep it in the refrigerated section next to fresh pasta and cheeses, but the shelf-stable jars are the most common. If you can’t spot it, check both places or ask an employee, because sometimes it hides with the “specialty Italian” items!
• You can use chicken breasts but thighs stay juicier under pressure cooking.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
• This recipe is easy to double. We ate the 4 servings between 3 people so you may want to double it 🙂
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Another recipe you can make with sundried tomato pesto is Dump and Marry Me Casserole.

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. 

Pin this recipe for later!

Print

Pin this recipe for later!

More Instant Pot chicken pasta recipes…

*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.