Trailer Park Casserole–cheddar and pasta shells with smoked sausage and vegetables. A fast and easy Instant Pot dinner.
Trailer Park Casserole
I found this recipe on Just a Pinch and the author, Cassie, said, “When you are a family of five it’s always hard to make ends meet. So I came up with this one night trying to figure out what to make for my family.” I switched up the original recipe a bit (she used SPAM) and made it in my Instant Pot. My family was thrilled. They thought it was great and I laughed because it was so simple and easy without any “fancy” ingredients. Skyler came home from school at lunchtime to scarf down the leftovers. Enjoy!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Olive oil–or butter
- Beef smoked sausage–or kielbasa, andouille sausage, spam, hotdogs
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
- Medium pasta shells–or penne, macaroni
- Frozen vegetables–I used a california blend with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots
- Sharp cheddar cheese–I like to shred it off the block for better melting than pre-shredded cheese
- Heavy cream–or half and half
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the olive oil and swirl around. Add in the smoked sausage and brown for about 4-5 minutes.
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the pasta shells evenly.
Place a tall trivet* into the pot. Then pour the vegetables in a pan* and place the vegetables on top of the trivet (this method will help the vegetables not get too mushy and overcooked).
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 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Move the vegetable pan and trivet out of the pot. Dump the veggies in with the pasta. Stir in the cheese until the cheese is melted.
Stir in the cream.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a side of fresh fruit or a side salad.
- 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.
- Other recipes you can make with pasta shells are Aunt Fannie’s Dinner and Get Better Dinner.
- If you don’t have a trivet and pan for your Instant Pot then you can simply cook the vegetables separately in the microwave or on the stove until they reach desired doneness. You *can* add the vegetables directly into the pot with the pasta but they are likely to become very soft and mushy.
- If you use another type of pasta you may need to adjust the cooking time. Here is the formula: look at the back of the box of pasta and see how many minutes it says to boil the pasta. If it’s 10 minutes you divide that number by 2 (=5) and then subtract 2 minutes. So you would pressure cook for 3 minutes. I usually use a 5-10 minute natural pressure release for pasta.
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.
Trailer Park Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Cheddar and pasta shells with smoked sausage and vegetables. A fast and easy Instant Pot dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 (12 oz) package beef smoked sausage, sliced into quarter inch rounds
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces medium pasta shells
- 1 (12 oz) bag frozen vegetables (I used a california blend)
- 6 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the olive oil and swirl around. Add in the smoked sausage and brown for about 4-5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle in the pasta shells evenly.
- Place a tall trivet* into the pot. Then pour the vegetables in an oven safe pan* and place the vegetables on top of the trivet (this method will help the vegetables not get too mushy and overcooked).
- 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 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Move the vegetable pan and trivet out of the pot. Dump the veggies in with the pasta. Stir in the cheese until it is melted. Stir in the cream.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you don’t have a trivet and pan for your Instant Pot then you can simply cook the vegetables separately in the microwave or on the stove until they reach desired doneness. You *can* add the vegetables directly into the pot with the pasta but they are likely to become very soft and mushy.
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
More Instant Pot smoked sausage recipes…
Instant Pot Smoky Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup
A simple and flavorful soup with smoked paprika, smoked sausage, potatoes, kale, onions and garlic. This will quickly become your favorite soup!
Instant Pot Smoked Sausage, Green Beans and Potatoes
The easiest meal with the most amazing results. Smoked sausage, fresh green beans, cubed potatoes and a couple of seasonings are cooked together quickly in your electric pressure cooker for an easy one pot, dump and press start meal.
Instant Pot Smoked Sausage and Cabbage
An easy all in one pot meal of smoked sausage, potatoes, onion and cabbage. Dump everything into the pot and walk away!
Instant Pot Smoked Sausage Country Boil
A one pot meal with tender red potatoes, sweet corn, fresh green beans and smoked sausage. A perfect summer meal with tons of flavor.
*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 is a family favorite. They beg me to make it.
Aww I love hearing that! ❤️ That makes my day. So glad it’s a hit with your family!
Delicious and easy to make. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome!
My family has been eating this for 30+ years, minus the heavy milk I think. Just extra cheese. it’s always been a fave, we just never had a name for it.
Nice! Love that!
Was amazing! So EZ, delicious & filling. Thanks for another winner! Karen, keep up the good work.
Thanks so much Kim!
What a great, fast and tasty recipe! I’ve been busy with chemo treatments so I wanted something quick and somewhat healthy for lunch when I get back! This can be also easily adapted for vegetarians and/or vegans. I used the green giants salt free lemon pepper medley as veggies and it was absolutely great plus I dig how fun the name is 😊 will definitely recommend this to my family and busy mom friends for a great lunch option! We loved it!😍
Good luck with the chemo treatments! I am glad you liked the recipe 🙂
so why are you here? just like being salty
why not? no different than million dollar meal. just a name
let me guess, you’re a snow flake democrat.
no, they are just not a maga troll like you
peace Kool aid girl
If you bothered to read her intro Karen adapted this recipe for the IP from a cookbook written by someone else who, by the way, named the recipe. Looks like an amazing recipe to me & I can’t wait to make it. I don’t care what the name of it is as long as it’s EZ and delicious, and I’ve never made a recipe that Karen posted that wasn’t truly amazing.
Why don’t you do us all a favor, Sheila, & go somewhere else to gripe about something.
p.s. you give stars AFTER you’ve made the recipe…DUH!….we’re not rating the name of it
You can filter the site to look up crockpot recipes. And as a previous person said anything done in the instant pot or other pressure cooker can be done on the stove top
Can this recipe be made in a crockpot??
I’m sure it could. all the recipes on this site are rip offs from other recipes to be used in an instant pot or slow cooker. I would assume you could use a slow cooker but the veggies would probably need to wait to go in til the last couple hours because I’d imagine they would turn to mush unless they were fresh veggies.
You could always cook the recipe on top of the stove or in the oven. Use what ever way you enjoy the most for your cooking. The Instant Pot cooks quickly – similar to a microwave.
I enjoy your site so much and have made tons of your recipes that are so good. Thanks for all your time and effort.
Maybe this site giving out FREE recipes isn’t for you? And that’s ok. There are plenty of other sites that will give you what you need