Heavenly Homemakers

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How to EASILY Make Broth in the Instant Pot

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It’s hard to beat homemade broth when it comes to nutrition and flavor. Now that I’ve learned to make broth in the Instant Pot, I’m never going back!

Don’t have an Instant Pot? Here are my stove-top, stock pot instructions for how I make Chicken Broth and Beef Broth. I’ve been making broth that way for years and would continue to do so had I not invested in my beloved Instant Pot.

I had a difficult time believing that making broth in such a short time in the Instant Pot (just a little more than an hour) could turn out the same wonderful product as making broth in my stock pot (for 4-6 hours). But it’s true. Broth made in the Instant Pot is just as fabulous as broth made slowly in a stock pot on the stove!

Have I convinced you yet to get an Instant Pot? Oh how I love mine!

How to Easily Make Broth in the Instant Pot

How to EASILY Make Broth in the Instant Pot
 
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Serves: Roughly 1 gallon
Ingredients
  • Beef soup bones or chicken bones
  • Variety of carrots, celery, onions, and leeks per your family's preference. (I usually use 3-4 pounds of veggies per batch of broth.
  • Sea salt
  • Water
Instructions
  1. Put chicken or beef bones into your Instant Pot.
  2. Add as many vegetables as you can - carrots, celery, onions, leeks.
  3. Sprinkle sea salt liberally.
  4. Fill pot to the Max-Fill line with water.
  5. Seal Instant Pot, and cook on High Pressure for 55 minutes.
  6. Allow pressure to release naturally for at least 30 minutes.
  7. Release pressure, and strain vegetables and bones out of liquid.
  8. Blend vegetables in a blender until smooth.
  9. Add blended veggies into the liquid broth. This adds more flavor and nourishment!
  10. Re-use bones to make another batch of broth if you like! The second batch of broth isn't as rich, but I like getting a two-for-one!

When people eat soup I’ve made with this broth, they always ask for my secret. I believe it is the veggies cooked into the broth then blended and added back in. Once I blend the veggies and stir them into the broth, I have a rich, thick, orange broth – much different than store-bought. And so, so much better!

Coming up in my next post, I will remind you of my family’s favorite soup recipes to use with this great broth!

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Simple Creamy Chicken Soup for Crock Pot or Instant Pot

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This Simple Creamy Chicken Soup is the definition of comfort food.

Hmmmm. Actually, the definition of comfort food (I just looked it up) is: food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically any with a high sugar or other carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.

I believe I have just re-defined comfort food. No longer must it be associated with a high sugar or carb content. Certainly not in the case of this Creamy Chicken Soup. We can associate it with home cooking (because we will be at home, cooking it) and it is likely that your children will someday associate it with their childhood.

But there is no pasta or potato involved in the making of this soup to make it high in carbs. Add some if you like. I’m personally in it for the chicken and the cheese. I find it delightfully comforting.

Simple Creamy Chicken Soup

Simple Creamy Chicken Soup for Crock Pot or Instant Pot
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1-2 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts
  • 10-ounce can Rotel
  • 32-ounces (4 cups) chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 cups shredded Colby jack or cheddar cheese
Instructions
  1. Place chicken, Rotel, broth, salt, and paprika into an Instant Pot or Crock Pot
  2. For Instant Pot: Seal and cook on manual at high pressure for 15 minutes. Quick release.
  3. For Crock Pot: Cook ingredients on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is no longer pink.
  4. Remove chicken from Crock Pot or Instant Pot. Shred it and put it back into the pot.
  5. Stir in cream cheese, cream, and shredded cheese until smooth.
  6. Serve with frozen corn sprinkled in if desired

I added a carb by sprinkling frozen corn into our soup to cool it and sweeten it. So I guess this meets the definition of comfort food after all!

Don’t have an Instant Pot? I have and love this one.

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Simple 10-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

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I have a major confession, and I think you will all be a tiny bit shocked. (No I didn’t start eating margarine. Who do you even think I am?) For years, I deemed this Creamy Mac and Cheese recipe the best in the world. I held to this opinion for years. And now. NOW, I have discovered a recipe that is even better than the best. Allow me to introduce you to the marvelous, wonderful, fabulous 10-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese!

If you don’t yet have an Instant Pot, I feel you, I get you, and I was on your Non-Instant-Pot-Team for many years. Then I finally gave in and allowed this jewel to change my life forever. I truly do love my precious Instant Pot because it saves me so much time and energy in the kitchen. It’s like God knew we all needed Simple Meals and Simple Recipes so on the eighth day He created the Instant Pot. And God said it was good.

What are my favorite foods to make in my Instant Pot? I’m so glad you asked.

If you don’t yet have an Instant Pot, might I recommend that you save up and invest in one? I do think you will love it as much as I do!

For all the Instant Pot owners out there, you’ll be delighted to know that this 10-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese can actually be ready to serve – from start to finish – in just 10-minutes. This has become a great go-to lunch for my boys at home or a wonderful side dish at dinner after a busy day.

Simple 10-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

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Simple 10-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces whole grain pasta (any shape)
  • 4 cups water
  • 4 Tablespoons butter (always butter, never margarine, amen, hallelujah)
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 cups shredded cheese (we love Colby jack)
Instructions
  1. Stir uncooked pasta, water, butter, and salt in your instant pot.
  2. Seal and cook on manual, high pressure for 4 minutes.
  3. Quick release the pressure.
  4. Open the pot and stir in the cream and cheese until melted and creamy.

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The BEST Way to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

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Sometimes a girl thinks she is onto something when she learns to make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot. Then her friend Leesa is like, “Girl, you have to try it my way instead.” And then you try making Mashed Potatoes Leesa’s way and you fall down dead.

How is it that the best foods we all love can actually taste even better when we tweak a few ingredients and methods? Can it be that these Mashed Potatoes take so little effort to make? And is it actually possible that making Mashed Potatoes in the way I am about to describe actually adds more nutrients to this delicious dish?

Yes. So these potatoes are better tasting AND better for us, all without any extra work. Hoorah!

The BEST Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

What takes these great Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot from good to BEST? Chicken broth. Indeed, instead of simply cooking our potatoes in water, then draining and adding milk and butter later – we are going to cook the potatoes in chicken broth and milk. No draining needed! The nutrients and flavor absorb into the potatoes, we mash them and add butter and salt, then voila. Amazing Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot!

NOTE: Never fear the fat! These are full of good fats, so let’s emphasize the GOOD in that sentence. Broth, real butter, and whole milk are all good, nourishing foods. Our brains need good fats for good health. So give a cheer for mashed potatoes that taste amazing and offer great nourishment too!

Don’t have an Instant Pot?

Make these in the Crock Pot instead! Cook on low for 8-10 hours or hi for 5 hours. Mash, add butter and salt, and serve!

Wait. You don’t have an Instant Pot?

I was with you for years, putting it off forever, not wanting to jump on the Instant Pot bandwagon. Then so many worked to convince me that I finally jumped. I’ve found that investing in this lovely appliance truly has saved me time and energy in my real food kitchen.

I LOVE my 8-Quart Instant Pot (because I always make large amounts of food). Some prefer the 6-Quart Instant Pot because it comes to pressure faster.

Beyond the mashed potato, my favorite way to use my Instant Pot is to cook 5-7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in 30 minutes. For real!

And now for my friend Leesa’s wonderful Mashed Potato recipe and instructions!

The BEST Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

The BEST Way to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 5 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 cup chicken or beef broth
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • Butter to taste (I use one stick)
  • Sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Wash and quarter potatoes.
  2. Put them onto the trivet inside your instant pot along with the chicken broth and milk.
  3. Seal and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes.
  4. Quick release the pressure.
  5. Don't drain the liquid!
  6. Add butter and salt to your liking (the more butter the better, I always say!)
  7. Mash with a potato masher and serve!

These Mashed Potatoes are a must try! Let me know what you think!

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How to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

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If you have an Instant Pot and you have ten minutes, you can make mashed potatoes. I suppose it is also important that you have some potatoes available to work with. Butter is a must. Sea salt is a game changer. Wait until you see how simple it is to make these mashed potatoes!

Remember a few months ago when I figured out how to make Mashed Potatoes in my crock pot? That amazing trick took my family from the depths of mashed potato despair into the peak of mashed potato heaven. As it was, I had stopped making mashed potatoes altogether. After all, who had time for the effort? Who could afford the energy? Why must mashed potatoes make such a mess of pots and beaters and countertops and walls? (Confession: I am a messy cook. Mashed potatoes were the worst for me.)

So I stopped. We never ate mashed potatoes. There simply was no time.

Then I learned to make them in the most simple way possible, which meant that not only could we make mashed potatoes again, we could make them every week without trouble. And then, just when I thought I’d discovered the easiest way to make mashed potatoes…

I learned to make them in my Instant Pot (my affiliate link). In ten minutes.

You know how people always say, “Oh, life was so much better back in the pioneer days. Certainly life was much simpler then.” I agree to a certain extent but alas, the pioneers did not have Instant Pots. So let’s here it for the 21st century and its wonderful technology!

So would you believe you can wash potatoes, throw them into your Instant Pot with some water, let them cook for 10 minutes, then mash them and serve them and make everyone very happy? You, of course, will be the happiest of all because you didn’t have to slave over your potatoes. And if your children happen to be of age, you can ask them to scrub your potatoes, making your work load is even lighter!

How to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

How to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 5 pounds gold or red potatoes
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup whole milk, half-and-half, or cream
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • ¼-1/2 cup butter
  • sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Scrub, but don't peel the potatoes.
  2. Put them (whole) into an Instant Pot on the metal trivet, along with 1 cup of water.
  3. Seal and cook at hi pressure, manual setting, for 10 minutes.
  4. Release the pressure and open the Instant pot.
  5. Mash soft potatoes directly in the crock with a potato masher.
  6. While mashing, dump in the milk, sour cream, butter, and salt.
  7. Continue mashing until potatoes have reached desired consistency.

Truly these are the most delicious!

Can you use russet potatoes to make these mashed potatoes? I don’t recommend it. They take a longer cooking time, they aren’t as nourishing, and they don’t taste as good. Gold or red potatoes are much preferred!

I like to also add shredded cheese to our potatoes to make them tastier and more substantial.

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The Easiest (and Fastest) Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash

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I just learned to cook spaghetti squash in ten tiny minutes, from start to finish. Unbelievable!

Is it just me, or is it incredibly fun that God created a squash that once cooked, shreds out like noodles? He did all the work. We simply have to cook it. (There is a deep spiritual parallel here we should adopt and live by: God does God’s work. We simply get to be His glorious tools to be a part of His work as we listen and obey Him. I love this.)

So God’s spaghetti squash. It’s always been easy to prepare in the oven, but I just learned how to make it in my Instant Pot. It cooks at high pressure for 5 minutes and just like that, the spaghetti squash is ready to shred and eat!

First, use a sharp knife to cut the spaghetti squash into four rings like this:

Use a spoon to dig out the seeds.

Place the spaghetti squash rings onto the metal trivet inside your Instant Pot. Put 1 cup of water under the trivet.

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and seal. Set it to manual, for 5 minutes at hi pressure.

The cooking process will be barely over this 5 minutes because the Instant Pot won’t come to full pressure or need to release. So in just these few minutes, the squash is cooked and ready!

Use a fork to pull the squash apart into “noodles.”

So delicious as-is!

Or, my personal favorite: we mix leftover spaghetti sauce with leftover Alfredo Sauce and pour it over the spaghetti squash. What a nourishing meal!!

Warning: Spaghetti Squash doesn’t taste like regular pasta. I consider spaghetti squash to be a pasta replacement, but only as a vehicle to hold my sauce. I LOVE spaghetti squash covered in sauce, and in fact, I love it more than wheat pasta. But it doesn’t taste the same. It tastes like a mild vegetable covered with delicious sauce. Bring it on!

The Easiest (and Fastest) Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash

The Easiest (and Fastest) Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash
 
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Serves: 3-6
Ingredients
  • 1 Spaghetti Squash
  • 1 cup water
Instructions
  1. Slice the squash into four rings.
  2. Remove the seeds with a metal spoon and discard.
  3. Pour one cup water into the Instant Pot.
  4. Place the prepared squash rings onto the metal trivet in the Instant Pot.
  5. Place the lid on and seal.
  6. Cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
  7. Remove the cooked squash and pull the insides away from the rind with a fork.
  8. Serve as is or smothered in sauce.

Don’t have an Instant Pot? Here’s what I think about mine. (Spoiler alert: I love it.)

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash in the Oven

  1. Slice the squash into four rings.
  2. Remove the seeds with a metal spoon and discard.
  3. Place the prepared squash rings into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.
  5. Remove the cooked squash and pull the insides away from the rind with a fork.
  6. Serve as is or smothered in sauce.

Are you a spaghetti squash fan?

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How to Make Roast Gravy

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If you saw my recent “Easiest Way to Make Beef Roast in the Instant Pot” post, you saw that I promised to share How to Make Roast Gravy. Where there is roast, there must be gravy. There is no other way.

While I shared that I struggled with making a good roast for over 20 years before figuring it out, I perfected my gravy-making skills long ago. I guess that’s a good thing, seeing as my roasts weren’t great. At least we drown the dry meat in gravy.

Making gravy truly isn’t difficult, though in my case, it took some practice. Did I ever tell you about the first time I made gravy for Matt? He had to spread it onto his potatoes with a knife. Good times. (That was in our dating days. Praise God he saw gravy-making potential and still chose to marry me. It was probably because of how I rocked the big hair. Or the high waist pants, which are somehow now back in style. Why, girls? Why?)

How to Make Roast Gravy

How to Make Roast Gravy
 
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Ingredients
  • 1-2 cups beef broth/drippings from a roast
  • ¼ cup cold water
  • 2 Tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder
  • Sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Pour the drippings from a cooked roast into a small sauce pan.
  2. Heat to boiling.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together water and cornstarch in a small glass or jar.
  4. Slowly pour water/cornstarch mixture into the boiling beef broth, stirring/whisking constantly.
  5. Continue to cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture has thickened into gravy.
  6. Salt liberally as desired.

 

Need to thicken your gravy? Make another mixture of water/cornstarch and whisk it in to the boiling broth little by little until you’ve reached the desired gravy consistency you want.

It is important that you mix the water and cornstarch together before stirring it into your drippings/broth! Sprinkling cornstarch directly into the hot drippings will only give you lumpy gravy. Ask me how I know.

What are you better at making: Roast or Gravy? Maybe now we can all be good at both!

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The Easiest Way to Make Beef Roast in the Instant Pot

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My mom used to be the queen of perfect Sunday roasts. But for some reason, it’s taken me over 20 years to figure out how to get my roast to fall apart and taste delicious. Today I’ll share what I’ve learned about making beef roast in the Instant Pot. Aha! Now we’re on to something.

After years of trial and error, I finally learned to make a Melt–in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast in the Crock Pot. This is all well and good except for the days I don’t have 12 hours to wait for my beef roast to cook to perfection. A recent Sunday morning, “What can I make for lunch before we leave for church in ten minutes?!” panic led me to investigate how to make a beef roast in my Instant Pot.

Wait. You don’t have an Instant Pot? Trust me. I understand. It took me years of hearing about them to get on the Insta-Train. Now that I’m on board, I’m declaring it to be one of my favorite appliances. Is an Instant Pot worth your investment? I give an emphatic, “Absolutely!” (I have this one.)

So anyway, back to my pot roast. I discovered that there are many Instant Pot roast-making instructions out there. But I have to admit what you already know about me: I really do not like recipes that instruct me to take several steps before walking away from my food to let it cook. After all, what good is using a Crock Pot or Instant Pot if I have to spend 30 or more minutes prepping the food?

Therefore, while most recipes I found instructed that I sear both sides of the roast and sing it a lullaby before allowing the Instant Pot to work its magic, I decided to do what I do best: Throw the food into the pot, turn it on, and walk away. After all, I don’t have time to sear meat on a Sunday morning, nor am I interested in going to church smelling like caramelized onion. And all my fellow worshipers said amen.

I figured the worst that might happen if I took a few shortcuts is that my roast would be mediocre, something my family has dealt with for most of my roast-making life. This is why God invented gravy.

So into the Instant Pot went the roast. I dumped on some sea salt, worchestershire sauce, water, onion, and carrots. We went to church and came home to this:

The meat fell apart. The flavor was incredible. Continue to sear your roast if you must, but as for me and my house, I will continue to throw in the food and let the appliances do the work.

The Easiest Way to Make Beef Roast in the Instant Pot

The Easiest Way to Make Beef Roast in the Instant Pot
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 3 pound beef roast
  • 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 medium-sized onion
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 5-8 medium-sized carrots
  • 1 cup water
Instructions
  1. Place roast on the metal trivet in your Instant Pot.
  2. Pour 1 cup water into the bottom of the pot.
  3. Cut onion into fourths and place in the pot.
  4. Peel carrots, cut them in half, then place them on the roast.
  5. Salt liberally, pepper as you like.
  6. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal it.
  7. Cook it at High Pressure, Manual Setting, for 70 minutes.
  8. I do natural release as I'm usually still at church during this time.
  9. Shred meat and serve!

 

Add 3ish pounds of scrubbed and cut potatoes to the pot if you like. :)

Be on the lookout for a tutorial on making Roast Gravy.

Am I the only one who has struggled to make a good pot roast? Here’s hoping this recipe solves all your roast-making issues!

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Simple Chili Mac (Instructions for Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or Stovetop)

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This Simple Chili Mac is the reason you should make a double batch of chili. Leftover chili (or purchased canned chili) makes this recipe take about 5 minutes to throw together.

chili mac5

Also? How did I ever live without an Instant Pot? I know, I know. So many of you told me I would love it for the amount of time and effort it saves, but I could not handle thinking about learning how to use a new appliance. Good grief. There was nothing to learn. Okay, there was a little bit more than nothing to learn. There was about ten minutes of learning involved.

But now I’m like, “Here, Instant Pot. I give you my leftover chili and my dry pasta. Please make our lunch.”

chili mac6

And then it does. Like a boss. Except I’m the boss because I told it what to make.

chili mac4

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can still make this as simple as possible in your crock pot or your stove top.

Have I told you how much I love NOT cooking pasta before adding it to casserole dishes? Truly, any recipe that allows me to dump dry pasta into sauce and walk away is golden.

Simple Chili Mac

Simple Chili Mac (Instructions for Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or Stovetop)
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 48-ounces prepared Chili
  • 8-ounces whole grain pasta, any variety, uncooked
  • Sea salt to taste
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 cups shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Stir chili, uncooked pasta, water and salt into Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or large cooking pot.
  2. Instant Pot: Cook at high pressure for 6 minutes.
  3. Crock Pot: Cook on low for 4 hours or hi for 2.5 hours.
  4. Stove Top: Cook on low heat, covered, stirring every few minutes until pasta is tender.
  5. Top casserole with cheese and allow it to melt before serving.

Simple Chili Mac - for Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or Stovetop

Here’s our Easy Chili Recipe! Using leftover chili for this Chili Mac recipe makes it extra simple!

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Simple Lasagna Casserole (Instructions for Instant Pot or Crock Pot!)

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This Simple Lasagna Casserole makes it possible for me to offer this proclamation: If life gets any easier, we will all have to find new hobbies. 

lasagna casserole1

Just kidding. No doubt we all have plenty to fill our days. It’s just that all these Simple Meals take so little time and energy to prepare, we are all shocking ourselves with how quickly we can put a delicious, real food meal on the table!

Prep time for this Simple Lasagna Casserole recipe takes a tiny 5 minutes. Cook time in the Instant Pot takes another 5 minutes. Good grief, I barely have time to get out salad fixings, plates, and forks before my Instant Pot beeps to tell me that dinner is ready.

On the other hand, sometimes it’s nice to start dinner ahead of time, leave, and come back to it a few hours later. That’s where the Crock Pot comes in. I can start this casserole cooking in my crock pot (which also takes only 5 minutes of effort), walk away, do a load of laundry, answer a dozen emails, leave the house, scream for my boys at a soccer game, and come home to a ready-made dinner.

lasagna casserole2NOTE: One of the tricks to making this meal so fast and easy to put together is having Cooked Hamburger Meat already prepared and ready to stir into this dish. If you have an Instant Pot, I highly recommend cooking it this way to get ahead on your hamburger. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, I still recommend cooking hamburger meat ahead of time on the stove-top, then freezing it in meal size portions to make dinner prep easier!

Cook Time Options for Simple Lasagna Casserole

Instant Pot: 5 minutes
Crock Pot: 3-4 hours

Simple Lasagna Casserole (Instructions for Instant Pot and Crock Pot!)
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces UNCOOKED whole grain pasta, any shape
  • 1 pound cooked hamburger meat
  • 50-ounces spaghetti sauce
  • 1 cup water
  • 16-ounces cottage cheese
  • Sea salt to taste
  • 2 cups shredded cheese (your favorite)
Instructions
  1. Stir uncooked pasta, spaghetti sauce, water, cooked meat, sea salt, and cottage cheese in a crock pot or instant pot. Cook as follows:
  2. Crock Pot: Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
  3. Instant Pot: Cook on Manual at high pressure for 5 minutes.
  4. Once time is up for either Crock Pot or Instant Pot, stir mixture and top with cheese, covering dish so the cheese will melt.
  5. Serve!

Simple Lasagna Casserole for Instant Pot or Crock Pot

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