This creamy instant pot mushroom bacon parmesan casserole is everything you could want in a casserole. Yummy ingredients that work together, comforting pasta with a creamy sauce, and it’s on the table in no time!
INSTANT POT MUSHROOM BACON PARMESAN CASSEROLE
I know to say this title is a mouthful, but it’s sooooo worth it when you actually taste a mouthful of this amazing mushroom casserole.
The creamy sauce echos the smoky flavor of the bacon, the earthy flavor of the mushrooms, and pasta just adds that PERFECT mouthfeel to make it ohhh so comforting!
Plus, it’s made in the Instant Pot, so it goes super quick! Btw if you’re new to using a pressure cooker and you’re a bit fearful, that’s totally understandable!
Take a peek at my Instant Pot Guide For Beginners – it may make you feel a lot more comfortable working around this great appliance!
About This Instant Pot Mushroom Bacon Parmesan Recipe
So let’s talk about a few of the ingredients. They’re pretty straight forward as you’d imagine. My motto is all about keeping things simple.
While simple is good (in most cases..lol) you might have a few questions about these yummy ingredients. First, let’s talk about the star of the show, THE MUSHROOMS!
Using Different Mushrooms In This Mushroom Casserole:
You can use any sort of mushrooms your sweet hungry heart desires. I used a simple button mushroom for this recipe, but some good options could be:
Oyster
Crimini
Portabello
King
Unless you are used to eating a stronger flavored mushroom, I recommend sticking with your regular ole’ button mushroom, criminis or portabellos.
The thing to remember about the ports is that they have black gills that must be cleaned out first so they don’t dye your dish a funky grey color.
It’s easy to learn how to clean the gills. Take a peek at this recipe for Sausage Stuffed Portabello Mushroom Pizzas, I go over the process there.
Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy!
Which Pasta’s To Use For This Casserole:
Again, as with the mushrooms, you can use almost whichever pasta you prefer.
However, keep in mind that the type of pasta will affect the cooking time with the Instant Pot.
Today, I used a shell pasta, but if you have something else in mind,
take a read over at this Tibits article regarding how to cook different kinds of pasta in the instant pot!
Types and Alternatives To The Bacon For This Instant Pot Mushroom Recipe:
I know I’m sort of repeating myself, but again, use your favorite bacon.
Normally, I prefer to use thicker cut bacon and if it’s double-smoked, all the better! Today I used thinner sliced bacon because
that’s all I had on hand, and it still made this dish fantastic.
If pork products aren’t your game, you could use a turkey or chicken bacon.
I know that turkey and chicken bacon don’t contain a lot of fat,
so you might want to add some extra coconut, avocado, or canola oil to saute everything in at the beginning so the bacon doesn’t stick.
All that being said, another alternative is to use thin diced ham steak or use nothing at all and skip the step.
Do I Have To Use Parmesan Cheese?
No! It’s not imperative at all.
Use whatever melty type cheese you love to use the most.
I preferred to use parmesan because it’s best friends with mushrooms and it just adds fantastic flavor within the cream sauce in the casserole.
My recommendations would be:
Gruyere Cheese
Gouda
Reggiano
Provolone
Piave Vecchio (one of my most favorite cheeses on this earth,
but it’s not found at local grocery stores. If you ever get a chance to try it, I highly recommend it!!)
What About The Cream Sauce?
Use whatever fat percentage you’d like for this recipe. I used heavy whipping cream, because, well, go big or go home, I say.
But cut back to a lighter milk fat cream if you’d like.
Just don’t use milk.
No. Just don’t.
What To Serve With This Instant Pot Mushroom Casserole
You don’t have to serve anything with it, to be honest.
You have some protein from the bacon, carbs from the pasta, mushrooms to help with that meaty texture.
Cheese for.. the yumminess factor.
If you DO want to serve something with this and make this mushroom recipe a sort of side dish,
then really, you could serve it with anything that goes well with mushrooms.
Steak would be great, pork chops would be an awesome choice as well.
Heck, serve it with some sausages or even some homemade burger patties with extra sauteed mushrooms and cheese on top!
Wow, now that would be an amazing dish too!
Joanne’s Tips and Tricks To Making This Instant Pot Mushroom Recipe Even More Awesome
Use freshly grated cheese – it has better flavor and fewer additives than the pre-shredded kind. (plus it’s usually cheaper to grate it yourself!)
The Cream– A higher fat dairy product will produce a nicer, richer sauce – you can cut back on the milk fat percentage, but don’t use milk.
Bacon – Using your favorite bacon will taste so much better!- Have a locally sourced bacon you prefer, use it!
Don’t overcook the pasta – mushy pasta makes the pasta angels cry.
If you’re afraid you might overcook it in the Instant Pot, cook it separately and then add it in the end before it goes in the oven.
Making more – If you want to stretch this instant pot mushroom casserole to feed more people,
add some frozen vegetables at the end of the recipe, right into the Instant Pot.
Don’t worry about them being frozen, they will thaw and cook in the time that the casserole is in the oven.
I know some of the tips and tricks I talk about here might make some fat/diet watchers run for the hills.
I say if you’re going to make something of a comfort food dish, you have to go full force.
Go big or go home.
Also, no one says you have to make this Instant Pot Mushroom Bacon Parmesan Casserole a dish you eat every day or even the MAIN of the dinner.
Use it as a side dish and serve something leaner as the protein, or serve some freshly cooked veggies on the side as well, to even out the richness of this dish! 🙂
It’s worth it!
If you’re looking for other, easy COMFORT FOOD recipes to make, take a peek at some of these:
Instant Pot 3 Packet Pot Roast
Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Biscuits
If you have any questions feel free to give me a shout! Thanks for stopping by The Salty Pot today and I hope you have a fantastic day!!
**DON’T FORGET TO PIN THIS CREAMY INSTANT POT MUSHROOM BACON PARMESAN CASSEROLE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD TO SAVE FOR LATER!!
CREAMY INSTANT POT MUSHROOM BACON CASSEROLE
This Instant Pot mushroom bacon parmesan casserole is creamy, smoky and salty from the bacon, savory and earthy from the mushrooms, and the pasta simply hits it out of the park in terms of comfort food. Make this mushroom bacon casserole and your tummy will love you!
Ingredients
- 8 oz mushrooms, cut in half or quarters
- ½ onion, diced
- 5 – 6 pieces of bacon, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 8 oz shell pasta
- ½ c heavy cream
- 1 c parmesan, shredded
- 2 ½ c chicken broth
- as desired, salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Press the saute button and begin to saute the bacon and onions together
until onions are translucent.
2. Add the mushrooms. Saute another 3 – 4 minutes.
3. Add the pasta, garlic, salt, and pepper
4. Add the chicken broth. Cover and seal
5. Press manual, high pressure for 4 minutes.
6. Do a quick release and remove the lid away from you.
7. Stir well. Add the cream, then add ¾c of the cheese. Let melt and thicken. (see notes)
8. Transfer everything to a baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese over the
casserole.
9. Broil until the cheese is golden brown.
10. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
The amount of broth should just cover the ingredients in the instant pot bowl before
cooking. There should be a little broth left over after cooking and the
parmesan cheese does thicken it up making it into a sauce.
If there is a bit more broth leftover, simply make up a cornstarch slurry (1tbs of
cornstarch mixed into 2 tablespoon water) and dump it into the bowl on a high saute
to thicken the sauce.
Use freshly grated cheese - it has better flavor and fewer additives than the pre-shredded kind. (plus it's usually cheaper to grate it yourself!)
A higher fat dairy product will produce a nicer, richer sauce - you can cut back on the milk fat percentage, but don't use milk.
Using your favorite bacon will taste so much better!- Have a locally sourced bacon you prefer, use it!
Don't overcook the pasta - mushy pasta makes the pasta angels cry. If you're afraid you might overcook it in the Instant Pot, cook it separately and then add it in the end before it goes in the oven.
If you want to stretch this instant pot mushroom casserole to feed more people, add some frozen vegetables at the end of the recipe, right into the Instant Pot.
Don't worry about them being frozen, they will thaw and cook in the time that the casserole is in the oven.
cookcooks says
Absolutely delicious. I will make this many more times. I added porcini powder because I have it on hand and couldn’t find any fancy mushrooms at my local market. I agree use good bacon, it is an important part of the flavor. This will be made again and again in my home.
Joanne says
Thank you so much for the wonderful comments! What a delicious idea to add the porcini powder – I love feedback like this because it gives me new ideas!
Linda says
This recipe looks so delicious, and its perfect for the fall.
TheSaltyPot says
Thank you for the kind words Linda!!