Instant Pot Tater Tot Casserole

Nothing says Midwest comfort food like tater tot casserole! When you need a quick, hands off version of this classic casserole recipe, this Instant Pot Tater Tot Casserole recipe is perfect for you.

Instant Pot Tater Tot Casserole

Both of my parents grew up in the Midwest, so natually tater tot casserole was a regular supper for us (notice that in true midwestern form I said “supper” instead of “dinner”). When you think about it, tater tot casserole is a bit of an odd combination of ingredients. But everything comes together and creates a delicious dish. It really is a classic comfort food of the Midwest region!

I have carried on the tradition of serving tater tot casserole to my family, and I enjoy using the same recipe my mom used when I was growing up. But while we have been building our house I have had limited access to an oven. This created a challenge as to how we could still incorporate tater tot casserole into our regular menu rotation.

In this season, I depend heavily on my pressure cooker to cook meals for my family. I use it nearly everyday to make our meals. Sometimes I get in a bit of a rut when it comes to our menu planning, and at times I feel restricted in what I can make in the pressure cooker. I finally decided to try adapting my regular tater tot casserole recipe to see if I could successfully make it in the pressure cooker.

I gave it a whirl, and my whole family was quite satisfied with the result!  I can now say that tater tot casserole has regained it’s status in our meal rotation again.

I have a basic pressure cooker, which means I do not have a fancy air fryer. As a result, the tater tots do not crisp up like when baked in the oven. But it has not bothered my family one bit! Since the tater tots are essentially steamed rather than baked, they soften up and deliciously crumble into the dish.

If you have an air fryer you can certainly experiment to see if you can create crispy tater tots in it. If you try it, I would love to hear your results down in the comments!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 10 oz bag frozen cut green beans
• 2 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 16 oz package frozen tater tots
• 1/4 cup water

Method

The first step is to cook the ground beef on medium heat using the saute function. As the ground beef cooks, break it up into small pieces. While the beef is cooking, add the water, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and incorporate.

Once the ground beef is cooked through, turn off the pressure cooker. Spread the cream of mushroom soup over the top of the ground beef. The cream of mushroom soup can be difficult to spread, but just do the best you can to spread it as evenly as possible.

Next layer the frozen green beans on top of that, followed by the cheddar cheese.

The last layer to go on is the tater tots. Spread them out as evenly as possible.

Once all of the ingredients are in place, put the lid of the pressure cooker on and set the pressure to cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.

My pressure cooker usually does not come to full pressure with this recipe, but I have never had a problem with it not cooking the casserole. There is enough water in the pressure cooker that it still steams everything and cooks it through.

Once the pressure cooker has completed the cycle, remove the lid (since it does not come to pressure you should not have to release the float valve).

Now it is ready to serve!

I hope you enjoy this tater tot casserole comfort food recipe as much as my family does!