Instant Pot Mexican Casserole

A few months ago, I came across this recipe for "Instant Pot Mexican Casserole" from Disabled Kitchen and Garden and decided it looked really interesting. The quantities looked all wrong, though- neither metric nor imperial nor the usual blend I'd expect from somewhere in the English-speaking Commonwealth. It used the metric equivalents of some of the common US quantities.* On the other hand, once I had that part figured out, we decided to try it.

As per usual in my kitchen, some things ended up with substitutions, and some things I looked at and went "...yeah, my hands are not up for that." Then there was the post-execution roundtable for opinions. And another round of testing, etc.

It's taken a while to get this where we like it, mostly because it makes around 4 qts of heavy casserole, and by the time we kill a batch, we don't want it for a while. 

Instant Pot Mexican Casserole

Makes 12 1c servings

1 lb ground beef

16 oz bag frozen peppers and onions

1 4oz can green chilies

2 14oz cans diced tomatoes

1.5 c rice (basmati by preference)

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp table salt

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

2 14 oz cans chili beans**

1 c water

Turn the Instant Pot to saute and brown the hamburger into crumbles. Add in the peppers and onions, and cook until everything has thawed and the onions are starting to go translucent but not brown. Turn off the Instant Pot. 

Roughly level off the surface of the meat & veg in the pot. Now later in everything else on top in the order in which it appears above: green chilies, tomatoes with their juices, rice, herbs and spices, beans, water. 

Put the lid on and set the Instant Pot for 20 min. When done, do natural release for 10 min, and then quick release. (Do not do quick release right away, your kitchen will not thank you, it is a giant mess.) Remove the lid and mix thoroughly. 

Serve by itself, or with sour cream and cheese, or in a tortilla or with corn chips and a lot of cheese as a nacho topping...there are many options. 

*The Vancouver folk took one look at it and went "Canadian." So that mystery was solved. 

**The original recipe called for 2 cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed. I was out. We've decided it's better with chili beans.