When life calls for comfort food, one meal in particular rises to the occasion every single time: Vegan “tuna” noodle casserole. A staple of households the world over in its seafood form, this dish is just as good in its veggie reincarnation. And made in the pressure cooker? It’s so crazy easy that there’s just simply no excuse not to make it right away.
Weeknights are hectic around here, and I know our family isn’t alone in that. Even with just the two of us, LeeLee and I are running around like crazy! A meeting here. A workout there. Staying late at work here, catching up with friends there, and before you know it, you’re starving hungry but there’s just no time for anything! As usual, the good old Instant Pot has come to our rescue. It’s like a magic little time portal: You put raw ingredients in, and within just a few minutes, out comes a fully cooked meal. How does it happen? Magic!
The other night I got a hankering for veggie-tuna noodle casserole, and I knew I had to get it suited up for the Instant Pot sooner or later, so I gave it a whirl and – wouldn’t you know? – it worked out great! I modified my original non-pressure-cooker casserole recipe and managed to streamline it even more, using creamer for the roux instead of a flour-based concoction, and the end result didn’t miss a beat. It’s such a versatile recipe that if you don’t like peas, or would prefer another ingredient that Mama always used to add at your house, you can feel free to do so and it’ll work out great.
The recipe below. Happy comfort food to you and yours!
INSTANT POT VEGAN TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE
Serves 4
What you’ll need:
1 bag ribbon noodles (we used pappardelle this time around)
½ bag frozen green peas
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 jar diced pimientos, drained
2 cans vegan tuna
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
½ to 1 cup vegan creamer, unsweetened
½ cup bread crumbs
Vegan parmesan and/or nutritional yeast, to taste
Place the noodles, green peas, sliced mushrooms, pimientos and tuna in your Instant Pot and top with the broth (just enough to cover), salt and pepper. You can feel free to mix everything around a bit – it won’t hurt anything. (I can’t help but stir!)
Place the lid on and seal. Set Instant Pot to 4 minutes at high pressure, then let ’er rip.
Once the cook time has ended, allow to natural release for 4-5 minutes and then quick-release from there. Give everything a good stir and add the vegan creamer a little at a time, stirring as you go. The sauce will thicken as it blends.
Finally, serve onto plates, top with bread crumbs and vegan parmesan and/or nutritional yeast if you like, and enjoy!
:)