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This Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta is an easy, one pot meal that cooks in record time! It’s creamy, comforting and hearty!
Hey everyone! It’s Ashley here from The Recipe Rebel back with another Instant Pot recipe, because September is crazy enough without us having to worry about getting a good meal on the table in between after school activities, lessons and sports!
I was a little nervous about making pasta in my Instant Pot for the first time, because I thought it would either all clump together (how could it not when there’s no stirring??), or be totally mushy and overcooked.
But somehow, it just works. And it works so well, especially when you have your hands full with littles or other things because once you close the lid and set the cook time, it’s totally hands off. You can’t fuss over it even if you wanted to!
This is one of our go-to recipes because it’s easy, the kids love it, and the leftovers are perfect for lunches the next day (if there are any!). If you’re looking for more Instant Pot pasta recipes, try this Instant Pot Baked Ziti or this Instant Pot Mac and Cheese!
Tips for making this Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta:
- You never want to milk, cream, cheese or other dairy products to the Instant Pot before pressurizing. They will clump and foam when you open the valve to release the pressure. You don’t want to try it.
- The worst thing you can do is cook the pasta too long. You will want to cook the pasta for roughly half the time listed on package, especially because in this recipe, you are going to turn the Instant Pot to saute when you add the rest of your sauce ingredients. If your pasta is well cooked to begin with, it’s going to turn into a gross mess when you’re cooking and stirring the sauce.
- Feel free to use chicken breasts or chicken thighs, or you can even skip the chicken and opt for a vegetarian meal. You cannot skip sauteeing the chicken in this recipe because the chicken needs a longer cook time than the pasta.
- Feel free to mix up the flavors by adding in different veggies when you mix up the rest of the sauce: broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, or anything that can cook fairly quickly are great.
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Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2" cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 4.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 375 grams Bowtie pasta about 5 cups
- 8 oz light cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute. When it reads "hot" add the oil.
- Add the chicken breasts, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes total.
- Add the garlic, parsley and oregano and stir and cook 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth, and scrape the bottom of the pot with a hard metal spoon to remove any stuck on bits. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- Add the pasta -- don't stir -- and press down with a spatula into the liquid. The liquid will just barely cover the pasta.
- Put the lid on, turn the valve to sealing, and select Manual or Pressure Cook for 3 minutes.
- When the cook time is over, do a quick release (open the valve all the way) and remove the lid. Turn the Instant Pot to saute.
- Stir in the cream cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Stir together the water and corn starch and stir into the pasta. Cook and stir until thickened and season to your tastes. Serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
When I did the quick release it sputtered white liquid all over my pot. Do you know why it would do that? There wasn’t any cheese or dairy in the pot at that point yet.
It’s starch from the pasta
I think the person who answered the question “do i cook the pasta in a pot on the STOVE prior to putting in the instant pot?” misread the question when they answered ‘yes’. NO, you do NOT cook the pasta on the stove prior to adding it, it cooks in the INSTANT POT in step 6. No pre-cooking of the pasta is required.
This recipe is very poorly written.It doesn’t tell you to precook your pasat.Thank God I read some of the questions before making it. And there is no mention of Oregano in the ingredients.No amount Neither you should preread these recipes before publishing them. Ty very much. sincerely Bruce Lamere.
Okay, I’ve tried a bunch of chicken alfredo recipes and none of them have ever even come close to this! Not only was it simple, it was delicious!! This is definitely a keeper 🙂
Can you double this recipe in the instant pot?
Yes, if you have a big enough instant pot that would be great!
This pasta was great, but I would like to inform you that oregano was not listed in your list of ingredients. So I’m eating it oregano free, still great though.
Do you lay the cream cheese out before cooking?
No, that is not necessary.
Why would you cook the pasta ahead of time? Doesn’t it cook in the broth when you pressurize?
I did a little spin on your recipe but it worked great!
I used ground turkey. I put the noodles in uncooked but cooked for 8min with a quick release. Then when I added all the cheeses I added 2 tablespoons of water but left out the cornstarch as much of the broth was absorbed by the noodles.
Of note, I have celiac and made this with gluten free barilla rotini and it worked great.
I was able to cook it all in one pot versus having dirty dishes of cooking the noodles beforehand.
do i cook the pasta in a pot on the stove prior to putting in the instant pot?
Yes, you will pre-cook the pasta according to the package ingredients but not all the way through. The worst thing you can do is cook the pasta too long. You will want to cook the pasta for roughly half the time listed on package, especially because in this recipe, you are going to turn the Instant Pot to saute when you add the rest of your sauce ingredients. If your pasta is well cooked to begin with, it’s going to turn into a gross mess when you’re cooking and stirring the sauce.
It would be great if you could edit the recipe to include the oregano and pasta cooking instructions.
I will work on getting that done to make it easier for those that are interested. Thank you for letting me know.
No! You do NOT have to cook pasta and then put it in the instant pot. Why on earth would you do that, you would be cooking it twice! Every IP recipe I’ve ever tried has you put the pasta in uncooked and it comes out perfect every time.
Wow! My first experiment using my new Instant Pot was a huge success. Used mini penne and added broccoli. Everything was tender and done perfectly. It was delicious!
Delicious! I cooked it in my Crockpot pressure cooker on the soup setting for 5 minutes. Added fresh mushrooms at the end. Will definitely make it again!
delicious! I added broccoli and mushroom I sauteed on the pan! It was so good!
what device is an instant pot?
It is an extra appliance that cooks meals instantly and does not take as long as other cookers. Hope you can find one soon! They are awesome to have! XOXO
Looks great
Question though..step 3 says add oregano, yet the ingredient list does not show Oregano?
Thank you for letting me know. It is 1 teaspoon oregano. Enjoy! XOXO
This is delicious and so easy to make!