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This irresistibly Creamy Parmesan Instant Pot Pasta recipe is the easiest dinner to whip in well under 30 minutes. Add a few things to the instant pot and walk away. Stir in cream, parmesan and spinach after cooking and dinner is served! Such a quick and easy to get dinner on the table!
The Instant Pot instantly became one of my favorite appliances. And simple dump and go dinners like this Instant Pot Pasta are another reason it just doesn't get any better.
Aside from Instant Pot mac and cheese, this meal is the top made pasta recipe in our house.
Why you will love this:
- Literally dump and walk away. Here is the deal: add the pasta, broth, tomatoes, butter and seasoning. Stir, set, and walk away. Come back to stir in spinach, cheese and cream. Doesn't get any easier!
- Cheesy and comforting. Comfort food with a perfect Italian twist. We prefer ours with a few pieces of fresh mozzarella melted on top.
- It's a vegetarian meal but can also be easily paired with a variety of meats. If you choose a vegetarian parmesan, you have a meatless recipe for dinner. But for the meat eaters at home, you can slice up some meatballs or Italian sausage, or even grilled chicken and stir it in.
- Kid friendly. Since this Instant Pot pasta is a lot like a big bowl of spaghetti, the kids are eager to dive in. They just don't have to know that it was that easy to whip up!
What you'll need:
- Originally, I was not going to add the cream to this recipe, but changed my mind after making it a few times. Just a little goes a long way and adds that creamy, saucy texture to this Instant Pot Pasta.
- I use unsalted tomatoes and unsalted broth in this recipe. If you have salt added to yours, feel free to wait until the end to salt to taste. This should keep you from over salting the pasta.
- broth: I use chicken or vegetable, depending on what I have around. Adds more flavor than just plain water. Work with whatever you have!
How to make this:
- Add pasta, butter, garlic, seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Add the tomatoes--don't drain them!-- and broth.
- Stir it all up and cover Instant Pot setting to pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.
- Once the timer is up, do a quick release to let the pressure out.
- Add the spinach and allow it to wilt.
- Stir in the parmesan and cream, adding more as desired. Your Instant Pot Pasta dinner is served!
Notes and Tips:
- To help keep spinach and parmesan from clumping, you can chop the spinach. You can add it in right at the very end if you prefer to keep from any extra stirring as well.
- You can use any short pasta easily in this recipe: penne, shells, rotini, fusilli, etc. I don't suggest using any long or thin pastas as they may turn to mush.
- If your sauce seems to thick, add some extra broth to thin it out. Or thicken it up with some extra cream.
- I have not tested this Instant Pot Pasta recipe with a gluten free pasta to date. This recipe for gluten free pasta suggests setting the timer to "0" on pressure cooker and allow for an 8 minute natural release.
Other recipes to try:
- Instant Pot Creamy Potato Leek Soup
- Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
- Creamy One Pot Pasta
- One Pot Chicken Alfredo
- Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Instant Pot Butter Herb Salmon
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Creamy Parmesan Instant Pot Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta, uncooked
- 3 T butter
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (approx. 14.5 oz.)
- 3.5 c broth
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon cracked pepper
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2-3 large handfuls baby spinach
- ½ c parmesan cheese
- ¼ c heavy cream
Instructions
- Add the pasta, butter cut in small chunks, broth, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to your Instant Pot. Stir to combine. You may want to make sure the butter is submerged as sometimes butter can splatter when doing a quick release.
- Close the Instant Pot and make sure pressure valve is set to "sealing." Set to pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. (It will wake 10-15 minutes for pressure to build up depending on your pressure cooker.)
- When timer is up and cycle is complete, do a quick release. Stir in the spinach to allow to wilt. Stir in the cream and parmesan and allow the cheese to melt. Serve with extra cheese on top.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- To help keep spinach and parmesan from clumping, you can chop the spinach. You can add it in right at the very end if you prefer to keep from any extra stirring as well.
- You can use any short pasta easily in this recipe: penne, shells, rotini, fusilli, etc. I don't suggest using any long or thin pastas as they may turn to mush.
- If your sauce seems to thick, add some extra broth to thin it out. Or thicken it up with some extra cream.
Erin says
Delicious, Lorie!
Lorie says
Yay!!! So happy to hear you loved it!
Suzy says
Reading the instructions, it seems u left out when to add the pasta? I’m assuming u add when u add the broth, before closing the instapot?
Lorie says
Hi! It’s the very first thing listed in the instructions. Yes goes right in with the other ingredients. Enjoy!