Easy, delicious Instant Pot Chicken Pasta Dinner is loaded with fresh veggies in a creamy sauce. The best part: it comes together in just 10 minutes of cooking time!
Today’s delicious recipe is an old time busy weekday favorite. You can play around with the veggies, or skip them all together. I’ll be sharing stove top instructions too and endless ways to customize this pasta dinner.
If you’re like me and can’t resist a big bowl of pure, creamy, delicious pasta comfort, I can almost guarantee this instant pot chicken recipe will become one of your favorite recipes!
INSTANT POT CHICKEN BREAST
This one-pot recipe is all about simplicity and time-saving. Also in days where we’re all home and need to cook, let’s start with comfort food. easy, delicious and heart warming.
I love cooking chicken in my Instant pot because it cooks like a breeze in minutes. Chicken breasts in particular. Depending on how you cut them (size and thickness), your instant pot chicken breast can be done anywhere from 3-7 minutes.
Another thing I love about instant pot chicken cooking, is the sear I can have on my chicken before cooking. To me this is priceless.
While I know lots of recipes and people throw the raw chicken right into the pot/pan with some liquid and flavoring ingredients (onion,s carrots, herbs, spice..etc), it can not be compared to searing first.
Searing allows for the chicken to crisp up on the edges slightly, for the juices to seal inside, for the chicken to have incredibly rich flavor. Without sealing, the chicken often tastes like water on the inside — no matter how well you flavor the liquid it’s been cooking in.
Finally, I love one pot meals! Using the instant pot (or any pot) here works well for that. Once chicken is seared, veggies, pasta and sauce all cook together in the same pot. Seriously heavenly.
INSTANT POT CHICKEN RECIPE
Now let’s talk about this specific recipe we’re making today. I love how versatile it is. Everything about it is totally customized to your taste. Here’s how:
Veggies To Use:
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Broccoli
- Corn
- Spinach
- Bell peppers
- carrots
- snap peas
- onions
- zucchini
- egg plantFor today’s pasta dinner, I’ve got asparagus, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes on hand.
So, while it’s absolutely delicious as is, I would urge you to make it differently each time so you can enjoy it more often. 🙂
Sauces to use :
- Cream
- Pesto
- Lemon
- Marinara
- Alfredo
- Butter Sauce
- Herbs
- None!
So another way of customizing this instant pot chicken and pasta dinner is by playing round with the different sauces.
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT CHICKEN
You’ll start by seasoning the chicken breast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. Then sear it in a pot or even better, in an instant pot or pressure cooker like I did today.
While it’s searing, chop up your veggies—mushrooms, asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes.
The chicken sears for 2 minutes per side at most so it won’t be cooked through. You basically want a nice sear to seal in all the chicken juices.
You can certainly cut up your chicken into cubes rather than strips if you’re in a hurry, or you prefer that shape in your pasta dinner.
After chicken is seared, removed it and place it on a plate. In the same pot, add garlic and veggies giving them a quick stir.
Now the pasta and water, along with some cream and salt go right in. Exactly 5 minutes later in the instant pot pressure cooker, you can happily say dinner is served. It’s that simple. And guys, it’s SO GOOD!
Another thing I love to do is add some fresh basil, parmesan and lemon zest once the creamy chicken pasta is ready. While it’s optional, this last burst of herbs, lemon, and Parmesan cheese really add that special something!
Some red chilli flakes and a pinch of black pepper are like icing on the cake.
For the record, this one-pot chicken pasta recipe can be made without an instant pot or pressure cooker. However, it will take you 20 minutes instead of 105, which is still awesome!
If you’re looking for an easy weeknight dinner, this one-pot chicken pasta is the one! You’ll love the convenience, the ease and flexibility of ingredients you can play with. And you’ll LOVE yourself for making something so yummy in a few short minutes!
P.S don’t forget to tag me when you make it so I can woohoo over your creamy chicken pasta 🙂
TIPS FOR PASTA DINNER
- For Stove Top: Follow the recipe as is, but cover your pot and allow the chicken and pasta to cook for about 25 minutes.
- I used fusilli pasta, but you can go with any kind of pasta that fits into your instant pot easily.
- Using chicken breast allows for a delicious flavor and quicker coking time.
- Cutting the chicken breast into strips or cubes helps make cooking faster.
- The type of veggies you choose are completely up to you, and depends on what you have on hand.
- Same with the sauce – I just added cream, however pesto and other sauces are amazing too!
- Adding extra flavoring like spice, herbs, lemon zest is an easy way to infuse flavor.
- Finally cheeses: adding Parmesan is the prefect finish. However adding blue cheese, goat cheese, feta cheese is also amazing!!
PASTA RECIPES
- Healthy Kale Squash Mushroom Pasta
- Broccoli Pesto – Healthy Pasta Recipe
- Quick Shrimp Pasta with Garlic Feta Sauce
- Easy and Fresh Garlic Lemon Pasta
- Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta
Quick One-Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta Dinner
This Quick, One-Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta Dinner is loaded with fresh veggies and packs a good serving of protein from the succulent chicken. The best part: it comes together in just 10 minutes of cooking time! Sounds too good to be true, but it’s seriously too good and too true! 🙂
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts cut up into half an inch thick strips about 3 inches long
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
For the Veggies:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch of fresh Asparagus trimmed and chopped
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- pinch salt
For the Pasta:
- 1 box pasta 375 g - any shape you prefer as long as it fits in your pot comfortably with the water, chicken and veggies
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup table cream or you can use light cream if you prefer
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Toppings and Assembly:
- 1/4 cup fresh basil minced
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated (more or less to your taste)
- pinch red chilli flakes skip, or adjust to your taste
- freshly grated black pepper to your taste
Instructions
-
Preheat the olive oil in your instant pot, pressure cooker or large 5-quart pot over high heat.
Season the chicken with the remaining ingredients and toss it well.
-
Start by searing the chicken for 1.2 minutes to 2 minutes on each side until it’s lightly golden and the chicken shrinks to seal in all its’ juices.
In the meantime, prepare the veggies, pasta, and water.
-
Remove the chicken into a plate and to the same pot, add the veggie ingredients and sauté them for 45 seconds until the garlic is fragrant and veggies start to wilt a bit.
-
Add in the pasta, the seared chicken strips, water, cream, and salt. Adjust your pressure cooker/Instant pot to exactly 5 minutes ( for spirals, bowties, penne and similar size pasta).
-
Once ready, add in fresh basil, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, some red chili flakes, and extra salt and pepper if you need.
Serve up the creamy chicken pasta right away and enjoy! 🙂
Recipe Notes
TIPS FOR PASTA DINNER
- For Stove Top: Follow the recipe as is, but cover your pot and allow the chicken and pasta to cook for about 25 minutes.
- I used fusilli pasta, but you can go with any kind of pasta that fits into your instant pot easily.
- Using chicken breast allows for a delicious flavor and quicker coking time.
- Cutting the chicken breast into strips or cubes helps make cooking faster.
- The type of veggies you choose are completely up to you, and depends on what you have on hand.
- Same with the sauce - I just added cream, however pesto and other sauces are amazing too!
- Adding extra flavoring like spice, herbs, lemon zest is an easy way to infuse flavor.
- Finally cheeses: adding Parmesan is the prefect finish. However adding blue cheese, goat cheese, feta cheese is also amazing!!
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