Name: Instant Pot Creamy Italian Pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth; 1/2 cup dry red wine (or addtional stock); 15 ounce diced tomatoes; 1 recipe homemade tomato sauce (or 28 ounces jarred pasta sauce); 16 ounces dried rotini (see notes on additonal types of pasta); 8 ounces ricotta cheese; 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese; 28 ounce tomato puree; 3 tablespoons dried parsley; 5 garlic cloves (peeled and smashed); 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter); 2 tablespoons honey (or sugar); 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

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Instant Pot Creamy Italian Pasta is an easy one-pot meal comes that comes together in minutes. Pasta cooks up perfectly in a creamy, cheesy, tomato sauce right, absorbing all the delicious flavors of the sauce as it cooks. The flavors of this Instant Pot Pasta recipe are reminiscent of a Baked Ziti, but this easy recipe is perfect for busy weeknights.

While I love Slow Cooker Baked Ziti and Oven Baked Rotini. Making pasta in the Instant Pot is one of my favorite methods for a quick, affordable weeknight dinner. Made with pantry staples, this Instant Pot pasta is not only easy to make, but it is also surprisingly more delicious than traditional preparation, as the sauce flavors the noodles as they cook.

I have been asked by so many of you to Instant Pot Pasta and I gladly accepted the challenge.

I am happy to report that I have PERFECTED cooking pasta in the pressure cooker, after countless tries.

I experimented with 4 types of regular noodles and one type of gluten-free noodles.
I tested this instant pot pasta recipe with homemade tomato sauce and with jarred tomato sauce.
I made my Italian pasta creamy with the addition of ricotta and cheese and I made it without dairy for a vegan-friendly pasta bake.
I even tried this pasta bake with ground meat and Italian sausage.

The verdict?

I burnt a batch. I under-cooked pasta. I overcooked pasta.

But I finally landed on success and now have one of the EASIEST meals you can make for your family on a busy weeknight.

I will walk you through the different variations, and included at the bottom of this recipe is my favorite version for Instant Pot Baked Rotini–super creamy and delicious!

How to Perfectly Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot

Cooking pasta in the instant pot is about the easiest thing to do.

But just like all Instant Pot Recipes, there are a few important guidelines to remember when using your instant pot.

Liquid

You need to be sure you have enough liquid for pressure to be reached AND enough liquid for your pasta to cook in and to leave a delicious sauce behind.
The magic number instant pot pasta to water ratio is about 6 cups liquid to 16 ounces pasta. I know that may sound like a lot of liquid, but that includes the liquid in the tomato sauce.

Pasta

You want to make sure you completely submerge your pasta in the liquid to cook.
I have seen many recipes that place the pasta on top of the sauce “to steam” the pasta. Every time I have tried this, my pasta cooked unevenly and had dried, crispy spots–yuck.
I like to pour my pasta in on top of the sauce and then lightly push down the pasta until it is just submerged. This will keep the pasta covered with liquid but not touching the bottom of the inner pot in the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Pasta Cooking Times

The magic ratio for cooking pasta is typically half the cook time on the box and then letting pressure release for 5 minutes. This will cook your pasta perfectly.

Spaghetti Noodles: 5 minutes on high pressure with 5 minutes natural release, then quick release (break spaghetti noodles in half so you can submerge in cooking liquid).
Rotini/Penne/Cavatappi: 4 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release
Rigatoni: 5 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release
Linguine: I have NOT had success with linguine noodles, they all clumped together even when I tried to criss-cross them. I would just use spaghetti noodles.
Elbow Noodles: 3 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release.

How to Make Instant Pot Creamy Italian Pasta

Now that you know the ins and out os how to cook dried pasta in your Instant Pot, it is time to share with you my method for my favorite variety–Instant Pot Creamy Baked Ziti.

Step One: Homemade Tomato Sauce (optional)

I love homemade tomato sauce. It will need a bit of time to cook without the pasta to develop flavor, but this method is still super quick. Of course, you can opt to skip this step and just use your favorite jarred pasta sauce (directions for how to do this in the recipe card.)

Add 2 cups of stock or water to your inner pot. Add in remaining ingredients for tomato sauce, along with wine and diced tomatoes.
Cook sauce on high pressure for 10 minutes.
Let the pressure release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release. Because there is a large amount of liquid in the sauce, be sure to cover the vent with a kitchen towel and stay away from steam. It will take about one full minute for the pressure to release.

Step Two: Add Pasta

Give homemade pasta sauce a good stir.
Submerge 16 ounces of dried pasta–for this recipe, I use rotini but see notes below on other times of pasta you can use.
You want to be sure to submerge the pasta into the sauce. Gently push down the pasta into the sauce, being careful to not push the pasta to the bottom of the inner pot.

Step Three: Add Ricotta Cheese

Dollop ricotta cheese on top of the sauce and grated Parmesan cheese over the top. Omit the cheese and ricotta if you want to keep this pasta dairy-free or vegan-friendly.

Step Four: Cook Pasta

Seal the lid and close the valve to sealed.
Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
Let release pressure for 5 minutes and then do a quick release and turn off Instant Pot.

It is SO important to watch that you don’t allow more time to pass than 5 minutes for natural pressure to release so you don’t overcook your pasta. I have found that 4 minutes for most pasta (see notes below) with 5 minutes natural release creates a perfect al dente pasta.

Step Five: Serve

You will notice when you remove the lid the sauce looks very liquidy, just give it a good stir and the pasta and sauce will be perfectly incorporated.

FAQs and Tips for Instant Pot Pasta

Can you add meat to this Instant Pot Pasta recipe? Absolutely! I stated that I have tried Instant Pot pasta with both ground beef and Italian Sausage. There are directions for how to add meat in the recipe card if desired.
Vegan Pasta: Use a vegan-friendly jarred sauce and omit the Ricotta and Parmesan.
I highly recommend using either chicken stock or vegetable broth instead of water for this recipe. The noodles absorb the liquid as they cook, so by using stock, you are imparting more flavor to the pasta.
I add in a dry red wine, like Cabernet or Merlot for an extra rich flavor to my sauce. If you do not drink alcohol, you can use additional stock in place of the wine.
This is one time not to let your Instant Pot sit on keep warm after you release pressure. The pasta can become soggy and dry out quickly.

More Instant Pot recipes using Pasta

Next time you are craving pasta, give this Instant Pot recipe a try. It is easy, comforting, and delicious! And be sure to let me know in the comments how much you enjoyed this recipe–I love to hear from you!

Instant Pot Creamy Italian Pasta