Instant Pot Pasta is an easy one-pot family favorite recipe that comes together in minutes! The pasta cooks up perfectly in a creamy, cheesy, tomato sauce, absorbing all the delicious flavors of the sauce as it cooks, making it one of the most flavorful, yet simple meals.
I have been asked by so many of you how to perfectly cook pasta in the Instant Pot Pasta and I gladly accepted the challenge.
After countless experiments, with endless varieties of pasta, with and without sauce, I am happy to report that I have perfected Instant Pot Pasta.
And this recipe for Instant Pot Creamy Italian Pasta knocks it out of the park in terms of flavor and ease!
It is creamy, it is cheesy, it is full of flavor. But most importantly, the pasta is cooked perfectly AND absorbs the sauce as it cooks, giving the pasta itself incredible flavor.
The flavors of this Instant Pot Pasta recipe are reminiscent of baked ziti, yet this recipe is easy enough for busy weeknights.
Notes on Ingredients
- Pasta: I recommend using pasta that has ridges and can capture and hold the sauce, such as rigatoni, rotini, or ziti noodles.
- Broth: I highly recommend using either store-bought or homemade chicken stock or vegetable broth, or even Instant Pot Chicken stock, 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.
- Red Wine: Adding a dry red wine, like Cabernet, Pinot Noir, or Merlot, for a rich depth of flavor. If you do not drink alcohol, you can use additional broth in place of the wine.
- Marinara/Spaghetti Sauce: Use your favorite store-bought or homemade spaghetti sauce for this recipe. Using a marinara or spaghetti sauce imparts a lot more flavor to the dish as it pressure cooks.
- Diced Tomatoes: The diced tomatoes add needed liquid and a nice texture to the pasta. Use petite or regular canned diced tomatoes.
- Seasonings: To really amp up the flavor in the pasta, I add minced garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Feel free to omit the crushed red pepper flakes to control the level of heat.
- Ricotta: Use whole milk or skim ricotta cheese, for a creamy rich Instant Pot Pasta.
- Cheese: After pressure cooking, I love to finish the Instant Pot Pasta with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Freshly grated Parmesan will add better flavor than using a canister or pre-shredded parmesan.
How to Make Instant Pot Creamy Italian Pasta
As I stated earlier, this recipe is a super easy, dump-and-go recipe. But the way we layer the ingredients is key to the pasta cooking perfectly and avoiding a burn notice.
- Pour the broth and wine, if using, into the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Add in the minced garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
- Add in the pasta of your choice and gently spread out the pasta so that it is evenly dispersed in the inner pot.
- Add the diced tomatoes on top of the pasta.
- Top with the spaghetti sauce and then spread to cover evenly over the pasta.
- To make the pasta creamy and rich, like lasagna, dollop the ricotta cheese over the tomato sauce. Do not stir!
- Place the lid on the inner pot and be sure the vent knob is sealed.
- Set the cooking time for HALF the suggested cooking time on the box of pasta you used. See the chart below for the exact cooking times.
- Once the cooking time has elapsed, let the pressure release for 5 minutes. Then do a quick release of any remaining pressure.
- Open up the Instant Pot and do not be alarmed by the look of the contents of your inner pot--it won't look pretty, but you will see it will come together with a good stir!
- Give the pasta a stir to evenly combine the ricotta into the cooked pasta.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the pasta and place the lid on the Instant Pot for 2-3 minutes, just to melt the cheese if desired.
- Serve immediately with additional cheese if desired and garlic toast, if you are so inclined.
Instant Pot Pasta Cooking Times
The magic ratio for cooking pasta is half the cook time on the box, followed by letting the pressure release for 5 minutes. This will cook your pasta, regardless of the type of pasta you select to use, perfectly.
- Rotini/Penne/Cavatappi: 4 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release
- Rigatoni/Ziti: 5 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release
- Elbow Noodles: 3 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release.
Tips for Perfectly Cooked Instant Pot Pasta
- Layer the ingredients as the recipe card directs. This is critical to ensure the pasta cooks perfectly without causing a burn notice.
- Set the cooking time for HALF the shortest time suggested on the box of pasta for boiling the pasta.
- Let the pressure release for exactly 5 minutes.
- This is one time not to let your Instant Pot sit on keep warm after you release pressure, as the pasta can become soggy and dry out quickly.
Recipe Modifications
- Dairy-Free Instant Pot Pasta: Omit the ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese from this recipe. It will still be delicious!
- Using Gluten-Free Pasta: I have ONLY had success using the Barilla brand of gluten-free pasta in the Instant Pot. It seems to be the only one that doesn't give off excess starch.
- Adding Meat: If you would like to add ground beef or ground Italian sausage to this recipe, saute the meat until browned using the saute function. Once the meat is browned, remove the meat from the inner pot, add in the broth and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the inner pot really well. Layer the pasta, cooked meat, diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and ricotta cheese in that order in the inner pot and proceed with the recipe.
Storage
If you happen to have leftover pasta, store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can freeze the pasta in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
To reheat, allow the pasta to defrost in the refrigerator overnight if needed. Place in a heat-safe bowl with a tablespoon or two of water or stock, cover with a moistened paper towel, and heat in the microwave in 1-minute intervals, stirring between each interval until warmed through.
More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes
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If you tried this Creamy Italian Instant Pot Pasta, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Instant Pot Pasta
Pasta cooks up perfectly in a creamy, cheesy, tomato sauce, absorbing all the delicious flavors of the sauce as it cooks.
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Servings: 8
Calories: 322kcal
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 2 ½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup dry red wine or addtional stock
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- â…› teaspoon black pepper
- â…› teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 16 ounces dried pasta ziti, rotini, corkscrew, rigatoni, etc
- 15 ounces diced tomatoes
- 24 ounces spaghetti sauce see notes for using homemade sauce
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Pour the broth into the inner pot. Stir in the wine, garlic, oregano, pepper, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using.
- Pour the pasta into the inner pot. gently pushing down to submerge in the broth. Then top the dry pasta with the diced tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, spreading to evenly cover the pasta. Dollop with ricotta cheese, if using.
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes for rotini and corkscrew noodles and 5 minutes for ziti or rigatoni noodles. Alternatively, set the cooking time for HALF the lowest suggested cook time on the box of pasta.
- Once the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release for exactly 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the remaining pressure. To do a quick release, stand away from the vent knob, and use a long utensil to knock the venting knob from the sealed to the venting position.
- Give the noodles a gentle stir into the sauce to combine. Top with the parmesan and mozzarella, and place the lid back on the inner pot for 2-5 minutes, to melt the cheese.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment Needed
Notes
Feel free to omit the Parmesan, Ricotta, and Mozzarella for a dairy-free recipe.
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.
- Rotini/Penne/Cavatappi: 4 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release.
- Rigatoni/Ziti: 5 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release.
- Elbow Noodles: 3 minutes on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, then quick release.
- Gluten-Free Pasta: I experimented with Barilla gluten-free rotini noodles and my method still worked perfectly. Other brands have not been successful. Quinoa pasta will break down in the sauce and release starch that can cause you to get a burn notice so is not recommended.
- Start the recipe by browning up to 1 pound of ground beef/sausage. Once the meat is browned, turn the instant pot off, remove the meat, and drain off any excess grease.
- Add the broth to the inner pot and scrape off any browned bits on the bottom of the inner pot.
- Add the noodles to the inner pot. Top with the ground meat, diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and ricotta cheese, and proceed with the recipe as directed.
- 2 ½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup dry red wine or additional stock
- 28 ounces tomato puree
- 15 ounce diced tomatoes
- 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
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 16 ounces dried rotini or ziti
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- Place the broth or water in the Instant Pot. Add in wine, diced tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, butter/olive oil, honey, oregano, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. Do not stir.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Once the cooking time has elapsed, let the pressure release for 10 minutes, before doing a quick release. Stir sauce together
Add in dried pasta and gently submerge pasta in the sauce. Dollop with ricotta cheese. - Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes for rotini or 5 minutes for ziti noodles.
- After cook time has elapsed, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes and then do a quick release of any remaining pressure. Stir sauce, ricotta, and pasta together. Add in cheese and let the cheese melt before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 720mg | Potassium: 571mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 598IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 161mg | Iron: 2mg
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This post was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2022 with a new video and photos.
Linden Spyropoulos
I made this tonight with the homemade sauce using 1 lb ground beef which I cooked on saute mode with half of the dry seasoning + one diced white onion + approx. 15oz cherry tomatoes (gently crushed by hand). Tossed in a box of medium shell pasta, added a tiny can of sliced mushrooms & thinly sliced basil leaves after sauce was cooked. Cubed 8oz of cream cheese in place of ricotta (I didn’t have any on hand — we LOVE ricotta cheese — can’t wait to make it again without the substitution!) My 8qt IP Ultra gave a burn warning, maybe because it’s larger or I should have used a half cup more of broth, but the warning resolved itself and it just continued cooking… never seen that happen before! My husband said it smelled great before even adding the pasta… I think this one will be a hit. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Linden! I am so sorry you had a burn notice, but that model is prone to them. Sounds like it wasn't really a burn notice since it kept cooking. In the future, just be sure to layer the tomatoes, sauce, and ricotta on top and place the broth in the instant pot first--that should help. 2.5 cups of liquid is plenty for an 8 quart.
Colleen Mullaly
I made this tonight and I will again. I used the sautee feature and cooked a few cloves of garlic, then added the rest of the ingredients. I used 4 cheese jarred pasta and skipped the ricotta since I didn't have it. When it was done I stirred in shredded mozza. The quantities and times were perfect, it was cooked perfectly and plenty saucy.
Kristen Chidsey
Thank you for sharing your review and modifications--so happy to hear you enjoyed!
Jessica
Tried this recipe tonight and it was fantastic! I like onions in my tomato sauce so added 1 diced medium onion and browned it prior to the meat. I didn't have dried parsley but added a bay leaf and 1/2 tbsp dried basil for some extra seasoning. My partner and I gobbled it right up, loving the creamy and well-developed flavor of the tomato sauce. Also, the cooking time for the rotini was spot on - pasta came out perfectly al dente. Added this to my list of favorite Instant Pot recipes. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
Kristen Chidsey
Thanks so much Jessica for taking the time to leave a review and let me know how much you enjoyed! I am so happy to hear you will be making this again and again!
Chris
If I'm using frozen meatballs, do I still need to brown them first or can I just leave them in and follow the recipe?
Kristen Chidsey
You can just pop them in the pasta unless you want the texture of browned meatballs. Enjoy!
Ashley
Made this tonight followed the store bought sauce recipe and added a bit extra stock. I ended up with a burn notice not sure what happened. There was just a thin but of burnt coating on the bottom of the pan the rest was perfect. It was very tasty just gotta figure out where I went wrong to get the burn notice 😓
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Ashley! I am glad you enjoyed the flavor but I am sorry you experienced a burn notice. Some models are more sensitive. I would suggest in the future mixing together, the stock, wine, and seasonings, then add in the pasta, then top with the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and ricotta and cooking as directed.
Mimi
Are you placing a container inside the IP to cook the pasta and sauce? Or, cooking directly in the IP?
Kristen Chidsey
This recipe is designed for directly in the instant pot. I hope you enjoy!
Karen
So I tried this but I think I don't understand. We basically ate gub! LOL So in Step 4 is says Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes....does this mean that you time it for 4 minutes because it takes longer than that for the pressure to develop which I think is why I was unsuccessful. My overall time was quite longer than 35 minutes. Where did I go wrong? Thank You.
Kristen Chidsey
Yes, Karen, you should set the cook time to 4 minutes. It would take about 10 minute to come to pressure then cook time begins then you release pressure after 5 minutes. Therefore the overall time is about 19 minutes. It sounds like your pasta was cooked much longer than that.
Logan Ames
I have never successfully made pasta in the IP until this recipe and had doubts that it was even possible to achieve al dente. On a whim I tried your recipe. And it is perfect as is! Thank you for doing all the work to find the perfect ratio and timing to make al dente IP pasta. The timing for rotini works perfectly for farfelle.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you found my formula to be successful for you Logan! I worked hard at perfecting this recipe. And thanks for letting us know that timing for the farfelle is equal to the time for the rotini.
Lisa
I made this tonight with ground beef. My grocery store was out of ricotta (too many people making quarantine lasagna I guess), so I used a small tub of Philadelphia cream cheese. It was sooo delicious!! Definitely a new family favorite!!
Kristen Chidsey
Oh the cream cheese would be fabulous in this! So glad you enjoyed!
Tara Laverty
Can your IP Spaghetti Sauce recipe be used for this? If so do we use in place of the "Store Bought" section? Still need to add and diced tomatoes? Just curious. Thanks.
Kristen Chidsey
Yes Tara, you can use my recipe in place of store bought sauce. And if is fine to omit the diced tomatoes.
Joe
Kristen,
Have you tried this using the pot in pot method also?
Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Joe! I have personally not tried this using pot in pot, but you should be able to make this pot in pot easily. Just place a trivet in the inner pot, place 1 cup of cold water for 6 quart or 1.5 cups of cold water in the inner pot and then place a heat safe bowl on top of the rack. I would add 1 to 2 minutes of cook time. Let us know how it goes.