This Instant Pot creamy pasta recipe is perfect for lunch or dinner. A rich, lemony and garlic sauce with perfectly cooked pasta, ready in minutes! You won't believe how easy it is to make a pasta recipe in your Instant Pot!
You can make this pasta recipe any day, anytime! It's quick and easy to make but packed with flavor too. It's all made in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker so clean up is just as easy as the recipe!
For another 15 minute creamy pasta recipe, give our easy Instant Pot mac and cheese recipe a try! It's super creamy, cheesy and delicious!
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🥬 Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Onion
- White wine (optional)
- Vegetable broth
- Salt & pepper
- Whipping cream
- Cream cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Lemon juice
- Long pasta, like spaghetti, fettuccini or linguine
- Fresh parsley
See recipe card for quantities.
📖 Instructions
Press sauté on your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and wait for it to heat up. Once hot add olive oil and the onions. Sauté the onion until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Add white wine and deglaze the pot, scrape the bottom of the pot so that there are no burned bits stuck on the bottom. This prevents a burning error later when pressure cooking.
Add vegetable broth, salt and pepper, cream, cream cheese and parmesan. Mix well while heating until you have a smooth, cheesy sauce.
Break your long pasta in half and add to pot. Add lemon juice. Mix well and then push the pasta down into the sauce.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and cook according to the directions in the post for the perfect amount of time to cook pasta in the instant pot.
Once the pressure cooking time has elapsed allow the pressure to release naturally (i.e leave the instant pot alone when the beeping stops) for 5 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure and open. Mix the pasta and sauce well. The pasta might have stuck together slightly, but keep mixing and it will separate.
Serve immediately with chopped fresh parsley and lemon slices.
🍝 How to Cook Perfect Pasta in Instant Pot
Making perfectly cooked pasta in your Instant Pot is all about of the ratio of liquid to pasta, and then the cooking time.
For this recipe, roughly 3 cups of liquid are used for 8 oz of dry pasta.
Here is a complete guide to making al dente pasta in the Instant Pot! It will show you how to make each type or pasta and for how long you should cook it for.
🙋🏻♂️ Questions & Answers
Pasta only needs to cook for a couple of minutes in the Instant Pot. Instant Pot pasta recipes usually cook the pasta for 0 - 3 minutes depending on the thickness of the pasta used.
Yes, pasta does cook much faster in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. The high pressure heats the water quicker and the food is cooked much faster. Pasta in an Instant Pot can be twice as quick to prepare compared to the stovetop.
Yes, you can put uncooked noodles in the Instant Pot. Make sure you add enough water/liquid for the pasta to cook through but not too much as the pasta can become soggy.
🍶Substitutions
Vegan - use vegan, dairy -free cream cheese and cream for this recipe to make it vegan. For the parmesan cheese, I love this vegan parmesan cheese recipe!
Gluten-free - you can use gluten-free pasta in this recipe and you don't have to make any other adjustments to make this recipe gluten-free!
🥘 Variations
With a creamy, rich base for this pasta recipe, you can easily adjust and adapt the flavors to your liking! If you like to make this recipe as often as I do, you'll definitely appreciate these ideas!
- Want some spice? - add chili pepper flakes while sautéing the onions and garlic to add heat into the dish
- Extra cheesy! - add more parmesan to the recipe or you can also add some white cheddar to the sauce white melting it together for more cheesy flavor!
- Added protein - simply fry up your preferred protein on the side and add to this dish for an instant boost in protein and flavor. Cubed chicken breast, crumbled sausages and chopped bacon all work very well!
⏲ Equipment
This recipe has been developed and tested using an 6 quart (5.5 L) Instant Pot. I would recommend using an Instant Pot as their features are so easy to use.
You can also use any pressure cooker for this recipe, the pasta will turn out just as creamy and delicious!
If you want to make this recipe on the stove top, then follow these steps:
- add 1 - 2 cups of water as needed while cooking
- you will need to cook the pasta in the sauce for about 7 - 10 minutes until the pasta is al dente
- you will need to stir the dish often after adding the dry pasta to the dish.
🥣 Storage
You can store leftover pasta in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days in an airtight container. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top on low heat. Stir well and enjoy!
This dish doesn't stand up well to freezing.
❗️Top tip
If the sauce isn't thick enough for your liking after pressure cooking, you can press the sauté button on your Instant Pot and thicken the sauce for a few minutes. Then mix well while heating the sauce.
The pasta will continue cooking, absorbing the sauce and the dish will become thicker. Turn the heat off once the dish has reached the desired consistency and serve!
Tried this recipe? Leave a star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a comment below and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram!
15 Minute Instant Pot Creamy Pasta
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ white onion diced fine
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 4 ounce cream cheese
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- 8 oz. 226 g long pasta, like spaghetti or linguine
- 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Press sauté on your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and wait for it to heat up. Once hot add olive oil and the onions. Sauté the onion until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add white wine and deglaze the pot, scrape the bottom of the pot so that there are no burned bits stuck on the bottom. This prevents a burning error later when pressure cooking.
- Add vegetable broth, salt and pepper, cream, cream cheese and parmesan. Mix well while heating until you have a smooth, cheesy sauce. Break long pasta in half and add to pot. Add lemon juice. Mix well and then push the pasta down into the sauce.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and cook for 0 - 2 minutes on high pressure. Use the directions in the post above for the perfect amount of time to cook pasta in the instant pot.
- Once the pressure cooking time has elapsed allow the pressure to release naturally (i.e leave the instant pot alone when the beeping stops) for 5 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure and open. Mix the pasta and sauce well. The pasta might have stuck together slightly, but keep mixing and it will separate.
- If the sauce isn't thick enough for your liking, you can press the sauté button on your Instant Pot and thicken the sauce for a few minutes.
- Serve immediately with chopped fresh parsley and lemon slices.
Julia
Made this today and it came out really nice - I like that the pasta wasn't over cooked! I added more paremsan for extra cheese 🙂
From My Pantry Team
Thank you for trying out our recipe Julia! That extra parmesan sounds amazing 🙂
Sergio
Loved this recipe! So quick to make too!