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Can you cook pasta in an Instant Pot? You bet. This recipe is a seriously creamy Instant Pot pasta recipe that you’ll make again and again.
Ever tried making Instant Pot pasta? I’ve owned my Instant Pot for a year, but it wasn’t until recently that I tried cooking pasta in it. Honestly, I was a little wary of pasta — would a pressure cooker be able to cook pasta without turning it to mush? Turns out, it works: and it’s absolutely delicious!
You can see the creamy Instant Pot pasta with a marinara sauce mixed with creamy goat cheese. It’s so seriously flavorful, it might just be one of my favorite Instant Pot recipes yet. And it’s a perfect, easy weeknight dinner recipe — as simple as throwing a few things in the pot and cooking for 5 minutes. My toddler, Larson, is obsessed…and so am I!
Want a stovetop version instead? Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta
How to make Instant Pot pasta
If you’re looking for fast and easy dinner recipes, this one is for you! This vegetarian Instant Pot pasta recipe could not be easier.
The concept is to cook the pasta and make a homemade marinara sauce at the same time — directly in the pressure cooker. Then you’ll stir in goat cheese to make the sauce creamy: kind of like a vodka sauce, but using goat cheese instead!
The cool thing is that it only takes 5 minutes of cook time! If you’re familiar with Instant Pot cooking, you’ll know it takes a few more minutes than just the cook time, but not much!
The ingredients required for this Instant Pot pasta are simple:
- Crushed fire-roasted tomatoes: Using fire-roasted tomatoes is helpful for their sweet flavor. If you can’t find them, use the best quality crushed tomatoes!
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Spices (garlic powder, dried oregano, salt)
- Spinach leaves: baby spinach is easiest, or you can use chopped spinach
- Whole basil leaves
- Penne pasta, or any short pasta shape
- Goat cheese, to make the creamy sauce
To make the Instant Pot pasta, you literally dump all the ingredients into the Instant Pot (except goat cheese) and pressure cook on High for 5 minutes. If you’re experienced with cooking with a pressure cooker you’ll know there’s a “preheat” time to add to that where the Instant Pot is heating up.
For this recipe, it takes about 10 minutes to preheat (a bit longer than most recipes, since there is so much volume inside the pot). Then you’ll do a quick release, where you immediately let out all the steam in the Instant Pot. Stir in the goat cheese, and the pasta is ready to go!
This one got VERY high marks in my household: from me, my husband, and my toddler, Larson! I know I’ll keep making it for years to come.
Related: This pasta calls for fresh basil — and it’s easy to grow at home! I’ve also got a trick for storing it. Here’s How to Grow Basil and How to Store Fresh Basil.
Does pasta cook to al dente in an Instant Pot?
Good question! If you’re rigorous about your al dente pasta like I am, take note: Instant Pot pasta does taste a bit softer than the al dente you can achieve on the stovetop. If you’re a stickler for perfectly al dente pasta, this might not be the recipe for you.
However, I tested this against a stovetop version: Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta, and loved the Instant Pot pasta even more! While the stovetop pasta was firmer, the sauce flavor soaked into the pasta really well when cooked in the pressure cooker.
Leftovers of this Instant Pot pasta do become quite soft, so that’s another difference that you’ll notice versus leftovers of stovetop pasta. You’ll want to eat your pasta as soon as possible, or just be ready for softer-than-normal leftovers. However, even with these caveats, the Instant Pot pasta was a huge hit in my household.
What pressure cooker do you use?
I use the Instant Pot brand, though there are a lot of other great pressure cookers out there! The Instant Pot I use is the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker.
There are variations between pressure cooker brands, so I can’t speak to how other brands cook. For example, I’ve heard that the Instant Pot Mini is different and doesn’t work as well as the standard size. So, only use the Instant Pot Mini for this recipe at your own risk!
Looking for other Instant Pot recipes?
Outside of this recipe, here are a few of my favorite Instant Pot recipes:
- Basics: Sweet Potatoes | Chickpeas | Lentils & Rice| Eggs | Quinoa | How to Cook Rice: White Rice & Brown Rice | Lentils | Refried Beans
- Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Vegan Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
- Thai Sweet Potatoes
- Chickpea Couscous Bowls
- Lentil Tacos
- Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats
- Granola Instant Pot Apple Crisp
- Instant Pot Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Best Vegan Nachos
This Instant Pot pasta recipe is…
Vegetarian
Creamy Instant Pot Pasta
Can you cook pasta in an Instant Pot? You bet. This recipe is a seriously creamy Instant Pot pasta recipe that you’ll make again and again.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 to 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups water
- 28 ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes (or best quality crushed tomatoes)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves, tightly packed (or chopped spinach)
- 8 fresh basil leaves
- 8 ounces penne pasta (regular, not whole wheat)
- 4 ounce goat cheese log
Instructions
- Place the following ingredients into the Instant Pot: water, tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, oregano, kosher salt, spinach, whole basil leaves, and penne. Stir until combined.
- Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes: Press the Pressure Cook button, making sure the “High Pressure” setting is selected, and set the time. Note that it takes about 10 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. (During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
- Quick release: Vent the remaining steam from the Instant Pot by moving the pressure release handle to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. Open the pressure cooker lid.
- Open the lid and crumble in the goat cheese; stir until a creamy sauce forms. The sauce will thicken even more as it cools.
The recipe came out very well. Next time I think I’ll pressure cook 6 minutes instead of 5. Just wondering if there are any other types of cheese I can use. The goat cheese was very tangy.
You could do a cream cheese if you wanted.