Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Pasta is a great go-to easy dinner recipe to make for the family.
Our kids always love a good cheesy pasta dinner!
I love a good Instant Pot chicken and pasta recipe, and with the cheese sauce, it makes for a tasty budget-friendly dinner recipe.
To add to this Instant Pot recipe, I would pair it with our Best Italian Roasted Vegetables, Chopped Vegetable Salad, and our super delicious Cheesy Pull Apart Garlic Bread.
Ingredients Needed For Our Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Pasta:
- Salt
- Italian seasoning
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Butter
- Diced onion
- Chicken broth
- Rotini pasta (or whatever your favorite is)
- Heavy cream
- Cream cheese
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil (optional)
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How To Make Our Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Pasta:
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Add diced chicken to bowl and toss until chicken is full coated in seasonings.
- Plug in the Instant Pot and press the SAUTE button. Add 1 Tablespoon of butter and let it heat up. Add the chicken and onion and saute until chicken is seared on all sides.
- Cancel the saute function and pour in the chicken broth. Add the pasta and stir, making sure that all pasta is immersed in the broth.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and secure in place. Turn the vent to SEALING. Press the MANUAL button and set the timer for 4 minutes.
- When cooking is finished, move the vent to VENTING and do a QUICK RELEASE of the pressure.
- Remove the lid and stir in remaining butter, cream, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese. If desired, top with fresh basil and serve.
No Heavy Cream? No Problem!
While I normally have at least a little heavy cream in my fridge, sometimes it is not enough for what the recipe calls for. That is when it is great to know what else I can use in its place.
Take the time to look over these 9 heavy cream substitutes from Country Living and see if you have something you can replace the heavy cream within a pinch!
Enjoy More Delicious Pasta Recipes
We’ve rounded up some of our best pasta recipes, including creamy tomato rigatoni, puttanesca, macaroni and cheese, and more. Check out our comprehensive collection of pasta recipes here.
- Baked Spaghetti Casserole
- Beef and Noodle Casserole
- Cheesy Pizza Pasta Casserole
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna
- Chicken Pasta Casserole
- Creamy Chicken Lasagna
- Homemade Lasagna
- Instant Pot Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
- Instant Pot Loaded Mac and Cheese
- Skillet Lasagna
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasonings
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ¼ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 Tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 16 ounces rotini pasta
- 1 ¼ cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- fresh basil, (chopped, optional garnish)
Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Add diced chicken to bowl and toss until chicken is full coated in seasonings.
- Plug in the Instant Pot and press the SAUTE button. Add 1 Tablespoon of butter and let it heat up. Add the chicken and onion and saute until chicken is seared on all sides.
- Cancel the saute function and pour in the chicken broth. Add the pasta and stir, making sure that all pasta is immersed in the broth.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and secure in place. Turn the vent to SEALING. Press the MANUAL button and set the timer for 4 minutes.
- When cooking is finished, move the vent to VENTING and do a QUICK RELEASE of the pressure.
- Remove the lid and stir in remaining butter, cream, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese. If desired, top with fresh basil and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
So sorry, but I’m just a little confused. Are you supposed to saute the chicken until its completely cooked through or just the outside and the 4 minutes will finish the cooking process?
Just cook and sear the outside edges of the chicken.
I followed this to the T and it came out runny. The flavor was great but I suspect my elevation has something to do with it. I’m at 5500+ feet and I’d cut back on the broth maybe half a cup and probably half as much cream.
I loved the flavour but the chicken was not tender. I may try rotisserie chicken next time and add it after the noodles are cooked. Mine was also very runny – almost like a soup – but I live in high altitude – 7000+ feet.
Very tasty recipe! The chicken was tender and seasoned so well.
I doubled this recipe tonight in a 10 qt instant pot, which held that amount of food really well, although I did need to sauté the chicken in 2 batches. The seasoning on the chicken was delicious, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the pasta cooked in the broth. It was not mushy at all. My whole family enjoyed the dish very much, which surprised me because none of us are typically a fan of cream cheese in a sauce. This recipe is going in my menu book for sure. Thank you for sharing such a delicious (and easy) recipe 😊
I made this tonight. My husband and daughter liked it. I did feel like it needs less liquid. Next time I make it I will use 1/2 cup of cream.
My husband and I LOVED this! Highly recommend for sure
It’s really good….
Mine came out very watery as well I’m not sure if it’s my elevation I’m not as high as some other reviews I’m at 4500 any suggestions? I want to make this again.
It did turn out pretty soupy even with half as much cream than what the recipe called for. The noodles were cooked perfectly and it is creamy. It has too much Italian seasoning for my liking though. If I were to make it again I’d use 1/2 as much of the Italian seasoning and add a little heat.
I made this last night. Not only was it soupy but the penne did not cook fully. I had to keep it on saute and try to get the pasta to
al dente. Eventually, the pasta was cooked enough but it was still soupy. I tried to thicken it with cornstarch but didn’t use enough to really make a difference. Meanwhile, I served it and my husband LOVED it! Next time I try to make this I will do it a little differently. Maybe it was the pasta I used.
My family loved it!
This was so good!! I used a little over 4 cups of chicken broth so the pasta was submerged in liquid. Then used little over 3/4 of a cup of the heavy cream and found that to be a perfect consistency. Great favor!
This was a quick and yummy dinner. The sauce is runny at first but thickens as it cools down.
This was a great recipe! My husband and I enjoyed it very much. It mad more than we can use so I’m going to try and freeze leftovers, I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thank you
Do I change anything if I want to make this on stovetop, not instant pot?
There is a big difference with this recipe if adapting it to the stove top from the Instant Pot because it would be a totally different way to prepare it. Some of the steps are similar, but you would have to watch how things are cooking and pay attention to that.
5 stars! The seasoning is amazing in this! I am putting this on rotation – so easy and tasty:)
We love this recipe! I didn’t have cream cheese or parmesan cheese so substituted 1 cup of cheddar cheese. also didn’t have heavy cream so substituted 2% milk and stirred in 1 T flour dissolved in cold water and also stirred in about 2 T nutritional yeast and put that on saute for a few minutes at the end. This gained approval from my 16 yr. grandson so you know it must be Delicious!
I wasn’t able to get normal rotini noodles due to an allergy. Will a different swirl noodle work alright?
Yes! You can use any thicker pasta you prefer