Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta Recipe

Our Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta may become your favorite quick dinner!

This is honestly the BEST dinner recipe for families. Even picky eaters love it.

Do you want to try out some more recipes with the new Instant Pot? Try our Instant Pot Spicy Chicken and Rice Bowls, Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup, and our Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup.

WHICH INSTANT POT IS BEST?

Our favorite Instant Pot has over 34,000 4-star reviews on Amazon.  You can find it HERE!  It’s also one of the more affordable electric pressure cookers available.

Related Article: An entire pan of homemade breadsticks done in 45 minutes! Check out our Sheet Pan Garlic Breadsticks for a delicious side dish!

Ingredients in Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta:

1. Chicken broth
2. Evaporated milk
3. Cloves of garlic
4. Salt
5. Pepper
6. Penne pasta
7. Marinara sauce
8. Parmesan cheese
9. Mozzarella cheese
10. Fresh basil

I have only ever made this using evaporated milk, but you could possibly substitute whole milk or even half and half if you don’t have any evaporated milk on hand.

You could even try and make your own marinara sauce with this easy marinara sauce recipe!

INSTANT POT PASTA NECESSITIES:

• Instant Pot
• Measuring (like THIS one)
• Spatula or wooden spoon

How to make Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta:

This creamy Instant Pot pasta recipe is super simple! You can get it ready to go in a matter of minutes.

Start by combining the chicken broth, garlic, salt, pepper, and penne pasta into the pot in the Instant Pot.

Mix it all together, then put the lid on and turn it to secure it before turning it on.

Once the lid is secure, switch the knob to the “sealing” position and press “manual” to cook the pasta for 5 minutes.

A tip for cooking pasta in the Instant Pot: take the cooking time recommended on the package and divide it in half. Then subtract 2 more minutes from that number and that is about how long you should cook pasta in the Instant Pot (usually 4-5 minutes is the magic number).

Then, after the Instant Pot beeps to let you know that it is done cooking, let it do a natural release for 5 minutes (this means you don’t have to do anything but let it sit there for another 5 minutes.

The numbers on the display of the Instant Pot will now start to count up – don’t be alarmed, this is just to let you know how long it has been naturally releasing pressure for.)

After the 5 minutes of natural release, move the knob to the “venting” position and the Instant Pot will do a quick release with the rest of the pressure that was built up.

Once the pin drops, you can remove the lid and then pour in the evaporated milk and marinara sauce into the pressurized noodles. Then, mix everything together so that the pasta is evenly covered with sauce.

Then, add in the Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese and stir everything up until the cheese is completely melted.

All that is left to do is serve the creamy pasta immediately and top it with fresh basil and parmesan cheese!

If you wanted to add protein to this, you could add in some cooked Italian sausage or even cooked shredded chicken. Just mix it in at the end.

EASY DINNER RECIPE

If you are looking for another great recipe that you can just dump in the Instant Pot and go, then you will want to check out this amazing EASY Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe on our YouTube channel.

It is one of my favorite go-to recipes during the week.

Nothing like preparing dinner in under 10 minutes and letting the Instant Pot do its thing!

More of the best Instant Pot recipes to try:

• INSTANT POT MAC AND CHEESE
• INSTANT POT EASY SESAME CHICKEN AND RICE
• INSTANT POT CREAMY CHICKEN SOUP
• INSTANT POT STUFFED PEPPERS
• INSTANT POT MINI MEATLOAF
• INSTANT POT BEEF STROGANOFF

Serves: 6

Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta Recipe

In our house, we all love a good pasta recipe. Well, this Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta is always a hit with our family! It is so creamy, cheesy, and has wonderful flavor.

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Pressurize Time 10 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Print Pin

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 16 ounces penne pasta uncooked
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Fresh basil and shredded Parmesan for garnish (if desired)

Instructions

• Pour chicken broth, garlic, salt, pepper, and penne pasta into Instant Pot. Secure the lid, switch the knob to "sealing" and cook on "manual" for 5 minutes.
• When it is done cooking, let the pot do a natural release for 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid and pour in evaporated milk and marinara sauce. Stir the sauce into the pasta so that all the pasta is covered evenly.
• Add in Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese and stir until cheese is melted.
• Serve immediately and top with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese if desired.

Notes

If you want to add protein to this, you could add cooked and shredded chicken at the end or cooked and crumbled Italian sausage.

Nutrition

Calories: 479 kcal · Carbohydrates: 68 g · Protein: 24 g · Fat: 12 g · Saturated Fat: 7 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Cholesterol: 35 mg · Sodium: 1392 mg · Potassium: 762 mg · Fiber: 4 g · Sugar: 11 g · Vitamin A: 686 IU · Vitamin C: 18 mg · Calcium: 430 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Recipe Details

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Recipe adapted from Cooking with Karli

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